wfn.org | UCC executive named WCC co-president

[powellb@ucc.org]

United Church of Christ
Barb Powell, press contact
216-736-2175
powellb@ucc.org
http://www.ucc.org

For immediate release
June 22, 2004

[EDITORS AND PRODUCERS:
Free photo available - see below]

United Church of Christ executive named World Council of Churches
co-president

      CLEVELAND -- The executive minister of the United Church of Christ's
Justice and Witness, Bernice Powell Jackson, has been elected as World
Council of Churches (WCC) president for North America, joining seven
co-presidents from other regions.

      "Especially in 2004, as the WCC focuses the Decade to Overcome
Violence on the U.S., I look forward to finding new ways of connecting
justice advocacy with ecumenical partners in my work as the World Council's
president for North America," said Jackson. "This is a wonderful honor, an
exciting challenge and an opportunity to share the ecumenical vision of the
WCC in our world today."

      An activist on behalf of civil, women's and human rights around the
world for more than 25 years, Jackson serves as one of the five officers of
the United Church of Christ. Justice and Witness Ministries works on a wide
range of justice issues confronting the church and the world. She formerly
was executive director of the UCC's Commission for Racial Justice and,
prior to that, executive associate to the denomination's president.

      Before coming to the national setting of the United Church of Christ,
Jackson served for three years as the director of the Bishop Tutu Southern
African Refugee Scholarship Fund, was also on the staff of New York
Governor Hugh Carey, and on the communications staff of the National Urban
League.

      "WCC presidents are chosen for their widely-recognized ecumenical
experience and standing," said Juan Michel, spokesperson for the WCC.
"Their role is to promote ecumenism and interpret the work of the Council
especially in their respective regions."

      Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Jackson lived for nearly 20
years in New York City.  She relocated to Cleveland in 1990 along with the
national offices of the United Church of Christ.  Jackson is a graduate of
Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa., and holds master's degrees from the
Columbia University School of Journalism and Union Theological Seminary.
She received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Defiance
College in 1994.  She is married to Franklyn Jackson, a retired school
administrator.

      Jackson replaces the Rev. Kathryn Bannister of the United Methodist
Church, who last February announced her decision to step down from the
co-presidency for personal reasons.

      The 1.3-million-member United Church of Christ, with national offices
in Cleveland, has 6,000 local congregations in the United States and Puerto
Rico. It was formed by the 1957 union of the Congregational Christian
Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church.

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Free high-resolution picture available at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/powelljackson.html