wfn.org | WCC NEWS: US churches gearing up for WCC 9th Assembly

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World Council of Churches - Press Release
For immediate release - 04/10/2005

"TRANSFORM THE WORLD" - US CHURCHES PREPARE
FOR WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES' 9th ASSEMBLY

     Contact: Rev. Deborah DeWinter 212-870-2522 dhd@wcc-coe.org
     Full programme and details of the events:
     http://www.wcc-usa.org

As the momentum builds in Christian communities around the globe in
anticipation of the 9th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC),
which will be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, 14-23 February 2006, two
forthcoming church events in the US will focus on "transforming the
world".

US member churches will gather for their pre-assembly conference in
Chicago from 10-12 October 2005. Church leaders and ecumenists from around
the country will engage in theological reflection and Bible study on the
theme of the WCC Assembly: God, in your grace, transform the world.

"We hope that the meeting in Chicago will remind us that Porto Alegre will
really be a reunion: God's family reunion of brothers and sisters in
Christ from all over the globe gathering to give thanks for God's gift of
unity," said Rev. Deborah DeWinter, programme executive of the WCC's New
York office.

Special worship leaders Dr Stanley Ralph of First Presbyterian Church of
Jamaica, Queens, NY, and Rev. Dr. Glaucia Vasconcelos-Wilkey of Seattle
University, have planned worship experiences in the spirit of the Assembly
while also remembering those who have suffered as a result of the
hurricanes on the US Gulf Coast.

Guest preachers will include Rev. Dr Bernice Powell Jackson, WCC President
from North America, and Rev. Terence R. Gray, Pastor of St. Mark A.M.E.
Church, Orlando, Florida, who will be attending the 9th Assembly.

Brazilian theologians Dr Vitor Westhelle, professor of systematic theology
at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, and Dr Marcelo Schneider of
Porto Alegre, Brazil, a systematic theologian specializing in ecumenical
social ethics who serves on the local planning committee for the 9th
Assembly, will lead plenary sessions, together with Dr David Radcliff,
director of the New Community Project, a faith-based nonprofit organization focused on justice concerns and stewardship of the earth.

"Blessed Are The Peacemakers" awards will be presented to local Chicago
area peacemakers at the opening dinner, which will feature a global
overview of the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence. The ecumenical banquet
on the last evening will highlight the Council's "Focus on Africa." The
meeting will be co-hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Leading up to the pre-assembly conference, a youth event "Shift Your Space
- Transform The World" will be held from 8-10 October on the campus of the
Lutheran School of Theology in the Hyde Park area of Chicago.

WCC wants to make this "the youngest Assembly" in its history. This event
is therefore designed for young adult leaders in peace and justice work,
giving them the opportunity to build ecumenical connections with peers as
well as with leaders of the WCC and member churches.

Participants in the "Shift Your Space" event will also spend time
reflecting on the economic and social implications of the recent hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, and what this means for young people of faith who
are engaged in "transforming the world."

"Seminarians are at the forefront of innovative peace and justice work,"
says Michael Neuroth, who is coordinating the "Shift Your Space" youth
event on behalf of the US Conference for the WCC.

He explains that the gathering will enable "students and youth delegates
to the WCC's Assembly to share stories of peacemaking initiatives led by
young adults around the United States, and strategize on new ways of
engaging with the vision for peace promoted by the WCC's Decade to
Overcome Violence."

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in
more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly,
which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.