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Elenora Giddings Ivory takes WCC post
Has directed PC(USA)'s Washington Office since 1989 by Evan Silverstein
LOUISVILLE - The Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory, who for nearly two decades has been director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Washington Office <http://www.pcusa.org/washington>, recently announced plans to take a position with the World Council of Churches (WCC).
Her last day leading the PC(USA)'s public policy, information and advocacy office in Washington, D.C., will be in late October.
She will then become director of the WCC's Public Witness: Addressing Power and Affirming Peace program area, pending final approval from the WCC executive committee when it meets in Armenia, September 25-28.
"It's an interesting opportunity," Giddings Ivory, 62, said of her new position. "It's one of those rare opportunities to come along."
The WCC is an international Christian ecumenical organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. It brings together more than 340 churches, denominations and church fellowships in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world, representing some 550 million Christians.
The program area Giddings Ivory will lead focuses on concerns of WCC members regarding violence, war, human rights, economic injustice, poverty and exclusion - voicing these concerns to such intergovernmental organizations as the United Nations and various international financial institutions in hopes of influencing policy decisions.
"I wish Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) members would become more actively involved in paying attention to actions and activities of the World Council of Churches because so much that's happening in the world has a religious base," Giddings Ivory told the Presbyterian News Service on September 5.
In her new position, which will be based in Geneva, Giddings Ivory will be responsible for overseeing such WCC initiatives as an ecumenical accompaniment program in Palestine and Israel, the 2001-2010 Decade to Overcome Violence, and a project encouraging churches to explore and advocate for alternatives to economic globalization.
The Harvard Divinity School graduate has been director of the PC(USA) Washington Office since November 29, 1989.
She pointed to efforts aimed at helping the poor and protecting voter rights as being among the most memorable achievements of the Washington Office and its faith and justice partners during her service there.
"During my tenure here we have seen passage of several voting rights acts, the Jubilee 2000 action for debt relief [of the world's poorest nations] and also trying to maintain some aspects of the federal budget that meet the needs of the poor," Giddings Ivory said. "The budget is not what we would like it to be, but it could have been worse if the Presbyterian Washington Office and the other denominational offices weren't here."
Other notable achievements, she said, included advocating for the successful passage of the International Religious Freedom Bill and the Religious Liberty Protection Act. The Washington Office also worked toward passage of the 1990 Civil Rights Act, which provides protection against discrimination in the workplace, according to Giddings Ivory.
Giddings Ivory said she tendered her resignation in an August 7 letter to her supervisor Sara Lisherness, the PC(USA)'s director of Peace and Justice and interim director of Relief and Development.
Lisherness noted that Giddings Ivory has served the PC(USA) through the terms of three United States presidents and nine sessions of Congress. She said for many elected representatives in Washington, Giddings Ivory has been the face of the PC(USA).
"The General Assembly's commitment to 'speaking truth to power' has been steadfastly reflected in Elenora's ministry the past 18 years," Lisherness said. "She has been a strong voice of justice in civil rights, religious liberty, race and gender issues as they are addressed in Congress."
As far as next steps for the Washington Office, Lisherness said the church does not plan to rush into naming a successor for Giddings Ivory.
"Instead we want to take a good look at where God may be leading us in this time of transition," Lisherness said. "We welcome input from across the church as we prepare for Elenora's departure at the end of October, and will be making decisions about next steps as we get closer to that date."
Giddings Ivory also announced her departure in a brief statement posted at the end of the September-October issue of the "Washington Report to Presbyterians," a bimonthly publication of the Washington Office that covers a broad range of public policy issues.
"It has been an exciting 18 years in this position (and) I will miss certain aspects of it, but I look forward to the challenges of my new call," she said in the statement.
Giddings Ivory was born in Philadelphia, Pa., but her family moved to Monmouth County, N.J., when she was eight. She is a member of National Capital Presbytery.
She has served on the board of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and on task forces of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, as well as having served as vice president of the National Council of Churches of Christ, and as chair of the council's National Ministry's unit.
She has served as pastor of the Gloucester Memorial Presbyterian Church in the Roxbury section of Boston, Mass., and was a member of the Presbyterian Mission Council of the Synod of the Northeast.
Giddings Ivory was chair of the PC(USA) General Assembly Council's Committee on Social Witness Policy from 1987-1989. Prior to becoming a staff member, she had been on several other General Assembly committees addressing the issues of equal opportunity for women and people of color.
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