wfn.org | WCC NEWS: WCC president joins call for action at G20 summit

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 21/09/2009 17:00:38

WCC PRESIDENT JOINS CALL FOR ACTION AT G20 SUMMIT

On the eve of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA),
World Council of Churches (WCC) president from North America,
Rev. Dr Bernice Powell Jackson will join more than 25 Christian,
Jewish and Islamic religious leaders from the United States at a
22-23 September Faith Leaders Summit to press for actions – not
just words – that will help hungry and poor people lift
themselves out of poverty. 

"Our world is facing not just a financial crisis, but a moral
crisis," said Powell Jackson, who is an ordained minister of the
United Church of Christ (USA). "Shall we create a world based
upon economically and ecologically sustainable principles which
will result in abundance, dignity and security for all? That is
the great moral question of our time." 

Organized by Bread for the World, the Alliance to End Hunger,
and other US-based organizations, the religious leaders will
convene to press G20 leaders to fulfill their promises to help
people who have suffered from the global economic recession. 

During the week of the G20 summit, U.S. administration officials
are expected to release details on a new initiative to reduce
hunger and poverty around the world. Faith leaders gathered for
the summit will voice their support for the initiative in a press
conference on Wednesday, 23 September, at 9 a.m. 

(Press conference venue: Pittsburgh Renaissance Hotel, Symphony
A Room, 107 6th Street, Pittsburg. Toll-free number for
reporters: 888-551-9020; Confirmation number: 1554819). 

Immediately following the press conference, religious leaders
will go to the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh(320 6th
Avenue), where they are slated to meet with representatives of
the U.S. delegation to the G20. 

The Group of 20 (G20), established in 1999, brings together
major industrialized and developing economies to discuss global
economic issues. 

>Media contact in the US: 
>Bill Malone202-464-8180 bmalone@bread.org
>Shawnda Hines301-960-4913 shines@bread.org

>WCC work on economic globalization:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3117

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.