wfn.org | CWS and NCC honor ecumenical leaders at General Assembl

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CWS and NCC honor ecumenical leaders at General Assembly

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 11, 2009--Individuals and agencies that have given
outstanding service to the ecumenical movement in the United States and
around the world were honored tonight at the 2009 General Assembly of
the National Council of Churches and Church World Service.

The annual J. Irwin Miller Award was bestowed upon Lois Dauway, interim
deputy general secretary for mission and evangelism of the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries.  Dauway, who has demonstrated a
life-long commitment to racial and gender inclusiveness in the church
and larger society, serves the ecumenical community in many capacities,
including as a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of
Churches.

Saying the ecumenical movement made her â??nimbleâ??, Dauway  recounted
her experience  â??dodging rocksâ??  while working in the Boston  school
system and then dodging the "barbs and iniquities" directed at social
movements.  The best part of her work, Dauway said, was the "folks, and
the relationships I will cherish," and walking behind, next to, and in
front of  people over a career distinguished by a deep engagement in
domestic and international justice issues.

The award is in tribute to the memory of J. Irwin Miller, the first
layman to serve as president of the NCC.

NCC and CWS celebrated recipients of the honors at a dinner ceremony
during their joint General Assembly in Minneapolis.

Rev. Dr. Lewis S. Mudge, who died in September 2009 at the age of 80,
was honored posthumously with the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Award, given
to a clergy person whose life and work have significantly advanced the
cause of unity among churches in the United States and internationally.

Accepting the honor for her late husband, Mrs. Jean Mudge told the
audience that Dr. Mudge would have been "pleased and humbledâ?? by the
recognition of his work during "the last century's steady progress of
Christian communions" and by having been able to "play a part in that
drama."

Dr. Mudge, a scholar and theologian whose breadth of interests and
expertise enriched virtually every corner of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) and the global ecumenical movement, served as a leader and
writer for virtually every organization, including the World Council of
Churches, National Council of Churches in the USA, the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches, and the Consultation on Church Union.

Mrs. Mudge said that at the time of his death, her husband-who she
recalled actually worked with Cardinal Bernadin, for whom the award is
named--was preparing a Christian approach to the current economic
crisis.

Dr. Mudge edited or authored 12 books, including One Church: Catholic
and Reformed (1963), The Crumbling Walls (1970), The Sense of a People
(1992), The Church as Moral Community (1998), Rethinking the Beloved
Community (2001), and The Gift of Responsibility (2008).

The Eugene Carson Blake Award, given this year for the first time on
the centennial of Dr. Blake's birth, commemorates this former president
of the National Council of Churches (1954), founder of the Consultation
of Church Union (1960) and former general secretary of the World Council
of Churches, who exemplified modern ecumenism.

Honoree David A. Leslie has effectively led Ecumenical Ministries of
Oregon (EMO), a statewide association of more than 100 denominations,
congregations and faith-based community ministries, for more than a
decade.

Leslie said it was an "honor to be able to serve" the ecumenical
movement as a layperson and that the movement leads to "places where we
discover our passion and gifts we didnâ??t know we had.â??

> Under his leadership EMO has established

itself as a respected source

for theological dialogue, a reliable provider of community-based
services, and a vigorous advocate for those in need.

Leslie, said his father, a Presbyterian minister, heard Eugene Carson
Blake, whom the award is named for, when he was a young man, and that
Blakeâ??s words â??inspired him to action.â??

There were four honorees for the Assembly's 2009 Award of Excellence,
which recognizes individuals whose life and work demonstrate
extraordinary achievement in furthering the ecumenical movement, meeting
human needs, advocating for peace and justice, and/or providing a strong
prophetic voice in the Christian community.

The first honoree, Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches, has battled
poverty in Minnesota for more than five decades.  GMCC operates a
successful family of social service programs and recruits support across
denominational lines to help struggling Minnesota families remain
self-reliant. It is the largest council of churches in the nation and
the largest direct-service volunteer organization in the state.

Also receiving the Award of Excellence was Deacon James Kalustian,
president of the Armenian Heritage Foundation, which brings together
various church communities.  Kalustian is actively involved in the
spiritual, cultural, and philanthropic life of the Armenian Church in
America, which he has represented at regional, national and
international ecumenical meetings.  Kalustian presently serves on the
Supreme Religious Council, the highest governing body of the Armenian
Apostolic Church.

Award of Excellence recipient Joan Leof, a long-time Church World
Service CROP Hunger Walk supporter, has made a concerted effort to
engage both the Jewish and Muslim communities of Rochester in the
planning and leadership for the Walk.  With a tireless commitment to
promoting peace and justice locally and globally, Leof, a member of
Peace United Church of Christ, serves as a lead coordinator in the
congregation's Sacred Conversation on Race, an anti-racism project of
the United Church of Christ.

Rev. Katherine Austin Mahle, a leader in Minnesota's ecumenical
community for more than two decades, also was honored with the Award of
Excellence.  Mahle, who has been involved with both the Greater
Minneapolis Council of Churches and the Minnesota Council of Churches
(MCC), now serves on the Minnesota Church Foundation.  Incoming NCC
President, Rev. Peg Chemberlin says of Mahle, â??In the hardest times
Kathi has carried forward a hopeful spirit, a spirit that believes
ecumenism is one of Godâ??s most important agendas for the Church and
her witness has strengthened me more often than she will ever know.â??

> General Assembly Media Contacts:

Lesley Crosson, 212-870-2676, media@churchworldservice.org
Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (o), 646-853-4212 (cell),
pjenks@ncccusa.org
Ann Walle, 212-870-2654, awalle@churchworldservice.org