wfn.org | REV. DAVID PAUL CRUMP DIRECTS NATIONAL FARM WORKER MINISTRY

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A./
National Farm Worker Ministry
Contact: David Crump or Mary Anne Haren, NFWM, Chicago, 1-312-829-6436
Fax: 1-312-829-3130

REV. DAVID PAUL CRUMP IS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
OF NATIONAL FARM WORKER MINISTRY

CHICAGO, Illinois, U.S.A., Jan. 12 ---- Effective January 15, 1996, the
Rev.  David Paul Crump joins the National Farm Worker Ministry as its new
executive director.  Rev. Crump succeeds Ms. Olgha Sierra Sandman, who
served as interim director during the illness and following the death of
Sr. Patricia Drydyk, who had held the post since 1986.

Rev. Crump's early life was spent as the son of missionaries to Brazil.  An
ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, he served as pastor of
the Winnebago Reformed Church on the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska from
1987 to 1994.  He has recently completed course work for a jointly
sponsored Doctor of Ministry Degree at Lutheran School of Theology,
McCormick Seminary and Catholic Theological Union, all in Chicago.

The National Farm Worker Ministry, an ecumenical ministry related to the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., is made up of
more than 40 denominations and religious organizations.  Being historically
connected to state farm worker ministries that originated in the 1920s,
NFWM is currently celebrating its 75th anniversary.

The purpose of the ministry is to stand with farm workers, supporting them
as they organize to overcome powerlessness and achieve justice, equality
and freedom.  NFWM accomplishes this by serving as farm worker advocate
among and within the churches -- by organizing, educating and mobilizing
the religious community in response to the farm workers' organizing
efforts.

"I see exciting and challenging times ahead for this Ministry," the Rev.
Crump said.  "Farm workers continue to be the lowest paid workers in this
country.  They continue to be disenfranchised.  The Ministry can play a
vital role in helping farm workers nationwide win the benefits and respect
that they deserve."

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