wfn.org | SERVICES PLANNED FOR JAN. 25 DAY OF PRAYER FOR BOSNIA

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org]

BOSNIA
Reply-to: CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 96 10:01:17 EST

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
NCC Contact: Carol J. Fouke, 212-870-2252
Internet: carol_fouke.parti@ecunet.org

12NCC1/25/96             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PARTIAL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS,
JAN. 25 DAY OF PRAYER FOR BOSNIA;
CHRISTIAN, MUSLIM AND JEWISH GROUPS
ARE AMONG ENDORSERS

 NEW YORK, Jan. 25 ---- Christian, Muslim and
Jewish leaders nationwide have joined in the call to
a day of prayer today (Thursday, Jan. 25) for the
U.S. and other NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia and for
those they protect, along with chaplains and aid
workers.  Places of worship will toll their bells
for three minutes starting at noon and hold special
services focusing on the needs in the former
Yugoslavia.  People of all faiths are asked to pause
at noon for prayer.

 The call to prayer has been endorsed by leaders
of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in
the U.S.A. (NCC); National Conference of Catholic
Bishops/U.S. Catholic Conference (NCCB/USCC);
Catholic Relief Services; The Episcopal Church; the
American Muslim Council; the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations; the J.W.B. Jewish Chaplains
Council, City of New York, and by many individual
Roman Catholic and Episcopal Church bishops.
Additional endorsements are expected.

 Dr. Waheed Siddiquee from United Muslims in
America, Sunnyvale, Calif., phoned his agreement to
join in the prayerful remembrance.  Chaplain,
Colonel, Cecil Richardson, Executive Director of the
Armed Forces Chaplains Board, Washington, D.C. (202-
697-9015), also offered his endorsement of the
observances.

 NCC General Secretary Joan Brown Campbell asked
the heads of the Council's 33 Protestant and
Orthodox member communions and their 51 million
members to "find appropriate ways to observe this
within the practices of your own traditions."  She
prayed that all people on the ground in Bosnia "may
be held in God's safe embrace."

 In Mississippi, Governor Kirk Fordice has
proclaimed Jan. 25 as "A Day for Prayer and
Recognition of the Peace-Keeping Forces in Bosnia,"
praising "the dangerous multinational mission of
nurturing the fragile truce in Bosnia where the
three Abrahamic faiths -- Christianity, Islam and
Judaism -- have collided in war and holocaust during
the 20th century."

 A list of some of the observances planned for
the Thursday, Jan. 25, day of prayer follows:

 NEW YORK CITY: At General Theological
Seminary's Chapel of the Good Shepherd, 175 Ninth
Avenue between 20th and 21st Streets, New York City,
special prayers for the people of Bosnia and for the
peacekeepers will be offered at the 8 a.m. Morning
Prayer Service and the 5:30 p.m. Evensong Service.
In addition, at 8:30 a.m., the Eucharist (Holy
Communion) will be offered "with special intention,"
that is, as a kind of offering for peacekeeping and
hope for reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia.
The seminary will toll its bell at noon in
observance of the day.

 WASHINGTON, D.C.: The bells of the Washington
National Cathedral (202-537-6200), Wisconsin and
Massachusetts Aves., N.W., will toll for three
minutes at noon and Bishop Ronald Haines will lead a
service.

 SAN FRANCISCO: From its tower overlooking the
city, the Grace Episcopal Cathedral bells will toll
for three minutes and Bishop William Swing (415-673-
0606) will lead a service.  The Roman Catholic
Archbishop of San Francisco, William Levada (415-
565-3600), has asked all Catholics in the
archdiocese to join in the day of prayer, especially
to pause at noon for prayer.  He asked asked all the
archdioceses' churches to toll their bells at noon
and to include a petition in the Prayers of the
Faithful on Sunday, Jan. 21 and 28.

 RALEIGH, N.C.: At Sacred Heart Cathedral, 220
Hillsborough St., the bells will toll at noon and
there will be a service.  The Roman Catholic Bishop
of Raleigh, F. Joseph Gossman (919-821-9702), has
urged all the Catholic pastors in the Diocese of
Raleigh to toll their churches' bells and to unite
with the parishioners to offer prayers for peace at
Noon.

 JACKSON, Miss.: At St. Andrew's Cathedral (601-
948-5954), 305 E. Capitol St., the bells will toll
at noon and there will be a service.

 DETROIT, Mich.: At the Cathedral Church of St.
Paul, 4800 Woodward Ave. (313-832-4400), there will
be prayers for Bosnia at the noon celebration of the
Eucharist and at the 7 p.m. Community Service for
the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  Roman
Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Michigan
have been encouraged by Cardinal Adam Maida (313-
237-5800) to observe the day.

-end-

NOTE TO EDITORS:  Additional contacts on this story
include: Kasey Vannett, Catholic Relief Services (410-
625-2220); David Early, NCCB/USCC (202-541-3200); Jim
Solheim, The Episcopal Church (212-867-8400); the Rev.
Linda Moeller, General Theological Seminary, New York,
212-243-5150; Rabbi Sanford Seltzer, Director, Committee
on Interreligious Affairs, Union of American Hebrew
Congregations (212-650-4075), and Rabbi David Lapp,
Director, J.W.B. Jewish Chaplains Council, City of New
York (212-532-4949); Kareema Alto Mare, American Muslim
Council (202-789-2262).
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