wfn.org | : New NCC USA Staff Elected During General Assembly

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.
Contact. Wendy S. McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227
Internet. c/a:  carol_fouke.parti@ecunet.org

NEW NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES STAFF SPAN DENOMINATIONAL
SPECTRUM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 NCC 11/12/96

     CHICAGO, Nov. 12 - - - Encompassing the ecumenical spirit
and diversity of the National Council of Churches (NCC) , seven
new staff members representing seven different denominations,
including one Canadian, were elected by the Council'S Executive
Board, meeting here Nov ll - 12.

     The new NCC Director for emergency Response, Don "Rick" 
Augsburger,  is a member of the Mennonite Church. He most
recently served as the assistant director of Mennonite Disaster
Service, a binational disaster recovery  agency. Before joining
MDS, he was economic development consultant for Mennonite
Economic Development Associates in Tanzania, East. Africa, and
has consulted on development projects in seven countries.
Augsburger began his position pending election, on October 21.

     Nell Braxton Gibson, the new Associate General Secretary for
Inclusiveness and Justice, is a member of The Episcopal Church.
she began inclusiveness and justice work while attending Spelman
College in Atlanta, Ga., where she registered Black voters and
demonstrated against segregated families. After moving to New
York City, she held several key positions with Inter-Seminary
Theological Education for Ministry and the Episcopal Diocese of
New York. since 1595 she has served as Program Manager for the
EPRUS/AmeriCorps Education Awards with the NCC.

     An ordained deacon in the African Methodist Episcopal Church
and a resident New Yorker, the Rev. Evelyn Miller-Suber already
has been serving as interim Human Resources Manager for Church
World Service and Witness (CWSW) since February. The Rev.
Miller-Suber brings extensive experience as the Newark District
Manager of Human Resources for the United States Postal Service.
She is presently attending the New York Theological Seminary to
complete her M.Div. degree

     The new NCC Deputy General secretary/Executive Director of
the National Ministries Unit Es already well known for his work
as NCC Associate General Secretary for Racial Justice,
particularly his leading role in raising the nation's
consciousness about hate-motivated church burnings. The Rev. Dr.
Mac Charles Jones, an ordained minister in the National Baptist
Convention of America, Inc., has served as pastor for churches in
Missouri, Georgia and Virginia and has been active in his
denomination, serving as chair of the social Justice commission,
official delegate to the World Council of Churches, lecturer and
guest preacher. Dr. Jones will begin in his new position Jan. 1.

     The new Director of Environmental Justice, the Rev, Richard
L. Killmer, is no stranger to the NCC. He worked for the Council
for 10 years as Director of special Ministries/ Vietnam
Generation Director and Co-Director for the Domestic Hunger and
Poverty Program and Co-Director of the Child and Family Justice
Project, then served his own Presbyterian Church USA as director
of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program before returning to the
council as Interim Associate Director of NMU. Rev. Killmer has
had two books and numerous articles published and makes his home
in Princeton, N.J.

      The Rev. Dr. David J, Lull was elected Director of Bible
Translation and Utilization. An ordained minister in the united
Methodist Church, Lull earned his Ph.D. in New Testament from
Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, Calif. He served in a
parish as well as in academics Yale Divinity School, Candler
School of Theology, Emory University and Claremont School of
Theology before becoming the Executive Director for the Society
of Biblical Literature in Decatur, Ga. He has authored and/ or
edited numerous books, journals and articles on theology and the
Bible and has lectured in a variety of settings.

      The Rev. Randolph (Randy) Naylor. the NCC's newly elected
Associate General Secretary for Communication and Interpretation,
is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada presently
working towards a Ph.D. in Theology at the Toronto School of
Theology. Rev. Naylor served as a Pastor in Cochane, Alberta, and
as a missionary in Sierra Leone before moving into Christian
communications. Most recently he has served the National office
of the united Church of Canada as General Secretary for
communications and as that denomination's Interim General
Secretary. He is a leader in the World Association for Christian
communication (WACC) and in WACC North American Broadcast
Section. He will begin his NCC position in May upon completion at
his Ph.D. work.

         -end-