wfn.org | NCCCUSA Board (Immigration, Clinton)

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org]

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

Date: February 18, 1997

This memo was sent to a range of secular and 
religious media outlets.  We offer it generally for 
any others who may be interested.

In order to get some report to you quickly about the 
National Council of Churches' Feb. 17-18 Executive 
Board meeting, which just ended, I'm offering you 
these notes:

1. The Executive Board heard a report on 
"Immigration and Welfare Reform: Understanding the 
Consequences," by Elizabeth Ferris, Executive 
Director of the NCC/CWS Immigration and Refugee 
Program and a member of the Philadelphia Yearly 
Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.  That 
document - which includes some powerful stories - 
follows.  Feel free to quote from it and/or to 
follow up with Ms. Ferris by phoning me at 212-870-
2252.  

Please note that we will soon release additional 
materials on refugees and immigrants in connection 
with the World Council of Churches-initiated 
International Year of Churches in Solidarity with 
Displaced People.

2. The Rev. Dr. Joan B. Campbell, NCC General 
Secretary (and a minister in the Christian Church 
(Disciples of Christ) and American Baptist Churches 
in the U.S.A.), in her report, highlighted, among 
other things:

* the four NCC public policy ministries priorities 
set at a December 1996 consultation (ending poverty, 
securing racial justice, preserving religious 
liberty and pursuing fewer weapons and greater 
peace).

* noted that quarterly meetings of the general 
secretaries of the NCC, United States Catholic 
Conference and National Council of Synagogues 
(formerly the Synagogue Council) have been 
reinstated.

* described the initiative of "Religious Leaders for 
Campaign Finance Reform," which last week released 
an open letter to Congress.

* reported on the first meeting, also last week, of 
the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on 
Religious Freedom Abroad, of which she is a member.

3. The Executive Board voted its approval of the 
balanced NCC 1997 Consolidated Budget of $54 million 
and discussed a number of budget concerns, including 
allocations for Central Support Services 
(Governance, Inclusiveness and Justice, 
Communications, Financial Development and 
Administration and Finance), along with several 
governance concerns.  The Board put in place 
processes for follow up.

4. You may already know about President Clinton's 
appearance at The Riverside Church this morning, 
where he engaged a panel in discussion on how 
churches can help move one million people from 
welfare to the workforce in the next four years.  
Panelists (there are some good denominational angles 
here!) included several members of that church, 
politicians and others - including the Rev. Dr. Paul 
Sherry of Cleveland, Ohio, President of the United 
Church of Christ.  I urge you to follow up with the 
church (Contact: Steven Rubenstein (212-843-8043) or 
Parke Spencer (212-843-8084) at Rubenstein 
Associates, Inc.) about that event.  

I mention it here because a 10-member delegation 
from the National Council of Churches, including 
staff and Executive Board members, were part of the 
invited audience.  That delegation - whose presence 
was recognized by the Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes Jr., 
Riverside's Senior Minister - included: the NCC's 
President Elect, Bishop Craig Barry Anderson, 
President and Dean of General Theological Seminary 
in New York; the Rev. Joan S. Parrott, Deputy 
General Secretary for Cooperative Christianity for 
the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., Valley 
Forge, Pa., and an NCC President at Large; Dr. Diane 
M. Porter, Senior Executive for Program, The 
Episcopal Church, New York City, and Chair of the 
NCC's Burned Churches Project Program Committee; the 
NCC's Immediate Past President, the Rev. Dr. Gordon 
L. Sommers, President of the Provincial Elders' 
Conference of the Moravian Church, Northern 
Province, Bethlehem, Pa., the Rev. Dr. Eugene 
Turner, Director, Department of Governing Bodies, 
Presbyterian Church U.S.A., Louisville, Ky., and the 
Rev. Daniel E. Weiss, General Secretary, American 
Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., Valley Forge, Pa. 

NCC staff attending included: the Rev. Dr. Albert 
Pennybacker (Christian Church (Disciples of 
Christ)), Associate General Secretary for Public 
Policy; the Rev. Dr. Eileen Lindner (Presbyterian 
Church U.S.A.), Associate General Secretary for 
Christian Unity; Nell Gibson (The Episcopal Church), 
Associate General Secretary for Inclusiveness and 
Justice, and Mary Ida Gardner (American Baptist 
Churches in the U.S.A.), Operations Director, Church 
World Service and Witness.

The Memorandum on "Immigration and Welfare Reform" 
is being transmitted in a separate file (Keywords 
NCCCUSA, Immigration, Welfare Reform).
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