wfn.org | NCCCUSA New Resources (Part One)

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
Email: news @ncccusa.org  Web: www.ncccusa.org

30NCC3/16/99  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW RESOURCES AVAILABLE FROM THE NCC: A SAMPLING (PART ONE)

March 16, 1999, NEW YORK CITY - New resources for
strengthening families, fighting hunger and poverty,
worshiping God, studying the Bible, combating racism and
better understanding the world have joined the National
Council of Churches' vast stock.

 Following are resources available from various offices
of the NCC or, in some cases, the publishing houses of NCC-
member communions.  See "Part Two" for those that may be
ordered through Church World Service's Elkhart, Ind.,
distribution center.

Family Week materials on "Strengthening Families for a New
Century" --
 -- including a poster and a resource list in English,
Spanish and Korean, along with a four-page discussion guide
in English.  Many churches will celebrate Family Week May 2-
9, 1999 (ending with Mother's Day).  Family Week/Festival of
the Christian Home will be celebrated in Canada Oct. 10-17,
1999, in conjunction with Canadian Thanksgiving.
Single copies of the Family Week packet are available
for $1; bulk rates are available.  Order through
denominational distribution offices or contact NCC Family
Ministries and Human Sexuality, Room 850, 475 Riverside
Drive, New York, NY 10115; phone (212) 870-2673, or e-mail
joel@ncccusa.org.

"Sing Out New Visions: Prayers, Poems and Reflections by
Women" --
 -- a resource for corporate worship and for personal and
small group meditation.  It includes 225 contributions
arranged into seven chapters: birthing, naming,
teaching/learning, suffering, healing, celebrating, and
witnessing for justice and peace.
This wide collection is one way U.S. women participated
in the international Ecumenical Decade of the Churches in
Solidarity with Women 1988-98.  In large part, it came about
through the work of members of the NCC Working Group on
Justice for Women, who drew on the gifts of women in their
denominations.
Cost is $8 plus postage and handling.  Order number 69-
9791 6-0001-5; call Augsburg Fortress at 1-800-328-4648.

"Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility: Bench Marks
for Measuring Business Performance" --
 -- a guide for consumers and corporate managers
interested in shaping ethical and socially responsible
investment. This newly revised, 76-page volume is the
achievement of several years of several years of work by
ecumenical organizations in Canada, the United Kingdom,
Ireland and the United States, including the Interfaith
Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), which coordinates
corporate responsibility work for 275 U.S. churches and
faith communities.
 Corporations need to address global concerns about
human rights, just wages and safe working conditions, child
and forced labor, the environment and sustainable community
development.  The Principles describe in detail positions
advocated by the religious community on these issues, along
with proposed benchmarks for measuring progress.  Company
codes of conduct are one mechanism for discussing these
questions.  Today, a number of global corporations have made
strides in formulating and revising their codes of conduct
and devising internal auditing programs to measure
compliance, but more remains to be done.
 "Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility" is
available in English in the United States for $10 from ICCR,
Room 550, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115, phone
(212) 870-2295, fax (212)870-2023, or e-mail info@iccr.org;
and in Canada for $15 from the Taskforce on the Churches and
Corporate Responsibility, 129 St. Clair Ave. West, Toronto,
Canada M4V 1N5; phone (416) 923-1758, fax (416) 927-7554, e-
mail tccr@web.net.  Discounts available on bulk orders.
The publication also is available in French, Spanish,
German and Italian; please contact the ICCR or TCCR office
for details.

"Welcoming Strangers: The Ministry of Entertaining Angels
Unawares" --
 -- a new 16-minute video about the ministry of Church
World Service's Immigration and Refugee Program.  It tells
the story of four refugee families and their sponsoring
congregations, offering insights into what it is like to
welcome uprooted people into one's community and into one's
life.  Cost: $5 plus shipping.  Contact CWS/IRP Information
Office, Room 658, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115;
phone (212) 870-3153 or e-mail ellen@ncccusa.org.

The "Moment to Choose" packet --
 -- in support of the Ecumenical Year of Churches in
Solidarity with the Uprooted, extended by Church World
Service's Immigration and Refugee Program through 1999.  The
packet's informational and worship materials include the
World Council of Churches' "Statement on Uprooted People,"
the "Resource Kit on Uprooted People" and "Liturgy"
developed by the National Council of Churches in Australia,
and a study guide, "The Bible and the Outsider." Contact
CWS/IRP Information Office, Room 658, 475 Riverside Drive,
New York, NY 10115; (212) 870-3153 or ellen@ncccusa.org.

"Cuba: Three Faith Perspectives" --
 -- a new Friendship Press video.  It explores Cuba's
contemporary reality from three very different vantage
points: the view of one who fled Cuba after the revolution
in 1959, one who stayed, and one who grew up as a Christian
in post-revolutionary Cuba.
Related resources include a study book on "Perspectives
on Cuba and Its People," a leader guide and a wall map.  A
resource to help children understand what daily life is like
in Cuba is under development and will be made available on
the World Wide Web (a first for Friendship Press).  Contact
Friendship Press, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 860, New York,
NY 10115; phone (212) 870-2496 or rogerb@ncccusa.org.

"Womanist/Feminist Interpretation" and "Afrocentric
Interpretation" --
 -- two new handbooks concerning texts, issues and
scholarship having to do with race and gender in biblical
translation and interpretation, especially useful for
authors, editors and publishers who make use of the New
Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
The NCC holds the copyright to the NRSV, which was
translated under Council auspices.  Handbook writers are
past recipients of scholarships funded by NRSV royalties
that increase the number of Black, Asian and Latino/a
biblical scholars.  The handbooks  will be available this
spring from David Lull, NCC/BTU, Room 872, 475 Riverside
Drive, New York, NY 10115; phone (212) 870-2271 or
davidl@ncccusa.org.

"Ending Racism in the Church" --
 -- a book for church members of all backgrounds that
includes a guide to help groups discuss issues that separate
the church.  It is organized around three case studies
describing church or community agencies that strive to end
racism.  Following each case study are essays from a diverse
group of scholars and activists who identify the subtle ways
in which racism undermines the gospel's spirit.  The book
grows out of the NCC Faith and Order Commission's work since
1989 that engaged commission members of different races and
faith traditions in a frank and sometimes painful study
process on racism.  Published by United Church Press, cost
is $12.95 plus shipping and handling.  Call 1-800-654-5129.

"Hope and Justice for All in the Americas: Discerning God's
Mission" --
 -- a collection of essays by theologians and pastors
from Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States,
discussing North-South relations; effects of global market
economics on the poor and dispossessed; the burgeoning of
Pentecostalism; indigenous religious expression, and the
need for churches and the ecumenical movement to be involved
in these issues in newly creative and sensitive ways.  The
forum for these papers was an historic Missiology
Consultation held in Costa Rica in April 1997 and sponsored
by the (U.S.) National Council of Churches.  "Hope and
Justice for All in the Americas" is published by Friendship
Press for the NCC's Latin America and the Caribbean Office.
Edited by Oscar L. Bolioli.  $7.95.  ISBN 0-377-00325-5.
Order from Friendship Press, Room 860, 475 Riverside Drive,
New York, NY 10115; (212) 870-2383 or rogerb@ncccusa.org.

"Hope Out of the Ashes"--
 -- the NCC's look at faith communities coming to terms
with racism in their midst.  Produced by United Methodist
Communications, the one-hour program profiles churches and
faith-based efforts in five communities around the country
that are shaking up the old truism that "eleven o'clock on
Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week."
Among program highlights: the Mississippi Reconciliation
Choir. Aired on ABC-TV in October 1998, the program is
available on video from EcuFilm for $34.95.  Call 1-800-251-
4091.

Want to know about other resources?  Visit the NCC's
Web site (www.ncccusa.org) or contact the NCC's
Communication Department by phone (212) 870-2227, fax (212)
870-2030, e-mail news@ncccusa.org or mail: Room 850, 475
Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115.

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