wfn.org | NCCCUSA Stands with Mayors Against Gun Violence

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

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
TIA (Amber Khan), 202-639-6370 or 888-941-9614
USCM (Andrew Hudson), 303-640-2722
E-Mail: news@ncccusa.org; Web: http://www.ncccusa.org

Noon Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999, U.S. Capitol Steps, Washington, D.C.
MAYORS' MARCH FOR EFFECTIVE GUN CONTROL LEGISLATION
National Council of Churches Contributes Interfaith Group to Speak, 
Pray in Support

 National Council of Churches General Secretary the Rev. Dr. 
Joan B. Campbell and other leaders from the Christian, Jewish and 
Muslim communities will join U.S. mayors and police chiefs on the 
U.S. Capitol steps at noon Sept. 9 to call on Congress to support 
responsible and effective gun control legislation.

 Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb, who also serves as the 
President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), asked the NCC to 
send representatives to the Sept. 9 event and also to encourage its 
membership to organize a national one-hour noon-time prayer vigil in 
communities throughout the nation to pray for victims of gun 
violence and to "for Congress to listen to the wishes of the 
American public."

 Said Dr. Campbell, who will speak at the Sept. 9 event, "I 
replied immediately to Mayor Webb with an enthusiastic `Yes!'  The 
National Council of Churches has spoken out repeatedly over the 
years in favor of gun control and has addressed many specific 
incidents of gun violence.  

"We welcome the opportunity to stand with the U.S. Conference 
of Mayors, and to call our 35 Protestant and Orthodox member 
denominations and their 52 million members to prayer and activism," 
she said.

Besides Dr. Campbell, the Rev. Dr. Staccato Powell (New York, 
NCC Associate General Secretary for National Ministries), and the 
Rev. C. Mackey Daniels (Louisville, Ky.) of the Progressive National 
Baptist Convention, Inc., will represent the NCC at the Sept. 9 
event. The NCC has requested The Interfaith Alliance to participate 
and to name Muslim and Jewish representatives to the U.S. Capitol 
event.  Confirmed are the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy (Washington, 
D.C.), TIA's Executive Director, a Baptist, and Imam Gaith Kashif 
(Washington, D.C.), Imam of Masjid As-Shura.

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