wfn.org | National Council of Churches recounts history and mission,

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

celebrates ecumenical ministries

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Email: news@ncccusa.org
Web: www.ncccusa.org
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
	50th Anniversary Newsroom
  Cleveland - Nov. 8-12, 1999 call 216-696-8490

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES RECOUNTS ITS HISTORY AND MISSION,
CELEBRATES ECUMENICAL MINISTRIES AND PARTNERSHIPS

Nov. 9, 1999 - CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The National Council of Churches opened 
its 50th anniversary celebration here today, recalling the history and 
mission of the organization and celebrating its worldwide partnerships in 
ecumenical ministry and dialogue.
	Cleveland Mayor Michael White hosted about 1,000 participants at a 
"Welcome Luncheon."  He called Cleveland "a mirror image of America" since 
despite economic development and a decrease in crime the city is home to 
people "who feel alienated, set apart, forgotten."  He told the group, 
"Your work answers the call to address that alienation."
	Outgoing NCC President Craig Anderson, a bishop of The Episcopal Church, 
challenged the organization and its member churches to view the anniversary 
celebration as "a time to pray, reflect, remember and anticipate the future."
	South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu sent a greeting by letter, 
read by the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, NCC General Secretary.  Tutu was 
scheduled to deliver the day's keynote address but could not be present 
because he was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.  The archbishop 
said he was "heartbroken not be present in the flesh," but took the 
opportunity to commend the NCC for "the fervor of your love and 
caring...most notably during apartheid."
Archbishop Tutu called the NCC "steadfast...incredibly generous."  He said, 
"You were there for us.  God is proud of you."
	Ecumenical leaders spoke to the theme, "The Role of the Churches in the 
Issues of Peace and Justice."  World Council of Churches General Secretary 
Konrad Raiser praised the NCC for "significantly shaping the understanding 
of the churches in issues of justice and peace...offering a clear sense of 
prophetic witness precisely when the superpowers shaped and conditioned 
world affairs."
Dr. Raiser, a Lutheran, expressed "respect, appreciation and indebtedness" 
to the NCC, and cited examples of its worldwide "ecumenical solidarity" 
with the people of Eastern Europe, Latin America and Korea.  He called on 
ecumenical bodies "to continue to work together in addressing strategies of 
globalization and in overcoming violence."
	Canon Clement Janda, general secretary of the All-Africa Council of 
Churches, thanked the NCC for being involved in "issues of peacemaking and 
justice at home and abroad."   In advocacy and peacemaking, "the NCC has 
stood with African churches during the long and difficult march against 
apartheid, against all pressures and odds to discredit you," he 
said.  "Thank God for you -- for your sustaining the hope of our people," 
he added.
The Rev. Dr. Riad Jarjour, general secretary of the Middle East Conference 
of Churches, praised the NCC for "advocating justice and truth...for 
inspiring a sense of hope [and] a firm foundation of justice and durable 
peace" in the Middle East.  He identified Palestine, Iraq and globalization 
as ongoing areas of challenge for ecumenical work.
Two leaders who took part in the NCC's founding meeting in Cleveland in 
1950 recalled that event and offered perspectives of the NCC's work over a 
half century.  Bishop J. Clinton Hoggard of the African Methodist Episcopal 
Zion Church called for "renewed unity in personal lives, in communities ... 
in the churches of which we are a part."  He asked, "How close to an 
inclusive society are we?"
United Methodist Bishop James K. Mathews termed it "a tremendous gift" to 
know ecumenical colleagues as well as he knows leaders of his own church 
body.  He said the NCC's detractors had "mostly unjustly criticized" the 
NCC's work, and that the NCC had always been "faithful to the gospel and 
its demands."
Among honored guests were past NCC general secretaries William Thompson, 
James Armstrong, Philip Cousins, Syngman Rhee and Melvin Talbert and past 
NCC presidents Claire Randall, James Hamilton and Gordon 
Sommers.   Executive Director Rebecca Tollefson brought greetings from the 
Ohio Council of Churches.
	The R. Nathaniel Dett Concert Choir of the Cleveland School of the Arts, 
the Cleveland School of the Arts Jazz Trio, and the Battu Ensemble of the 
Greater Cleveland Young Audiences provided music.
#