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	50th Anniversary Newsroom - Nov. 8-12, 1999 call 216-696-8490

NCC11/10/99							FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALLIANCE OF BAPTISTS CERTIFIED FOR NCC MEMBERSHIP

Nov. 10, 1999, CLEVELAND, Ohio - The stage was set today for the Alliance 
of Baptists - a Washington, D.C.-based communion of 60,000 Baptists in 125 
congregations in the southeast - to become the 36th member communion of the 
National Council of Churches (NCC).

The NCC's General Assembly declared the Alliance eligible for membership, 
meaning that next year's Assembly will take the final vote establishing 
formal membership for the Alliance and seating its delegation.

In a voice quaking with emotion, Alliance of Baptists Executive Director 
Stan Hastey told the Assembly its vote "is an act of true grace.  Though we 
are only 10 years old, we have envisioned the action you have taken today 
since our beginning -- we Baptists in the South have isolated ourselves 
from the rest of the world for far too long.  Today marks a milepost of 
significance for us that I can scarcely exaggerate.  With great 
thanksgiving, we offer ourselves to you."

Progressive National Baptist Convention General Secretary the Rev. Tyrone 
Pitts, Jr., endorsed the application by the Alliance of Baptists, noting 
that the two Baptist groups have a history of cooperation on a variety of 
ministries, including mission outreach to Cuba.

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