wfn.org | NCC Celebrates 50 Years, Installs New Officers

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

Installation service and anniversary banquet celebrate 50 years

"Now we can announce to the world that we have a voice, a vision and a 
victory! Thank you, God, for Andrew Jackson Young."

With that ringing affirmation, the Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Senior Pastor of 
Oliver Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, concluded his sermon at 
the service of worship and installation of the NCC's officers for the next 
four years, including Ambassador Andrew Young as President. Twelve hundred 
worshipers crowded into the ticket-only service, held in The Cathedral of 
St. John the Evangelist. It was the first time a National Council 
installation had taken place in a Roman Catholic church.

We are glad "to share this sacred space with our Christian brothers and 
sisters," said Cleveland Bishop the Most Rev. Anthony M. Pilla. "Please 
note how welcome you are in this house of God."

Dr. Moss based his sermon on Psalm 19:14: "Let the words of my mouth and 
the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength 
and my redeemer."  Every age cries out for a voice, he said. Sometimes 
silence can be creative, he said, "as when we learn the difference between 
arrogance and wisdom."  But sometimes silence can be sinful, he added, "as 
in the face of human agony and human injustice."
	
Then the congregation applauded as he added, "It is a sin to be silent when 
we have a budget surplus but we need a lottery to finance our children's 
education."
	
After his sermon, Dr. Moss surprised the congregation by introducing the 
Rev. Jesse Jackson. In his remarks, the Rev. Jackson praised the role of 
NCC General Secretary the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell in making possible the 
release of the three hostages from Kosovo. In praising his long-time 
colleague, Andrew Young, the Rev. Jackson said, "Andrew Young is part of 
the glue that holds this world together."  He then listed many countries in 
which Ambassador Young's presence has made a difference in the fight for 
peace and justice.

The service began with a representative of each of the Council's 35 member 
communions lighting a candle from a common candle. It included prayers and 
music from many different traditions, including hymns from Beethoven 
("Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee"), Fannie Jane Crosby ("Blessed Assurance") 
and James Weldon Johnson ("Lift Every Voice and Sing").
	
The installation itself took place under the vaulted ceiling of golden 
stars on a blue background, as outgoing NCC President the Rt. Rev. Craig 
Anderson of The Episcopal Church asked the constitutional questions of the 
officers and draped a pectoral cross, a symbol of the office of president, 
over Ambassador Young's shoulders.

The two-hour service concluded with a rollicking recessional under the high 
Gothic arches as the 75-voice choir from Shaker Heights High School led the 
congregation in many verses of "Siyahamba," a South African hymn.

The evening concluded with a celebrative 50th anniversary banquet in the 
ballroom of Cleveland's Renaissance Hotel on Public Square. Nearly one 
thousand dinner guests enjoyed stories about a young Andy Young as Dorothy 
Cotton, former co-director with him of the Southern Christian Leadership 
Conference, alternated anecdotes with bursting into song and enticing the 
audience to join in with their own clapping and singing. Santita Jackson, 
daughter of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, stirred souls with her singing of "If I 
Can Help Somebody" and "I Don't Know About Tomorrow."

A video, "Unity in Christ: Gift and Calling," produced and narrated for the 
NCC's 50th anniversary by Roy Lloyd, evoked both pride in the past and the 
promise of the future for the country's largest ecumenical 
organization.  The banquet program included a tribute to Serbian Orthodox 
Patriarch Pavle for his courageous witness against war and ethnic 
cleansing, and to the U.S. church leaders' delegation headed by NCC General 
Secretary Campbell and the Rev. Jesse Jackson that brought the three 
captured U.S. soldiers out earlier this year.

"I don't know what the future holds for us," Ambassador Young said during 
his brief remarks, "but the truth is, we don't hold the future."

"There is a kind of transcendent connection to this ecumenical process 
which we sometimes forget," he reminded those present. "This is a 
resurrection faith - not just in the by-and-by but in the here and now."

"I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to stand with you," he 
concluded. "I look forward to moving with you as the Holy Spirit moves us 
into the 21st century."

The four-day 50th anniversary celebration ends Friday noon after the 
concluding General Assembly Business Session and two forums: one on the 
church in the city and the other on faith-based organizing.

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