wfn.org | [PCUSAnews] Churches uniquely positioned to meet worlds needs, Young

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Note #5990 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Title:Churches uniquely positioned to meet world�s needs, Young says
Ga00044
June 26, 2000

Churches uniquely positioned to meet world�s needs, Young says

	NCC president calls for better ministry with corporation heads

	by Jerry L. Van Marter

LONG BEACH, June 26�Though the U.S. is �the only power left in the world
with credibility, vision and resources to make a difference,� Andrew Young
told a breakfast gathering at the 212th General Assembly today,  �only the
churches and business have the flexibility to respond quickly enough to the
needs of the world.�

	In meeting the challenges of economic globalization �we have no other
choice,� former U.N. Ambassador, Carter administration official, Atlanta
mayor and current National Council of Churches president, Andrew M. Young
told the second annual General Assembly Breakfast.  �Governments just can�t
move fast enough.�

	And because business is such a critical player in the world economy, Young
said, it�s imperative that churches do a better ministry with corporation
heads.  �I know these folk.  They are by-and-large Christians who want to do
the right thing,� he said.  �They are on the cutting edge through no fault
of their own and their lives can be very lonely.  We need to be there with
them.�

	The church must be open to new ways Jesus Christ is making himself known in
the world, Young said.  �We know Christ is present in new cultures that are
emerging in our world,� Young told the crowd of several hundred, �and we
know that he is offering the gospel to those cultures.  We must be open to
those new ways and embrace them.�

	In a wide-ranging talk, Young praised the missionary work of the churches
and said prayer gives Christians the power to effect the changes that can
bring the kingdom of God to earth.

	�We are caught in a world that presents more challenges than our culture
has prepared us for,� he said.  �Prayer gives us the power to plumb the
depths of our spiritual power when the ways of the world conspire against
us.�

	And his experience as he has traveled around the world, the United Church
of Christ minister said, �have shown me that missionaries have put a human
touch on the world that the world doesn�t understand and the press can�t
figure out how to report.�

	God is moving in history and Christ is continually breaking in
unexpectedly, Young said, transforming our hopeless situations.  �Christians
operate from the unique perspective that God is going to do something
powerful and wonderful, even when it seems we can do nothing.�

	Young defended the National Council of Churches (NCC), which he has led
since last November.  �The NCC has been through an agonizing restructuring. 
Like churches and the public schools,� he continued, �you can�t run an
institution the same way in 2000 that you did in 1950.�  He said critics who
charge the NCC is not as effective as it should be �are right � we�re not as
effective as we should be.  Our denominations and congregations are not as
effective as they should be.�

	�But,� he concluded, �God doesn�t withhold His grace, so we shouldn�t
withhold our support.  By the grace of God we all strive to become more
effective and Christ will be with us always.�

	
	

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