wfn.org | Pattillo to Head National Council of Churches Communications

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National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
Email: news@ncccusa.org   Web:www.ncccusa.org
NCC2/27/01 For Immediate Release

WESLEY M. "PAT" PATTILLO CHOSEN TO HEAD NCC COMMUNICATIONS

February 27, 2001, NEW YORK-The National Council of Churches has elected a
veteran Southern Baptist communicator from Birmingham, Ala., to its senior
staff in New York City.

Wesley M. "Pat" Pattillo, currently North American representative for Hong
Kong Baptist University, previously served the Southern Baptist Convention's
flagship institution, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville,
Ky., for 14 years and Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., for eight
years.

Pattillo will become Associate General Secretary for Communications of the
NCC on April 16.  He will oversee the communications program of the NCC and
its international ministry, Church World Service.

The National Council of Churches, founded in 1950, is the leading ecumenical
organization in the United States, comprising 50 million Christians in
140,000 congregations nationwide.  Its 36 member denominations include
United Methodist, Presbyterian (U.S.A.), Evangelical Lutheran, Disciples,
American Baptist, Episcopal, United Church of Christ and most of the black
Baptist and Methodist church groups, along with the major Orthodox
communions in America.

At Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (1972-86), Pattillo served as vice
president for development and public relations; at Samford (1986-94), he was
vice president for university relations.

Since 1996, he has been the North American representative for Hong Kong
Baptist University, the sole surviving Christian university in the People's
Republic of China.  He served a two-year term (1994-1996) as president of
the National Foundation for Youth in Clearwater, Fla., working with founders
Jack and Ruth Eckerd to underwrite programs of rehabilitation for troubled
teenagers and children.

Commenting on his new assignment, Pattillo said, "It will be a privilege to
join with this unique cooperative organization as it pursues a broad range
of Christian ministries, rooted in Biblical faith and focused on the most
challenging of human needs.  The NCC's pioneering work in Christian
education, relief and refugee resettlement, Bible translation, and issues of
moral and spiritual witness emerges from a passionate commitment to be
faithful to the Spirit of Christ in our time," Pattillo said.

Said the NCC's General Secretary, Dr. Bob Edgar, "We welcome Pat Pattillo
and the experience and expertise he brings to the important task of 'getting
the word out' on the work of the National Council of Churches and its global
service and witness ministry, Church World Service.  We look forward to
Pat's contributions and leadership in communications, especially as the
Council embarks upon its mobilization against poverty and its exploration of
a broader ecumenical vision."

Pattillo, a native of Mobile, Ala., earned degrees in journalism and mass
communications from the University of Georgia and Ohio State University.

He holds professional accreditation (APR) from the Public Relations Society
of America and was elected to the national PRSA College of Fellows in 1994.
He also earned CFRE certification from the National Society of Fund-Raising
Executives, and was recognized by NSFRE in 1990 as fund-raising executive of
the year in Alabama.  In addition, the Council for Advancement and Support
of Education (CASE) honored him with the U.S. Steel Award for sustained
achievement in institutional advancement.

His wife, Zelma Mullins Pattillo, is an ordained Southern Baptist minister
and a board certified chaplain.  She serves as coordinator of spiritual care
for Unity Hospice, a joint program of the Baptist and Catholic health
systems of the Birmingham area.  They are parents of two adult children, and
are members of Baptist Church of the Covenant on Birmingham's Southside, a
Southern Baptist congregation affiliated with the NCC-related Alliance of
Baptists.

Pattillo's election came by unanimous action of the NCC's Executive Board,
meeting in New York City Feb. 26-27.

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