wfn.org | WCC - Churches to consult on "War on Terrorism"

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release, PR-02-21
For Immediate Use
31 July 2002

Churches to consult on "War on Terrorism"

The US-declared war on terrorism, still widely popular in the United States but subject to increasing scepticism elsewhere in the world, will be the focus of an international ecumenical meeting in Washington, D.C., 5-6 August.  

"Beyond September 11: Implications for US Churches and the World," is sponsored by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in consultation with the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCCCUSA) and Church World Service.  

"We are providing a space for churches to discern together what the events following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US mean for the United States and the world," said Elizabeth Ferris, programme executive for the WCC's International Relations Team in Geneva, Switzerland.  

"Churches in other parts of the world have expressed great interest in the opinions, analysis and actions of US churches," Ferris said. "The report of the meeting will be shared with the WCC's Central Committee meeting" when it meets in Geneva in late August and with the NCCCUSA when its Assembly meets in the fall.  

The meeting, which is expected to draw more than 40 representatives from US churches and 10 international church representatives, will be held at the 4H Conference Center near Washington, D.C.  

As churches around the world express increasing alarm about the war on terrorism, the lack of media coverage of US church attitudes leaves the international community "with the impression of a certain quietism among the churches in the United States when it comes to expressing their views about the policies and actions of their own government," said Ferris, a US Quaker.  

Ferris said that while the focus of the meeting will be on discerning the consequences of current political developments in the United States, participants may decide to issue a statement from the meeting.  

The sessions will include discussions of the following topics:

- Theological and ethical perspectives, introduced by Dr. Walter Altmann, Brazil, and Mary Lord, American Friends Service Committee.

- Changing conceptions of national and global security, introduced by Dr. Ernie Regehr, director of Project Ploughshares, Canada, and Joe Volk, director of the Friends Committee for National Legislation.

- Human rights implications for the US and the world, introduced by Human Rights Watch, and Clement John, WCC International Relations staff.

- The impact on interfaith relations, introduced by Victor Makari, Presbyterian Church USA, and Bishop Mano Rumalshah, Peshawar, Pakistan.

- The impact on ecumenical relations, introduced by Oscar Bolioli, NCCCUSA staff, and Elizabeth Ferris, WCC.

International Participants:

Dr Walter Altmann, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil
Rev. Dora Arce, Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba
Ms. Carmencita Karagdag, National Council of Churches in the Philippines
Dr. John Langmore, ILO Liaison Office to the UN, (Anglican Church in Australia)
Ms. Abla Nasir, YWCA Palestine, Jerusalem
Archbishop Condrea Nicolae, Romanian Orthodox Archbishopric of America and Canada
Rev. Renta Nishihara, The Anglican Church in Japan
Mr Ernie Regehr, Project Ploughshares, Institute of  Peace & Conflict Studies, Conrad Grebel College, University of  Waterloo, Canada
Mr Paul Renshaw, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
Bishop Mano Rumalshah, United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (UK and Pakistan)
Rev. Eunice Santana, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Puerto Rico

US participants:

Ms Mia Adjali, United Methodist Office at the United Nations
Mr Liberato Bautista, General Board of Church and Society
Rev Oscar Bolioli, Presbyterian Church (USA), NCCCUSA 
Bishop Stephen P. Bouman, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
Mr Jim Bowman, Office of Public Policy, Lutheran World Relief 
Mr Dale W. Brown, Church of the Brethren
Mr Vernon S. Broyles, III, National Ministries Division, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Mr Daryl J. Byler, Mennonite Central Committee, US Washington Office
Mr Steven Cupic, Office of International Affairs of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the US and Canada
Ms Lois McCullough Dauway, Women's Division: General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church
Ms Marie Dennis, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Mr Dennis Frado, Lutheran Office for World Community, Division for Church in Society, ELCA
Ms Anne Glynn-Mackoul, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
Ms Catherine Gordon, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Mr. Gabriel Habib, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East / NCCCUSA
Mr Chris Hobgood, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Ms Mary Yoder Holsopple, Peace and Justice Collaborative
Mr Victor Hsu, Church World Service and Witness
Ms Kathleen Kern, Mennonite Church USA
Ms Mary Lord, American Friends Service Committee
Dr Janice Love, United Methodist Church
Rev. Dr Victor Makari, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Dr Belle Miller McMaster, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Ms Wendy Patten, Human Rights Watch
Ms Barbara Ricks Thompson, NCCCUSA
Mr Joe Volk, Friends Committee on National Legislation
Rev. Angelique Walker-Smith, National Baptist Convention USA
Bishop C. Dale White, United Methodist Church
Ms Lisa Wright, Church World Service and Witness

For additional information, Philip E. Jenks, communications officer, U.S. Office, World Council of Churches, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 915, New York, NY 101115, +1 212 870 3193, pej@wcc-coe.org or Media Relations Office in Geneva,   tel: +41 (0)22 791 64 21

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The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

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