wfn.org | Advisory with Updated Contact Info, NCC General Assembly Nov.

["Carol Fouke" <cfouke@ncccusa.org>]

Nov. 3 Advisory, NCC General Assembly Nov.4-6

National Council of Churches Annual Assembly Meets Nov. 4-6 in Jackson,
Miss.
Installation of Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr., A Study of Human Genetic
Technologies, Votes on Two Boycotts Related to Fieldworker Conditions Among
Highlights

MEDIA CONTACTS:

NCC Newsroom Nov. 4-6: 601-206-3181 (Crown Room, Jackson Hilton)
Or Mobile: 702-523-4006 or 917-690-6075

November 3, 2003, JACKSON, Miss. - Dr. Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr., Christian
Methodist Episcopal Bishop of Mississippi and Louisiana, will be installed
as President of the National Council of Churches (NCC) on Thursday, Nov. 6,
during that body's 2003 annual national General Assembly, meeting in Jackson
Nov. 4-6.

The NCC is the nation's leading ecumenical organization.  Thirty-six African
American, mainline Protestant, Orthodox and Episcopal denominations -
comprising 50 million Christians in 140,000 local congregations nationwide -
work through the Council to address people's spiritual and social needs and
to seek greater unity among Christians.

The Assembly is the Council's highest legislative body, and is made up of
280 official delegates from the member denominations.  This is the first
time in the Council's 54-year history that its national meeting has been
held in Mississippi.

All Assembly sessions are open to the public and will be held at the Jackson
Hilton, 1001 East County Line Road, except for the service of installation
for Bishop Hoyt and other officers.  That will take place at 8 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 6, at Anderson United Methodist Church, 6205 Hanging Moss
Road, Jackson (phone 601-982-3997).

The NCC's New President, Bishop Thomas J. Hoyt

Bishop Hoyt, 62, of Shreveport, La., is the first NCC President from the
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the NCC's seven historic
African American member denominations.	Widely recognized as a theologian,
preacher, pastor and Bible scholar, he will serve in 2004-5 as NCC
President, an office roughly comparable to that of Chairman of the Board of
a corporation.

He will continue in his responsibilities as Bishop of the C.M.E.'s Fourth
Episcopal District, which counts 50,000 members (18,000 in Louisiana, 32,000
in Mississippi - including about 7,000 in and around Jackson) in 320 local
congregations served by 265 pastors.  He nevertheless will devote
considerable time to his duties as leader and spokesperson for the Council.

In an interview, Dr. Hoyt said he has been involved in the ecumenical
movement since his youth.  He has given leadership in many
multi-denominational organizations and endeavors, including the Consultation
on Church Union (now Churches Uniting in Christ), the World Council of
Churches and the NCC.

"Our mandate is to bring unity to the people of God - not just for the
churches but for humanity," he said.  "That's the challenge for me - to
reach out to humanity."  This includes working to protect the environment,
Dr. Hoyt said, and seeking the reconciliation of all people "around their
humanity," redressing historical divisions on the base of race, class,
gender and ability.

NCC Assembly to Act on Current Issues

During the Nov. 4-6 Assembly, delegates also are expected to act on several
social issues, including the proposals that the NCC endorse national
boycotts of Taco Bell and Mt. Olive Pickle companies to put pressure for
improvement of wages and living conditions of their (respectively) tomato
and cucumber suppliers' fieldworkers.

Affirmative votes would be especially significant given the NCC's insistence
that boycotts are a measure of last resort.  It has been more than 15 years
since the NCC endorsed a boycott (May 1988, related to Royal Dutch/Shell's
connections at that time to apartheid South Africa.)

Other proposed actions concern prescription drug costs, several
international issues and next steps in the churches' consideration together
of issues posed by human genetic technologies.

An emphasis on children will be reflected in actions on public education and
on advocacy for children's needs, the participation of the Piney Woods
School Choir and a giant pew so adults can experience how children feel at
worship.

Consideration of the role of youths and young adults in the ecumenical
movement will be evident in a pre-Assembly event Nov. 3, young adult caucus
breakfast Nov. 6, and participation of 10 young adult stewards from across
the United States who will serve in the background as they observe up close
the deliberative work of ecumenism.

This General Assembly will be a multi-media meeting engaging multiple
dimensions of perception and interaction - spatial, intrapersonal,
interpersonal, kinesthetic, musical, mathematical and linguistic.  Speeches
and discussions will be interwoven with a civil rights tour, worship and
Bible study, time for silent reflection and - at delegates' tables -
modeling clay and chenille stems for spontaneous sculptures.

A resident potter - Ky Johnston, who teaches at Delta State University in
Cleveland, Miss. - will reflect the Assembly's theme "In the Potter's
Hands."  Also expect dozens of colorful banners, a bookstore and an exhibit
hall.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the Nov. 4-6 General Assembly.
See www.ncccusa.org for further information or come to the General Assembly
Registration Desk at the Jackson Hilton.  The Assembly meets in Salons A&B.
Registration opens at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4.

-end-

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11/3/2003

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