wfn.org | NCC's Faith and Order launches on-line journal

["NCC News" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

'Speaking of Unity' -- NCC's Faith and Order
launches an on-line professional journal 

New York, January 23, 2006 -- In what may be the first of its kind, the Faith
and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches USA has launched an
electronic journal for ecumenical professionals and other interested
observers.

Called, "Speaking of Unity," the journal is edited by Dr. Ann K. Riggs,
Associate General Secretary of the NCC for Faith and Order. 

Articles on Faith and Order documents and issues are available both as html
pages for easy access and reading, and as pdf files to make it easier to
print hard copies.

The inaugural issue offers articles on "Meanings of Full Communion, the
Essence of Life in the Body," by long-time Faith and Order scholar, Professor
O.C. Edwards, Jr., an Episcopal priest; and "Reflections of a Newcomer," by
Dr. Dale E. Luffman, who represents the Community of Christ on the NCC's
Faith and Order Commission.

The first issue of "Speaking of Unity," designed by Dr. Keelan Downton of the
NCC's Faith and Order staff, was developed as persons of faith around the
world were anticipating the World Council of Churches' ninth assembly
February 14-23, 2006, in Puerto Alegre, Brazil. The assembly will issue
statements on faith and order and other topics that will be examined in
future issues.

"The issue is centered upon the publication of an essay giving an account of
the work of the Full Communion study group of the NCC Faith and Order
Commission carried out during the four year study period between 2000 and
2003," Riggs said in an editorial.

The Journal is launched at a time when Faith and Order is preparing to
celebrate its 50th anniversary July 19-23, 2007. Future articles will
highlight plans for a return to the commission's 1957 birthplace, Oberlin,
Ohio, for a conference entitled, "On Being Christian Together: The Faith and
Order Experience in the United States."

Other articles in the journal include reflections from an Orthodox point of
view on the form and function of ecumenical statements by David Wagschal of
the Orthodox Church in America;  and "Making Sense of the Church" by Joseph
D. Small of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

NCC President Michael E. Livingston offered a forward that welcomed the
journal to the ecumenical dialogue.

"The matters addressed, the questions raised, on the goals and means of the
ecumenical endeavor in this first issue of Speaking of Unity are central not
only to the work of Faith and Order but also to the entirety of our life
together as partners in a pilgrimage of mutuality and unity," Livingston
wrote. 

"The deepening of our sense of community for which we long is dependent on
our capacity to learn to understand one another and to speak in ways that are
meaningful to us all."

The National Council of Churches USA is composed of 35 Protestant, Anglican,
Orthodox, historic African American and peace communions representing 45
million Christians in 100,000 local congregations in the United States.

Contact NCC News: Philip E. Jenks, pjenks@ncccusa.org, 212-870-2252, or
Leslie Tune, 202-544-2350, ltune@ncccusa.org.