Newsline: Brethren leader part of group visiting with President today

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl

Brumbaugh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN LEADER IS PART OF CHRISTIAN

DELEGATION VISITING PRESIDENT AT WHITE HOUSE TODAY

(Nov. 1, 2010) Elgin, IL -- Church of the Brethren general secretary 
Stan

Noffsinger was one of the Christian leaders who met with President 
Barack

Obama this afternoon, Nov. 1. The White House invited the delegation 
of

leaders of denominations connected with the National Council of 
Churches

(NCC) and Church World Service (CWS) in celebration of 100 years of

>ecumenism in the United States.

"What an event! It wasn't just a feel-good meeting, it was 
substantive,"

commented Noffsinger in a phone interview following the meeting. "We

had a very pastoral visit. There was no partisanship. We were there as

>people of faith."

As the meeting opened, as a way of acknowledging a seeming lack of 
civility

as the country deals with issues, Wesley S. Granberg-Michaelson of the

Reformed Church in America read the passage from James 3:16-18. At the

invitation of the President, the meeting concluded with prayer led by 
Bishop

Thomas L. Hoyt Jr. of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

"We set the stage with scripture and closed with prayer." Noffsinger 
said.

The Christian leaders thanked President Obama for robust engagement 
with

the faith community, and for passage of health reform legislation, 
while also

pressing him to take a strong stance on behalf of people facing 
poverty and

>hunger.

The group urged the President to prioritize a number of issues, 
including

strengthening the country's fraying safety net; extending unemployment

benefits as the economy continues to falter; lifting people out of 
poverty with

a focus on job creation for those in poverty, job training, and 
education;

Middle East peace; and the US relationship with Cuba, urging the 
President to

lift the travel ban from the US to Cuba so that American-based 
organizations

like Church World Service can support churches and communities there.

Meeting on the eve of the mid-term election, the Christian leaders 
also

emphasized the need to work together for the common good and spoke of 
the

power of churches to lead and break down walls of division.

"Almost in every issue we laid on the table he (the President) was 
crisp in his

responses, very well thought out," Noffsinger said. "I was very 
impressed with

his caring for and concern for the unemployed, those who need health 
benefits,

>those who face violence in their lives."

The President spent almost a quarter of an hour longer than was 
scheduled with

the Christian leaders, something Noffsinger noted indicated his 
interest in the

conversation. "He stayed with us for about 42 minutes," Noffsinger 
said.

Noffsinger was chosen to take part in the delegation as a member of 
the

executive committee of the NCC, and was one of two leaders 
representing the

peace churches along with Thomas Swain of the Religious Society of 
Friends,

Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. The group also included NCC president Peg

Chemberlin, NCC general secretary Michael Kinnamon, CWS president John

McCullough, and heads of communion of 14 other denominations 
representing

a variety of Christian traditions from the NCC.

"As the economic downturn has battered the middle class, it has been 
even more

devastating to those already living on the economic margins of 
society," said

Chemberlin in a release from the NCC. "Our denominations and 
organizations

are on the front lines--providing meals, support, and assistance to 
those hit hard

by the economic downturn--but we know that more needs to be done."

"Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's election, our faithful 
witness is

needed now more than ever," said Kinnamon. "Today, tomorrow, and into 
this

next Congress, our country needs to come together and reclaim our 
values of

>justice and equality."

Noffsinger expects continued dialogue with White House staff 
following today's

meeting, reporting that the President told the group of church 
leaders there are

several new initiatives that his staff want to work on with the faith 
community.

The President also acknowledged the divisiveness and rancor of the 
current

political climate, Noffsinger said, but expressed his feeling of 
accountability to

all people of the country, and talked about the continuing role of 
faith in his own

>life.

The elections were not the focus of the meeting, Noffsinger 
emphasized, but

added that the Christian leaders "are concerned with the discourse, 
and will

continue to be in prayer for legislators and the President."

The delegation presented the President with a Saint John's Bible, a 
framed

sampler of statements commemorating 100 years of ecumenism, and a 
picture

plaque commemorating the CWS "Feed the Future" initiative.

At a reception following the meeting, hosted by the Office of 
Faith-Based

Initiatives, members of the delegation had an opportunity to meet 
directors of

that office's 12 focus areas. "There was significant conversation," 
Noffsinger

said. He himself had a chance to speak with staff related to 
AmeriCorps,

regarding stories of transformation brought about by volunteer 
involvement in

local communities, and with staff of US AID and the Department of 
Agriculture,

regarding Church of the Brethren initiatives against hunger and the 
work of the

>Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to 
continuing

the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith 
in community.

The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith 
traditions and is

one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated its 300th 
anniversary in

2008. It counts some 123,000 members across the United States and 
Puerto Rico,

and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the 
Dominican Republic,

>Haiti, and India.

(This report includes sections of a release by the National Council 
of Churches.

Philip E. Jenks of the NCC and Kristin Williams of Faith in Public 
Life

>contributed.)

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