Dear Mr. President-Elect

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) clergyman and a long-time educator and ecumenical leader, is the ninth General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.

The NCC is the ecumenical voice of America's Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican, historic African American and traditional peace churches. These 35 communions have 45 million faithful members in 100,000 congregations in all 50 states.

Dear Mr. President-Elect:

November 5, 2008

Blessings on you, and congratulations. Now that the electorate has made its decision, we at the National Council of Churches urge all Americans to come together to uphold you with our hands, our hearts and our prayers.

Only rarely in our history has a president-elect faced immediate challenges of such fierce magnitude. The leaders of this Council pledge to you our unstinting support in the difficult days to come. All of us are dependent on God's loving mercy, and we will regularly pray for you and others elected to high leadership. May your wisdom and discernment serve you well, and may your health never wane.

Mr. President-Elect, the 45-million Christians represented by the member communions of the National Council of Churches stand ready to work with you to respond to the realities that a loving God places before us each day. In doing so, we are guided by several basic principles:

That those living in poverty are deeply loved of God;
that all God's people are entitled to equal opportunities for justice, shelter, education, and health care;
And that war, even when it is necessary to defend ourselves or the weak or the oppressed, is never the will of God.

Grace to you, and peace,

Michael Kinnamon
General Secretary
National Council of Churches