Introduction

The Communication Commission is one of the five program commissions of the National Council of Churches USA, the leading organization for ecumenical cooperation among Christian faith groups in the United States. The 36 member communions of the NCC encompass 100,000 local congregations with more than 45 million adherents.

The Commission seeks to serve as a professional development resource, providing its  members with fellowship, learning and public service opportunities; as a channel of collaboration among faith groups doing parallel tasks in communication; and as a moral and educational force in the communication field, emphasizing democratic access to mass media and fairness in programming and news coverage of all public issues, including those dealing with religion.

The Commission's participants are professional communicators who work -- primarily at the national level -- in print, broadcast, film, web, news, media relations and other communication tasks for a wide variety of Christian faith groups in the U.S. and Canada -- both member churches and non-members of the NCC itself.  The officers and the committee chairs listed below, make up the Commission's Executive Committee for the current 2004-2008 NCC quadrennium.

Communication Commission Officers

Chair: Ann Gillies, Presbyterian Church (USA)
Vice Chair: Bob Chase, United Church of Christ
Secretary: Nikki Stephanopoulos, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
Treasurer: Kermit Netteburg, Seventh-Day Adventist Church
Commission Representative to the NCC Board (elected November 2004): Larry Hollon, United Methodist Communications

Committee Chairs

Electronic Programming:  Burton Buller, Mennonite Media
Media Advocacy: Bob Chase, United Church of Christ
News/Media Relations/Worldwide Faith News:  John Brooks, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Web Managers:  Ed Cimafonte, The Episcopal Church, and Paul Edison-Swift, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Communication Department Staff

The staff of the Commission assist the members in carrying out the Commission's efforts in network broadcast production, media advocacy, professional development, and the  administration of service projects that benefit the church and society at large.  They also serve as the communication staff for the NCC, providing media relations, interpretation, promotion and public affairs support to all the departments and programs of the Council.  In 2004, the following served on the communication staff: 

Wesley M. “Pat” Pattillo, Associate General Secretary for Communication

Carol Fouke-Mpoyo, Director of Media Relations

Doris Glover, Administrative Assistant to the Communication Staff

Vince Isner, Director of FaithfulAmerica.org (began October 2004)

Leslie Tune, Washington Communication Officer

Sarah Vilankulu, Director of Interpretation

Shirley W. Struchen, Coordinator of Electronic Programming

George Conklin, Project Coordinator, Worldwide Faith News

Commission Activities for 2004

The NCC Communication Commission, with its workgroups and committees, usually meets twice a year, in spring and fall. These gatherings are often scheduled to coincide with other professional meetings that interest the NCC's communicators, allowing expanded networking and reducing travel expenses for all participants. Details of the Commission’s two meetings in 2004 follow.

March 24-25 in Birmingham, Alabama.  The Commission met in tandem with the 75th anniversary convention of the Religion Communicators Council, the annual Wilbur Awards for excellence in public media treatment of faith issues and themes, and the semi-annual gathering of the North American region of the World Association of Christian Communication. Meetings were at the Wynfrey Hotel in the Riverchase Galleria, and the awards ceremony was at the Birmingham Museum of Art.  Dr. Nancy Snow, right, professor of communication at California State University-Fullerton, author of Information War, was a highlighted speaker for two sessions. On-site visits took participants to the Eternal Word Television Network studios, Time-Warner's Southern Progress publishing center, and Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. 

September 11-14  in Washington, DC.  The Commission co-sponsored the second Faith Communicators Forum, along with partners Faith & Values Media, the Washington chapter of Religion Communicators Council, and the UCC's  Everett C. Parker Lectures on Ethics in Telecommunications.  Featured speakers for the gathering included Krista Tippett, left, host of the Minnesota Public Radio series Speaking of Faith; Jeffrey Birnbaum, center, Washington Post columnist and former White House correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, and Congresswoman Diane Watson of Los Angeles, right, a leader in media legislation; and The Interfaith Alliance's executive director, C. Welton Gaddy, also spoke.  Meetings were held at the Wyndham Washington Hotel and the National City Christian Church, both on Thomas Circle on Massachusetts Avenue, and at the National Press Club.

Office of Interpretation Resources

Reports to: Communication Commission
Sarah Vilankulu, Director
Dee Glover, Administrative Assistant to the Communication Department (Shared) 

In an election year in which the buzz was all about values and the intersection of faith and politics, the National Council of Churches lifted its voice in a prophetic, nonpartisan focus on ending poverty—a moral imperative that the NCC urged candidates to address. Interpretation Resources supported that effort in a variety of ways, including articles in the three issues of the NCC’s newsletter, EcuLink, that were produced in 2004.

• In the spring, the newsletter featured early efforts to gear up for the election season on the part of the NCC, the Center for Community Change, many state and local ecumenical and interfaith councils, community organizations and others. The groups hoped to “Vote Down Poverty” by registering low-income voters and pressing candidates of both major parties to make poverty a campaign issue.

• In early September, EcuLink focused on the “Let Justice Roll” campaign that took these concerns to 15 cities nationwide. It also offered a full page of election-year helps for the faith community including “10 Christian Principles in an Election Year,” the resources of FaithfulDemocracy.org and FaithfulAmerica.org, and thoughts on how churches can be involved in the issues of the day without violating healthy boundaries between church and state.

• The post-election issue of EcuLink, which went to nearly 200,000 persons (twice the normal circulation), carried reflections on expanding the meaning of “values” and on how an energized faith community could continue to organize and to act for a more just and peaceful world.  

Broad-Ranging Faith Concerns Shape Council Programs  

In addition to the special election-year focus, EcuLink and other NCC interpretation vehicles continued to provide a balanced view of the varied work of the Council, reporting on such projects and programs as: 

• Two new curricula, one to help congregations study the US role as a world citizen and the other to help Christians grow in their understanding of human genetic biotechnologies and the ethical issues they raise.

• Eco-justice events and resources that reflect and encourage the growing awareness that our faith calls us to protect God’s creation.

• The Benefit Bank, a Web-based program that helps working low-income families access benefits to which they are entitled but that often go uncollected.

• Efforts to improve interfaith relations through education and dialogue.

• Joint ventures of the churches in a wide range of educational ministries.

• Ongoing studies that strengthen Christian unity by focusing on issues that divide churches and those that unite them.

• Highlights from the work of Church World Service, the global humanitarian agency of the NCC’s 36 Protestant and Orthodox member communions. 

Feedback from Constituents and the General Public

Interpretation Resources regularly receives questions and messages from constituents and the general public on a wide array of topics, and responds to an average of 2,000 such contacts each year. The year 2004 was no different in this respect. Election-year concerns, however, influenced the kind of inquiries and comments that the office received. Many such contacts reflected a range of responses to NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar’s public comments on faith and politics—especially his statements on how faith influences what we have to say on health-care access, the minimum wage, tax cuts and other issues that have an economic impact and that particularly affect the most vulnerable members of our society: children, the elderly and low-income families.  

Other topics that generated constituent and public interest included the NCC’s efforts toward peacemaking and toward ensuring civil and religious liberties. And, as in previous years, the office fulfilled requests related to religion-related statistics and trends, NCC policy statements and resolutions on diverse issues, referrals to local ecumenical agencies, historical information about the NCC and much more.

Such requests provide opportunities to interpret and create goodwill for the Council one person at a time. And over time they add up—tens of thousands in the tenure of the current director for interpretation resources. 

Healing Election-Year Wounds

The office staffed an ad hoc committee at the NCC’s 2004 General Assembly in St. Louis that met just a week after the election. The committee produced a statement that the Assembly adopted, which addressed the divisive nature of the election and the widespread perception that there are two opposing Christian camps in the US. The statement made the strong claim that there is more that unites Christians than divides them. With an eye to this common ground, the Assembly also adopted the committee’s recommendation to pursue an NCC process “that attempts to engage the spectrum of Christian churches in our communities in dialogues about Christian values.”

And in Other Work . . .

 In 2004, Interpretation Resources also: 

• Helped to develop and apply the ‘Let Justice Roll” campaign logo.

• Produced a major Web feature for the anniversary of September 11.

• Wrote and designed the report “For Such a Time As This,” giving an overview of NCC activities for the 2003-2004 fiscal year.

• Continued to staff a multi-year effort to catalog and clarify the NCC’s extensive partner relationships.

• Helped publicize a wide variety of NCC events such as: the March 8, 2004, ecumenical news conference on the denial of due process to detainees held by U.S. troops at Guantanamo; a Memorial Day Service in Washington, D.C. to remember all the troops, civilians, journalists and others who have died in the Iraq War; special donor events; and the launch of FaithfulAmerica, org.

• Hosted visitors at NCC offices including confirmation classes, two groups of Asian journalists who toured the U.S. under State Department sponsorship, and other interested individuals and groups.

• Created a Communication Commission display for the 2004 NCC General Assembly.
  Fulfilled daily and weekly requests for drafting and editing of items on behalf of the NCC such as articles, letters, reports, statements, ads, official greetings to faith groups at assemblies, anniversaries, etc.

Office of Electronic Programming

Reports to: Electronic Programming Committee,
Burton Buller, Mennonite Media, Chair

Shirley W. Struchen, Coordinator, Part-time
Dee Glover, Administrative Assistant to the Communication Department (Shared)

Interfaith Broadcasting Commission (IBC)

The coordinator for the Office of Electronic Programming serves as the Council’s production liaison to the IBC, helping to shape the four-way partnership that provides religious programming to the three major broadcast networks. Other partners are the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Broadcast Group of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Productions Aired on the National Networks in 2004

The networks air documentaries and provide time for seasonal worship services for the four IBC partner groups.  The 2004 network programs offered through the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission by the NCC Communication Commission’s member denominations were:

CBS-TV Religion and Culture Series

April 4, 2004, “Extraordinary Possibilities: The Civil Rights Movement Then and Now”(Resourced by the NCC)  United Methodist Bishop Woodie White of the Indiana Area was interviewed about spending three days in jail after entering an all-white church in Mississippi. Other participants included Dr. Dorothy Height, president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women, and Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. The program was carried by 110 stations.

June 27, 2004, “Help Them Learn, Help Them Grow: A Faith Response to Children Left Behind”  The program visited Chicago for examples of faith-based help to underserved students and communities. Fourth Presbyterian Church was featured with an interview with Beth Truett, executive director of the church’s Chicago Lights program. Since 1914, the church has been serving people living in poverty, and currently more than 500 children from public schools come to the church for tutoring, hot meals, and job training. “Help The Learn, Help Them Grow” was carried by 115 stations.

December 19, 2004, “Voices of Peace: People of Faith Speak Out About Religious Violence”  Among guests was the Rev. Dirk Ficca, a Presbyterian minister and executive director of the Council for a Parliament of the Worlds’ Religions, based in Chicago, Ill. The program was carried by 104 stations.

CBS-TV Liturgical Special on Christmas Eve, 2004

December 24, 2004, “Enter the Light of Life”  The Church of the Brethren was featured in this multicultural service of music and faith taped at the Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind. The program was carried by 188 stations.
 

ABC-TV Vision and Values Series

October 24, 2004, “ Hunger No More; Faces Behind the Facts” This NCC documentary was a cooperative production of many NCC partners. The program highlighted positive results of communities working together against hunger and featured interviews with Senator Elizabeth Dole and former Senator George McGovern. Mennonite Media produced the program for NCC with the following partners: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s World Hunger Program, Bread for the World, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Society of St. Andrew, and Church World Service; and with footage from the United Church of Christ, United Methodist Communications and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The program was carried by 148 stations.
 

ABC-TV Liturgical Special, Christmas 2004

December 25, 2004, “Christmas Eve at the Cathedral of St. Philip”  This program featured Atlanta’s Cathedral of St. Philip and Episcopal Bishop J. Neil Alexander. It was aired on 187 stations.

NBC-TV Horizons of the Spirit Series
 

September 26, 2004, “LPFM: The People’s Choice”  This program, produced by the United Church of Christ, chronicles the promise of low-power, low-cost radio service. It was carried on 45 stations.
 

NBC-TV Liturgical Special, Easter 2004

April 11, 2004, “Imagine a World Without Easter”  Filmed at Germantown United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tenn., this program aired on 75 stations.

Office of Media Relations

Reports to: News/Media Relations/Worldwide Faith News Committee,
John Brooks, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Chair

Carol J. Fouke-Mpoyo, Director
Dee Glover, Administrative Assistant to the Communication Department (Shared) 

The Office of Media Relations in 2004 carried responsibility for:

• Managing NCC relations with news and other media.
• Offering support to all of the Council's work in the form of the NCC News Service. Click here - www.ncccusa.org/news/04archives.html - for a record of all the 2004 news releases of the National Council of Churches USA, which are prepared under the auspices of the Office of News Services. Photos were made available with a number of stories.
• Staffing Worldwide Faith News administration, budget and planning.
• Taking a key role in developing and maintaining the NCC’s Web Site, www.ncccusa.org (see the related report on the Web Site).

Top Stories, Prevailing Themes and Major Activities in 2004 

In 2004, the National Council of Churches USA focused much of its work within the categories of ending poverty and fostering peace, environmental justice and human rights.  In collaboration with Leslie Tune, media liaison in the NCC’s Washington, D.C., office, the Director of News Services managed the media relations and Web work for a series of related projects, including the Council’s: 

• “Let Justice Roll: Faith and Community Voices Against Poverty” 15 cities campaign, NCC work for a more just welfare policy (TANF), NCC participation in “Cover the Uninsured Week” and other Poverty Mobilization work.
• Work against torture (especially at Abu Ghraib Prison) and for due process and other human rights for Guantanamo Bay detainees.
• Continued witness on peace and Iraq, including vigils to mark the first anniversary of the start of the war and a May 27 Iraq Memorial Service.
• Call for U.S. and international intervention in the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, including support for the August 25 Interfaith Day of Conscience on the Sudan.
• Ongoing participation in the Taco Bell Boycott and celebration of the end of the consumer boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle Company products.
• Support for the global ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence and its yearlong focus on the United States.
• Environmental justice work, including participation in Earth Day, the “Tending God’s Garden” ad, and Christian leaders’ letter to Bush on his “clean air” policy.
   

Media Placements Log 

In 2004, we logged hundreds of placements in print, radio, television and Web formats of both “secular” and “religious” media, and responded to hundreds of requests for assistance from reporters.  That’s way too many to include here, but to give the flavor of a “typical” month, let’s pick one – say, July: 

Placements Documented in July 2004:

Ft. Myers, Fla., News-Press; Tikkun; Islam OnLine; Nashville Tennessean; Regina, Saskatchewan Leader-Post; New York Daily News; Africa News/AllAfrica.com; Religion News Service (multiple placements); Religion & Ethics Newsweekly; Omaha World Herald; Albany, N.Y., Times Union; Little Rock, Ark., Democrat-Gazette; St. Louis, Mo., Post-Dispatch; Houston Chronicle; Christian Science Monitor; Associated Baptist Press; Cox News Service; Reuters News Service; Sequoia (San Francisco ecumenical journal); The Christian Index (Christian Methodist Episcopal Church); Christian Century; Christian Social Action; New Zion’s Herald; BBC World Service; WBAI Radio; El-Youssef Magazine; Al-Khaleej Newspaper; Egyptian TV News; Channels 7 and 9, New York; WFUV, New York; Newsday; New York Times; Rochester, N.Y., Democrat & Chronicle; St. Paul Pioneer Press; Minneapolis Star Tribune; Boston Globe; Philadelphia Tribune; MetroWest Daily News.

Other Media Placements/Interviews/Assists in July 2004:

Salon.com; Adventist World Radio; United Methodist News Service; Public News Service (serving CBS Radio Network and New York State Radio); Resolution Pictures; Disciples World News; CBS Evening News; NPR’s “Justice Talking;” Colombia Missourian; Swedish Broadcasting Corporation.

Topics Spanned in July 2004 Media Contacts Included:

Due process for Guantanamo detainees; the Israeli Occupation; morality; faith-based stance against the Iraq war; churches & AIDS; Sudan and the NCC general secretary’s arrest protesting the genocide in Darfur; interfaith relations; IRS rule on church and politics; call for national health care coverage; religious demographics; religious battle lines in election-year politics; global warming; is there a positive correlation between citizens’ belief in Hell and their country’s wealth?; plight of Afro-Colombians; welfare reform; Cuba policy; FaithfulAmerica.org; Waqar Hassan family’s case; equity in public school funding; voter registration; Let Justice Roll campaign/events; war on terror and civil liberties; Taco Bell Boycott; Defense of Marriage Act; Christian Principles in an Election Year; faith action against poverty.

Other major Office of News Services projects in 2004 included:

• Support for the launch of FaithfulAmerica.org with input on identity and mission; review of Web pages and alerts, and assistance to special projects including the “Arabic Language TV” spots and the “Vote ALL Your Values” campaign.
• Groundwork for launch of “The Benefit Bank” including media planning and budgeting and collaboration with TBB Marketing Director Leslie Winder and colleagues on hiring of David Brown Partners to assist with the task.

• Initiation of the NCC Bulletin Inserts Project, resulting in several new resources for congregations.  Best-sellers included the reflection guide on “The Passion of the Christ” (nearly 42,000 downloads plus nearly 30,000 visits to a broader index of resources) and “Christian Principles in an Election Year” study guide (more than 17,500 downloads). Eleven bulletin inserts were indexed on the NCC Web home page by year’s end.
• Publicity for “In Times of Great Decision,” Carolyn Winfrey Gillette’s hymn based on “Christian Principles in an Election Year.” The story about the hymn, which included the full text, got more than 11,400 visits and the hymn alone nearly 6,000 visits in Word and/or PDF format.
• Closing out of Worldwide Faith News’ 2003-4 budget in balance, and sharing in the oversight of migration of WFN to a new server.  Hired Jeff Goodrich through the Union Theological Seminary work-study program and supervised his outreach to potential posting groups and WFN readers/users.

• Implementation of new Lyris Listserve for news release distribution.

• Substantial development of the NCC media contacts database.  Hired Hannah Giffin through the Union Theological Seminary work-study program and supervised her work to maintain and expand the contacts.

• Aggressive media work for the November General Assembly in St. Louis, resulting in two dozen solid primary placements (not counting the multiplier effect of such services as AP and RNS).
• NCC links to Church World Service initiatives including the All Our Children campaign and, at the very end of the year, response following the Dec. 26 tsunami.
• A significant role in disseminating the J. Irwin Miller obituary.
   

The Director of News Services also …
 

• Participated in the 2004 annual convention of the Religion Newswriters Association.
• Staffed and participated in spring and fall meetings of the News/Media Relations/Worldwide Faith News Committee, and participated in spring and fall meetings of the NCC Communication Commission and Web Managers Committee.
• Served as a Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Awards judge (in February 2004, judging entries from 2003).
• Handled underwriting of “spots” on several NPR affiliate stations in support of “Let Justice Roll” events.
• Collaborated with partner organizations on multiple news projects (Cover the Uninsured Week, Great American Bake Sale, Jobs for All, Children’s Defense Fund, Habitat for Humanity, Church World Service, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and others) and provided technical assistance (media contacts, media relations counsel) to several others (Council of Churches of the City of New York, Gamaliel Foundation, Armenian Church, Churches for Middle East Peace, and others).

The NCC Web Site

Reports to:  Communication Commission
Carol Fouke-Mpoyo and Pat Pattillo, Web Site Managers

The NCC Web site -- www.ncccusa.org --  is an “always-on" presence for the Council and its member churches, available to a worldwide audience at the click of a mouse.   It serves as a conduit for wide distribution of NCC news releases, special web-specific features, and ready-reference documents which provide an electronic "filing cabinet" for internal and external researchers.  Many reporters who call the NCC communication office begin their conversation with: "I was looking at your web site, and . . ."  

In addition to almost-daily updating of the front page of the site with current news, special web feature sections developed in 2004 included:

• Resources for Addressing the Sudan Crisis

• Let Justice Roll: Faith and Community Voices Against Poverty

• A Time to Reflect (on the Iraq war)

• Election season resources.

New ready-reference sections were developed for the NCC’s General Assembly and Governing Board, and several NCC Commissions’ sections were updated: 

• Education and Leadership Ministries Commission (Outdoor Ministries, Family Week, Public Education, Equal Access Guide from the Committee on Disabilities … )

• Resources for Welfare (TANF) Reform Advocates

• Faith & Order Commission

• Justice for Women

In addition to a comprehensive NCC-events calendar constantly updated as a standing feature, the home page added two sections -- “Ecumenical Resources You Can Use” and “Current and Coming Events of Note” -- as a place to promote books, conferences, rallies, emphasis weeks, and other valuable information needing visibility.

Visitors Increase by 50% in One Year

In 2004 we inaugurated a series of occasional e-mail messages outlining key topics currently on the website, sent to likely constituents whose e-mail addresses were available.  The announcements advertised an alternate address for the site --www.councilofchurches.org --which enabled us to tally response, because that alternate address was not advertised  anywhere else.  With each of these e-mailings, visitors to the site multiplied fourfold for several days, pushing our average monthly visitor count to more than double the previous year.  Here is a graph showing the monthly ebb and flow of hits to the web site:

During calendar year 2004, the NCC website generated 905,553 hits, a 41 per cent increase over the 639,866 hits experienced in 2003.  The total number of unique visitors (each counted only once during the year) was 313,528, a 50 per cent increase over the 211,848 in 2003.
 

Washington Communication Office

Reports to: News Committee,
John Brooks, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Chair

Leslie C. Tune, Washington Communication Officer 

The Washington Communication Office has continued to provide an ecumenical voice in the nation’s capital. In 2004 the Washington Communication Office was actively involved in developing a strategic communications plan and messaging strategy for NCC programs, events and justice and advocacy issues. Following is a list highlighting those activities. The Washington Communication Officer:  

• Attended and helped with media coverage and planning for the “People’s Agenda for Economic Justice” event in Columbia, S.C. on Jan. 31. The “Let Justice Roll: Faith and Community Voices Against Poverty” Campaign was created out of this event and the follow-up meeting that took place the next day.
• Worked with the Poverty Mobilization Coordinating Committee and state and local faith-based groups to promote the 15-city “Let Justice Roll” Campaign. Organized the press launch of the 15-city tour. Attended, wrote and disseminated articles and press releases for the Boston and Miami events. Helped with logistics and program development.
• Developed a PowerPoint presentation for the “Let Justice Roll” campaign and attended follow-up meeting in December.
• Staffed and provided logistical support for the inaugural Justice & Advocacy Commission meetings in February and June. Continued to help staff, make presentations and support the Justice & Advocacy Commission’s work including writing, designing (with the help of Tsehai Dirar, Church World Service; and Carol Fouke, director of Media Relations for NCC) and disseminating the first annual report, which was presented at the General Assembly in St. Louis.
• Provided logistical support for planning and media for, “Great Voices of Faith in A Time of Crisis” forum sponsored by the National Council of Churches USA and two members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressmen Charles Rangel (N.Y.) and John Lewis (Ga.), during the CBC’s 34th Annual Legislative Conference in September. Speakers included: NCC’s Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar and Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr., NCC President; Bishop Vashti McKenzie (African Methodist Episcopal Church); Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism; Dr. Sayyid Muhammed Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America; and Bishop Wilton Gregory of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Rev. Dr. H. Beecher Hicks, Jr., pastor of one of the largest churches in the District of Columbia, delivered the closing sermon to a crowd of about 350. A Philadelphia radio station broadcast the entire event live.
• Wrote and disseminated a story on Bishop Hoyt’s meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus about “Let Justice Roll” and an initiative by the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church for ex-offenders. The story was picked up by Religion News Service and many local papers in Bishop Hoyt’s district in Louisiana and Mississippi.
• Helped coordinate activities for protests against the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, including working with Rev. Walter Faunteroy and others on civil disobedience. Rev. Edgar was arrested in front of the Sudan Embassy.
• Assisted with a March 8 press conference and interfaith service on due process for Guantanamo detainees, for which we received international coverage. A partial list of media that carried the story includes The Washington Post, Associated Press, CNN, BBC, NBC, London Times, Religion News Service, United Press International, Washington Report on the Middle East’ Swedish Television’ GAMMA USA, Knight Ridder News Service, The Guardian (London), British Press Association, and Christian Century magazine.
• Helped coordinate a press conference, also on March 8, releasing “A Moral Appeal for A World Without Nuclear Weapons.” This press event was covered by Religion News Service, the InterPress Agency and the BBC.
• Coordinated a press conference announcing the formation of “Faithful Democracy,” a new interfaith coalition of denominations and organizations that seeks to promote faithful engagement in the democratic process through voter registration and education efforts. Religion News Service, Episcopal News Service, United Methodist News Service, ChurchCentral.com are among the media that picked up the story.
• Provided media support for NCC activities and programs including NCC’s  meeting with the National Education Association on public education, the Armenian Genocide event at the Washington National Cathedral and Jubilee USA’s “Un-Happy Birthday” Party for IMF and the World Bank.
• Worked with Cassandra Carmichael on communications strategy and opinion pieces on the environment as well as press releases and statements on the Eco-Justice work of the Council. This includes the press release and advertisement in The New York Times for Earth Day; press releases and statements on the Clear Skies Initiative; and other support of NCC’s environment program.
• Attended and wrote follow-up story to NCC’s “Come to the Feast” event in Tampa, Fla.
• Helped plan and presented communication information at the Washington Interreligious Staff annual Community Day event.
• Interviewed for United Church of Christ documentary on Low-Power FM Radio and attended briefings on media advocacy issues such as media consolidation and cable a la carte.
• Worked with Dr. Ann Riggs in connection with Faith & Order studies, Seeking Cultures of Peace book release and other initiatives of the Faith & Order work of the Council. Constraints on time and resources have limited some of the activity in this area but plans are being made to do more to support NCC’s theological work through the Washington Communication Office.
• Worked collaboratively with the New York staff on the development of FaithfulAmerica.
• Participated in planning meetings for the Parker Lecture Series, TANF reauthorization work through the Domestic Human Needs Working Group, the Communications Working group of the National Coalition on Health Care, and the Faithful Democracy voter education/registration initiative.
• Played a key role in planning the May 27 interfaith service in remembrance of all who died in the Iraq war. Responsibilities included logistics and media relations. Coverage for the event included: WTOP-AM news radio, Religion News Service, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and ABC News.

FaithfulAmerica.org

Reports to: Communication Commission
Vince Isner, Director of Faithful America.org

In 2004 the NCC launched a new e-advocacy service that quickly established its value as a reliable and accessible way for people of faith to help build a more just and compassionate nation. Begun in June with the assistance of True Majority and Res Publica, FaithfulAmerica.org grew rapidly in membership, and by October a full-time director was hired. The new director, Vince Isner, is a veteran of more than 20 years’ experience as a communicator, including serving as communication director of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.  

FaithfulAmerica.org debuted around the time that news of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib was hitting the headlines. As the torture scandal grew, FaithfulAmerica responded by filming a television ad with Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders telling the people of Iraq and the Arab world that we demand justice for these sinful abuses committed in our name. In less than six weeks, more than 100,000 Americans had endorsed the ad, and many contributed funds to air the ad over Arab-language television. 

Off to a strong start, FaithfulAmerica continued to tackle issues that matter deeply to people of faith, providing reports, action alerts and opportunities to give. Some highlights follow:

• With wonderful generosity, FaithfulAmerica.org members donated almost half the budget necessary to send a camera crew of three people to the Sudanese border, to broadcast live and bring the heart-rending stories of genocide survivors into American homes. The crew made a live webcast on August 25, the “National Day of Conscience” on Sudan.

• Following the tsunami in Asia, Vince Isner and Shanta Premawardhana, who directs the NCC’s interfaith relations work, went to Sri Lanka and Indonesia, to stand with the survivors and to find effective ways to assist in relief and recovery. FaithfulAmerica.org carried their reporting, which included moving reflections on the question “Where is God?” in such a disaster, and insights into the interfaith dynamics of the region.

• FaithfulAmerica members also contributed more than $100,000 for the tsunami relief and recovery efforts of Church World Service, the global humanitarian agency of the NCC’s 36 member communions. 

• When the status of the ethics rules of the US House of Representatives became an issue, FaithfulAmerica offered a way for people of faith to say to their elected representatives that ethics must not become just another tool to win political battles and obscure the truth.

• When the 2006 federal budget was unveiled, FaithfulAmerica gathered signatures for a petition challenging this budget’s morality. The petition made it clear that the Administration’s budget—with its deep cuts in programs that are lifelines for our nation’s most vulnerable people—does not reflect our moral values.

• And as other issues arose, FaithfulAmerica provided more one-click opportunities to impact current issues and to shift the terms of public debate. FaithfulAmerica members admonished the presidents of the CBS and NBC television networks for refusing to air an ad from the United Church of Christ carrying the basic Christian message that all persons are welcome in church. They expressed concern over the highly disturbing justifications for torture coming from some government officials. And they spoke out in other ways for peace and justice. 

Not yet one year into its special form of electronic ministry, FaithfulAmerica has made strides toward its goal of being the online wing of a powerful, new progressive faith movement, like the ones that in years past fought for independence, abolition and civil rights.

This concludes the Department’s 2004 Report to the Commission.