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It's church meeting season and MK is on the road
NCC General Secretary Michael Kinnamon been on the road since June 11, attending church council and communion meetings in Havana, Pasadena, Grand Rapids and San Diego. Hop-scotching across the hemisphere, Kinnamon has brought NCC greetings this month to the Spanish-American Evangelical Congress in Havana, the ABC General Board and Biennial Meeting, the General Synod of the UCC and the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. In each, Kinnamon stressed the importance of churches working together as interdependent members of the body of Christ. More.

Kinnamon asks for justice for 'Cuban 5' and families
The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, joined in solidarity with Latin American Christians meeting here last week, and called for justice for the "Cuban Five" who have been languishing in a Miami jail since 1998. Kinnamon also called upon the U.S. Government to grant visas to the wives of two of the prisoners so they can visit their husbands in the U.S. More.

Religious leaders ask Obama for official torture inquiry
More than 150 religious leaders representing the National Religious Campaign Against Torture gathered in front of the White House June 11 to urge the President to form a commission of inquiry to investigate the government's past use of torture. "The churches that make up the National Council of Churches do not agree on all things," said the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary, but they are against torture. More.

NCC introduces online forum to stimulate faith dialogue
The NCC's Faith and Order Commission is introducing an online "Faith Forum" to stimulate local ecumenical dialogue and bring Christians of various traditions closer together for conversations about their faith. "Faith Forum�s goal parallels ecumenism�s overarching goal: to foster greater unity within the Body of Christ," said Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, NCC Senior Program Director for Faith and Order. More.

Faith groups cheer approval of tobacco regulation
Faith leaders have applauded Congress for approving landmark legislation authorizing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products. �Better late than never, the Congress has responded decisively to pleas from medical and scientific experts and hundreds of religious leaders ... to give the American consumer regulatory protection from the relentless marketing of this deadly health threat,� said the NCC's Wesley �Pat� Pattillo. More.

Bruno Kroker, ecumenical journalist, is dead at 94
Bruno Kroker, 94, who fled his native Germany during the Third Reich and worked as a journalist in China before becoming a communicator for the National Council of Churches USA, the World Council of Churches and the United Presbyterian Church, died early Thursday here at Meadowlands Hospital Center. "His life was one of the great novels that never got written," said his friend, Fred Myers, an NCC staffer in the 1970s. More.

Obama's overture to Muslim world welcomed by NCC
NCC staff praised President Obama's address to the Muslim world Thursday, and renewed the Council's commitment to friendship and dialogue with Muslim people. General Secretary Kinnamon and Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, Senior Program Director for Interfaith Relations, said they were gratified by the President's declaration in Cairo that Muslims share with all Americans common principles. More.

Kinnamon: need to discard nukes is as urgent as ever
The NCC General Secretary affirmed President Obama's promise in Cairo "to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons." Noting that neither the NCC nor the World Council of Churches has issued a major statement on nuclear weapons in more than two decades, the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon pledged to call for renewed attention to disarmament "with urgency, within the NCC community." More.

Lorraine Potter: another friend who made a difference
The Rev. Lorraine K. Potter, an American Baptist who was the first woman Chief of Chaplains in the U.S. Air Force, is the second ecumenical pioneer to be highlighted in our "Friends Who Made a Difference" series. The series, which was inaugurated by Ruby Boyd of the AME's Mother Bethel Church in Philadelphia, features members of our communions who made a difference in our lives and in the quest for church unity. More.

EcuLink, the NCC's newsletter, is now available online
EcuLink, the quarterly newsletter of the National Council of Churches, is a summary of ecumenical news and NCC programs. Stories this month feature the online publication of a new book by the late NCC staff member, Dean Kelley, as well as news about the program commissions of the NCC. Designed by NCC intern Melissa Dixon, the 12-page issue can be downloaded here.

Kinnamon: massacre of Armenians was a 'genocide'
The U.S. government's reluctance to classify the 1915 massacre of 1.5 million Armenians as "genocide" leaves the matter festering in historical limbo, and the staff head of the National Council of Churches has urged the U.S. House of Representatives to set the matter straight. The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC General Secretary, has written to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to recommend action. More.

NCC Governing Board approves balanced budget
The NCC Governing Board, meeting in the national offices of the Church of the Brethren, approved a balanced budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year and adopted a resolution on environmental health. The FY 2009-10 budget of $5,475,500 was approved by unanimous voice vote following a detailed discussion led by the Rev. Dr. Cheryl H. Wade, an NCC vice president and chair of the board's Administration and Finance Committee. More.

Obama names Chemberlin, Watkins to faith-based panel
The Rev. Peg Chemberlin, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Churches and President Elect of the National Council of Churches USA, and the Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), are among the appointees named by President Obama to the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. More.

2009 Yearbook records declines in largest churches
The 77th annual edition of the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, long a highly regarded chronicler of growth and financial trends of religious institutions, records a slight but startling decline in membership of the nation's largest Christian communions. Membership in the Roman Catholic Church declined 0.59 percent and the Southern Baptist Convention declined 0.24 percent. More.

Third annual ecumenical work week slated Aug. 2-8
The NCC's Special Commission for the Just Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast has scheduled the third annual Ecumenical Work Week in Gulfport and New Orleans August 2-8. The work week, which has been growing steadily since it began in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, is expected to attract more than 100 volunteers who will spend a week working on houses still needing repair since the hurricane's devastation. More.

Ecumenical conference on trafficking: final report
The Ecumenical Conference on Human Trafficking began at 12:30 pm on Monday, September 29, 2008 at the Church Center for the United Nations, 777 United nations Plaza, New York, NY, 10017 and finished at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, October 1, 2008. There were 72 participants representing 15 different denominations or faith communities, 3 interfaith organizations and 7 secular organizations. The final report is here.

NCC issues brochure on dangers of Christian Zionism
"Christian Zionism" is a dangerous movement that distorts the teachings of the Church, fosters fear and hatred of Muslims and non-Western Christians, and has negative consequences for Middle East Peace. A new brochure, Why We Should Be Concerned About Christian Zionism, by the NCC (in English and Spanish) is now available as an educational tool for groups who want to share these warnings with their members. More.

Church councils minister creatively to immigrants
Compelled by faith to welcome all people as neighbors, church people have developed creative and effective immigrations ministries. Across the country, city and state councils of churches are welcoming additional ideas to enhance their support of neighbors who are sometimes dismissed as 'aliens.' For an overview of their work � and ideas for ministries in your own neighborhood � look here.