November 6, 1999

CLEVELAND—The worship planning team for the Anniversary Celebration was in "brainstorming mode" at its first meeting, getting out a whole range of ideas about the shape of daily worship at the National Council of Churches' 50th anniversary celebration. One idea that took hold was to grapple in earnest with the theme for the celebration: Unity in Christ: Gift and Calling.

Rev. Bertrice Y. Wood

Now, months later, this creative and hard-working team, which is based in Cleveland, has planned four services that provide opportunities to give thanks for the gifts of our past, to confess what we have left undone, and to ask God's guidance for our future. Under the banner Empowered by Memory, Enlightened in Vision, the group identified four sub-themes based on "key areas where Council leadership has been significant," explained the chair of the Morning Worship Planning Committee, the Rev. Bertrice Y. Wood of the United Church of Christ. Rather than exploring these through sermons, she said, the planning team has invited testimony from persons whose lives illustrate the themes.

Tuesday's service, which opens the Nov. 9-12 anniversary, is focused on Sharing God's Word, and highlights the Council's Bible-related work. The Council's responsibility for the Revised Standard Version of the Bible and its successor, the New Revised Standard Version, "has made a noteworthy contribution not only to the life of NCC member communions, but to the wider religious community," the Rev. Wood said. Yet translation is a never-ending task that some future generation must perform again in order to keep vibrant our rendering of the Word of God.

Wednesday's service on Witnessing for Justice lifts up the role of the Council in the civil rights movement and points to a younger generation still called to make a brave witness against hatred. On Thursday, the sub-theme Rebuilding Lives affords a moment to remember the constructive efforts of Church World Service and Witness in the aftermath of war and natural disasters, and to look toward emerging areas of work. Finally, on Friday, by considering the sub-theme Growing Together, we rejoice that our common table has been broadened over the years, while recommitting ourselves to include persons, cultures and traditions not now fully represented at that table.

Planning ecumenical worship is a challenging task, the Rev. Wood says. "In a brief period, you must pull in the various worship traditions so that everyone feels included. At the same time, if the service is to share and celebrate God's word in a way that everyone can receive as a gift, it can't just be a little of this and a little of that. It must have some integrity and hold together as a worship experience. Each of the four services is ecumenical, but we have not attempted to reflect the total diversity of the Council in each. Rather, we have adopted an approach that includes all of our traditions over the course of four days."

In addition to the Rev. Wood, the planning team includes the Rev. Thomas L. McCray, Pastor, Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church; the Rev. Canon Joseph P. Russell, III, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral; Dr. Robert Schneider, Music Director and Organist, First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland; the Rev. Paul Theilo, Ecumenical Representative, Northeast Ohio Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Rev. John H. Thomas, President, United Church of Christ; and the Rev. Dr. Gordon L. Sommers, Chair, NCC 50th Anniversary Steering Committee.

The Rev. Wood was called in 1996 to be Senior Pastor of Mt. Zion Congregational Church, UCC in Cleveland. Previously, she served for 16 years on the national staff of the United Church of Christ, first with the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries and then with the United Board for World Ministries. Active both in the World and National Council of Churches, she has served three terms on the body now known as the General Assembly, has been a member of the Executive Board, Church World Service and Witness Unit Committee, the Task Force on Ecclesiology and many other Council committees.