November 9, 2005—The 300 delegates of the National Council of Churches USA’s General Assembly today passed a motion to endorse the Special Commission for the Just Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, which was established by urgent action of the NCC Governing Board in September. The endorsement of the General Assembly is significant because it reinforces the importance of the special commission and provides task force members with further instructions on how to best fulfill the mandate of the work.

 

According to the motion the Assembly urges the Special Commission to “strive for the greatest degree of coherence and comprehensive efforts in our rebuilding the Gulf Coast communities and in addressing the human inequities which exacerbated a natural disaster into wholesale calamity.”

 

The delegates also noted the complexity of issues like race, class and gender that were brought to the forefront in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in particular, and the need for those issues to be addressed by the task force.

 

The Special Commission will meet in the New Orleans area next week, Nov. 17-18, to tour the impacted areas of New Orleans, meet with pastors and other religious and community leaders and develop a timeline and plan of action for their work.

 

Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, a retired United Methodist bishop and former NCC president, has been named chair of the Special Commission and 16 commissioners representing a broad range of NCC member denominations have been appointed thus far to serve in this important ministry (see list below). In addition, the Council has assigned two of its staff to work with the Special Commission: Cassandra Carmichael, Director of Eco-Justice Programs; and Rev. Leslie Tune, Washington Communication Officer.

 

Members of the Special Commission for the Just Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast:

 

Rev. Gary Batey, International Council of Community Churches

Rev. Henry A. Belin, III, African Methodist Episcopal

Heather Feltman, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

David Guthrie, Moravian Church

Bishop Louis S. Hunter, Sr., African Methodist Episcopal Z ion

Dwayne Jackson, Reform Church of America

Rev. Jacob S. Jang, Korean Presbyterian Church of America

Rev. Fr. Nersess Jebejian, Armenian Orthodox Church

Mark Lancaster, Presbyterian Church (USA)

Rev. Jackie Lewis, Reform Church of America

Mrs. Dee Nicolaou, Greek Orthodox

Rev. Gary Parker, Episcopal Church

Rev. Aidsand F. Wright Riggins, American Baptist Churches USA

Thomas Swain, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

Bishop Mel Talbert (Chair), United Methodist Church

Johnny Wray, Church of Christ (Disciples of Christ)

Bishop Ronald Cunningham, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church