JANUARY 2008

January 8, 2008, New York – The new general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA has sent messages to church councils in Pakistan and Kenya to assure them American churches are praying for them, and to identify ways the NCC can support the churches in these violence-torn nations.

January 10, 2008, New York – The NCC’s Justice for Women Working Group call upon people of faith to not only observe National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness on January 11, 2008; but to also move beyond awareness to collaborative actions that will end this exploitation. 

January 17, 2008, New York – The general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA has signed on to an interfaith letter to Congress urging a bipartisan diplomatic and political strategy that will lead to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

January 28, 2008, St. Simon's Island, Ga. – The NCC general secretary has added his voice to the chorus of condolences and expressions of grief over the death today of Archbishop Christodoulos, 69, who headed Greece's Orthodox Church for 10 years.

FEBRUARY 2008

February 11, 2008, New York – Metropolitan Ieronymos of Thebes and Levadeia was elected by the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church as the new Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, and as the Prelate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece.

February 11, 2008, New York – Ruth Stafford Peale bore one of the most famous clergy names in America, and she was widely known as the First Lady of Positive Thinking.

February 14, 2008, Belfast, Northern Ireland – Amid historical religious and political divides, a U.S. interfaith delegation met with church leaders, non-governmental organizations, and government officials here to discuss how global climate change can help inform the peace and reconciliation process in Northern Ireland.

February 14, 2008, New York  ̶  The NCC's 2008 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches reports on the results of a groundbreaking survey on church health care ministries.

February 20, 2007, Washington – A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered here today at Holy Trinity Church for Father Walter J. Burghardt, 93,  renowned Jesuit theologian,  who died February 16.

February 21, 2008, Washington – This Earth Day, the National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs is marking Earth Day Sunday (the Sunday closest to Earth Day) by recognizing the interconnectedness of poverty and climate change and offering a resource for worship, adult study, and youth activities.

February 21, 2008, New York – The Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia’s decision not to seek a second term as World Council of Churches general secretary removes an “administrator with a pastoral heart” from an important position of ecumenical leadership, NCC General Secretary Kinnamon said.

February 28, 2008, New York –  NCC General Secretary Michael Kinnamon has joined three faith leaders representing the evangelical, Muslim and Jewish communities to ask President Bush to sign legislation ending torture as an interrogation technique.