The summer of the bomb: churches spoke
Sixty-three years ago this summer, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan "to end the agony" of the Second World War. U.S. churches, stunned like everyone else that such awesome power had been unleashed for destruction, lost little time in assessing the moral significance of the bomb – both in 1945 and in the future. The general secretary of the Federal Council of Churches ( who became the first general secretary of the NCC in 1950) summarized the churches' reaction in a telex to President Truman. The bomb "sets extremely dangerous precedent for future of mankind," wrote Samuel McCrae Cavert, echoing the sentiments of church leaders like Presbyterian John Foster Dulles, later U.S. Secretary of State. An unrepentant Truman fired back: "When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast." This August 6 and 9, billions of people of faith will remember the awful destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the U.S., the member communions of the National Council of Churches will note that the historic efforts to ban the bomb began with them. More.

NCC, CWS plan 2008 General Assembly in Denver
Plans are underway for the annual NCC/CWS General Assembly in Denver November 11-13. The theme of the 2008 General Assembly is, "Jesus Said ... Whoever is Not Against You is For You," from Luke 9:50. Registration and hotel information forms may be downloaded from the General Assembly Web site. The registration fee is $250 until September 29, when the price goes up to $275. More.

Poll on race affirms need for 'sacred conversations'
A recent New York Times/CBS News poll revealing deep national divisions along racial lines is an urgent reminder of the need for “sacred conversations on race,” NCC General Secretary Michael Kinnamon said. The poll indicated that a large majority of African Americans – nearly 60 percent – believe race relations in the United States are “generally bad," and 40 percent said discrimination was as bad as ever. More

A call to prayer for all NCC member communions
NCC President Archbishop Vicken Aykazian and  General Secretary Michael Kinnamon have written to the member communions, inviting their congregations/parishes to engage in prayer and fellowship with other NCC-related churches. Resources for this time of common prayer – recognizing that the churches also have a rich store of materials that could be used for such gatherings – are linked here.

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.

Sterling Cary: racism is still 'a huge problem' in U.S.
The Rev. Dr. William Sterling Cary, a retired United Church of Christ minister who was NCC president from 1972 to 1975, recently looked back on his years as an ecumenical and civil rights leader, and ahead to the future of ecumenism and American society. He expressed a fear that the rhetoric of the current presidential campaign may obscure the racism that continues in the United States. Read more.

NCC Eco-Justice honors 'Green Churches' in U.S.
The Manassas Church of the Brethren is passing along the values of Creation Care to the next generation of people of faith, while St. Marks Presbyterian Church was named the Audubon Society’s “Greenest in the Nation." These are just two examples of winners of the Great Green Congregations contest sponsored by the Eco-Justice Program of the National Council of Churches and launched last May. More.

Decision 2008: principles for casting a Christian vote
Christians will have strong opinions on the issues of Campaign '08 but amid the clamor it's helpful to keep focused on views compelled by our relationship to Christ and to one another. The NCC has reissued "Christian Principles in an Election Year," a helpful Christian lens for examining the issues. The principles can be found here, and can be downloaded for bulletin inserts here.

Iraq bishop: remember the Christians of Iraq
A prominent Christian leader in Iraq has lamented that few Americans are aware of the Christian presence in Iraq. "It is important for the Christian world to take this factor into account," said Archbishop Avak Asadourian, Ph.D., Primate of the Armenian Church of Iraq, during a June 12 meeting with ecumenical leaders here in The Interchurch Center. The meeting was hosted by the NCC.  More.

Churches receive NCC delegations with warmth
Hospitality, openness and a common commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ were abundantly evident in Church-to-Church visits to two member communions conducted by National Council of Churches (NCC) delegations. Both primates (Diocese of the Armenian Church of America - Eastern, and the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch), welcomed the delegations warmly. More.

'Pray Without Ceasing' - Kinnamon keynote address
In a recent keynote address to the National Workshop on Christian Unity, the NCC General Secretary committed the Council to be "both a forum in which conflicting perspectives meet in dialogue and a body that boldly declares the gospel’s partisanship on behalf of the excluded and oppressed." Michael Kinnamon's analysis of the ecumenical future is printed here.

NCC Women's Ministries offer electioneering guides
Your congregation can make your voice heard during this election year with the assistance of  In Times of Great Decision: How Congregations Can Take Part in Legal, Non-Partisan Election Activities, and Faith Seeking Peace, new resources developed by WAND Educational Fund for people of faith and available through NCC Women's Ministries and the Justice for Women Working Group. More.

NCC resource relates poverty and climate change
This Earth Day, the NCC Eco-Justice Programs are marking Earth Day Sunday (the Sunday closest to Earth Day, which is April 22) by recognizing the interconnectedness of poverty and climate change and offering a resource for worship, adult study, and youth activities. Water scarcity, drought, crop failure, increased disease, and flooding are just a few of the impacts. More

NCC: all Christians can embrace encyclical on hope Pope Benedict's encyclical, Spe Salvi, addresses important truths for Christians in and outside the Roman Catholic Church, said Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, the NCC’s newly elected Senior Program Director for Faith & Order and Interfaith Relations. The encyclical asserts that basic Christian beliefs have been obscured by modern developments. More.

2008 Yearbook: church health ministries abound
The nation's largest study of church health ministries shows a remarkably wide range of services provided by churches, reports the 2008 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches. The venerable yearbook is widely regarded as the most reliable source of church membership and growth trends reports on the membership statistics and histories of 224 national church bodies. More

Fond farewells to ones who helped along the way
The ecumenical family is richly diverse and populated with sisters and brothers whose lives were models of faith, fortitude and courage. Some made powerful impacts on the world stage while others lived out God's call in humbler settings. All of them, when they are gone, leave an enormous void. In this page we pause to remember some of them with gratitude and love. More

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