BY UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE

Christian congregations are being encouraged to mark the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by holding interfaith open houses on or around that date. The "Open Doors: Interfaith Hospitality Project" was unanimously endorsed by members of the National Council of Churches executive board when they met May 14-15 in Harrisburg, Pa.

United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert, an executive board member who serves as the denomination's ecumenical officer, said he supports the action as a tangible way for churches to continue to be in prayer regarding interfaith issues arising out of the Sept. 11 crisis. "This is an effort on the part of the National Council of Churches to encourage churches to keep the issue before us," he added.

Last fall, leaders of NCC member denominations were among those reminding Americans that a small group of Islamic terrorists was responsible for the attacks, not Muslims in general. Hundreds of Islamic centers and mosques held open houses to help build understanding with neighbors of other faiths, according to Jay Rock, the NCC's interfaith relations director. The Open Doors project, developed in consultation with major U.S. Muslim organizations, urges local churches to reciprocate by opening their doors specifically for their Muslim neighbors. Materials will be made available through state, regional and local ecumenical and interfaith councils. Resources also are available at www.ncccusa.org/interfaith/openhouseintro. html, the NCC's Web site.

Executive committee members met in Harrisburg because they were invited to take part in a May 14 prayer vigil in support of public education reform at the Pennsylvania Capitol. A pilot project co-sponsored by the NCC and Pennsylvania Council of Churches to mobilize congregational support for such reform led to the formation of Good Schools Pennsylvania, the group that organized the vigil.

Talbert noted that public education "has been one of our priority issues as a church" and pointed out that the denomination's first legislative conference had a focus on education and included the decision to start a college and a publishing house.

Participating with a grass-roots nonprofit coalition such as Good Schools Pennsylvania provides a model for church-community cooperation. "Practically every state in the nation faces the same type of (education reform) issues," he said.

During its meeting, the NCC executive board called upon the Pennsylvania Legislature to pass comprehensive public education reform this session. According to Good Schools Pennsylvania, those reforms would include adequate funds distributed equitably to each district; implementation of quality education principles to boost student performance, and the establishment of an accountability system to reward schools that improve and provide consequences for schools with persistently poor performance.

In other business, Talbert said board members spent considerable time looking at the NCC's financial situation. The ecumenical organization has been recovering from a 1999 fiscal crisis that required additional financial assistance from denominational members. The NCC had a deficit of nearly $1.75 million, which was covered by reserves, for the budget year ending June 30, 2001.

The current fiscal picture is much improved, according to Talbert. "We're on the right track. We adopted a balanced budget. It will simply take time and discipline for us to live within our means."

Executive board members received a report from an April 4-6 Chicago meeting of 34 church leaders representing mainline Protestant, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal and Evangelical faith traditions. The NCC leadership "has been a spirit in moving us toward a wider ecumenical table," and many of the participants are council members, according to Talbert, who was among those at the Chicago meeting.

But what will grow out of the very preliminary talks is not a decision of the NCC, the bishop stressed. "We don't know where this is going to take us," he said. "What the people have agreed to do is continue meeting and talking together."

A statement released after the Chicago meeting said the group is "provisionally" calling itself "Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A." Its witness will be visible through such actions as celebrating a common confession of faith in the Triune God, engaging in common prayer, speaking to society with a common voice and seeking reconciliation by affirming commonalities and understanding differences.

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