November 17, 2005

NEW YORK – The members of the General Assembly of Church World Service and the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA called for the Assembly's ecumenical family of Anglican, Orthodox and Protestant communions to make this Christmas season a time of sacrificial giving in light of the enormous needs at present around the world. The member communions present at the gathering last week in Hunts Valley, MD, took personal action, pledging more than $32,000 for worldwide relief efforts.

Rev. Peg Chemberlin, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Churches, is credited with challenging the Assembly. "Let's begin a season of giving," she said. She suggested a model in which Assembly members would pledge one day's wages to humanitarian agency Church World Service, which is currently responding to disasters in Indonesia, Pakistan, and the US Gulf Coast.

"We remember that there are over 1.2 billion of our sisters and brothers who live on less than a dollar a day," Chemberlin said. "Even an additional dollar from each individual in our member communions would result in $45 million."

To "give a gift that matters," call toll free (800) 297-1516 or visit https://secure.churchworldservice.org/catalog/display.php?sid=2.

Church World Service