November 7, 2007

ISELIN, NJ – The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA presented its Award of Excellence for ecumenical service to the Rev. N. J. L'Heureux, Jr., Executive Director of the Queens Federation of Churches. Other honorees were Janie Schildge, volunteer coordinator of the Red Bank, NJ, CROP Walk since 1984; Trenton Ecumenical Area Ministry; and the Philippine Working Group and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines. The Awards of Excellence were presented by the Rev. Peg Chemberlin, Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Churches and chair of the NCC's Ecumenical Networks Working Group.

The presentations took place this evening, during the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches and Church World Service which met in Iselin, NJ, from November 6-9.

In addition to the Awards of Excellence, the Joseph Cardinal Bernadin Award was presented to the Rev. Dr. Diane Kessler, recently retired Executive of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, and to the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The J. Irwin Miller Award was presented to Mia Adjali, Executive Secretary for Global Concerns in the Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church.

Pastor L'Heureux, who has led the Queens Federation of Churches for the past 30 years, has served as Registrar of the National Association of Ecumenical and Interreligious Staff from 1986-1999. He is currently the Moderator (since 2000) of the Committee on Religious Liberty of the National Council of Churches.

At the Awards Banquet, the Rev. Michael Kinnemon, newly elected General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, engaged in a "Fireside Chat" with Dr. Kessler on the current state of the ecumenical movement. The two co-authored Councils of Churches and the Ecumenical Vision, published in 2002 by the World Council of Churches.

Queens Federation of Churches