ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 22, 2006

Lutherans Featured in NBC-TV Hunger Documentary
06-127-DW/KH*

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutherans are prominently featured in a
television documentary to be presented next month by the National
Council of Churches USA (NCC). Joe Young, director for community
development services for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) Church in Society, and the Rev. David Beckmann,
ELCA pastor and president, Bread for the World, Washington, D.C.,
both contributed to "Hunger No More: Faces Behind the Facts."
     The documentary, originally broadcast in 2004, addresses the
issue of hunger in the 21st century from the perspective of
advocates and faith leaders including:
+ Dr. Jeffrey D. Sachs, the Earth Institute, Columbia University,
New York
+ U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.
+ the Rev. John L. McCullough, executive director and CEO, Church
World Service, Elkhart, Ind.
+ the Rev. Kenneth C. Horne, executive director, The Society of
St. Andrew, Big Island, Va.
+ June Kim, executive secretary of world hunger, United Methodist
Committee on Relief
+ George McGovern, former U.S. Senator, D-S.D., and presidential
candidate
+ Joan Holmes, president, The Hunger Project
+ the Rev. Robert W. Edgar, general secretary, NCC, New York
     The one-hour documentary is presented by NCC in partnership
with the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission. The program will be
available to NBC television network affiliates beginning Sept.
10.
     "It is a moral issue that needs immediate resolution," said
Burton Buller, president, Mennonite Media, who produced the
program in collaboration with the NCC. "The program brings to
life the moral dimension of this thorny issue, and offers up a
vision for a new day, when hunger is eradicated from the face of
the earth."
     In addition to Mennonite Media, the NCC's partners for this
production are the ELCA World Hunger Program, the United
Methodist Committee on Relief, the Society of St. Andrew and
Church World Service, with cooperation from Bread for the World
and United Methodist Communication.
     The ELCA is a member of NCC, America's leading ecumenical
organization. Founded in 1950, the NCC's 35 Protestant and
Orthodox member denominations have more than 100,000
congregations in all 50 states.
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     The home page for the National Council of Churches is at
http://www.ncccusa.org and information about "Hunger No More:
Faces Behind the Facts" is at
http://www.councilofchurches.org/hunger/ on the Web.

*Daniel Webster is director of media relations for the National
Council of Churches, New York. Katherine R. Hinck is a senior
journalism and religion major at Augustana College, Sioux Falls,
S.D. This summer Hinck was an intern with the ELCA News Service.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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