Ecumenical News

The National Council of Churches has elected Ms. Clare J. Chapman NCC Interim General Secretary on Friday this week. Chapman carries out the duties of the office since former General Secretary Michael Kinnamon departed from active duty with the beginning of the year.

The board set her up for an indefinite period until it decided the steps to take for a permanent solution of Kinnamon's succession.

Kathryn Mary Lohre, NCC President, said on the council's website: “Clare has been entrusted by God with gifts that will serve the Council well at this transitional time, and we are grateful for her willingness to serve.”

For Chapman now her second time as Interim General Secretary began after filling the same position September to December 2007 just before Kinnamon assumed his position.

Kinnamon, who became General Secretary January 1, 2008, announced his intended departure at the November 2011 Governing Board meeting. Based on advice from his cardiologist, Kinnamon relayed that frequent travel and other demands of the office were detrimental to his health.

Before joining the NCC staff in January 2007, Chapman served on several committees, commissions and task forces.  For more than two decades she was on the staff of the United Methodist Church's General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns as its associate general secretary for program and administration. 

Chapman has extensive ecumenical and interfaith experience.  She has been an advisor to one United Methodist delegation to the World Council of Churches, and delegate to another. She was a member of the first official United Methodist delegation to the Vatican for discussions on Christian unity.