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Board
of Directors
CHAIRMAN
Dr. David A. Lewis
VICE-PRESIDENTS
Dr. Franklin H. Littell
Dr. Rose Thering, O.P.
Nancy Gabriela Carroll
SECRETARY TREASURER
Dr. William H. Harter
Officers
PRESIDENT
David Blewett
PRESIDENTS EMERITI
Rt. Rev. John H. Burt
Dr. David A. Lewis
Dr. Franklin H. Littell
VICE-PRESIDENTS
Paul R. Whitham
Dr. Richard C. Lux
SECRETARY
Elizabeth L. Gutterman
TREASURER
Dr. William H. Harter
Executive Committee
Daniel Bennett
Prof. David Bossman
Sr. Marge Boyle, nds
Dr. Paul R. Carlson
Dr. Joan Cook, S.C.
Dr. John H. Cushman
Prof. Alice Eckardt
Stephen Diaz Gavin, Esq.
Mark Z. Gentry
Rev. Jess Gibson
Jean L. Holmes
Dr. Reed M. Holmes
Sr. Ruth Lautt, Esq.
Dennis L. Lewerke
Dr. Hubert G. Locke
JoAnn Magnuson
Cheryl Morrison
Solomon M. Ortiz
Dr. John T. Pawlikowski
Rev. Ivan A. Rogers
MaryRose Ryan
Sen. Paul Simon
Dr. Michael C. Walker
Israel Contacts
Petra Heldt
Clarence H. Wagner, Jr.
National Director
David Blewett |
Board of Directors Dr. David A. Lewis, Chairman
Dr. Lewis is the founder and president of Christians United for Israel and one of the five
founders of NCLCI. He is an ordained minister in the Assembly of God church and one of the
most respected evangelical voices for Israel. He is the publisher of the Jerusalem
Courier, a Christian Zionist publication, as well as the author of many books,
articles and leaflets that speak out for Israel and combat antisemitism. He is a founder
and current board member of the Evangelical Christian Zionist Congress of America. He has
led over 60 tours to Israel and has consulted with numerous Israeli government and
religious leaders. Is a member of the Church Relations Committee of the United States
Holocaust Memorial Council. Many of Dr. Lewis' books are available through the NCLCI
Bookstore.
Dr. Franklin H. Littell, Vice-President
Dr. Littell is Emeritus Professor of Religion, Temple University, where he taught from
1969 to 1986. He is ordained in the United Methodist Church. From 1973 to 1993 he was an
Adjunct Professor in the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. Dr. Littell was an officer in the American occupation of Germany after World
War II for nearly a decade. While in Germany he assisted in the founding of the Council of
the German Societies for Christian-Jewish Cooperation, of which there are now 57 active
chapters. He has founded many other significant Christian initiatives in Christian-Jewish
relations including the Christian Study Group on Israel and the Jewish People, formerly
known as the Israel Study Group; the Annual Scholar's Conference on the Church Struggle
and the Holocaust that has met annually since 1970; and the Christians Concerned for
Israel that, in 1978, formed the basis of NCLCI; therefor Dr. Littell is one of the five
founders of NCLCI. By appointment of the President he has been a member of the United
States Holocaust Memorial Council and by appointment of the Israeli Cabinet he is a member
of the Governing Council of Yad Veshem in Jerusalem. Many of Dr. Littell's books are
available through the NCLCI Bookstore
Dr. Rose Thering, O.P., Vice-President
Sister Rose Thering is Professor Emerita of Seton Hall University in South Orange, New
Jersey. In her doctoral research (1957-1961) she did the pioneer investigation of the most
widely used Catholic religion teaching materials to see how they taught about other faith,
ethnic and racial groups. Her research dealt primarily with teachings about Jews and
Judaism and was taken to Vatican II where it was presented during the deliberations before
the issuance of the Vatican document Nostre Aetate. SisteRose has organized and
directed the Annual Seton Hall University Study Tour to Israel since 1972, she has been to
Israel over 40 times. For twenty years she has served on the U.S. Bishops' Advisory
Committee to the Secretariat for Catholic-Jewish Relations. Since 1980 she has served on
the New Jersey Governors Holocaust Commission for Holocaust Education in New Jersey
schools. Sister Rose is vice-president of the Board of Directors of Kean College in New
Jersey, a member of the Board of Directors of the America-Israel Friendship League, and
was Executive Director of NCLCI from 1988 to 1995. Sister Rose was also one of the five
founders of NCLCI. She volunteers her time to build up the Sister Rose Thering
Endowment Fund at Seton Hall University that provides scholarship assistance to New Jersey
school teachers studying Holocaust education in the Department of Jewish-Christian Studies
at Seton Hall University.
Mrs. Nancy G. Carroll, Vice-President
Nancy Carroll plans and frequently escorts study tours and pilgrimages to Israel, she has
been there nearly 60 times. She is the immediate past president of the Winnetka Interfaith
Council, a former president of the Eilat Club Na'amat USA (formerly known as Pioneer
Women) and a life member of Hadassah. She is a writer, an artist and photographer who
specializes in Israel related subjects. She is a member of the Evangelical Covenant
Church.
Dr. William H. Harter, Secretary-Treasurer
Rev. Bill Harter is pastor of Falling Springs Presbyterian Church in Chambersburg, PA. He
has been a member of the National Middle East Task Force of the United Presbyterian Church
(USA), the National Council of Churches Committee on Christian-Jewish Relations, the World
Council of Churches Consultation on the Church and the Jewish People, and the Christian
Study Group on Judaism and the Jewish People. He was the primary coordinator of the
conference of Christians leaders that met in Washington, DC, in 1978 to discuss Christian
support for Israel from which National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel was
born, he is another of the five founders of NCLCI.
Officers
David Blewett, President
Mr. Blewett is the Executive Director of The Ecumenical Institute for Jewish- Christian
Studies in Southfield, Michigan. As a Lutheran layman he has been active in
Christian-Jewish dialogue for many years. Along with his parents he developed the
innovative Interfaith Circles material designed to enable local Christian-Jewish
dialogue groups and has conducted dialogue workshops throughout the United States, Canada
and Great Britain. Dave has degrees from Biola University in La Mirada, CA, Luther
Northwestern Seminary in St. Paul, MN, and is currently a graduate student at Seton Hall
University in the Department of Jewish-Christian Studies. He is a member of the Task Force
for Lutheran-Jewish Relations and the National Advisory Council of the Institute for
Jewish-Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Since the early
1990s Dave has led Christian tours to Israel in order to develop more of an understanding
and appreciation for the history and current situation of the Jewish people. From 1995
through 1998 Dave was the Executive Director of NCLCI while the office was
located in New York; he continues as National Director since the office
relocated to the greater Detroit area.
The Right Reverend John H. Burt, President Emeritus
Bishop Burt was president of NCLCI from 1992 through 1998 and is the retired Episcopal
Bishop of Ohio. He has consistantly been one of the strongest voices within the Episcopal
Church advocating for better relations with the Jewish people and State throughout his 50
years of ministry. He served for six years as head of Christian-Jewish Relations for the
Episcopal Church at the national level. He has also served on commissions of both the
National and the World Council of Churches dealing with Christian-Jewish relations. He was
a founding member of the Church Relations Council of the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum.
Dr. David A. Lewis, President Emeritus
Also on the Board of Directors
Dr. Franklin H. Littell, President Emeritus
Also on the Board of Directors
Dr. William H. Harter, Treasurer
Also on the Board of Directors |
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