2014 Sunday Interdenominational Worship
EAD 2014’s Sunday Interdenominational Worship featured Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches as the Keynote Preacher.
Keynote Preacher
James E. Winkler, General Secretary and President of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
James E. Winkler is the newly elected General Secretary/President of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.
Winkler will succeed Peg Birk, who has served as Transitional General Secretary of the Council since July 2012. Birk was named to lead the Council through a transitional period of reorganization following the resignation of General Secretary Michael Kinnamon in 2011 for health reasons.
Winkler is a member of the Justice and Advocacy Commission of the National Council of Churches, a member of the steering committee of the Campaign for Health Care Now, a board member of several organizations including The Faith & Politics Institute, Churches for the Middle East Peace, and Africa Action.
Winkler has served as general secretary of the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS), the international public policy and social justice agency of The United Methodist Church, since November 2000.
As the chief executive of the General Board, Jim has led a staff of 22 who seek the implementation of the Church’s Social Principles through education, witness, and advocacy. The board carries out a wide-ranging ministry of peace and justice throughout the world with offices in Washington and New York.
He has led delegations to the Middle East, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq and Germany seeking peaceful solutions to global conflict and has traveled throughout the world to support the justice work of the United Methodist Church in Africa, Asia and Europe. Winkler has preached and led workshops and training events in Russia, Nigeria, and the Philippines, and has been a frequent spokesperson for the justice work of The United Methodist Church to the national and international media.