NCC Governing Board holds historic elections and approves updated edition of the NRSV Bible
October 14, 2021, Washington, DC – The Governing Board of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) met virtually for its biannual board meeting on October 13, 2021.
For the first time in its 71-year history, the NCC Governing Board elected all women as officers. The officers began their two-year terms effective yesterday as follows: Bishop Teresa Jefferson Snorton, 5th Episcopal District, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, as Chair; Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, as Vice Chair; Kimberly Gordon Brooks, 1st Vice President of the 3rd District Lay Organization, African Methodist Episcopal Church, as Secretary, and Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens, General Minister & President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), as Treasurer. Three of the officers are women of color.
The NCC Governing Board also approved the Updated Edition of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSVue) of the Bible, which is considered the most meticulously researched, rigorously reviewed, and faithfully accurate English-language Bible translation. The process began in 2017 when the NCC commissioned the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) to conduct a review and update of the 1989 New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV).
The NRSVue, like the NRSV and the Revised Standard Version (RSV), follows in the tradition of the King James Bible, making changes that were warranted on the basis of accuracy, clarity, euphony, and current English usage. The SBL applied recent scholarship to ancient texts to help readers explore the meanings of these texts in light of the cultures that produced them. The NRSVue is as free as possible from the gender bias inherent in the English language, which can obscure earlier oral and written renditions.