Geneva Council Building Dedicated
Diocesan Press Service. August 9, 1965 [XXXIV-12]
The Ecumenical Center, Geneva, Switzerland, headquarters of the World Council of Churches was dedicated July 11.
The dedication service, which received continent-wide, television coverage via Eurovision, was scheduled to coincide with the opening of the semi-annual meeting of the WCC's Executive Committee.
Prior to the service, former Presiding Bishop Sherrill, chairman of the international fund-raising committee for the building, presented the key of the Center to Dr. Franklin Clark Fry, New York, chairman of the WCC's Central and Executive Committee.
Following this brief ceremony, the formal dedication took place in the chapel with the sermon preached in French by Dr. W. A. Visser't Hooft, WCC general secretary.
The building is constructed of reinforced concrete with color provided by blue corrugated aluminum, natural aluminum and dark blue glass. It comprises a square center block, two stories high, with three office wings of five, four, and three stories, and a separate library building. It is located in the Geneva suburb of Grand-Saconnex, on the main road from Geneva to Paris, near the Palais des Nations .and the headquarters of various organizations affiliated with the United Nations.