The proposed new organization Christian Churches Together in the USA which had planned to formally announce their formation this September has decided to hold off, reports The Chico Enterprise Record:
A national celebration of Christian unity tentatively planned for September won't be held then.
Religious leaders who have been trying to bring together many Christian groups, including liberals and conservatives, decided this week it's too soon to officially launch the new ecumenical group they're calling Christian Churches Together.
They're holding off mainly because black denominations are not ready to join the movement, two church officials told the Enterprise-Record Friday….
Bishop McKinley Young of the African Methodist Episcopal Church said he and other representatives of black churches have felt Christian Churches Together, by including conservative groups, would "not have the capacity to be responsive on the issues of peace and justice."
Also, many African-American leaders are happy with the National Council of Churches and fear Christian Churches Together could turn out to be a rival group, he said.
It seems unlikely Christian Churches Together could take strong stands on poverty and against the war in Iraq as the National Council of Churches has done, he said. The Catholic Church and most evangelical churches do not belong to the council.
Young noted that he hasn't been involved directly with Christian Churches Together for about a year. He was on its steering committee for some time, but then another bishop from his denomination took his place.
One of the benefits of the National Council of Churches and smaller ecumenical groups such as Churches Uniting In Christ is that they are racially diverse. The benefit of the new Christian Churches Together is that it would represent mainline churches, evangelicals, and Roman Catholics. But the group made a good decision not to move forward until their leaders can earn the trust of the African-American denominations. There is no place for a whites-only ecumenical group. My prayer is that we can find a way to bring all Christians to the table sometime soon. CCT holds great promise if everyone has a place.
Related Post: Christian Churches Together in the USA
