wfn.org | REV.-RELIGIOUS LEADERS RESPOND TO CLINTON INVESTIGATION

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REVISION:  Religious leaders Respond to Clinton 
Investigation
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
USA
Contact: The Rev. Dr. Albert Pennybacker, NCC, 212-
870-3260
Internet:  news@ncccusa.org

89NCC8/27/98             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RELIGIOUS LEADERS RESPOND TO CONTINUING CLINTON 
INVESTIGATION
Call for Forgiveness, Healing and Leadership

 NEW YORK, August 27 --- The Rev. Dr. Joan Brown 
Campbell, General Secretary of the National Council 
of Churches (NCC), is one among a group of religious 
leaders who have issued "A Pastoral Letter To The 
Nation" calling for forgiveness, healing and 
leadership so there can be "a return to the real 
needs of people."

 The letter counsels: "It is time to put to rest 
what has occurred, to do things that will set this 
matter right and to focus anew on the needs in our 
own land and threats to stability, justice and peace 
in our world.  It is time once again to be led by 
our President."

 "This is an open letter from a group of 
religious leaders who wanted, as pastors and rabbis, 
to share a word of healing with the nation and to 
invite all people of goodwill to sign," Dr. Campbell 
explained.

 In addition to Dr. Campbell, initial 
signatories include the Rev. Dr. Andrew Young, NCC 
president-elect and former mayor of Atlanta, the 
Rev. Dr. Gardner Taylor, pastor emeritus of Concord 
Baptist Church in Brooklyn and Rabbi Arthur 
Schneier, Senior Rabbi of Park East Synagogue in New 
York City.  Other prominent pastors also have signed 
the letter.

The full text of the letter and the initial 
signatories is attached.

-end-

An Appeal For Healing
A Pastoral Letter To The Nation

As pastors and rabbis we have found ourselves asking 
what is happening to our country.  In this moment we 
speak out of diverse religious heritages that have 
historically called us to wholeness in our common 
life. "The tragedy is not that things are broken, 
the tragedy is that things are not mended again." 
(Alan Payton, Cry The  Beloved Country)

We want our country back!  We urge a return to the 
real needs of people.  Urgent issues are before us.  
We want our presidents to be allowed to be 
president.  We want religious leaders, the media and 
public life to be guided by self-discipline, 
responsibility and compassion.  We want legal 
processes to be embraced by ethical considerations 
and by simple human decency.

The words of the prophet Micah instruct us: ". . . 
what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, 
to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?"

Our religious heritage has taught us to name 
unacceptable behavior, private or public, as 
unacceptable.  It is the route toward healing.  The 
President confessed:  "It was wrong." What more must 
we know?  We are not shocked by human failure. We 
are familiar with the needs of the human spirit and 
reach out to those in pain. We ourselves speak as 
the flawed to the flawed. 

We want the eyes and ears of children to see, hear 
and feel the Word of the Living God.  We want them 
to see and hear images and voices of reconciliation, 
grace, mercy and redeeming love. 

It is now a time for forgiveness and healing.  
Governments err and presidents make mistakes; we are 
all sinners.  But the God of love and justice does 
not judge us without the hand of grace and mercy.   
It is a time to reclaim the nation's finer 
character.  We believe that health and dignity can 
grow anew to serve us.  

We counsel:  
It is time to put to rest what has 
occurred, to do things that will set 
this matter right and to focus anew on 
the needs in our own land and threats 
to stability, justice and peace in our 
world.   It is our common humanity 
that yearns for healing.   It is time 
once again to be led by our President.

We need our country back.

We appeal to the conscience of all citizens of good 
will.  We appeal for prayer for the President and 
his family.  We appeal for prayer for our nation and 
by our nation.  Let us pray for all who have sadly 
been caught up in this web of human agony

Initial Signatories 
(titles for 
identification only):

Bishop Vinton Anderson
Prelate, Second 
Episcopal District,
African Methodist 
Episcopal Church 
Washington, D.C.

The Rev. Dr. Amos Brown
Pastor, Third Baptist 
Church
San Francisco, 
California

The Rev. Dr. Joan Brown 
Campbell
General Secretary, 
National Council of the 
Churches of Christ in 
the USA
New York, NY

Dr. Tony Campolo
Professor of Sociology, 
Eastern College
St. Davids, 
Pennsylvania

Rabbi David J. Gelfand
Senior Rabbi, Jewish 
Center of the Hamptons
East Hampton, NY

The Rev. Dr. C. Welton 
Gaddy
Pastor, Northminster 
Baptist Church
Monroe, Louisiana

The Rev. Dr. Robert L. 
Maddox
Senior Pastor, Briggs 
Memorial Baptist Church
Bethesda, Maryland

The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, 
Jr.
Olivet Institutional 
Baptist Church
Cleveland, Ohio

The Rev. Dr. John Wade 
Payne
Senior Minister, Park 
Avenue Christian Church
New York, NY

Rabbi Arthur Schneier
Senior Rabbi, Park East 
Synagogue
New York, NY

The Rev. Dr. Gardner 
Taylor  
Pastor Emeritus, 
Concord Baptist Church
Brooklyn, NY

The Rev. Dr. Andrew 
Young
President-Elect, NCCC
Atlanta, Georgia

Additional signatures 
welcomed
Contact: 212-870-3260
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