wfn.org | AMEZ, CME churches move step closer to possible union

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 15, 2001 News media contact: Linda Green·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-31-71B{275}
 
By United Methodist News Service

Two historically African-American Methodist denominations are making
progress toward possible merger, which could become a reality in 2004.

Representatives from the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) and the
Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) churches met May 29-30 to begin a
process of defining and detailing areas in a proposed plan of union.  If the
top legislative bodies of both denominations approve the plan, a new
Christian Methodist Episcopal Zion Church with more than 2 million members
could be created.

Essential to the plan of union, which was adopted as a working document by
the AMEZ 2000 General Conference, are eight proposed Commissions for
Implementation, said Mary Love, general secretary for the AMEZ church. 

According to Juanita Bryant, general secretary of the CME church, each
commission's task is to decide in specific detail what the plan of union
should contain.  When completed, the stated components will be compiled and
incorporated into a written document that will be submitted to the CME
General Conference, meeting in Atlanta in 2002.  If adopted by the CME
church, the document will be presented to the top legislative body of the
AMEZ Church in 2004 for adoption. If adopted by that body, the plan of union
must be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the annual conferences in the two
churches. 

AMEZ Bishop Cecil Bishop of Charlotte and CME Bishop Nathaniel L. Linsey of
Cincinnati chaired the two-day session.

"I am pleased with the progress being made in the process of union between
the AMEZ and CME churches," Linsey said. "I am impressed with the increase
in dialogue between the two denominations and the growing interest
manifested in uniting the two churches.  I am confident that we are moving
in a very positive way toward uniting our churches and that through prayer,
we will be one."

Each commission, comprising seven members from each denomination and
co-chaired by a bishop from both denominations, organized and began
discussions during the recent meeting.  The commissions on implementation
are: Ministerial Standards and Qualifications; Higher Education and
Theological Training; Ministry to Women; Nomenclature (name); Connectional
Departments; Budget and Finance; Alignment (property); and Worship, Ritual
and Hymnal. Each commission must present an interim report to the Task Force
on Union by Dec. 1.  The task force will meet Dec. 10 at the Israel
Metropolitan CME Church in Washington. 

The commissions are working to establish principles and procedures, define
duties, specify authority and indicate time-lines for things that need to be
accomplished.

Several attempts have been made through the years to bring the two
denominations together. An attempt in the early 1900s failed. In 1918,
representatives of the two churches, along with the African Methodist
Episcopal (AME) Church, produced a document called the "Birmingham Plan"
which passed by the CME General Conference, but was not ratified by the
annual conferences.  

Another attempt was made when the 1986 General Conference of the CME Church
and the AMEZ 1988 General Conference adopted principles union, which
remained inert for 11 years.  Discussions around merger again arose in 1999
when the bishops of both churches engaged in conversations. At the World
Methodist Council's Millennium Event in November of that year, the bishops
reaffirmed the 1988 Principles of Union and a task force was created to
draft a plan of union.

The AMEZ Church has 1.2 million members and the CME Church has 886,000. The
AME Church, with 2 million members, is the largest African-American
denomination. 

Bishop expressed optimism for the union process. "It should be understood
that all the t's cannot be crossed and all the i's cannot be dotted at this
stage (but) we will have a clearer picture and the new church will begin to
emerge as we move from a working document to the approval of a tentative
document and eventually to a final draft."

The three black denominations originated through acts of exclusion or
discrimination by white Methodists in the 18th and 19th centuries. The three
are exploring possible union with the United Methodist Church through a
Commission Pan-Methodist Cooperation and Union.

The predominately white United Methodist Church counts 383,000
African-Americans among its 8.4 million U.S. members. The four denominations
have cooperated on many programs and projects and engaged in cooperative
efforts and discussions. In May 2000, United Methodists formally apologized
for the racist acts that caused blacks to leave and also for the racism
involved in creating the segregated Central Jurisdiction in the former
Methodist Church.
# # #
The majority of information for this article was provided by Juanita Bryant
of the CME Church and Mary Love of the AMEZ Church.

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United Methodist News Service
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