wfn.org | Churches keep King's dream alive

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Jan. 22, 2002   News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.  10-31-71BP{017}

NOTE: This is a sidebar to UMNS story #016. Photographs are available.

By Cathy Farmer*

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (UMNS) -- An assassin's bullet ended the life of the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr., but it couldn't kill his dream. On Jan. 21, leaders
of nine Christian denominations met on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in
a commitment to fight racism.

Standing on the very spot where King lost his life in 1968, nine men stepped
forward, one by one, to affix their signatures to an appeal asking local
churches to combat racism in society and in the church.

Signing the appeal was the first public step taken by the newly formed
Churches Uniting in Christ, said Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, ecumenical
officer for the United Methodist Council of Bishops.

"We didn't want to start with something simple, something easy," Talbert
said. "By making combating racism our No. 1 priority, we're showing that
we're serious about responding to God's call.

"If we can get the churches working together in every community for the
common good, we can make a difference," he added. 

Two days earlier, the United Methodist Church joined eight other Christian
communions forming Churches Uniting in Christ, the result of 40 years of
conversations about unity through the Consultation on Church Union.  

As "uniting" churches, each communion maintained its own structure and
identity, but all vowed to honor one another's baptism, engage in joint
mission and worship, and work together for the betterment of their churches
and communities. 

"Churches Uniting in Christ isn't a structural union, but it will change our
relationships. We'll recognize each other as a church of Jesus Christ. We'll
recognize each other's baptism. We agree on the apostolic faith, the
Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. We will celebrate the Eucharist
together intentionally and on a regular basis. We'll engage in Christ's
ministry," Talbert explained.

Topping the social and moral agenda for the churches is the eradication of
racism, which made the gathering on the King holiday all the more
significant, said the Rev. Robert Edgar, a United Methodist and president of
the National Council of Churches.

Edgar warmed up the marchers, shouting for them to repeat after him: "Wake
up, America! End racism now!"

Signing the document on behalf of United Methodists, Seattle Area Bishop
Elias Galvan voiced hope that "Christians will learn to embody the unity to
which Christ calls us. This world will be watching us, to see if we live up
to our word," he added. Galvan is president of the denomination's Council of
Bishops.

That sentiment was common among church leaders, who acknowledged that the
church has sometimes been guilty of perpetuating racism and other
oppression, rather than standing up for justice. Concluding his sermon at
the celebration service for the new Churches Uniting in Christ, Bishop
McKinley Young of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, admonished the
Christians gathered: "This is our finest hour-don't blow it!"
# # #
*Farmer is director of communications for the Memphis (Tenn.) Annual
Conference of the United Methodist Church.

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United Methodist News Service
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