wfn.org | PC(USA) a partner in new communion

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Note #7152 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

09-May-2002
02169

PC(USA) a partner in new communion

Group links U.S. Christian churches that 'long for greater unity'  

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE - The stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has joined 32 other U.S. church leaders in endorsing a document expressing regret about issues that divide Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians.

The ecumenical group, which calls itself "Christian Churches Together in the USA," also has committed itself to developing a better common witness to Christ.

The group was convened at the request of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S., the Salvation Army, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Call to Renewal, a coalition of evangelicals often represented by Jim Wallis of Sojourners magazine.

The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick of the PC(USA) said the gathering is "a major turning point in the ecumenical life of this country" whose participants will lift ecumenism in the United States to a new level.

The Rev. Robina Winbush, the PC(USA)'s director of ecumenical and agency relations, also signed the document.

The statement was approved and issued during a meeting in Chicago. 

"We are Christians who long for greater unity," the signatories say. "It is our longing which most clearly points us toward 'something new' as a possibility for the churches in the United States. We celebrate the unique traditions, gifts and charisms of our respective faith communities.  We also acknowledge that when our differences create unnecessary divisions, our witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is distorted."

Among the points made in the paper:

* We are divided, and our divisions too often cause mistrust, misunder-standing, fear and even hostility. 

* Our differences keep us from speaking effectively on matters critical to the Gospel and to our society.

* Our failure to be faithful to each other has muted our prophetic voice on crucial issues relating to human dignity and social justice.

* No current ecumenical organization represents the full spectrum of Christian belief in the United States.

The group, inviting all churches that "confess Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the Scriptures to the glory of one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit" to join in the venture, committed itself to eight kinds of common witness, including: speaking to society with a common voice; fostering evangelism; building a community of fellowship and support; engaging in common prayer; and celebrating a common confession of faith in the Triune God.

The document was issued on April 6.

Others who affixed their signatures to the paper include Commissioner John Busby of The Salvation Army; the Rev. Rothangliani Chhangte of the American Baptist Church; Bishop Edwin Conway of the Roman Catholic Church; Father Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church in America; Sister Joan McGuire of the Roman Catholic Church; Bishop George McKinney of the Pentecostal-Charismatic Church of North America; the Rev. Robert Sawyer of the Moravian Church in America; Bishop Melvin Talbert of the United Methodist Church; and Bishop McKinley Young of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The group has met twice and will reconvene next January.

Winbush said other churches and groups are welcome to join the new communion. "It is important that we maintain the relationships we have established over the last 50 years with other churches," she said, "while at the same time we open ourselves to new relationships in the body of Christ."
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