Simpsonwood Conference and Retreat Center near Atlanta, Georgia, March 28 – 31, 2006

See also Participants | Minutes | News Releases | Photos

Thirty-four churches and national Christian organizations, representing over 100 million Americans, have formed the broadest, most inclusive fellowship of Christian churches and traditions in the USA in a gathering at Simpsonwood Conference and Retreat Center near Atlanta, Georgia, March 28 – 31, 2006. National leaders from five Christian families — Evangelical/Pentecostal, Historic Protestant, Historic Racial/Ethnic, Orthodox and Catholic — made the historic decision to organize officially as Christian Churches Together in the USA. Its mission is “to enable churches and Christian organizations to grow closer together in Christ in order to strengthen our Christian witness in the world.”

From its beginning, CCT has given priority to prayer and worship, to building relationships of trust, and to discerning challenges that need to be addressed in society for more faithful Christian witness. In this meeting, the group focused on the issue of poverty in the United States, engaging in biblical reflection and in conversations with those who have experienced poverty as well as those with academic expertise. Affirming that overcoming poverty is “central to the mission of the church and essential to our unity in Christ,” participants committed themselves to work together to address the causes of poverty in the United States.

The vision of CCT began with a diverse group of Christian leaders gathered in the fall of 2001 who expressed a longing for an expanded Christian conversation in our nation:

We lament that we are divided and that our divisions too often result in distrust, misunderstandings, fear and even hostility between us. We long for the broken body of Christ to be made whole, where unity can be celebrated in the midst of our diversity. We long for more common witness, vision and mission.

Over these past years, a process of mutual engagement, agreement on purposes, and organizational planning has now resulted in an historic new expression of relationships among churches. “We finally found the courage to confront our obvious and longstanding divisions and to build a new expression of unity, rooted in the Spirit, that will strengthen our mission in the world,” affirmed the Reverend Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary of the Reformed Church in America, who has served as interim moderator. “We are filled with excitement, hope and expectation for how God will use this new expression of our fellowship together.”

In addition to the 34 participant churches and organizations, eight churches and national organization, who are considering participation, were present as observers. CCT continues to extend a warm invitation to all churches, Christian Communities and National Christian Organizations to consider becoming active participants and to working together with others to present a more credible Christian witness in and to the world.