Launch of US church unity body postponed

Ecumenical News International
June 9, 2005
by Chris Herlinger

The formal launch of a new body seeking to enlarge the "ecumenical table" in the United States has been delayed because of reported lukewarm support by historic black churches.

"The decision was made to delay a formal launch planned for this fall [autumn] in order to continue the productive and positive conversation with churches and organizations actively considering joining," US church leaders organizing the new grouping, Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT-USA), said in a statement.

"Relationships with the historic Black churches were deepened through intensive dialogue and sharing," they noted after their 1 to 3 June meeting in Los Altos, California.

Still, the planned launch was postponed because leaders of churches attended mainly by African Americans were skeptical that their issues, such as social and economic justice, would be addressed by the new body, the Religion News Service (RNS) reported.

The new body would be groundbreaking in at least one respect: it would be the first time the US Conference of Catholic Bishops would join such a church grouping.

Organizers said they decided more time was needed to solidify representation from all five of the designated US Christian "families": evangelical/Pentecostal, "mainline" Protestant, historic black churches, Orthodox and Roman Catholic.

"This important attempt to 'broaden the ecumenical table' has been strengthened, I think, by our consensus decision to be sure that we have significant representation from all five Christian families before we officially 'launch' CCT-USA," said Bishop Christopher Epting, ecumenical officer for the Episcopal Church, quoted by the Episcopal News Service (ENS).

Though the new venture was first considered during a time when the National Council of Churches was facing a number of difficulties, the NCC has in recent years strengthened its financial position.

Bishop Thomas Hoyt of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and who is also president of the NCC was quoted by RNS saying black churches wondered why a broader table is needed, when they were already part of the National Council of Churches.