Members:
CUIC makes reconciling with estranged members a top priority (1/21/08)
By Rebecca Bowman Woods, DisciplesWorld news editor
ST. LOUIS (1/21/08) — From the outset, leaders of the ecumenical group Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC) agreed that their Jan. 11-14 plenary in St. Louis would not be “business as usual.”
Six years after its inauguration, those involved in CUIC admit that they expected to be further along in combating racism and in reconciling or at least recognizing ordained ministries across denominational lines. They asked the heads of member churches to attend the January 2008 meeting in order to revisit the commitments made in 2002.
The plenary departed from business as usual in another way. Midway through the second day of meetings, they set aside the agenda to give full attention to the absence of two member communions — the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and African Methodist Episcopal Zion churches.
While these historically African-American denominations have not officially withdrawn, relations have been strained for over a year, in part because of the two churches' dissatisfaction with some of the dynamics within CUIC and its task forces, perceived as unwillingness to seriously address racism.
CUIC’s leaders knew that the AME and AME Zion representatives might not attend the St. Louis meeting. When they didn’t, it became apparent that the plenary needed to deal with their absence. CUIC put off task force reports and instead, made time for discussion, confession, and lament.
The outcome, according to Robert Welsh, Disciples’ ecumenical officer, was that all the participating churches agreed that reaching out to the AME and AME Zion churches should be top priority. CUIC declared a moratorium on its task forces’ work, and asked the heads of communions to draft a letter to the two denominations, expressing the desire to work toward reconciliation.
The letter was drafted immediately. The plenary affirmed and endorsed it, Welsh said.
The letter is about more than convincing two churches to come back, he added. It includes a recommitment to CUIC’s goals, and to “the vision we had in Memphis as seeking to become God’s beloved community,” he said.
The plenary also recommended asking heads of member communions to provide more leadership. They agreed to hold another plenary by 2011, hoping that a timeline will keep CUIC’s efforts moving.
And restructure may lie ahead. “Governance and programmatic structures of CUIC themselves need to be adjusted,” Welsh said.
From the outset, CUIC committed to promoting racial justice and reconciliation. Its inaugural worship service in 2002 was held in Memphis the weekend preceding Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Top church officials signed founding documents on the balcony of the motel where King was assassinated.
At that time, CUIC pledged to achieve full recognition and reconciliation of ministries, so that clergy could serve in each other’s churches, when invited, including at the communion table.
Living into those commitments has proven more difficult than CUIC’s members might have anticipated.
After the AME and AME Zion churches made their frustration known, CUIC took steps to analyze its own processes. In 2007, its Coordinating Council hired consultants to identify racism within its structures and practices. Several weeks later, CUIC’s Racial Justice Task Force met and reported making “significant progress.”
Several Disciples are involved in CUIC’s leadership. Suzanne Webb is its president, and Patrice Rosner, its director. Richard Guentert serves on the Ministry Task Force, and Jim Ryan is on the Local and Regional Task Force.
Timothy James, Disciples associate general minister and vice-president, and the administrative secretary of the National Convocation, is part of the Racial Justice Task Force, and represented Disciples in discussions among heads of member communions. James also preached during the Jan. 13 service of worship and Eucharist.
Michael Kinnamon, a longtime Disciples ecumenist who recently became general secretary of the National Council of Churches, addressed the plenary on Jan. 11 and participated in the full meeting. Kinnamon was the last general secretary of the Consultation on Church Union, the predecessor to CUIC.
“CUIC is not an organization that we joined, but a new relationship with these other churches, rooted in the realization that (unity) is God’s gift to us. Our task now is to be what we are, and live out our unity as brothers and sisters,” Kinnamon commented after the CUIC plenary.
Angela Boyd, Molly Goodrich, and Darla Glynn were also part of the Disciples’ delegation in St. Louis.
“The opportunity both to attend and actively participate in very significant proceedings concerning the next steps in the work of CUIC was illuminating and instructive,” Boyd said.
Besides the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), member communions represented were the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Methodist Church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, the U.S. Episcopal Church, the Moravian Church Northern Province, and the International Council of Community Churches. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, a partner in mission and dialogue, also participated.
Observers from other church groups were present, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Alliance of Baptists, the Baptist General Convention of Missouri, and the National Council of Churches.
