Members:
New ecumenical group includes Catholics, Pentecostals (4/5/06)
ATLANTA (4/5/06) — A new ecumenical group encompassing the five Christian families — Evangelical/Pentecostal, historic Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and historic racial/ethnic — was launched last week during a meeting in Atlanta.
Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT) represents over 100 million Christians and is “the broadest, most inclusive fellowship of Christian churches and traditions in the USA,” according to the group's news release. Christian Churches Together in the USA includes 34 churches and national Christian organizations, with another eight churches and one organization participating as observers while they consider joining.
The announcement of the group's formation came during a March 28-31 gathering at a retreat center in Atlanta.
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has been involved with the group since discussions about its formation began in 2001. Robert Welsh , Disciples' ecumenical officer and president of the denomination's Council on Christian Unity, participated in last week's gathering.
“I see the forming of Christian Churches Together in the USA as a truly significant moment in the life of the churches in this nation in witness to our unity and reconciliation in Christ before our society that desperately longs for authentic signs of hope in the face of so much conflict, division and despair,” said Welsh.
The group was first envisioned in the fall of 2001 at a diverse gathering of Christian leaders. They issued a statement lamenting sectarian divisions between Christians and the resulting mistrust, misunderstanding and hostility.
“We long for the broken body of Christ to be made whole, where unity can be celebrated in the midst of our diversity,” they said.
Christian leaders continued to meet to map out a process for coming together, identify a mission and purpose, and to build relationships. The group also spent time in prayer and worship.
As part of its work, the group spent time in biblical study on the subject of poverty. They talked with those who experience poverty firsthand. Overcoming poverty is central to its mission as a unified body, and to the mission of the church, according to its statement. Group members are committed to working together to address poverty and its causes in the United States.
“In coming together to address the root causes of poverty in our nation, the churches recognize that these issues cut across our theological, ecclesial, and doctrinal positions — and that, in Christ, we are all called to respond to the poor and suffering together, whether Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox, Protestant or Pentecostal,” said Welsh.
Christian Churches Together is not seen as supplanting the National Council of Churches, according to an Ecumenical News International report. However, CCT's formation is significant because it marks the first time the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has joined such a grouping. It also includes groups such as the Salvation Army, the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, and World Vision, a humanitarian relief organization.
