Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — They have a common faith, and they express it in much the same way, but nine Protestant denominations are still struggling with a 40-year effort to join together. They hope a new anti-racism initiative will pull them closer.
On Sunday, one day before a national holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., church leaders planned to sign a unity pledge to work against racism.
"There was a lot of effort around the civil rights days in the ’60s, and then there was a sort of a sense of ‘Well, we’ve done that now and we’ve solved that problem.’ Well, we clearly haven’t solved the problem," said Bishop Christopher Epting, ecumenical officer for the Episcopal Church.
The pact covers six predominantly white and three historically black denominations, with a total of 22 million followers: the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Episcopal Church, International Council of Community Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ and United Methodist Church.
Epting said church leaders would sign a joint pastoral letter calling on their congregations to fight racial injustice. The individual churches would be left to decide how best to respond in their communities, he said.
Churches Uniting in Christ succeeds the Consultation on Church Union, which began in 1962 as an attempt to merge several Protestant denominations.
That goal has never been reached, largely because of differences in how the denominations conduct their affairs. For example, the denominations differ on when and how baptisms are conducted, and some have bishops while others don’t. Some also worried that their individual identities would be lost if they were drawn into a larger church.
Epting said the new organization is a "communion of communions, rather than a merger," that aims to "fully recognize each other, exchange clergy and (unite) mission opportunities."
The denominations involved in the group plan to recognize each others’ baptisms, regularly celebrate Communion with neighboring congregations, share educational materials and join to advocate social policies.
"Christians in the pews know that we belong together because we all belong to the same Lord," says Churches Uniting in Christ literature.
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