Lausanne World Pulse – Perspectives Articles – Christian Churches Together Launched in Pasadena, California, USA: Stresses Evangelism and an End to Poverty

A consensus on the importance of evangelism and the need to eliminate domestic poverty marked the official formation of Christian Churches Together (CCT) meeting 6-9 February 2007 in Pasadena, California, USA.

The CCT is composed of thirty-six churches and national organizations from virtually all US Christian groups who have been seeking to come together for fellowship, worship and opportunities to share in important ministries. “Remember that you belong to God and God does not belong to you,” said the Rev. Dr. Larry Pickens, quoting his mother’s early admonition. That, said Pickens, is the wisdom that will hold CCT groups together.

“CCT is good news for American Christians,” said the very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church in America. “Our gathering of the wider spectrum of US Christian churches is succeeding in building mutual trust and overcoming stereotypes. Our common hope and expectation is that CCT will enable our churches to offer a strong and united Christian moral voice and vision in the public square.”

Christian Churches Together (CCT) began in 2001 out of a deeply felt need to broaden and expand fellowship, unity and witness among the diverse expressions of Christian faith today. Over the past five years, with a focus on praying together and building relationships, CCT has become the broadest, most inclusive fellowship of Christian churches and traditions in the US, including Evangelical/Pentecostal, Orthodox, Catholic, historic Protestant and Racial/Ethnic churches among its participants.

A celebration and commitment service highlighted the gathering that included over 150 participants and observers and a group of seminary students and young leaders. The thirty-six founding members includes the most recent groups to become official participants in CCT: the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.

“Seeing the leaders of all the participating churches and organizations standing and praying together in their commitment to this vision was a powerful, visible sign of hope,” said the Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson of the Reformed Church in America, chair of the CCT steering committee. “We have said from the beginning that our purpose is to grow closer together in Christ in order to strengthen our Christian witness in the world.”

“Our common hope and expectation is that CCT will enable our churches to offer a strong and united Christian moral voice and vision in the public square.”

Evangelism and the need to eliminate poverty in the US were major topics at the meeting. Dr. William Shaw of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., declared that poverty in the United States to be a “scandal.” Poverty “will not be redressed without intentional and painful effort by the total US community,” he said. “CCT calls the country’s conscience to that effort and commits itself to being a part of that redressing.”

CCT participants continued discussions from the 2006 annual gathering in Atlanta, Georgia, on the topic of domestic poverty. A committee was appointed in Atlanta to find common ground and propose ways for CCT to challenge US Christians and the whole country to address the tragedy of poverty in our own neighborhoods. CCT considered the committee’s proposals and approved a statement on poverty while agreeing to continue addressing domestic poverty in the future, including a strong focus at the 2008 annual gathering in Washington, D.C.

The text of the statement on poverty is below.

The discussion on evangelism was made open to a group of seminary students and young leaders. The group represented the diversity of the five faith families of the CCT. “Their excitement and contributions were welcomed and CCT leadership expects to look for ways to include these perspectives in the future,” Granberg-Michaelson said.