ATLANTA — Leaders of 34 U.S. church bodies have officially launched the broadest-ever Christian unity organization in American history and said fighting poverty will be its first priority.
Christian Churches Together in the USA was formally inaugurated March 31 after a three-day meeting outside Atlanta. A public kickoff is scheduled at the group’s scheduled meeting next February.
The loose knit group brings together five Christian “families” that have long been divided by historical and theological differences, including Catholics, mainline Protestants, evangelicals and Pentecostals, historically black churches and Orthodox churches.
Together the five “families” represent more than 100 million American Christians. The nation’s largest Protestant body, the Southern Baptist Convention, has said it will not participate.
The group will be led by a five-member committee of leaders from each family, including William Shaw of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.; Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church in America; Larry Pickens of the United Methodist Church; and Bishop James Leggett of the Pentecostal World Fellowship. Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore is expected to represent Catholics on the leadership panel.
Organizers said it quickly became apparent that tackling poverty would be the group’s first priority. “People were clear this is the first issue we’re addressing, but not the only one,” a spokesman said.
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