ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 10, 2007  

ELCA Presiding Bishop Joins CUIC Leaders in MLK Statement
07-004-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a statement for the annual observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15, several U.S. Christian church leaders urged their congregations to join other congregations in their communities to "discern ways to exercise common witness and common service as together we seek to dismantle racism and, in so doing, to be the voice and presence of God's love in the world."
     The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and 10 other Christian church leaders -- many of them heads of communion -- endorsed the statement.  It was issued through Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC), a relationship of 10 member churches "that have pledged to live more closely together in expressing their unity in Christ and to combat racism together," according to CUIC's Web site.  The ELCA is not a CUIC member but is a "Partner in Mission and Dialogue."
     The church leaders noted in their statement that Jan. 15 marks the 21st anniversary celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the fifth anniversary of CUIC.  On Jan. 21, 2002, the church leaders, representing 10 denominations, assembled in Memphis at the historic Lorraine Motel, site of King's assassination in 1968.
     "They gathered to sign an agreement committing the members and partners in mission of CUIC to express their unity in Christ by living more closely together and working together to combat racism in the church and in society. In their statement the heads of communion affirmed that we must hold a common vision for God's Beloved Community that is a community 'committed to eradicating racism and making no peace with oppression,'" the statement said.
     The church leaders said that CUIC members are called to be "ambassadors of reconciliation" in a world sold on the idolatries of privilege and racial exclusivity that continue to divide and alienate the family of God, denying the truth that we are all created in the image of the one God.
     "Common witness and service are two marks of our unity in Christ. Our partnership in CUIC recognizes that one barrier to the expression of unity in the Christian family is the continuing reality of racism in the church and in the human community," the church leaders' statement said. 
     The church leaders said the vision of CUIC is that "authentic unity may be born in the struggle for racial justice, and that our collective prophetic witness against injustice and oppression in all forms is a measure of our faithfulness to the gospel."
     The church leaders added that they are reminded that there is still much to be done to dismantle and eradicate racism, and they hope their efforts will not be in vain. 
     "We believe in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: 'There is a power in love that our world has not discovered yet,'" the statement concluded.
     Other denominational heads of communion and senior church leaders who signed the statement represented the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; Christ Church (Disciples of Christ); Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; the Episcopal Church; International Council of Community Churches; Moravian Church Northern Province; Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Church of Christ and United Methodist Church.     
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     A link to the full statement of the CUIC leaders is at http://www.ELCA.org/advocacy/, the home page of the ELCA Washington Office.

     Information about CUIC is at http://www.cuicinfo.org/ on the Web.      
      

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