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A handbook of councils and churches profiles of ecumenical relationships


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Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

Church Family: Baptist

Membership: 2,500,000*

Regions: 5

Local churches: 1,800

North America

Pastors: 1,146 (in the USA)

Member of: WCC (1975) – NCCC/USA – BWA

Periodical: The Worker (quarterly)

Website: www.pnbc.org

The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (PNBC) started as a move­ment which reflected the religious, social and political climate in the USA in the 1950s. The seeds of the PNBC were sown at that time by discontent over election procedures in the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. But the roots of its development went far beyond issues of tenure of office. The formation of the con­vention was wrapped up in the civil rights movement and was begun by some of the same persons who were deeply involved in the freedom movement for African Americans in the United States. From a religious perspective, churches from across the United States were suffering from an identity crisis fostered by racism, and conservative political policies and practices that supported segregation and US apartheid. In this context, the question was whether the church would be at the forefront of the civil rights movement or would only emphasize narrow eccle­siastical concerns and worship.

In 1961, 33 delegates met to envision a new convention that would be pro­gressive and forward-thinking, and respond to the spiritual and social needs of the time. As a result, the Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc. was formed. Leadership from across the United States joined the Progressive Baptist family and spawned the movement. The PNBC became a new Christian movement which included an array of social and political concerns embodied in its founding principles of fellowship, progress, peace and service. The movement was under­girded by Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s struggle for freedom for African Americans. It was the PNBC that provided a denominational home for Dr King Jr and many of the Baptist leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. As a result of their involve­ment, the centrepiece of the PNBC witness became one of social justice and human liberation as a mandate of the gospel. In essence, the PNBC became a living African American Christian organism, vibrant with energy and committed to the social gospel for the transformation of US society.

From its very beginning, distinctive characteristics emerged that separated it from other African American Baptist conventions: tenure in office, a unified giving programme, and kingdom priorities. Any member of the convention whether lay, clergy, male or female is eligible to hold any office of the convention, which ensures the broadest possible participation of all of its members. The member churches are required to contribute one percent of their previous year’s operating budget as their membership fee. The PNBC has an integrated mission programme. It is dedicated to the education of African Americans and has as one of its major priorities the support of African American colleges, schools of reli­gion, theological schools and universities. The PNBC is actively engaged in national and international ministries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the United States of America.

The membership of the PNBC in the USA is primarily urban and comes from many different social classes and strata. A large percentage of PNBC churches are engaged in urban programmes that focus on the youth, the elderly, housing, eco­nomic development and prison ministries.

*Of which 1,000,000 outside the USA (in the UK, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Ecuador, and Nicaragua).

Reformed Church in America

Church Family: Reformed

Membership: 284,520

Congregations: 938

Pastors: 2,053

Member of: WCC (1948) – NCCC/USA – CCT USA – WARC – CANAAC

Periodical: Church Herald

Website: www.rca.org

In the colonial town of New Amsterdam in 1628, nearly fifty people gathered in a mill loft to celebrate the Lord’s supper. Their communion marks the birth­date of the Reformed Church in America. The congregation they founded con­tinues today as the Collegiate Reformed Church in New York City, the oldest evan­gelical church in North America with a continuous ministry.

Incorporated in 1819 as the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, the denomi­nation changed its name in 1867 to the Reformed Church in America (RCA). The RCA spread westward throughout the 19th century, although most of the church’s influence continued to be among settlers and immigrants of Dutch descent, including two congregations organized in Alberta, Canada, in the early 1900s. Another expansion in Canada took place following World War II, as the RCA worked to assist Dutch immigrants seeking to make a new start in Canada. In the 1950s, Americans moving to the cities and suburbs prompted the RCA to orga­nize 120 new churches, many among people unfamiliar with the Dutch heritage and Dutch Reformed traditions. To further welcome people from other back­grounds, between 1969 and 1980 the RCA formed four racial-ethnic councils (Pacific and Asian American, Hispanic, Native American Indian, and African American). In addition, urban ministries focus on churches and people who live in cities throughout the US and Canada. Denominational approval of the ordina­tion of women as elders and deacons came in 1972, though women had been ordained to those offices beginning in 1970. The first woman RCA minister was ordained in 1973, and ordination to the office of minister was opened to all women in 1979.

The RCA is presbyterian in government. It accepts the inspired word of God as its only rule of faith and practice. The concept of covenant and the sovereignty of God are important emphases in its theology. Mission continues to be a priority, especially through the “mutual mission” initiative (begun in 2002), which fosters exchanges of people, knowledge, and understanding between the long-established North American churches and their younger, innovative, growing counterparts in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The church has a strong evangelical emphasis and seeks ways to address important social and global issues, including hunger, world peace, and disaster response.

The RCA’s statement of Mission and Vision, introduced in 1997, spells out the calling of the church “to follow Christ in mission, in a lost and broken world so loved by God.” “Our Call,” the denominational goal, builds on the mission and vision statement. Our Call was initiated in 2003 and focuses on revitalizing exist­ing congregations and starting new congregations, while building on the founda­tions of discipleship, leadership, and mission. Reformed and always reforming, the RCA has moved into the 21st century, rooted and established in careful theol­ogy and committed to grow as the Spirit leads.

North America

Religious Society of Friends: Friends General Conference

Church Family: Free Church

Membership: 32,000

Yearly Meetings: 14

Monthly Meetings: 400

Member of: WCC (1948) – NCCC/USA – FWCC

Periodical: FGC Quarterly

Website: www.fgcquaker.org

The Friends General Conference is the oldest of the five major groupings of Friends in the United States and Canada. It had its beginnings just before 1900 when four Hicksite groups decided to meet annually at the same time and place. These were First Day School Conference, Friends Union for Philanthropic Labor, Friends Religious Conference, and Friends Education Conference. In 1900, seven yearly meetings which were involved in these groups joined to form Friends Gen­eral Conference. In the 1950s, when yearly meetings were united, the scope of FGC membership was broadened to include meetings which had been identified as Orthodox, Conservative, and Evangelical, as well as Hicksite. Over the years, Friends have found that they come closer to truth when many Friends, rather than a few, are involved in ministry and in decisions. Monthly meetings have joined to form yearly meetings and yearly meetings have joined to form Friends General Conference, Friends United Meeting, and Friends Evangelical International.

Today, Friends General Conference is an association of 14 yearly meetings and some other groups in the Religious Society of Friends. Representatives of these yearly meetings and other groups meet annually as a central committee and serve on programme and administrative committees designed to strengthen and enrich the spiritual dimension of the Society of Friends.

Friends General Conference (FGC) Friends have historic roots in Christianity. For them, the life and teaching of Jesus are central to their belief and to their day-to-day living. Most are open to the enrichment of theological diversity. FGC Friends believe that everyone has direct access to God through the Inner Light or Inner Christ. Worship is based on expectant waiting upon and communion with God. The FGC has a travelling ministries programme which provides opportuni­ties for Friends to visit each other’s communities, to share experiences and grow spiritually. The FCG also participates actively in the Decade to Overcome Violence.

Religious Society of Friends: Friends United Meeting

Church Family: Free Church

Membership: 170,600*

Yearly Meetings: 29

Monthly Meetings: 2,585*

Pastors: 1,201

Member of: WCC (1948) – NCCCUSA – CCT USA – FWCC

Periodical: Quaker Life

Website: www.fum.org

Quakerism arose out of the religious ferment of the mid-17th century in Eng­land. Its founder emphasized the immediacy of Christ’s teaching and held that for this, consecrated buildings and ordained ministers were irrelevant. By 1655 Quak­ers had spread throughout Great Britain and Ireland and to the continent of Europe, and in 1682 Pennsylvania was founded on a Quaker basis. From the para­mount importance given to the Inward Christ of the new covenant derives the rejection of the outward sacraments, ordained ministry and all set forms of wor­ship. The Society does, however, firmly believe in a spiritual baptism and a spiri­tual communion, and recognizes the gifts in ministry of all believers.

The Friends United Meeting (FUM) was established in 1902 as a gathering of American yearly meetings. Each yearly meeting remains autonomous in its gov­ernance, but joins together through Friends United Meeting for common witness and service. FUM has grown to include 29 yearly meetings around the world, with concentrations of membership in the United States and East Africa. Three quar­ters of its members are Kenyan. FUM’s purpose statement commits it to “energize and equip Friends, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to gather people into fel­lowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved and obeyed as teacher and Lord.” FUM currently has four strategic priorities: evangelism, leadership training, global partnerships and communications.

In the 19th century, Quakers were leaders in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States, and supported it by becoming a part of the underground rail­road network. Continuing through the 20th century to live in the deep-rooted belief that all people are the children of God, Quakers have been active in relief work throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and South America in times of war and anguish, working through such agencies as the American Friends Service Com­mittee. FUM is one of the founding organizations of Christian Peacemaker Teams, seeking to follow the way of Jesus by offering non-violent resistance to violent conflict. FUM Friends have also developed programmes of alternatives to vio­lence, which have been implemented in diverse situations of conflict around the world. FUM is active in mission and evangelism. Its historic missions include schools, theological colleges, hospitals and orphanages in Kenya, Palestine, Jamaica, and Belize. Outreach in new areas includes Russia and the pastoralist people of northern Kenya. In North America FUM holds conferences for pastors and for emerging leaders.

FUM holds a world-wide triennial conference every three years, and is gov­erned by a general board appointed by all its member yearly meetings. It has offices in Richmond, Indiana, USA and Kisumu, Kenya.

*of which 75 percent in Kenya.



United Church of Christ

Church Family: United and Uniting Membership : 1,400,000 Conferences: 39 Congregations: 6,000 Pastors: 10,000 Member of: WCC (1948/1961) – NCCC/USA – CCT USA – WARC – CANAAC Periodical: United Church News (6 times per year) Website www.ucc.org

The United Church of Christ, a church of the united and uniting church family, was created in 1957, from the merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational and Christian churches. Its roots grew out of German Lutheranism, German and Swiss Reformed traditions, Anabaptist Christian Church traditions, and English Congregationalism. The UCC also expresses its Reformed heritage through the presence of the non-geographic Calvin Synod from the Hungarian Reformed tradition. The Congregational churches were descended from Puritan and Separatist forebears in England and New England. Their roots

North America

are in the Calvinist and free church traditions, but include influences from a vari­ety of Reformation-era traditions. Seeking the simplicity of first century Chris­tianity, and on the cusp of the 19th century “Second Awakening”, the Christian Church arose from three diverse traditions: the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyter­ian churches.

The Congregational Churches and the Christian Church came together in 1931 to become the Congregational Christian Churches. The German Reformed Church was established by early 18th century Swiss and German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and the surrounding area. The Evangelical Synod of North America was born of the Evangelical Church of the Prussian Union, a 19th cen­tury Reformed-Lutheran union in Germany. Settlers in the Mississippi Valley during the westward movement of the 19th century were gathered into congre­gations through missionary efforts. In 1934 these two churches united to become the Evangelical and Reformed Church.

The settings of the United Church of Christ are bound together by covenantal relationships. Authority rests in the individual congregation, and functions with a blend of congregational and presbyterial polity. Local churches are autonomous, own their property, and call their pastors. Congregations have membership in regional associations, which have the authority to ordain and grant ministerial standing to pastors. Associations are in turn gathered into conferences. The United Church of Christ meets biennially in general synod to establish priorities, make statements on public moral and social issues, recommend policy, vote on budget, and make programme recommendations. The general synod consists of delegates elected by the conferences, members of the four covenanted ministries of the national setting, and representatives from various other settings of the church. The head of communion for the United Church of Christ is the general minister and president, and the general synod elects four additional officers to give leadership to the church. These five together form the “Collegium of Officers.”

At its inception the United Church of Christ was, and has continued to be, a diverse communion, including congregations of many racial and ethnic origins: African American, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and many others. As a result of its diversity and commitment to being a united and uniting church, the United Church of Christ has sought to engage the various ecclesial and liturgical perspectives brought by its members. It has continued to articulate its united and uniting vocation by naming a commitment to becoming ever more intentionally multi-racial and multicultural, open and affirming to the gifts of gay and lesbian persons for membership and ordained ministry, a church accessible to all people, and dedicated to the pursuit of ecumenical relationships. These commitments are seen to rest clearly in the stream of the Reformation tradition of a church “reformed and always reforming”. This same commitment fosters a concern for justice and peace in the church and throughout the world.



United Methodist Church

Church Family: Methodist

Membership: 10,103,323*

Congregations: 42,195

Bishops: 68

Pastors: 54,212

Member of : WCC (1948/1969) – NCCC/USA – CCT USA – WMC

Periodicals: The Interpreter (in English and Spanish)

Sixty other periodicals
Website: www.umc.org

The United Methodist Church, now one of the largest Protestant denomina­tions in the USA and with member churches in Africa, Asia and Europe, has its roots in English, Dutch and German groups working among the early settlers. The Methodist Episcopal Church, following the principles of John Wesley, was offi­cially organized in 1784. During the 19th century, Methodism spread to Africa, Asia and Latin America through missionary efforts. The early 20th century brought about various unions. In 1939 the Methodist Episcopal Church (South), the Methodist Protestant Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church united into the Methodist Church, which created a “central jurisdiction”, i.e., a non-geo-graphical (segregated) jurisdiction based upon race. In 1946 the Church of the United Brethren in Christ and the Evangelical Church became the Evangelical United Brethren Church, which united with the Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church in 1968. The central jurisdiction was abolished. During the last half century mission churches, especially in Asia and Latin America, have become autonomous, although the parent denomination maintains close ties with them as it does with its own “mother church”, the Methodist Church in Great Britain.

The UMC reflects the diversified society of the nation. Even though the official social creed of the church could be considered as liberal, individual members hold widely differing views on political and social issues. Throughout Methodism’s his­tory new congregations in particular communities have been made up of various ethnic groups – black, Asian, European, Native American, Hispanic, speaking several languages – sometimes integrated, sometimes not. Presently the UMC is growing most rapidly in Korea, parts of Africa and among newly arrived Asians and Hispanics in the USA. The church considers itself to be “an inclusive society without regard to ethnic origin, economic condition, sex or age of its con­stituents”. It is striving to implement the gospel in the lives of persons and in the structures of society, joining in ecumenical efforts to these ends. The ethnic minority constituency of the UMC is larger than that of most other predominantly white religious bodies. One of the priorities is the development and strengthen­ing of ethnic minority local churches. Among other priorities are the special emphases on education for awareness and responsibility for world hunger, peace with justice, television ministry, church and campus, Africa, and strengthening local churches through an emphasis on family life and evangelism.

The church’s four programme agencies – Church and Society, Discipleship, Global Ministries, and Higher Education and Ministry – indicate its understand­ing of the principal concerns. There are also five active general commissions: Christian unity and inter-religious concerns, communications, religion and race, the status and role of women, and archives and history. The church has relation­ships with united churches with Methodist components and with affiliated autonomous churches in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Uruguay.

*Distribution: Africa: 1,631,631 Asia: 179,452 Europe: 72,677 USA: 8,219,563

North America

Pacific

PACIFIC CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES

The Pacific Conference of Churches is a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the scriptures and there­fore seek to fulfill their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The roots of the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) go back to the first con­sultation of the Pacific Churches, which took place in 1961, at Malua, Western Samoa. The PCC as such was founded in 1966, at its first assembly, on the Loy­alty Island of Lifou, New Caledonia. The Conference grew rapidly as new churches joined, in particular the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of the Pacific, in 1976 and 1991. In 1976 the membership was opened also to national councils of churches. The basic principles of the PCC are an ecumenical spirit wel­coming all humankind regardless of religion, belief or ideology; the promotion of justice, peace and the integrity of creation; the respect of equality between men and women; the recognition of the cultures of population groups; equal sharing of resources; sharing of responsibilities; consistency between word and action. Ecumenism in the Pacific refers not only to the unity of the churches but also of the people of the Pacific islands and the communal life of their communities.

The programmatic activities of the PCC began after its second assembly, in 1971, in five areas: Christian education; Christian communication; family life; faith and action; church and society. The PCC has promoted the role and status of women and has devoted much attention to economic development rooted in the realities of village life. It has taken a lead in dealing with political problems in the region, and has spoken out against nuclear testing. In the 1980s, a drastic reduction of programmes and restructuring of the organization became necessary, because of the increasing dependence on external funding and other problems.

In a vast island region like the Pacific (the “liquid continent” as some have called it), the assemblies of the PCC have been especially important occasions for the churches to deliberate and celebrate together:

The themes of the early assemblies reveal the will of the Pacific churches to dis­cern and understand their common calling as instruments of God’s mission. The answer lies in the affirmation of hope, of Fenua (the land, a fundamental notion in the Pacific cultures), of peace. The next PCC assembly will be in 2007, in

Oceania

Pagopago (American Samoa), under the theme: Atua, Empower Us to be Liberat­ing Communities.

Among the current programmes of the PCC, a high priority is given to capacity building, i.e. the formation of the persons who are, or will be, in charge of the work of the churches and the councils of churches. This includes management skills as well as vision, and the ability to give leadership. Another high priority area is the empowerment of young people to assume responsibilities in the church and the society. The PCC has listed three more programme concerns as having medium term priority: partnership in mission, the prophetice voice and role of the churches, and women and development. Promoting ecumenical co-operation is a long term goal of the organisation. The PCC has 26 member churches and nine member councils of churches in 17 island states and territories. The offices are in Suva, Fiji.

Website: www.pacificforum.com/pcc



Member churches of the Pacific Conference of Churches

Congregational Christian Church in American Samoa
Cook Islands Christian Church
Anglican Diocese of Polynesia

Catholic Episcopal Conference of the Pacific



Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma

Protestant Church of Chuuck (Micronesia)


United Church of Christ in Pohnpei (Federated States of Micronesia)

Kiribati Protestant Church
United Church of Christ – Congregational in the Marshall Islands
Evangelical Church in New Caledonia & the Loyalty Islands

Nauru Congregational Church



Congregational Christian Church of Niue

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Papua New Guinea



Evangelical Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea
United Church in Papua New Guinea
Congregational Christian Church in Samoa
Methodist Church in Samoa

Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Solomon Islands



Church of Melanesia
United Church in the Solomon Islands
Maohi Protestant Church (French Polynesia)
Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga
Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu

Church of Christ in Vanuatu



Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu
Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand (Komiti Moana Nui PCC)

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