TOP STORY: THE CHANGING NATURE OF FAITH: In New York, a church council opens its doors to all Christ

c. 1996 Religion News Service ALBANY, N.Y. _ In mid-December, members of the New York State Council of Churches will gather for an unusual service: They will celebrate their going out of business. Beginning next year, the council of mainline Protestant and Orthodox denominations will reorganize as a larger New York State Community of Churches […]

c. 1996 Religion News Service

ALBANY, N.Y. _ In mid-December, members of the New York State Council of Churches will gather for an unusual service: They will celebrate their going out of business.

Beginning next year, the council of mainline Protestant and Orthodox denominations will reorganize as a larger New York State Community of Churches and open its doors to evangelicals and Roman Catholics.


Individuals and parachurch organizations also will be invited to join. And in a ground-breaking move, the new organization will require only that members say they’re Christians, not conform to a more detailed statement of faith.

The change reflects a need to”move away from the systems approach and the bureaucratic approach,”said the Rev. Arleon Kelly, executive director of the council.”Since we’re really living on the edge of chaos, we’re moving into a time where relationships become the major thing in the life of the church.” Many other state and local councils of churches _ once bastions of establishment Protestantism _ began opening to Catholics as far back as the 1960s and more recently to evangelicals.

But by shedding a detailed statement of faith and welcoming all comers who say they’re Christian, the New York council is going further than any of its counterparts, said Kathleen Hurty, director of the ecumenical networks office at the National Council of Churches.

Kelly said all those will be invited to join the Community of Churches who says they have”accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and demonstrated it by baptism.” Kelly noted that people cross denominations as effortlessly as they cross state lines.”I think we’ve run the course of present-day denominationalism,”said Kelly, adding that the new challenge is for a wider Christian unity.

But Kelly and others have no illusions this comes easily, particularly because many mainline Protestants support abortion rights and gay rights and many evangelicals and Catholics oppose them.

Kelly hoped the group could”deal with the conflict internally,”rather than requiring conformity among members.”It’s going to be slow going and (there will be) mud in the face a few times,”he said.”That’s OK. There are a lot of families that have brothers who don’t like each other, too.” He envisioned the larger group not merely holding theological symposiums but also”family reunion”events involving worship services and concerts.

The new Community of Churches plans to begin formally inviting other Christians to join in 1997. Many evangelical and Catholic officials said it was too early to comment because they were just learning of the plans.


But Jeff Baran, executive director of the Christian Coalition of New York, said the abortion and gay-rights issues pose”some very difficult questions”to those who would seek membership in the new organization.

The Christian Coalition is a political organization, but is considered a parachurch group and would possibly be eligible to join the new Community.

The two bodies have a history of cooperation. The council and the Christian Coalition, for example, have joined forces to combat legalized gambling in New York. Still, Baran is hesitant to join the new Community of Churches.”We differ too much on too many important issues for us to say we’re a part of the Council of Churches, and I don’t think they would welcome us in a warm way either,”said Baran, whose group is the state affiliate of the national conservative political organization.

Both sides would suffer”guilt by association as well,”he said.”If someone is perceived as on the other side of the fence on an issue, then you’re going to be seen in that same light.” A more tricky question, Kelly acknowledged, is how to handle groups such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Though these denominations consider themselves Christian, they have traditionally been considered unorthodox by other Christian groups.”The community would have to deal with that, and that will come through dialogue,”Kelly said.

The National Council of Churches, headquartered in New York City, is struggling with the same issue. The council has been in dialogue with such non-creedal groups as the controversial Church of Scientology. It has also established dialog with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches _ a Christian denomination oriented toward gays and lesbians _ although neither group has standing as members or observers.

Hurty, of the NCC, estimated that more than half of Catholic dioceses nationwide are members of either local or statewide councils. State councils with Catholic membership include Texas, Illinois and New Mexico, while the Florida council is moving in that direction as well, she said. Such cooperation helps create an atmosphere in which Catholic and Protestant clergy can participate together at weddings and other services, she said.


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Evangelicals have been more leery of joining councils of churches, which many of them view as diluting the essentials of Christianity.

But on a national level, cooperation is growing. Hurty said some Southern Baptists and members of the Assemblies of God are active in dialogue with the Council of Churches on some issues.

But even if evangelicals or Catholics wanted to join the NCC formally, obstacles remain. The council is comprised of national denominations, and Catholic officials do not define their church as such. And many evangelical congregations are self-governing, with denominations holding limited authority.

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Kelly hopes the effort will change others’ lives in the way his own was changed.

He said he grew up in a church that set itself apart from the rest of the world,”celebrating my alienation … It came as a conversion to me that other Christians could be Christians and not be like me.” KC END SMITH

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