PASADENA, Calif. (ABP) — Leaders from 36 Christian bodies and religious organizations issued a joint statement Feb. 9 addressing the problem of domestic poverty and urging constituents to alleviate the problem as part of their Christian duty.
“As Christian leaders in the wealthiest society on earth, we are called by God to urge our churches and nation to strengthen and expand efforts to address the scandal of widespread poverty in the United States and around the world,” the statement said. “The gospel and our ethical principles place our service of the poor and vulnerable and our work for justice at the center of Christian life and witness.”
Leaders convened at a meeting organized by Christian Churches Together, a loose coalition begun in 2001 to unify the “diverse expressions of Christian faith today.” It includes representatives from evangelical, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal and Protestant congregations.
Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church of America said the annual gathering is “good news” for American Christians.
“Our gathering of the wider spectrum of U.S. Christian churches is succeeding in building mutual trust and overcoming stereotypes,” he said in a statement released by the group. “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.”
With others like Archbishop Hovnan Derderian of the Armenian Orthodox Center in Los Angeles, William Shaw of the National Baptist Convention USA, and Wesley Granberg-Michaelson of the Reformed Church in America, Kishkovsky emphasized that the group has no partisan political agenda and wants instead to “create proposals that transcend divisive political divisions,” according to their statement on poverty.
“As leaders in Christian Churches Together, we believe that a renewed commitment to overcome poverty is central to the mission of the church and essential to our unity in Christ,” group leaders wrote. “Therefore in order to obey our God, respect the dignity of every person, and promote the common good of society, we must act. Our focus here is domestic poverty, but we reaffirm our commitment to overcome poverty all around the world.”
Their statement listed four main ways to eradicate poverty: strengthen families and communities, reduce child poverty, provide access to good education, and ensure that full-time work offers a “realistic escape” from poverty.
Roughly 37 million people in the United States alone live below the poverty line. Eighteen percent of all children live in poverty.
Daniel Vestal, the national coordinator for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, called the event “the broadest ecumenical experiment ever attempted in this country.”
“It represents a desire for Christian unity that doesn't compromise the integrity of any of the participating bodies but creates a way for us as Christians to draw closer to one another in Christ and explore ways for us to share a common witness to the nation,” he said.
The 16 million-member Southern Baptist Convention declined to participate in the coalition. But those groups participating represent denominations or coalitions of churches with more than 100 million members, according to the organization.
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