News from the Council

Disciples join ecumenical effort to strengthen Christian witness in the world

Indianapolis - Fifty church leaders from all major Christian families (Evangelical/Pentecostal, Catholic, Orthodox, historic Racial/Ethnic, historic Protestant) came together with representatives from a number of national Christian organizations January 7 to 9, 2004, to work toward launching a new inter-confessional entity called, Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. The purpose of CCT is "to enable churches and national Christian organizations to grow closer together in Christ in order to strengthen our Christian witness in the world." The goal is to launch CCT in 2005.

By vote of the Council on Christian Unity board last May 2003, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is one of the founding participants in this ecumenical effort. CCU president, Robert Welsh, represented the Disciples in the meeting.

Never before in the history of the U.S. has such a broad and widely representative Christian group come together in this way. A substantial number of denominations from all five families are expected to become founding participants of CCT in 2005.

The group met at Camp Allen, an Episcopal Conference Center near Houston, Texas, and prayed and talked together; identified and achieved consensus on all major issues related to the founding document; engaged in discussions on both the nature of prayer in diverse Christian traditions and the explosion of Christianity in the global South; and deepened their fellowship in Christ through numerous personal conversations.

January 7-9, 2004

Attendees include: Five Orthodox, 10 Catholic, 14 Protestant, 13 Evangelical/Pentecostal and six national Christian organizations.

Name	Organization
Bishop Vicken Aykazian	Diocese of the Armenian Church
Commissioner W. Todd Bassett	The Salvation Army
Bishop Stephen Blaire	Catholic Diocese of Stockton
Most Rev. Tod D. Brown	Catholic Diocese of Orange California
Ms. Sharon Browning	Sharon Browning & Associates
The Rev. Rothangliani Chhangte	American Baptist Churches USA
The Rev. Dr. Seung Koo Choi	The Korean Presbyterian Church in America
Mr. Bonn Clayton	National Association of Congregational Christian Churches
Bishop Dimitrios Couchell	Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Sister Joan Delaney	Roman Catholic
The Rev. Dr. David H. Engelhard	Christian Reformed Church in North America
Bishop C. Christopher Epting	Episcopal Church USA
President Jeff Farmer	Open Bible Churches
The Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson	Reformed Church in America
The Rev. Dr. Roberta Hestenes	World Vision
Bishop Francis J. Kane	Roman Catholic
The Rev. Arthur Kennedy	Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs Officer
Mr. David Wagschal	Orthodox Church in America
Bishop James D. Leggett	International Pentecostal Holiness Church
The Rev. Michael Livingston	International Council of Community Churches
The Rev. Rafael Luevano	Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs Officer
The Rev. Carlos Malave	Presbyterian Church USA
Dr. Kevin W. Mannoia	Azusa Pacific (Observer)
The Rev. Thomas R. McGowan	Roman Catholic
Sister Joan McGuire	Roman Catholic
President Grant McMurray	Community of Christ (Observer)
The Rev. A. Roy Medley	American Baptist Churches USA
Ms. Gail Mengel	Community of Christ (Observer)
Father John W. Morris	Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of NA
Mr. Stanley J. Noffsinger	Church of the Brethren
President Glenn R. Palmberg	Evangelical Covenant Church
Dr. Ben Richmond	Friends United Meeting
Dr. Ann K. Riggs	NCC Faith & Order Commission (Observer)
The Rev. Dr. Bruce Robbins	United Methodist Church
The Rev. Ronald G. Roberson	Roman Catholic
The Rev. Dr. William G. Rusch	Foundation for a Conference on Faith & Order in NA (Observer)
The Rev. Gabriel A. Salguero	Missionary Pentecostal Church of God (Observer)
Bishop James Nicholas Samra	Roman Catholic
Dr. Robert E. Sawyer	Moravian Church
The Rev. Jim Schrag	Mennonite Church USA
Bishop H. G. Serapion	Coptic Orthodox Church
The Rev. Ronald J. Sider	Evangelicals for Social Action
Dr. Gilbert W. Stafford	Church of God
The Rev. Lydia Veliko	United Church of Christ
Dr. Daniel Vestal	Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
The Rev. Bert Waggoner	Association of Vineyard Churches
The Rev. James Wallis	Sojourners
Dr. Robert Welsh	Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Rev. Don Dixon Williams