News From The Assembly

Disciples Commit To "Tear Down Walls That Divide Us"
July 20, 2007 - Disciples News Service - Fort Worth, Texas

Before the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) opened its five-day Assembly, Global Ministries joined with Disciples Peace Fellowship for worship, discussion and interest group workshops.

The event, entitled "Share the Feast Without Borders: Turning Walls into Tables," explored the walls that exist in our world today. Major portions of the discussion were directed at the U.S./Mexico border, as well as walls of racism, economics and people that exist between such countries as Israel and Palestine, and North and South Korea.

Keynote speakers and discussion leaders for the event on Friday, July 20, and Saturday, July 21, asked the profound and difficult questions that the group agreed and acknowledged had to be been asked, in turn, of Disciples congregations:

• Why do we allow a theology of scarcity to dictate the priorities of our mission?
• Why do we allow fear to dictate our response to the immigrant, the poor and the other?
• Why are we willing to outsource our souls to outsiders who are doing the work we have been called by Christ to do?
• Why is Martin Luther King's call to a revolution of values so difficult for us to respond to?

Leaders and speakers for the event included Linda McKiernan-Allen, co-convener, Disciples Peace Fellowship; Julia Brown Karimu, vice president, Division of Overseas Ministries; David Vargas, President of Division of Overseas Ministries and co-executive of Global Ministries; Felix Ortiz, Global Ministries area executive for Latin America and the Caribbean; Robin Hoover, founder of Humane Borders in Tucson, Ariz. and Daisy L. Machado, vice president of academic affairs and dean, Lexington Theological Seminary. Machado also was the theologian in residence, who set the stage for the event's discussion.

"The most important thing that came out of this pre-event was a common commitment on behalf of the participants to engage the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in working to tear down the walls that divide us," said Julia Brown Karimu.

Concurrent interest group discussions on Saturday included:

• The Separation Barrier of Israel-Palestine: Turning the Tables on Reconciliation
  Led by Peter Makari
• Tear Down the Wall: North Korea and South Korea
  Led by Xiaoling Zhu
• Sharing the U. S. Feast with Refugees, Immigrants and the Undocumented
  Led by Jennifer Riggs
• The Wall of Racism
  Led by Jessica Vazquez Torres
• Transforming Global Poverty into a Global Jubilee
  Led by Sara Critchfield
• Bringing Human Rights to the Table: A Christian Approach
  Led by Tim Longman

In the event's final worship time, the group urged sisters and brothers in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to join them in taking down borders, eliminating barriers and in sharing the feast by, among other things:

• Befriending immigrants.
• Pledging ourselves to the welcome of the Statue of Liberty.
• Opening churches to second languages.
• Using our buildings to better advantage and service.
• Calling for the elimination of all torture.
• Being honest about our racist attitudes.
• Calling for a just, living wage.
• Advocating at our own kitchen tables.
• Believing that neutrality is complicity.
• Propelling our work by gospel values, not by fear.
• Extending hospitality regardless of documentation status.
• Committing to ongoing fellowship.

Hospitality is the ultimate gift," offered Daisy Machado.

Read the full statement that Disciples can use in working to eliminate barriers that divide us. (PDF)

Written by: Jim Stuart, freelance writer, in conjunction with Communication Ministries

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