U.S. Catholic Bishops to Join New

Ecumenical Group
Wm. H. Grotheer

The top hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States decided on November 17th, 2004, to join the broadest alliance of Christian churches in the country so far, a new ecumenical group that would bring the [Catholic] church to the same table as conservative evangelicals and liberal Protestants.

Members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have played a central role in the formation of the group, Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A., since discussions began with leaders of other denominations in the fall of 2001. ...

The organization has about 23 members, Rev. Arthur Kennedy (executive director of the secretariat for ecumenical and interreligious affairs at the bishops conference), said, including Eastern Orthodox churches; the historic Protestant denominations, like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; evangelical churches; ethnic churches; and religiously oriented groups like the Salvation Army and World Vision.

The National Council of Churches helped create this new group but is not joining, although many of its member churches are. Its general secretary, Rev. Bob Edgar, said, "My sense is that this group is less interested in action items than in building bridges, and having a forum where we can talk together on issues that concern everyone, for example, how do we model interfaith ties with our Muslim and Jewish brethren?" (The New York Times, Nov. 18, 2004 {nytimes.com}).

A question - Has the SDA Church joined? Documentation one way or the other would be welcomed by this editor.