After visiting the United States in a spirit of accompaniment, a World Council of Churches delegation is preparing a report on how churches can help achieve racial justice.
Churches can offer a renewed and reinvigorated response to the sin of racial hatred, violence and discrimination in the early 21st century, the delegation found, while at the same time noting the intense need for change.
“We had heard that racism continues to be an issue in the United States,” said Dr Agnes Abuom, moderator of the WCC Central Committee. “But we did not expect to find it so deep, so wide and so pervasive.”
Abuom led a the 19-25 April racial justice accompaniment visit, which included the cities of Charleston, South Carolina; Ferguson, Missouri; and Chicago, Illinois.
The team of WCC visitors who made the journey are now collaborating to prepare a report on their experience and findings, with recommendations for next steps in response. The report will be submitted in May to the WCC Central Committee for consideration at its June 2016 meeting in Trondheim, Norway.
After due deliberation, the Central Committee will determine appropriate action for the WCC and its partners in the United States and throughout the world.
* The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, by the end of 2012 the WCC had 345 member churches representing more than 500 million Christians from Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other traditions in over 110 countries. The WCC works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church.
* World Council of Churches http://www.oikoumene.org/en
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