The three-day conference, entitled "The Healing of our Nation: Race and Reconciliation," began on Tuesday, bringing together the following denominations: African Methodist Episcopal Church, Church of God in Christ, Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International, National Baptist Convention of America International, National Baptist Convention U.S.A., Progressive National Baptist Convention, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
The conference issued a statement at the end of the three-day event, calling on predominantly black and predominantly white churches in the nation to unite and for African Americans to register and vote in 2016.
"There is a pernicious 'Value Gap' between black and brown lives and the lives of our white brothers and sisters in America that demands an end to the sin of silence, apathy, and cultural co-opting of the contemporary church. The CNBC refuses to betray our legacy of spiritual transformation inextricably connected to social activism. We have throughout our history, and continue to affirm, that Scripture must be viewed through a hermeneutical lens of justice and liberation," the Conference of National Black Churches said in a joint statement.
Dr. W Franklyn Richardson, chairman of the board of directors for the CNBC, said in an interview with The Christian Post that he considers the three-day conference a success, but knows more work needs to be done.
"[R]acial harmony will require participation from the Christian community, and the black church wants to be a part of that," Richardson told CP, adding that the goal of the conference moving forward is to unite churches across the country to combat racism.
CNBC, he shared, plans to implement a "follow-up plan" that includes dialogues on race relations in ten major U.S. cities. And the Coalition encourages congregations throughout the country to reach across the aisle, both ethnically and denominationally, to discuss ways to combat racism through open conversation and worship.
"Let's celebrate each other, let's talk to each other," Richardson urged, adding that the best way to approach racism is to "respond with the authority of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Some topics discussed during the three-day conference included the Black Lives Matter movement, gun violence, mass incarceration, economic inequality, and politics.
The Conference of National Black Churches in a statement said that the purpose of the gathering was to "have convened and consulted, worshiped and worked, prayed and planned, studied and strategized, to develop a consensus on naming racism, confessing the reality of racism's virulent and lingering damage to the humanity of all, and to chart a course of conduct over the next three years to work towards true justice and reconciliation.
Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/conference-of-national-black-churches-ame-church-gunman-dylann-roof-racial-reconciliation-152814/#csf4MHIQJy2eH7BQ.99
Story about black churches meeting to discuss healing racism. They had a three day conference at AME Church in Charleston. They feel America needs racial healing and black and white churches should unite and work through Jesus Christ to combat racism.
Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/conference-of-national-black-churches-ame-church-gunman-dylann-roof-racial-reconciliation-152814/#l5I1QwGsudQS6o7T.99
Conference of national black churches. Nobody at the The Christian Post or The Courier and Post, which has done many articles on the AME black church, ever explains how is it black churches aren't racially exclusive, or why racial exclusivity can be a good thing for blacks but not a good thing for whites.
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