This year’s Christian Unity Gathering will be held from May 4-7. Our theme is “Fear Not: God’s Love in an Anxious Age,” an appropriate choice in the atmosphere of racial injustice, gun violence, economic inequality, and climate change.
Our beginning point is 1 John 4:16-21, in which we are reminded that perfect love casts out fear. I pray this Gathering will strengthen us for the coming months of a fraught presidential campaign in which we are being told we live in the midst of disaster. Interestingly, the NCC’s recent call for candidates to refrain from utilizing speech that reflects hatred of others and results in division of society has now appeared on more than 345,000 Facebook pages.
Good news awaits those of you who join us at the Gathering. Our opening preacher will be His Beatitude Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of All America and Canada for the Orthodox Church in America. Last year, I was sitting in an airport lounge in Yerevan, Armenia when the lead singer of System of a Down, a heavy metal band, was introduced to the Metropolitan Tikhon. It turns out Tikhon is a big fan and knew their music well. In other words, the Metropolitan may not be quite you would expect in a senior church leader.
Our Bible study leader will be Rev. Neichelle Guidry, now on the pastoral staff of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago where she provides leadership to the young adult and worship and arts ministries. Rev. Guidry is also the founder of Shepreaches, a network that assists and encourages African American women moving into pulpit ministry. An interesting article about her ministry was recently published in the New York Times.
I’m excited, too, that friends and colleagues of mine, Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, and Rev. Joel Dopico, President of the Cuban Council of Churches will join us and speak, as well. Last year, the World Council of Churches, the Canadian Council of Churches, and the US National Council of Churches co-sponsored an important evangelism consultation.
*Source: NCC Weekly News by Jim Winkler, President and General Secretary
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