• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

National Council of Churches

National Council of Churches

  • About Us
    • History
    • Member Communions
    • Leadership
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • Priorities
    • A 21st Century Social Creed
    • State, Regional, and Local Ecumenism
    • Archive
  • Common Witness
    • Christian Unity/Faith and Order
    • Interreligious Relations and Collaboration
      • 2019 Policy Statement
      • Dialogues
        • Jewish-Christian
        • Muslim-Christian
        • Buddhist-Christian
        • Hindu-Christian
        • Sikh-Christian
    • Joint Action and Advocacy for Justice and Peace
    • The Bible and Christian Life
    • Committee on the Uniform Series
  • News
    • Newsletter
    • Subscribe for free
    • Podcast
  • Donate
  • A.C.T. Now!
    • The Movement
    • The Launch
    • Anti-Racism Resources
    • YouTube Channel

Jim Winkler

Another National Nightmare

November 6, 2019 by Jim Winkler

I wore an “Impeach Nixon” button most of my sophomore year in high school. In the summer of 1973, my family took a long trip by car from Illinois to see family in Oklahoma. We listened to the Senate Watergate Committee hearings while we were on the road and I was gripped by the unfolding drama, the exposure of Nixon’s cover-up, and the disintegration of his presidency. Still, it was another year before he resigned from his office and President Ford announced that our long national nightmare was over.

Today we are experiencing another national nightmare as revelations come forth daily about President Trump’s attempt to use the office of the presidency to coerce the president of Ukraine to investigate former US Vice President Joe Biden in order to receive military assistance already approved by the Congress. 

I write this column on the day the newspapers carried the statement made before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence by Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. Vindman, an infantry officer who was wounded in Iraq, told the committee of his feeling it was not “proper to demand a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen…”

My family includes highly conscientious former senior federal government workers and military officers, so when Col. Vindman was then attacked by elected officials as being loyal to a foreign nation and as part of a “Deep State” conspiracy against the president for speaking up about a serious offense committed by the president, it sickens me. 

As more people come forward to testify, it is clear President Trump faces impeachment in the House of Representatives although he may yet escape conviction in a Senate trial. We have a president who is a compulsive liar. The president exhibits cruelty on a daily basis. He is an obvious racist. He is unbecoming of the office he holds. 

Although there is a coterie of Christian leaders who surround President Trump and stridently defend him, the silence from most Christian leaders at both the local and national levels has led some to believe this is because churches oppose the impeachment process and support President Trump. 

Here are some realities: The churches that comprise the National Council of Churches prefer to address issues rather than personalities, insofar as possible. Many of our member churches have a great many Republicans and Democrats who worship together in local congregations. In this poisonous national atmosphere, I believe many churches are trying more than ever not to see their congregations split over this national crisis. 

However, they may not be able to prevent such ruptures. When prominent pastors such as Robert Jeffress warn the impeachment process will create “Civil War-like” ruptures in the nation and Franklin Graham suggests impeachment could cause the nation to unravel, these are code words permitting armed resistance to the potential constitutional removal of a president.

When King David used his power to send Uriah to his death so that he could possess his wife Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan confronted the king and asked, “Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?” (2 Samuel 12:9, NRSV). If those Christians who have the ear of the president will not ask that question, then we must.

Filed Under: Blogs

A National Crisis

August 6, 2019 by Jim Winkler

It has been said, “The times change and with them, the people.” Perhaps that is so in the United States today where overt racism, as well as hatred of immigrants, is growing. I pray it is not the case. But as I travel the world, I universally find sadness and dismay from people who are in disbelief that the United States they loved and admired seems to have disappeared into a miasma of ignorance and intolerance.

We are in the midst of a national crisis that has deep roots in American history. I have written before in this space that it is my conviction a nation borne on the backs of slaves on land stolen from its native peoples is by definition a violent and racist land, but there are times when a national crisis is embodied by a particular person. Today, that person is none other than the president of the United States himself, Donald J. Trump.

I lived in New York City in the early and mid-1980s when Donald Trump was a well-established tabloid star. He was a cartoon figure known for his bluster, overweening ego, and naked greed. This turned more sinister when he took out a full-page ad in the New York Times in 1989 calling for a return to the death penalty after five young men of color were wrongfully accused of raping a white woman in Central Park.

Mr. Trump famously refused to apologize for that newspaper ad. It is well known that he refuses to apologize for anything because he sees it as a sign of weakness. Typically, after issuing a harsh and unjustified attack on a person, group of people, an organization, a city, or even an entire nation(s) he then demands an apology from those he has attacked!At his best, he is graceless, awkward and unbecoming of high office. At his worst, he is vile and repulsive. He is aided and abetted by court prophets who comprise his so-called “Evangelical Advisory Council.” These false prophets, who claim to be Christian, adore Mr. Trump, spew hatreds of their own, decree days of prayer to defend Mr. Trump against his ‘enemies,’ refuse to challenge his ignorant rants, and bring shame upon themselves. Like Mr. Trump’s, their words and actions are menacing to the health of our society.This is encapsulated by the one-word response Jerry Falwell, Jr. provided to a question posed to him by the Washington Post, “Is there anything President Trump could do that would endanger that support from you or other evangelical leaders?”“No.”

Mr. Trump’s defense of racists, his attacks on women and people of color, his thousands of falsehoods, his cruelty, his pettiness, his crimes and misdemeanors, are too many to recount. Where does one begin? Where will it end?

It is evident a great many of Mr. Trump’s admirers and supporters delight in all, or nearly all, that he says and does. A virtual cult of personality has developed around him. There will come a day when millions will look back on these years and shake their heads in disbelief. They will ask themselves how they came to be swept up in such madness and hatred and how they betrayed their own values and beliefs.

President Lincoln said of Americans from both the North and the South, “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” Let us embrace those words again.

I write this column in great sadness and out of disbelief for what is taking place. I am comforted by these words from Psalm 147:3-6, “God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. God determines the number of the stars; God gives to all of them their names. Great is our God, and abundant in power; God’s understanding is beyond measure. God lifts up the downtrodden; God casts the wicked to the ground.”

Filed Under: Blogs

Of What Life Do We Speak?

May 17, 2019 by Jim Winkler

Recently NCC President and General Secretary Jim Winkler spoke on the occasion of the 225th anniversary of the Valaam Mission to North America, the Orthodox Church mission to indigenous peoples in Alaska. The program was held at the Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church in Princeton, NJ. Below are excerpts of Jim’s address:

I stand before you as president and general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC). The Council consists of 38 member communions comprised of some 30 million Christians in approximately 100,000 local congregations across this nation. 

The NCC was founded in 1908 and was then known as the Federal Council of Churches. In 1950, a number of other organizations came together with the Council, and it was re-christened as the National Council of Churches. The Orthodox Church in America is one of the member churches of the NCC.

My thanks to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, for inviting me to be with you today. His Beatitude memorably addressed the Christian Unity Gathering of the National Council of Churches several years ago, and I remain grateful to him for honoring us on that occasion. He also joined us last year on a remarkable evening at St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Washington, DC for the opening event in our rally against racism. 

I wish to express my deep appreciation to the Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky for his longtime leadership in the ecumenical community. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Fr. Leonid’s election as president of the NCC. He was the first Orthodox president of the Council, meriting a major article in the New York Times. Today, he continues to serve on the executive committee as a voice of wisdom and reason. He is a mentor to me.

I also wish to thank my good friend and the pastor of this parish, the Very Rev. Peter Baktis not only for his gracious invitation to me to be with you today but for his participation in the Interreligious Dialogues Convening Table of the NCC. 

Metropolitan Tikhon has provided us with a precious gift in his guiding framework for the Orthodox Church in America, “Of What Life Do We Speak?” This document will be shared with the leaders of the member communions that comprise the NCC. 

The NCC is a form of conciliar ecumenism—that is, it is organized for common prayer, counsel, and decision. Also, the search for unity is envisaged as a conciliar fellowship, with each local church possessing the fullness of catholicity and apostolicity.

St. Tikhon, who served as archbishop in America from 1898 to 1907 and then as Patriarch of Moscow, himself affirmed the openness of the Orthodox Church to dialogue.

It is important, as well, to note that in 1920 the Ecumenical Patriarch issued an encyclical, “Unto the Churches of Christ everywhere” in which he stated, “Our own church holds that rapprochement between the various Christian Churches and fellowship between them is not excluded by the doctrinal differences which exist between them. In our opinion, such a rapprochement is highly desirable and necessary.”

We have come a long way over this past century in furthering rapprochement between the churches and yet have much further to go. This is difficult but joyful work, and it takes time. After all, let us recall it was 1200 years between Great and Holy Councils of the Orthodox Churches.

It is very appropriate, in my view, for Metropolitan Tikhon in his guiding framework for the Orthodox Church in America to ask several basic and informative questions including:

  • How has Holy Orthodoxy in North America fared since those days full of apostolic zeal and missionary activity? Here he recounts geographic and numeric expansion and other signs of the advancement of the Church.
  • Metropolitan Tikhon boldly acknowledges, “…the Church faces great obstacles and tremendous change in the world as she makes her way through the 21st century. We ought to ask ourselves if we love the people of our lands, and if they love us? Do they voluntarily accept baptism and smash the idols that are provided to them by the shamans of our age?” 

I suggest to you, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, that these same challenges face every church in America. From my vantage point as president of the National Council of Churches, I can assure you that you are not alone either in facing enormous tests in a secular society nor in your devotion to the faith. 

Metropolitan Tikhon then wisely observes, “What is called for is a Church-wide endeavor, involving every parish, institution, and individual of the Orthodox Church in America, to tackle the enduring goals that lie before us. As there have been challenges in the past, so there will be many new ones along the way, but such struggles are part of our Christian journey. We need to consider and respond to those challenges, but we can only do this if we are willing to personally and collectively experience and share the gift of communion with Christ.”

The third pillar is “Relations with Others” and includes a section on “Ecumenical, Interfaith, and Civic Relations.” Here, Metropolitan Tikhon notes that “Some place great value on ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, while others believe it to be fruitless or even apostasy. Part of the weakness of the present state of ecumenical dialogue with other Christians and relations with other faiths is that it is understood to be a specific field in which only certain people engage. Our participation in ecumenical bodies cannot simply happen in order to have a presence if that presence is limited to superficial participation. Our presence must be a bold and substantial one, where we both encounter the other and remain firm in our proclamation of the authentic faith of our fathers.”

There are churches that will not engage in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue and work. Humbly, I suggest to you that this is a mistake and it is prideful. Ecumenical and interfaith dialogue is not intended to create one world religion or to get everyone to agree on every point. It is intended to develop understanding and solidarity and at a time when churches, synagogues, and mosques are being attacked, we must work together to preserve our freedom to worship in peace. At a time when divisions are deepening in our society, it is essential that Christians lead the way to reconciliation. For any church to forego participation in ecumenical and interfaith work would be a tragedy. 

This work is arduous. It takes us out of our comfort zones. It exposes us to beliefs with which we are not familiar and that we may find distasteful. But it gives us the opportunity to explain and defend our faith and to question others about theirs. When we establish authentic relationships and can see that others are also children of God then joy comes with the morning. 

Metropolitan Tikhon calls us to continued faithfulness, to avoid striving after new fads and programs that falsely promise renewal and membership growth, but also and importantly he calls us to a spirit of openness, for as he writes, “We cannot contribute to the life of the world if we have not grafted ourselves onto the living body of the Church by striving to conform ourselves to what the Church is. We cannot be a part of the Body if we do not live a life of communion with Christ, in sanctity of life, with love towards our neighbor, and with zeal for the mission of the Gospel. This is our prophetic witness.”

Filed Under: Blogs

My Heroes in the Book of Ezra

May 10, 2019 by Jim Winkler

I did not go to seminary, and I do not have formal theological training. However, like many, I have engaged in Bible study for years and am a daily Bible reader. There are passages in the Bible I find quizzical, disappointing, infuriating, beautiful, and humorous. One example of Scripture’s multi-faceted appeal is found in the 9th and 10th chapters of the Book of Ezra.

At the outset of the Book of Ezra, King Cyrus of Persia permits the Jews living in exile to return to Jerusalem to “rebuild the house of the Lord in Jerusalem (1:3).” 50,000 or so were permitted to make the journey home. They returned and lived “in dread of the neighboring peoples (3:3).” 

When the “adversaries” heard the returned exiles were building a temple, they asked if they could help, “for we worship your God as you do and we have been sacrificing to him… (4:2).” But the response was, “You shall have no part with us in building a house to our God… (4:3).” Even though they worshiped the same God, they believed their life experience kept them apart. What a lost opportunity! 

Oh, how I wish I could have read that the offer was graciously accepted and that dialogue and goodwill helped to lead to an era of peace and tranquility. How many times have we heard the inspiring reports of peoples of different faiths standing together in solidarity in recent years? Some have even offered their sanctuaries as places of worship for those who have other beliefs and practices!

Then, the priest Ezra arrives in Jerusalem and learns the Jews are living among “the peoples of the land with their abominations (9:11)” and have married some of them, had children and raised families so that “the holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands… (9:2).” Ezra demands they send away these family members. That’s right! He insists they force their own spouses and children to leave. Despite all efforts to spin these verses, they still possess unbearable cruelty. 

“Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethia the Levites supported them (10:15).” These are my heroes in the Book of Ezra. Their opposition was such that we know of it to this day, and I am grateful for it. 

I am aware of interpretations that emphasize themes such as faithfulness and repentance, restoration, and the need to understand the cultural context. Sure, OK, but to the lay reader, it reads as ugly. I suppose I appreciate that this is included in the Holy Scriptures because it reminds us yet again of how frequently we fall short of our beliefs and seek to exclude “others.” After all, it’s the daily drumbeat that emanates from the White House. 

As for me, I desire a faith that draws the circle wide and emphasizes love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. That’s the faith I try to live out. That’s the faith I believe Jesus is all about.

Filed Under: Blogs

Another War?

May 3, 2019 by Jim Winkler

The long and shameful record of the United States of America’s overt and covert interventions into the affairs of other nations is one of the great tragedies of the past 120+ years. Tens of millions have died because of our bloody history of dozens of military invasions. Additionally, we have sponsored countless coups d’états. It is said only three nations on the planet have not had a US military presence of some kind: Andorra, Bhutan, and Liechtenstein.

Now, the pattern is repeating itself in relation to Venezuela. Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, and John Bolton are relentlessly pounding the drums of war. They are demanding President Nicholas Maduro leave his country. “Fire up the plane,” demanded Secretary Pompeo. He added, “Military action is possible. If that’s what’s required, that’s what the United States will do.”

National Security Advisor and longtime warmonger John Bolton said to President Maduro, “Your time is up. This is your last chance.” Convicted criminal Elliott Abrams, now US Special Representative for Venezuela, warns, “We urge the Venezuelan military to stand up for the nation, and for the constitution, and stand behind the people of Venezuela. They will be judged by their actions today.”

These are dangerous, irresponsible, and highly inflammatory statements made by those at the highest levels of the United States government. Congressional investigations of this nonsense should commence immediately.

The faith community’s resistance to our country’s disgraceful conduct is all too scarce. When you google “religious opposition to US wars” you mostly find articles about the history of religious conflict in the United States, religious war, and pacifism.

The US regime is particularly incensed that Cuba has sent some 15,000 doctors, nurses, and teachers to Venezuela over the past 20 years or so. Luis Almagro, secretary general of the Organization of American States—whose offices are located conveniently between the White House and the State Department—refers to these people as an ‘occupation army.’ The supposedly left-wing New York Times hints that Cubans in Venezuela are ‘spies.’ Ambassador Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, Cuba’s director-general of US affairs, has told me personally there are no Cuban soldiers in Venezuela.

Over and over and over, we see the same sequence of events: the government of another nation not entirely in line with US thinking is identified as a threat. The President and his satraps demand action, a quiescent Congress fails to rein in the military industrial secret police complex, armed forces move into place, sanctions are applied, the media falls into line, and ordinary citizens try to figure out what’s going on.

Most of all, the United States is infuriated that Venezuela and Cuba have dared to chart a course for their nations of which our government does not approve. In addition, it just so happens that Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. That’s right—not Saudi Arabia, not Iran, not Iraq—Venezuela. If Venezuela were the world’s largest producer of broccoli, there would be little concern for it.

To date, I have yet to locate a government that is blameless and perfect. Venezuela’s is not. I am deeply concerned about the turmoil Venezuelans are experiencing. If genocide was underway there or if Venezuela had threatened to launch an aggressive war against its neighbors, it would be my feeling the international community—not the United States alone—should act decisively to save lives or stop a war. However, short of that I wholeheartedly believe it is the right and responsibility of the people of Venezuela to sort out its problems.

Moreover, we must not stand idly by, passively allowing another catastrophic US-led war to unfold. It is the responsibility of people of faith to stand against the acts of aggression the government of the United States is making against Venezuela.

Filed Under: Blogs

The Myth of Redemptive Violence

April 26, 2019 by Jim Winkler

It now appears that the slaughter in Sri Lanka of Christians worshiping on Easter Sunday was carried out in retaliation for an earlier slaughter in New Zealand of Muslims who were themselves in the midst of worship. Extremists carried out both of these massacres, but we should not view these as isolated incidents. Attacks on houses of worship have become all too common. 

The cycle of violence is also known as the Myth of Redemptive Violence. For example, Dylann Roof, the murderer who killed those engaged in Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, said he murdered black people because he believed they raped white women daily. Timothy McVeigh asserted his bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was in retaliation for various attacks and raids carried out by federal agents over the years.

The drums of war and violence are beating once again. Frank Gaffney, president of “Save the Persecuted Christians,” and a longtime purveyor of Islamophobia, is demanding the US government use the tools at its disposal to punish those who attack Christians. There are those who would love nothing more than a “holy war” to cleanse the world of people they refuse to accept.

I confess that when I was growing up, I was a true believer in the Myth of Redemptive Violence. It was no mere myth for me; it was an article of faith. I relied upon my belief in redemptive violence continually in my relationships with my younger brother and sister. My violence toward my siblings was physical and emotional, and in my mind, it was always justified as retaliation for some real or imagined slight. My violence was carried out simply to right the wrong(s) I had been subjected to. 

I don’t mean to be trite or flippant when I say this. I think there are genuine parallels. As the theologian Walter Wink pointed out so brilliantly in his powerful trilogy (Naming the Powers; Unmasking the Powers; Engaging the Powers), young children are indoctrinated into the Myth of Redemptive Violence through cartoons. 

As a boy, my favorite cartoon hero was Mighty Mouse. In each episode, Mighty Mouse saves the day from the bad guys and rescues fellow mice who have been harmed. Never are any lessons learned, never are relationships made whole. Each episode stands alone as a satisfying example of evil intent and actions defeated by a mythic hero coming to the rescue.

These same “lessons” are imparted through spy thrillers, westerns, and war movies. They are deeply embedded in our worldview. Road rage is another manifestation of the Myth of Redemptive Violence—‘he/she cut me off and I had to get revenge!’
Entire wars have been fought based on the Myth of Redemptive Violence. Remember the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964 in which, supposedly, a North Vietnamese attack was carried out against an American warship? In retaliation, the United States killed as many as two million Vietnamese and lost tens of thousands of its own soldiers in a war of folly. 

My parents enrolled me in first grade when I was five years old. I was thus among the smallest children in the schools I attended. I reluctantly set my faith in redemptive violence aside for eminently practical reasons—fear of being beaten up being chief among them. This experience began to create doubts in my mind as I learned that kindness, negotiation, persuasion, and forgiveness—which I utilized out of necessity—could often work wonders. 

The Myth of Redemptive Violence is a favorite tool of the bully and the coward. It is no wonder that attacks have been carried out on houses of worship because people gathered there are not anticipating violence and because, ultimately, their faith teaches that violence is wrong. Equally, it is wrong to retaliate. What is proper is for a criminal investigation to be made, for those responsible to be taken into custody, for judicial proceedings to be held, and for those responsible for acts of violence to be held accountable for their actions. 

The Myth of Redemptive Violence is part of a mental superstructure that holds us in captivity and prevents us from becoming the people God intends us to be. We must disenthrall ourselves from such myths to advance the Kindom of God. 

Filed Under: Blogs

Holy Week and the Movement of Love and Liberation

April 19, 2019 by Jim Winkler

Easter Sunday was an almost magical day when I was growing up in the American Midwest. The sights and smells and feelings evoked by that holy day still live with me. 

The Easter lilies, the packed church, the full choir, everyone dressed up, the stirring chords of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” my father in his white robe, all of it was exciting. I am grateful for those memories.

And, yet, even though my preacher father, who never hesitated to speak against war, racism, and poverty, occupied the pulpit, it still seemed to be a Sunday in which the horror of Christ’s execution on false charges of treason failed to sink into the congregation.

The much smaller groups that attended Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services dwelled on betrayal, abuse, and torture. The Easter Sunday service was for those who wanted to celebrate the resurrection, to attend the party, to be there for the proverbial ticker tape parade.

As I have gotten older, it’s become much more difficult for me to separate the few hours between the murder of Jesus from the discovery that his body was missing. It was a brief and terribly confusing, fearful, and exhausting period.

Christ’s followers lived under Roman military occupation. Life was hard. Spies were everywhere. Roman soldiers were garrisoned in strategic locations. A puppet king ruled the land, popular resistance was not tolerated, and people yearned for freedom.

While Jesus was not the leader of a rebellion intended to throw off the Roman yoke, he understood the political and social context in which he lived. Read Walter Wink’s Bible study of Matthew 5:38-42. You cannot help but be moved by the brilliance of Jesus’ teachings and insights.

Thus, it is simply astonishing to consider that Christ’s message of love and healing and forgiveness has been transmuted by countless people over the centuries into a weapon to be used against others.

Jesus — my Lord and Savior — was a key leader in a centuries-old movement of love and liberation. While many yearn for his return and for what they perceive will be a time of instant gratification, the truth is, the realization of what he stood for will be achieved by all of us working together to change our hearts and minds and to remove the structures of oppression, hatred, and greed we have imposed upon ourselves.

Even during the Easter services I recall in which the blood and tears surrounding the lynching of Jesus were glossed over, we caught a glimpse of God’s preferred future for us. During this Holy Week, I pray you will commit yourself to the great movement of love and liberation.

Filed Under: Blogs

God Keeps Calling Us to Join the Journey

April 6, 2019 by Jim Winkler

My life is bound up more deeply with the ecumenical movement than I previously realized. For example, many years ago as a high school student, I spent a lot of time at the YMCA, the Young Men’s Christian Association. It was near our home, and I was aware my father had long been involved in the ‘Y,’ so it was comfortable for me to hang out there, especially to play basketball.

I didn’t know much at that time of the YMCA’s history as one of the important formative actors in the early ecumenical movement. Along with the YWCA and the World Student Christian Federation, these were important pan-denominational organizations that spurred the growth of the movement. 

One of the countless programs offered by the YMCA held my attention: “Youth in Government.” I participated in many meetings at my local Y to plan for our participation in the program and in my senior year in high school I was elected youth governor of the state of Illinois. The Y intentionally educated and formed young people to be responsible and active citizens. I benefited from that ministry. 

There are a seemingly infinite number of ministries and programs that have sprung from the cooperative efforts of ecumenism: mission efforts, disaster and relief ministries, programs for children, youth, and families, educational work, community organizing, health care, advocacy for justice and peace; the list goes on and on.

The hymn says, “My flows on in endless song, above earth’s lamentation, I hear the sweet, though far-off hymn that hails a new creation.” I’ve been blessed to be part of this flow. After college, I worked for the Pacific Conference of Churches, based in Fiji. What a blessing it is to have had my first full-time job be in the ecumenical community.

As we approach Easter, we Christians remember that it is a vision of what can be that binds us together. During Lent, we seek to shed our selfishness and greed and self-centeredness and make room for a new creation. We repent of our brokenness and work for reconciliation with one another and with God. 

God keeps calling and inviting us to join the journey–which takes time. Another favorite hymn of mine sings, “Bind us together, Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together, Lord, bind us together, bind us together with love.” 

Amidst a discouraging atmosphere in which the president insults people on an hourly basis, and gun violence, Islamophobia, racism, and a thousand other ills afflict us, it can be hard to see the many ways we are connected with one another.

But, I have to reflect and be thankful. In recent days, I have been part of a wonderful, intentional church-based conversation called “race matters.” Today, I hosted the general secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (pictured with me above) and learned of his work in forging a national dialogue aimed at securing a better future for his nation. A year ago, I was sleepless with anticipation for the amazing “ACT Now to End Racism” rally we held on the National Mall in Washington, DC. 

Lent allows us to make room for the resurrection that has come — and is still to come. The resurrection shows us that no matter how dark it seems, there is always hope. It is through our common efforts and with God’s blessing that so much good has happened and will continue to happen.

Jim Winkler and Rev. Kenneth Mtata surrounded by ecumenical faith leaders

Filed Under: Blogs

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Find Statements, News, and Podcasts

Subscribe to our free newsletter
Get up-to-date news delivered each week!
We respect your privacy.

Footer

About the National Council of Churches

Serving as a leading voice of witness to the living Christ in the public square since 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) brings together 38 member communions and more than 35 million Christians in a common expression of God’s love and promise of unity.

Contact Us

110 Maryland Ave. NE, Suite 108
Washington, DC 20002
202-544-2350

[email protected]

 

  • About Us
  • Common Witness
  • News
  • Donate
  • A.C.T. Now!

Copyright © 2019 · Infinity Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in