Leaders of Christian Churches Together in the USA, a 10-year-old network aimed at promoting interchurch collaboration, have chosen a Presbyterian ecumenical associate as their new executive director.
Carlos Malave, who worked for the PC(USA) for 11 years, said CCT is trying to adapt in the challenging realm of ecumenical relations.
The network of more than 40 churches and Christian groups is addressing racism, poverty, evangelism and immigration. It includes five “families” of Christianity — Catholic, evangelical Protestant, historic black, historic Protestant and Orthodox.
Still, Malave would like to see more CCT partnerships with evangelical and African-American denominations. The historic Methodist Episcopal denominations have not joined CCT, with some questioning its broad structure that calls for reaching complete consensus before taking major action.
“We want to increase African-American participation because we’re less without them,” said Malave, who succeeded the Rev. Dick Hamm, who retired.
The Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, moderator of CCT’s steering committee, said CCT leaders appreciate Malave’s track record in ecumenical work. They also hope that choosing Malave as the new executive director will encourage Latino Christians to view CCT as “not just quota-type inclusive but genuinely inclusive.” Malave was born in Puerto Rico.
Next year, the CCT is planning an event in Birmingham, Ala., and its leaders are preparing a formal response to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King wrote the letter in 1963, nearly 50 years ago, to respond to local white clergy who urged that black civil rights activists halt their “unwise and untimely” protests.
