Conference on Churches and Urban Tension Held
Diocesan Press Service. November 6, 1967 [59-4]
Support for the Black Power movement and for the National Committee of Negro Churchmen, and a three year moratorium on the development of new white suburban churches have been urged by a group of Negro churchmen.
The recommendations were part of a "Declaration of Black Churchmen", issued by Negro ministers and laymen who participated in a "Conference on Churches and Urban Tension" held in Washington, D. C. during late September under the sponsorship of the Department of Social Justice of the National Council of Churches.
Much of the work in the conference was done in separate black and white caucuses, each of which drafted statements before ending their meetings. Publication of the statements was voted on at a joint session.
The declaration of the black group urged Negroes in predominantly white churches either "to find ways of exercising a high degree of influence" in those denominations, or to "return home to the Black expressions of religion."
It also supported the National Committee of Negro Churchmen and urged that organization to establish a national headquarters with a paid staff, and regional offices. The NCNC was also called upon to organize a conference of black theologians to consider the theological implications of Black Power.
Despite the "many commendable contributions in the past to the struggle for social justice" on the part of the white church, the statement warned that "we have come to a point where the very structures, forms and priorities are being seriously questioned ... Racial justice can no longer be considered just another cause pursued by a few.... "
The Black Churchmen's statement also called on the white churches to join in affirming the legitimacy of the Black Power movement and to be open to what God is saying through it. It also asked for a three-year moratorium on suburban new church development, with funds made available from such work for people- centered ministries in the black and white communities.
The statement by white churchmen, in contrast to the statement by black churchmen, was very general, calling for repentance and renewal.