Urban Bishops' Coalition Begins Crisis Hearings
Episcopal News Service. November 3, 1977 [77357]
CHICAGO, II. -- Bishops of the Episcopal Church holding jurisdictions in which large urban centers are located will be holding a series of public hearings on the urban crisis, beginning with an all-day session at the Center for Continuing Education on the University of Chicago campus, Nov. 17.
Announcement of this series of meetings was made by the Rt. Rev. James W. Montgomery, Episcopal Bishop of Chicago, during his charge to the Diocesan Convention in St. James Cathedral, Chicago. In his announcement, Bishop Montgomery said the purpose of the hearings will be "to dramatize visibly the concern of the Church for the urban crisis, as well as to yield authentic data as we seek to direct the Church's mission in the city. " Chicago will be the host of the first of the hearings which will be held in sequence in the cities of Newark, N.J., Birmingham, Ala., and a West Coast city to be selected later. The project will end with a two-day city/national public hearing in Washington, D.C.
The plans for the hearings culminates an effort begun by more than 30 Episcopal bishops across the country who have formed an association called the Urban Bishops Coalition.
The hearing, a witness to the concern of the Church for the urban crisis and to yield data to guide the Church in its mission to the city, will begin at 9:00 a. m. and will last as long as necessary to hear the witnesses to come before it.
Nearly 100 potential testifyers, from every major human inner city concern, have been invited to submit either written or oral testimony to the panel composed of a number of persons with urban expertise: sociology, psychology, urbanology, religion, government and welfare. Assisting the panel will be consultants in the fields of ethics, theology and the urban crisis.
The goal of the hearing is to receive significant data with regard to the effort to reconstruct life in the cities and to prepare guidelines for the Church across the country to serve the people living in the cities.
Although begun as an effort by the Episcopal Church, it is hoped that the hearings and subsequent action plans will encourage joint effort by all appropriate religious, private and governmental agencies which share in the goals of renewal of the inner cities of the nation.
Organizations and individuals who have not yet been contacted for possible testimony may contact Mattie Hopkins, 924 East 84th Street, Chicago, II. 60619 (723-5925), or Jan Schofield, 415 West Fullerton Parkway, Chicago, II. 60614 (472-0939).