Pentecostal Partners
Challenged by the reality of our racial divisions, we have been drawn by the Holy Spirit to Memphis, Tennessee, October 1 7-19, 1994 in order to become true "Pentecostal Partners" and to develop together "A Reconciliation Strategy for 2lst Century Ministry" We desire to covenant together in the ongoing task of racial reconciliation by committing Ourselves to the following agenda.
I. I pledge in concert with my brothers and sisters of many hues
to oppose racism prophetically in all its various manifestations
within and without the Body of Christ and to be vigilant in the
struggle with all my God-given might.
II. I am committed personally to treat those in the Fellowship
who are not of my race or ethnicity, regardless of color, with
love and respect as my sisters and brothers in Christ. I am further
committed to work against all forms of personal and institutional
racism, including those which are revealed within the very structures
of our environment.
Ill. With complete bold and courageous honesty, we mutually confess
that racism is sin and as a blight in the Fellowship must be condemned
for having hindered the maturation of spiritual development and
mutual sharing among Pentecostal-Charismatic believers for decades.
IV. We openly confess our shortcomings and our participation in
the sin of racism by
our silence, denial and blindness. We admit the harm it has brought
to generations born and unborn. We strongly contend that the past
does not always completely determine the future. New horizons
are emerging. God wants to do a new thing through His people.
V. We admit that there is no single solution to racism in the
Fellowship. We pray and are open to tough love and radical repentance
with deep sensitivity to the Holy Spirit as Liberator.
VI. Together we will work to affirm one another's strengths and
acknowledge our own weaknesses and inadequacies, recognizing that
all of us only "see in a mirror dimly" what God desires to do
in this world. Together, we affirm the wholeness of the Body of
Christ as fully inclusive of Christians regardless of color. We,
therefore, commit ourselves "to love one another with mutual affection,
outdoing one another in showing honor (Romans 12: 10)."
VII. We commit ourselves not only to pray but also to work for
genuine and visible manifestations of Christian unity.
VIII. We hereby commit ourselves not only to the task of making
prophetic denouncement of racism in word and creed, but to live
by acting in deed. We will fully support and encourage those among
us who are attempting change.
IX. We pledge that we will return to our various constituencies
and appeal to them for logistical support and intervention as
necessary in opposing racism. We will seek partnerships and exchange
pulpits with persons of a different hue, not in a paternalistic
sense, but in the Spirit of our Blessed Lord who prayed that we
might be one (John 17:21).
X. We commit ourselves to leaving our comfort zones, lay aside
our warring, racial allegiances, respecting the full humanity
of all, live with an openness to authentic liberation which is
a product of Divine Creation, until the shackles fall and all
bondage ceases.
XI. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Azusa Street
Mission was a model of preaching and living the Gospel message
in the world. We desire to drink deeply from the well of Pentecost
as it was embodied in that mission. We, therefore, pledge our
commitment to embrace the essential commitments of that mission
in evangelism and mission, injustice and holiness, in spiritual
renewal and empowerment, and in the reconciliation of all Christians
regardless of race or gender as we move into the new millennium.
Bishop Ithiel Clemmons
Leonard Lovett
Cecil M. Robeck, Jr.
Harold D. Hunter
|