Drive to Attract ‘Unchurched’ Americans Planned
WASHINGTON — Leaders of a wide spectrum of Christian denominations have agreed to join in a drive to attract the more than 80 million “unchurched†Americans without formal religious affiliation.
The Rev. Paul Benjamin, director of the National Church Growth Center and chairman of a steering committee, said representatives of 33 denominations, Protestant and Roman Catholic, are involved.
Among other things, they’re planning a national “festival†on evangelism in the summer of 1988.
As to how churches of differing concepts and ways could cooperate on evangelism, the Rev. Grady N. Allison, evangelism director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), said: “We have Jesus Christ in common. The other things that have kept us apart are of lesser importance.â€
Father Alvin A. Illig, director of the Paulist National Catholic Office on Evangelization, says the joint venture stems from an atmosphere of trust that has developed among denominations.
Both conservative and liberal Protestant bodies are taking part, including the large Southern Baptist Convention, usually aloof from interdenominational affairs.
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