Episcopal Press and News
Urban Concerns Presented by Coalition
Episcopal News Service. October 4, 1977 [77331]
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Six bishops representing urban areas in the United States brought the Episcopal Church's concern about the social, political and economic crisis in American cities into focus for the House of Bishops during their meeting here Sept. 30-Oct. 7.
Speaking for a coalition of 40 bishops from U. S. urban areas were Bishops John T. Walker of Washington (D. C.), John H. Burt of Ohio, John B. Coburn of Massachusetts, John S. Spong of Newark, Furman C. Stough of Alabama, and James W. Montgomery of Chicago.
In introducing the topic to the House, Bishop Walker pointed out that "the lives of all of us are affected by what happens in our urban areas. " He said that concern for city crisis was not a matter of "urban vs. rural. "
Bishop Burt described how participation in the coalition had helped him come to the assistance of a serious unemployment situation in Youngstown, Ohio, caused by the closing of a single plant. He described the aim of the urban coalition bishops as "not so much to be experts in urban crisis as not to be fools. "
The Ohio bishop said, "people tend to put the blame for our crisis in the wrong places." He cited as one cause of urban crisis "the way business enterprise operates in the United States."
He said the coalition is planning to sponsor a series of open hearings in Chicago, Newark, Birmingham, Washington, D. C., and a west coast city in order to determine how the Church can be of help in cooperating with other agencies in meeting urban needs.
According to Bishop Coburn, the hearings are to make it crystal clear that the Church is concerned with bread and butter issues of human life, to insure that the Church will be listening to those involved in decision making regarding such issues, and to make it clear that the Episcopal Church desires to bring some measure of healing to urban crisis issues in our society.
"Our Church is not doing well in the heart of the urban world," commented Bishop Spong. He said membership in the Diocese of Newark -- where he serves as bishop coadjutor -- has dropped by 21,000 communicants in 21 years.
Bishop Stough said the Church needs to redirect its resources toward aiding "God's dispossessed in cities, " and Bishop Montgomery reaffirmed the parish as "the basic unit of Christian mission in urban areas as well as elsewhere. "
Following the presentations by the six bishops, Bishop Lemuel Shirley of Panama and the Canal Zone spoke of the needs of urban centers overseas and also of the problems being encountered in U. S. cities by those moving from overseas areas.
Bishop Walker commented that in Washington, D. C., "If all our illegal aliens were to disappear tomorrow, we would have to close our Spanish mission. "
Plans call for day-long hearings in Chicago and Newark in November; one in Birmingham in December; and a hearing in a West Coast city during the winter, with date and place to be announced. The project will end with a two-day city/national hearing in Washington, D. C. The coalition is also investigating the possibility of a hearing in a Central American or Caribbean city.
Following the hearings, the bishops of the Coalition will meet to consider the findings which they expect will affect future plans for action on parish, diocesan, and national levels.