The nation's two largest ecumenical organizations are positioning themselves for a radical realignment that could bring liberal and conservative churches together in common social causes and lead to the disbanding of the venerable National Council of Churches.
Traditionally, churches in the United States have been divided. Old-line Protestant churches, along with Anglican, Orthodox and African American denominations, have belonged to the National Council of Churches.
The National Assn. of Evangelicals, meanwhile, has represented more conservative evangelical and Pentecostal churches and has prohibited churches from joining if they are affiliated with the National Council of Churches.
The Roman Catholic Church, the nation's largest with 60 million members, has belonged to neither group.
Those divisions have weakened the voice of American churches on major national issues, religious leaders say, and they are taking steps to form a new, broad-based ecumenical body.
"The old compartmentalized segmentation of the church is giving way to a new sense of vision and mission and presence of God in America. The block walls are coming down and giving way to picket fences," said the Rev. Kevin Mannoia, president of the National Assn. of Evangelicals.
Earlier this year, the executive board of the National Council of Churches voted to disband the organization over the next three years if a new broad-based church group is formed, said the Rev. Robert Edgar, the council's general secretary.
The National Assn. of Evangelicals has removed the rule prohibiting churches affiliated with the National Council from also joining the evangelical group. Already, the Reformed Church in America, a founding member of the national council, has applied for membership in the evangelical association, which is expected to act on the request next year.
Leaders in both camps said the moves portend dramatic changes in the ecumenical landscape.
"The National Council of Churches would be able to give its life away for the sake of a new reality," said Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, who is also general secretary of the Reformed Church in America. "One can't underestimate the dramatic nature of the gesture."
Precisely what form a new organization would take remains deliberately vague. "We want to be humble enough to suggest that we don't have all the answers and make room for the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and direct us," Edgar said. "We want not to invite Roman Catholics and evangelicals to come to our table, but to have them see this as an opportunity to invent a new table."
