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Christian Churches Together Response to Dr. Martin L. King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail: Biblical Study Guide for Small Groups (2013)
Christian Churches Together Response to Dr. Martin L. King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail: Biblical Study Guide For Small Groups
This study guide responds to CCT’s commitment to promote racial justice and reconciliation in our country. It is our prayer that the Holy Spirit accompanies you, as you prayerfully reflect on this important topic. Formed in 2006, Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. is a fellowship of 36 national communions, including African American, Catholic, Evangelical/Pentecostal, Historic Protestant, and Orthodox; and seven national organizations, including American Bible Society, Bread for the World, Evangelicals for Social Action, Habitat for Humanity, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Sojourners, and World Vision.
As leaders of Christian Churches Together in the USA, we have been challenged anew by the letter Dr. King wrote fifty years ago to another group of religious leaders while sitting in jail. The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was written as a response to an open letter to Dr. King that appeared in a local newspaper, from eight white clergymen of the state (including bishops, pastors and a rabbi). They urged an end to the demonstrations and civil disobedience that were occurring in the city and the use, instead, of patient negotiation and legal action to address any perceived denial of rights to Black citizens.
This study guide is designed as a small groups tool for members in our congregations to re-invigorate, and in many cases initiate, a conversation about the present reality of racism in church and society. Our hope is that these conversations may move God’s people to take action in their own context to address the sin of racism and its ramifications. We pray that as a result of Bible reflections, conversations and prayer, people all across our country will become agents of transformation, so that we may give glory to God by becoming the “beloved community.”