The 50th Anniversary of the Chicago Declaration

This week on 20 Minute Takes, Nikki takes us on a history lesson to mark the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern.  In Chicago, 50 years ago, over Thanksgiving weekend, a group of concerned Christian leaders gathered to ask how their faith should inform how they show up in the public space.  The result was the drafting of a statement about Christian commitment to social justice that some view as one of the most influential documents, for the church, of the decade.  It became the founding document for Christians for Social Action, and influenced many others.

20 Minute Takes is a production of Christians for Social Action
Host and Producer: Nikki Toyama-Szeto 
Edited by: Wiloza Media
Music: Andre Henry

Transcript

[00:00:00] Nikki Toyama-Szeto: Hello, this is Nikki Toyama-Szeto, I'm the Executive Director of Christians for Social Action and your host for this week's episode of 20 Minute Takes. This week, we do a deep history dive going back 50 years ago to the signing of the Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern. Fifty years ago, a group of Christians gathered to wrestle with how their faith should inform how they respond to the political moment, as well as what was going on in the world.

[00:00:46] The result of that was the Chicago Declaration, which eventually became the founding document for Christians for Social Action. Join us for this history lesson this week on 20 Minute Takes.

[00:01:05] This year marks the 50th anniversary of a document called the Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern. This document came out of a gathering that happened over Thanksgiving weekend in 1973 as a group of about 40 or so gathered in the basement of a YMCA on South Wabash in Chicago. At the time, the Washington Post described it as marathon discussions, which could well change the face of both religion and politics in America.

[00:01:38] This group of folks wanted to wrestle with how it is that Christians should respond to what was happening in the moment, politically, what was happening in the world, and what was happening in the church. And there were a couple of key things that came out of that declaration. The declaration came out with a statement that emphasized the church's commitment to paying attention to the problem of racism in America, to the promotion of women and the elevation of women for full flourishing in the church, and the promotion of peace and a concern about the militarism that was happening and the violence that was happening, as well as a commitment to ending poverty. 

[00:02:22] "As evangelical Christians committed to the Lord Jesus Christ and the full authority of the Word of God, we affirm that God lays total claim upon the lives of his people.

[00:02:34] We cannot, therefore, separate our lives in Christ from the situation in which God has placed us in the United States and the world. We confess that we have not acknowledged the complete claims of God on our lives. We acknowledge that God requires love, but we have not demonstrated the love of God to those suffering social abuses.

[00:02:59] We acknowledge that God requires justice, but we have not proclaimed or demonstrated his justice to an unjust American society. Although the Lord calls us to defend the social and economic rights of the poor and the oppressed, we have mostly remained silent. We deplore the historic involvement of the church in America with racism and the conspicuous responsibility of the 

[00:03:28] of the evangelical community for perpetuating the personal attitudes and institutional structures that have divided the body of Christ along color lines. Further, we have failed to condemn the exploitation of racism at home and abroad by our economic system."

[00:03:51] Now, the church at that time was responding to an emerging movement that was happening in Latin America. Particularly the names of Renee Padilla and Samuel Escobar might be associated with some of the work that was happening around this idea of holistic gospel or integral mission. And this was a way of understanding both the proclamation of the gospel, the good news of Jesus, as well as the demonstration of the power of God through Christian lives.

[00:04:23] Samuel Escobar, Renee Padilla were working with church leaders, were heavily informed by what was going on in that place, as they realized that the church was unable to confront the social realities that were happening at the time. What did the good news of Jesus have to do in the face of violence, in the face of instability and uprising?

[00:04:43] In the face of hunger and poverty, and they renewed the Christian call and the reminder that was deeply rooted in the scriptures of the way that the gospel is supposed to be good news in all facets of life, both now and in the days to come. So the Chicago Declaration was heavily informed by this trend that was going on in the church in the seventies, as Samuel Escobar, Renee Padilla we're engaging with the broader global church and trying to help make that connection point between faith and justice. So the Chicago Declaration group met in Chicago to ask the question of how does what is happening in the global church inform how do we respond today? Some of the things that were happening at that time was Nixon's presidency and a certain level of corruption that was exposed in that that was really shaking people's understanding of the political institutions.

[00:05:38] And in a response to that, a group of evangelicals led by Ron Sider and others created an arm called Evangelicals for McGovern, and they were helping to support this presidential candidate in hopes to try to restore some level of integrity or ethics, but they felt pretty compelled by their Christian faith to step out and organize and engage politically in this way that was pretty new for them at that time.

[00:06:04] That community of folks, Evangelicals for McGovern, laid some of the groundwork for a broader community of folks in the United States to ask this question: "How does our faith inform our engagement with institutions, including political institutions?" So the Chicago gathering was created at the nexus points between what was happening in the broader global church around a faith that is engaging with justice issues and these social realities, as well as something that was happening in this political space that was really shaking Christians and particularly evangelicals and helping them to realize that their faith cannot just be a privatized faith that just sort of happens between God and themselves, but that there was something about a faith that lives out its reality in a broader space in a broader public sphere.

[00:07:03] "We affirm that God abounds in mercy and that he forgives all who repent and turn from their sins. So we call our fellow evangelical Christians to demonstrate repentance in a Christian discipleship that confronts the social and political injustice of our nation. We must attack the materialism of our culture and the maldistribution of the nation's wealth and services.

[00:07:28] We recognize that as a nation, we play a crucial role in the imbalance and injustice of international trade and development. Before God in a billion hungry neighbors, we must rethink our values regarding our present standard of living and promote a more just acquisition and distribution of the world's resources.

[00:07:51] We acknowledge our Christian responsibilities of citizenship, therefore. We must challenge the misplaced trust of the nation in economic and military might. A proud trust that promotes anathema pathology of war and violence, which victimizes our neighbors at home and abroad. We must resist the temptation to make the nation and its institutions objects of near religious loyalty.

[00:08:21] We acknowledge that we have encouraged men to prideful domination and women to irresponsible pacificity. So we call both men and women to mutual submission and active discipleship."

[00:08:41] So a couple of things that are very notable about this gathering, the Chicago Declaration gathering. is that it was intentionally multi- generational. Some of the things that I find very interesting is that some of the folks who are sort of the leaders of the Christian justice movement today were some of the young folks that were in the room.

[00:08:59] Folks like Jim Wallace of Sojourners in Georgetown, John Perkins of the Christian Community Development Association, Bill Pinnell, who is one of the leaders in the Black Evangelical Movement. These are some of the folks who are the leaders that we see today, or sort of seen as some of the elders of the movement.

[00:09:20] So that Chicago Declaration gathering was intentionally intergenerational. The other thing that was very notable about the gathering that Ron and others had pulled together is that the gathering was surprisingly diverse for the time. Out of the 40 or so folks, there were about seven people. from the Black Church community.

[00:09:41] And they had a very strong voice in the strengthening and really the pushing of the language and the declaration to be more robust talking about the church's participation in systems of racism, as well as the ways that racism permeate some of our economic systems, our political systems. And you see sort of a sophistication there in the statement and in its engagement because of the contribution of that contingent.

[00:10:08] There was also another contingent of peacemakers, sort of Anabaptists who really pushed in response to some of the violence that was happening, particularly during the Vietnam conflict. And one of the things that they were really pushing for was a prophetic role of Christians, that Christians can play as peacemakers, as people who testify to the Prince of Peace, Jesus.

[00:10:31] And so you'll see some of that language embodied in this. The other group of people, the other contingent or delegation that was there was about seven women who were present in the space. The original version of the Chicago Declaration was a little bit thin on its acknowledgement of the experience of women within the church.

[00:10:52] And one of the things that's rather striking is the language that it has about creating a space. It's kind of co -laboring space for women within the church. Many scholars trace the organization and the beginning seeds of the Christian feminist movement to that women's delegation that was present at the Chicago Declaration meetings 50 years ago.

[00:11:14] Many of the gender justice organizations that exist can trace some of their roots back to those key meetings and those early leaders. 

[00:11:55] I think one of the things that's really surprising or shocking to me is that is how relevant these four pillars are. These four pillars of fighting racism, of a concern to end poverty, the elevation of women, and the promotion of peacemaking and an end to violence. Those four pillars are still so timely today.

[00:12:17] I think the other thing that's really striking to me is that there are so many similarities to the social, global and political situation and a particular moment and the way that this community of Christians felt that the invitation from God was to step in and to engage their faith, to see how their faith informs how they should engage in this moment.

[00:12:40] The Chicago Declaration for Evangelical Social Concern became the founding documents for Christians for Social Action. It's also become a declaration that has been helpful and useful to many other Christian organizations as they have pursued a more holistic gospel, a fuller version of what Christian faithfulness might look like in the world today.

[00:13:02] I invite you to review it and take a look. But this was a 20 Minute Take on this historical document, as well as this moment of the Christian justice movement found in the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern.

[00:13:25] "We proclaim no new gospel, but the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through the power of the Holy Spirit, frees people from sin, so that they might praise God through works of righteousness. By this declaration, we endorse no political ideology or party, but call our nation's leaders and people to that righteousness which exalts a nation.

[00:13:50] We make this declaration in the biblical hope that Christ is coming to consummate the kingdom and we accept his claim on our total discipleship till he comes. November 25th, 1973 Chicago, Illinois. The Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern."

[00:14:34] 20 Minute Takes is a production of Christians for Social Action. Our music was created by Andre Henry, and this episode was mixed and engineered by Wiloza Media. If you liked this episode, spread the word by subscribing, reviewing, or sharing. I'm your host, Nikki Toyama -Szeto. If you want to find out more about our work, visit the website at ChristiansForSocialAction.org