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Diocese Helps Mark 50th Anniversary of “Letter From Birmingham Jail”

It was a letter written by a young pastor, at a time of trial, 50 years ago. And this month it received a special response. Leaders of the ecumenical group Christian Churches Together gathered in Alabama on April 14-15 to formally respond to the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”—one of the most important documents written by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Very Rev. Fr. Aren Jebejian, pastor of the St. Gregory Armenian Church of Chicago, took part in the ecumenical event, speaking on behalf of Orthodox Christian communities.

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PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
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Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: publicrelations@armeniandiocese.org
Website: www.armenianchurch-ed.net
PublicRelations [publicrelations@armeniandiocese.org]
April 29, 2013
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It was a letter written by a young pastor, at a time of trial, 50 years ago. And this month it received a special response. Leaders of the ecumenical group Christian Churches Together gathered in Alabama on April 14-15 to formally respond to the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”—one of the most important documents written by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Very Rev. Fr. Aren Jebejian, pastor of the St. Gregory Armenian Church of Chicago, took part in the ecumenical event, speaking on behalf of Orthodox Christian communities.
He attended on behalf of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America, and its ecumenical director Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, who is a founding member of CCT and its newly-elected president.
Dr. Martin Luther King was incarcerated in a jail cell in Birmingham in 1963, when he penned the letter challenging church leaders to confront the injustices of racial segregation. King had been jailed for holding protests of non-violent civil disobedience, and he wrote in reply to an open letter in a local newspaper, wherein eight clergymen had called on the civil rights movement to opt for negotiations rather than demonstrations.
The letter itself, scribbled by King in the margins of a newspaper—the only paper he had at hand—was smuggled out of the jail and published, becoming one of the most celebrated documents of the civil rights movement. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” the young Baptist preacher wrote in one of the letter’s most famous passages.
At the 2013 gathering, church leaders from throughout the U.S., representing a variety of denominations, offered a response to their fellow departed clergyman. Christian Churches Together (CCT) had crafted the response letter over the past two years, unveiling it on April 15 at Birmingham’s St. Paul United Methodist Church.
In the CCT document, the five ecclesiastical groups that form the CCT—Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Roman Catholics, Historic Protestant churches, and the Orthodox family—affirm the truths presented in King’s letter. But each group also confessed to have fallen short to living the gospel message they profess.
A two-day conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the Letter included addresses from Rev. King’s colleagues, co-workers, and religious leaders. Among them were U.S. Rep. John Lewis and Rev. James Wallis.
A highlight of the conference was an address by Dr. Bernice King, Martin Luther King’s daughter, who is herself a pastor. She emphasized the pastoral quality of her father, and how his efforts were a ministry to Christ—a theme, she said, which was too often forgotten in the celebrations of his achievement.
To conclude the gathering, the leaders of each of the CCT’s five “families” of churches came forward to sign the response letter.  Fr. Jebejian signed on behalf of Archbishop Aykazian, and read a reflection on the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” from the Orthodox family of churches.
PublicRelations [publicrelations@armeniandiocese.org]

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