Progressive Christians March Across America

by Lori Smith, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 4/12/2006

A small group of Christians will leave Phoenix on Easter Sunday to begin a four-and-a-half month, 2,500-mile walk to Washington, D.C. for a project named CrossWalkAmerica. Co-president Eric Elnes, senior pastor at Scottsdale Congregational United Church of Christ, told RBL, "We're walking in support of the three great loves that Jesus teaches us. He says that at the heart of everything is love of God, neighbor and self."

Added Elnes, "The public face of Christianity in America today seems to be very much different from my own beliefs—often directly opposed." Another motivation was "positive hope, that there are a lot of people who believe that you can be a lover of Jesus and also a lover of the environment, a lover of Jesus and love the poor, a lover of Jesus and love gays and lesbians—or be a gay or lesbian. We wanted to go from silence to joyful proclamation."

Jossey-Bass just published Elnes's book, The Phoenix Affirmations: A New Vision for the Future of Christianity, which expounds on the twelve principles the walkers are hoping to promote. Rebecca Glenn, co-president of CrossWalkAmerica and a lay member of Elnes's church, said, "We've summarized them into eight bullets: openness to other faiths; care for the earth and its ecosystems; valuing artistic expression in all its forms; welcome and inclusion of all people; opposing the co-mingling of church and state; seeking peace and ending systemic poverty; promoting values of rest and recreation, prayer and reflection; and embracing both faith and science."

In November of 2004, Elnes drafted the affirmations and invited a group of clergy from the Phoenix area to work on them. Over six months, with a cross-denominational team that grew to include church leaders and theologians from around the country, he went through roughly 20 revisions to arrive at the current affirmations, which "resonate instantly with moderate and progressive Christians," he said.

There will be five or six people walking the entire route, including Elnes and Glenn. About a hundred church groups from various denominations have signed up to take part in some way, providing housing for the walkers or joining them en route. One group is currently biking from Seattle and plans to ride into Phoenix on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter when Christians commemorate the Last Supper) to take part in the activities. Individuals and churches can also sign up on the Web site at www.crosswalkamerica.org for the "Walk Wherever You Are" program, which encourages people to walk and pray in their own communities during this time.

Elnes's next book, already contracted to Jossey-Bass, will be an account of the journey. "I'm intending to offer reflections on these affirmations from the road, and my encounters with people," he said. A film crew will accompany the walkers with the goal of producing a documentary, though production and distribution details have not yet been arranged.

Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong called the walk a "remarkable undertaking" and endorsed the project in a recent essay on his Web site. He hopes to join the walkers for the last leg of the trip, ending in Washington, D.C. on September 3.