|
Friends United Meeting |
 |
October 2001
Peace Notes
Historic Peace Churches Address Decade to Overcome Violence
By Ben Richmond
As the "Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace" was officially launched by the World Council of Churches on February 4, 2001, the Council called upon the Historic Peace Churches to share their insights.
This June, about seventy Brethren, Mennonite and Quaker theologians and church leaders came together for an intense week of discussion at Bienenburg Seminary in Liestal, Switzerland, to consider this call.
Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, greeted those gathered on its opening day. He said the WCC is more than ready to receive a message from the Historic Peace Churches. One dilemma is that the struggle for justice often involves conflict, even violence, while the struggle against violence often involves smoothing over injustice. Raiser expressed the hope that the Decade will initiate a change of consciousness so a culture of nonviolence becomes central, rather than marginal, in the ordinary life of the church.
The consultation process was intense, with the presentation and discussion of five to eight papers each day. The Mennonite theologians particularly emphasized how the cross of Jesus Christ and Jesus' way of rebuking evil informs how Christians not only understand issues of peace and justice, but even how we engage in discussion about these issues. The Quaker participants brought learnings about the power of the Holy Spirit to transform persons and societies through the early Friends' theology of the "Lamb's War" and the model of John Woolman. The greatest contribution of Quakers and Brethren were in the field of applied theology: sharing experiments such as the Alternatives to Violence Project and other campaigns for nonviolent social change. Mennonite and Brethren participants from Columbia, Paraguay, Burkina Faso and India brought riveting commentary out of their experience of living as peace church people in the midst of intense conflict.
A valiant "listening committee" met throughout the conference and drafted a report for the conference. Through a massive editing process it became a letter to the churches which follows. The consultation also drafted a response to another study document of the WCC's Central Committee concerning the question of criteria for the use of military force in intervening in situations of humanitarian crisis.
The papers from the Bienenburg Consultation are available at: www.peacetheology.org.
Queries from the Decade to Overcome Violence
- What are the various forms of violence you encounter in your country, community, homes, workplaces, schools, etc.?
- How do you plan to overcome these forms of violence?
- What are your hesitations and obstacles?
- What are your faith resources?
- Who are your partners and allies, and how do you plan to work with them?
- How do you want to relate with those struggling for justice and liberation?
- What kind of peace do you wish?
More information: www.wcc-coe.org
Letter to the Churches from Bienenburg
To our brothers and sisters in the Historic Peace Churches and in the wider ecumenical fellowship of Christians. Greetings in the name of the Prince of Peace.
AFFIRMATIONS
Together we affirm the following: Essential to the good news of the gospel
is the teaching, example, and Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ,
who calls us to witness to the transforming power of God's Kingdom of
peace, justice and reconciliation—for this nonviolent way of life
is at the very heart of the gospel.
The good news of the gospel is more than a renunciation of violence in the struggle for justice and reconciliation. It is a call and a gift to seek to develop a culture of peace that creatively addresses and overcomes the many causes of violence in the contemporary world.
The good news of the gospel calls us to regard seeking justice as central and integral to a nonviolent way of life. The commitment to nonviolent love and to the struggle for justice belong to one another and are not to be separated.
...In the Sermon on the Mount, love for the adversary includes reproof and creative confrontation of evil, but does not include competing with the violent methods of evil....
We are called to find creative nonviolent ways to address situations of conflict in the search for justice. These include solidarity with the victim, binding the wounds of the oppressed, addressing the needs of the poor, seeking genuine understanding and empathy with all partners of the conflict, efforts for reconciliation when possible, learning to forgive, and genuine love of enemy.
We are called to witness in the hope and anticipation that God may use our witness to bring reconciliation and a culture of peace with justice. Therefore the effectiveness of our witness is always an important consideration, but not the only consideration. We are called to a patient and persistent trust that God will make use of our obedience in ways that often surpass our understanding. The willingness to accept suffering is therefore a part of our witness for peace.
We are called to experience the providential intercession of the Spirit that may carry us through situations where the use of violence, even as a last resort, has been renounced.
...Peace in its depth includes spiritual, communal and political dimensions as well as a care for the earth.
CONFESSION
At the beginning of the 21st century, does the title "Historic Peace
Churches" fit the Church of the Brethren, Mennonites and Friends?
In many places, we have become indistinguishable from the society around
us. ... Is our peace witness simply historic, or does it stand as a challenge
to the modern forms of national religion? Our churches' peace witness
arose within contexts of suffering and persecution. Today, many of our
churches, especially in the North, exist in a position of privilege in
our societies, and no longer speak from the vantage point from which our
ethic arose. This fact, far from calling into question the radical nature
of the gospel, could instead stand as a call to repentance. Many of us
have been too inattentive to our brothers and sisters who live in situations
of real suffering, whether in the Southern Hemisphere or in the North,
and even within our churches and homes....
COMMITMENT TO THE DECADE TO OVERCOME VIOLENCE
We urge our churches, whether they are members of the World Council of
Churches or not, to commit to active engagement with other Christians
in the service of GodŐs will for peace.
... The search for peace is not the possession of the peace churches, but is a deep common yearning of all Christians, people of other faiths and all of humanity....We must understand and willingly embrace the fact that through ecumenical encounter, we too may be changed. Indeed, a vulnerability and openness to the "other" is constitutive of the peace witness we profess.
We commit ourselves to urge our respective institutions, with their resources, to engage fully in the ecumenical dialog and action of the Decade to Overcome Violence. Now is the time to bring forward our gifts with a spirit of generosity.
From our perspective as members of peace churches, we offer the following suggestions for the Decade to Overcome Violence:
For the churches of our traditions, a commitment to nonviolent action for justice and reconciliation is a mark of the church, a point of confessional status. We suggest pursuing an ecclesiological approach to nonviolence....
Much of the world's energy and resources are channeled into preparing for and engaging in violent attempts to resolve conflict, and in misguided attempts to create security....Through this Decade, we urge that significant resources be devoted to experimental methodologies for positive alternatives to violence, so that our "no" to violence can be followed by the "yes" of love, justice and transforming power.
Our experience in peacemaking has taught us that overcoming violence is very difficult. We therefore suggest committing ourselves to utilize resources from beyond ourselves, to pray for the courage of our convictions, and to practice patience so as not to impede God's spirit of peace.
... [W]e feel the need to continue together, to witness together, to share our differences in love, to embody the reconciliation we seek to call forth in the world, and to strengthen ourselves and the entire community of Christians in our shared ministry of peacemaking.
May you be blessed by the One who calls us to be peacemakers.
Link to FUM's Peace Connections page
Copyright (c) 2001 Friends United Meeting
Return to October 2001 Contents page