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For the children of the world… That’s
All too many
children grow up immersed in violence. While some progress has been made in addressing the violence in our
world, a new emphasis could help a lot.
In the next few months a unique opportunity will open up for us: a decade-long focus on building a culture of peace and nonviolence in every part of our lives, from schools and churches, to neighborhoods and the world.
getting started Talk with others in your congregation who
have an interest in peacemaking and nonviolence…
Make
reconciliation part of your prayer life. Pray for those in conflict in your family, congregation,
and else-where.… Express your gratitude for peace efforts in your
relationships, community, and among nations.
Improve your
skills of conflict transformation and apply them in your family, congregation, workplace…
Add a book or
magazine on peace with justice to your reading… Use the web to explore peace
ideas…
Bring your values of peace with justice into decisions at work… shopping… investing… volunteer
activity…
Join with
activity of peace and justice groups in your community and the world (Lutheran Peace
Fellowship, Bread for the World, Fellowship of Reconciliation…)
exploring shalom The Decade
for a Culture of Peace offers many possibilities for
discussions in adult forums, women’s groups, and the devotional life of members. Here
are several outstanding resources that
explore the biblical vision of peacemaking:
Families Living the Pledge of Nonviolence: twenty useful family activities, Advent to Lent (free from Women of the ELCA, 800-528-3522).
For the Peace of the Whole World: five creative, engaging bible
studies for women (Augsburg Fortress, $4, #69-3924, 800/328-4648).
Peace by Lowell Erdahl: thought-provoking, brief bible
studies on peace in Ephesians, (Augsburg Fortress, avail. only from LPF, $2.50).
The Politics of Jesus, John H. Yoder, insightful exploration of
nonviolence in Luke (Eerdmans).
Peace Education for Young Children: helps
educators create an environment where all children feel valued, safe, and able
to deal with conflict (ELEA, 800/500-7644).
videos
and films
A Force More Powerful on
the power and spirit of nonviolence: six half-hour segments on Gandhi, civil
rights sit-ins, S.Africa... (normally $395; it’s $39.95 for churches and peace groups: 800-257-5126, code #EBC11067;
study guide free: kzill@weta.com).
Jesus Third Way: Walter
Wink and James Lawson explore Jesus’ active, creative nonviolent approach to
injustice and conflict. (available from FOR, 845-356-4601, http://www.forusa.org).
Where There is Hatred examines cases of
nonviolent social change in Eastern Europe, the Philippines, Chile, and
Palestine (Maryknoll Films, 800-227-8523, or from FOR, see above).
New Faces of Courage:
conversations and interviews from a youth conference on a Global Peace Service,
with an excellent booklet of readings (from ELCA Commission for Women or LPF).
Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace is
the story of a Lutheran pastor and hero of the resistance in Nazi Germany;
sponsored by AAL.
Other feature films, available in video
stores, include Weapons of the Spirit, Gandhi, Romero, and A Long Walk Home.
digging deeper The best group discussion and activity program we’ve seen is From Violence to Wholeness used effectively with hundreds of church groups. Assisted by Pace e Bene, which developed the ten-part program, Lutheran Peace Fellowship
is working with congregations and leaders across the US in weekend workshops
and weekly discus-sion series, supported by an
“Innovations
Grant” from Aid
Association for Lutherans (AAL). LPF has also developed a 50-page supplement of
materials and resources for the program. (See back page).
The best program for
youth groups we’ve seen is called Help Increase the Peace. Like From
Violence to Wholeness it has gone through several periods of testing and
revision and places the emphasis on participatory activities, not just talk.
HIP trainers are in 19 states; an introductory video rents for $5+S&H; their superb manual is $25
(AFSC, 4806 York Rd., Baltimore, MD 21212-4423, 410/323-7200, ichico@afsc.org
What Is the Decade for Peace?
undreds
of Lutheran congregations, school groups, synods, and churchwide organizations have endorsed the Nobel Decade for Peace, making a commitment “to teach,
practice, and model nonviolence,” in the words of the LPF resolution used by
most groups. The Decade was proposed in
an Appeal by twenty Nobel Peace Laureates, the largest number ever to support a
single initiative. A year after the
first Lutheran endorsements, the UN General Assembly designated the years
2001-2010 to be the “International Decade for Culture of Peace and
Nonviolence.” In July 1999, the ELCA
Churchwide Assembly endorsed the Decade and an ELCA Task Force was set up to
identify resources and to develop new materials and programs like the ELCA
peace week.
opening
doors
An excellent way to encourage activity in
your church, student group, or community is to discuss and endorse the Decade
for Peace Resolution and become a part of all the possibilities of the
Decade. LPF has prepared model
resolutions for Lutheran churches, and secular schools, community groups, city
councils, university groups, etc. They are free from LPF and are posted on our
web site.
on the web
LutheranPeace.org both link you with Lutheran Peace Fellowship fact sheets, worship materials, Decade
for Peace activities, resolutions, articles, and links.
http://www.elca.org/dcs this site has grown into one of the best available, with
resources from a dozen ELCA programs.
http://www.forusa.org the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) offers information on
many peacemaking activities; their Decade pages are especially stimulating and
well designed.
http://www.nobelweb.org is the best site on the Nobel Decade for Peace, especially activity
of nongovernmental organizations.
http://www.unesco.org is the
web site of the lead UN agency on the Decade: click on "culture of peace,” note “manifesto” pages
http://www.ifor.org the
International Fellowship of Reconciliation (ifor) is a key Decade leader in
many areas of the world.
http://www.nonviolence.org click on
"full listings" to access several dozen of the most useful groups
(including LPF, FOR, IFOR, and Baptist, Episcopal, Jewish, and Muslim peace
fellowships).
helping us focus A pledge or commitment can help us focus on peacemaking in our daily lives. Over 70 million people around the world have signed such pledges in preparation for the Peace Decade (see http://www.unesco.org). Here are good resources:
Families
Living the Pledge of Nonviolence: twenty great family activities (free from Women of the ELCA, 800-528-3522).
Family Pledge of
Nonviolence (free), booklet ($5), school
and church kits… (Families Against Violence Advocacy
Network, 4144 Lindell Blvd., St.
Louis, MO 63108, 314-533-4445, ppnj@aol.com).
Disarming the Heart by John Dear explores in rich detail the
growing practice of professing a vow of nonviolence and how it can lead to new
depth in discipleship (Paulist Press, 1993)
LPF packet on the pledge of nonviolence with several examples of pledges, vows, and commitments of nonviolence (free).
worship
Decade for a Culture of
Nonviolence worship resource includes prayer, scripture, hymn, and resource options (free, ELCA
Task Force on Nonviolence, 800-NET-ELCA, or from LPF).
Joining Hearts, Hands and Voices to Leave No Child Behind, A guide to the national observance of Children’s Sabbath: worship, education,
outreach and advocacy on the needs of children (Children’s Defense Fund, 202-662-3652).
A Call to Peace by Jim McGinnis: 52 meditations on the Family Pledge of Nonviolence (see above, Liguori, 1998, $5).
Our Prayers Rise Like Incense, edited by Cindy Pile: 50
complete liturgies on peace
and justice themes (Pax Christi, 532 West 8th
St, Erie, PA 16502; 814-453-4955, $10).
Peace Worship Resources: sixty pages of prayers, sermons, songs, lectionary
aids (LPF, $5); worship guides, sermons (free).
O Come Let Us Worship: a chapel guide for young children (ELEA); Guide My Feet, ed. by Marian Wright Edelman, prayers (Beacon).
peace days
Many dates in the church
and secular calendar can serve as a focus for peace with justice reflection and
activity, for example:
Jan. 1, World Day of Peace
Jan. 17, birth of Martin Luther
King, Jr.; April 4, death
Feb. 4, birth of Dietrich Bonhoeffer; April 9, death
Mar. 24, anniversary of the assassination
of Oscar Romero
Apr. 10, Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust
last week in April: TV Turn Off Week, http://www.tvturnoff.org
May 15, International Conscientious Objectors Day
May Mothers Day, originally a day to protest
war
Aug. 6, Hiroshima Day
Sept. 19, United Nations Day of
Peace
Oct. 2, birth of Gandhi, nonviolence innovator
Oct. 4, feast day of St. Francis of Assisi
Nov. 11, Veterans Day,
feast day of St. Martin of Tours (early con-scientious
objector) and Martin Luther; a Day of Prayer for Peace
Dec. 10, UN Human Rights Day
Dec. 28, Holy Innocents
media concerns
While
there are beneficial and occasionally even inspiring television shows, movies
and video games, researchers and parents alike are disturbed by the impact of
the violence in media today. Churches can play a helpful, even crucial role.
The
Center for Media Literacy offers a wonderful
series of video programs for schools, churches, and families that teach skills and encourage group discussion (1962 S. Shenandoah, Los Angeles 90034; 800-226-9494, http://www.medialit.org)
What
to Do After You Turn Off the TV by Frances Moore Lappe is one of many books offering tips on the question of the title.
Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill by
Dave Grossman and Gloria deGaetano
summarizes the links between media
violence and violent youth behavior and offers a plan of action.
advocacy
Cynicism about politics is widespread
these days. If you need encouragement
that citizen involvement can make a difference, look at the successes of Bread
for the World and other hunger lobbies over the past 20 years. They are
currently working on debt relief for the world’s poorest countries which would
lift millions out of poverty and alleviate a major source of conflict and
violence. The Hunger Relief Act would greatly reduce hunger in the U.S.
Citizens and experts across the political
spectrum are raising questions about weapons systems like Trident II and
National Missile Defense that are destabilizing, threaten arms control
agreements, and are very costly.
Lutherans are actively expressing their
concern for peace and justice in many other ways: e.g. by participating in
local Crop Walks, the Million Mom March, Jubilee 2000 lobbying, protesting Iraq
sanctions and the School of the Americas…
The Lutheran Office on Governmental Affairs offers reliable information and advocacy help on many legislative and policy
proposals, 202/783-7501 http://www.loga.org Other good sources
include Bread for the World, 301/608-2500, http://www.bread.org and Jubilee
2000, 202/783-3566, http://www.j2000usa.org
Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is
our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
Your playing small doesn’t help
the world. There’s nothing enlightened
about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
As we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our
presence liberates others.
Nelson Mandela
reading to grow
Book groups are becoming as popular as individual reading to explore
peace and justice issues. In addition to the fine books described above, here
are five terrific new publications:
Peace Is the Way, edited by Walter Wink, is a very rich and
perceptive collection of brief essays on nonviolence (Orbis, 2000, $20).
Martin Luther King, Jr.: Spirit-Led Prophet, by Richard Deats is a brief, well-written bio-graphy emphasizing the spiritual roots of King’s activity and writing (New City, 2000, $12).
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion by Marshall Rosenberg is a very creative approach (Puddle Dancer, 1999, $16)
The Powers That Be (Doubleday, 1999, $13) concise version of Walter Wink's classic book, Engaging
the Powers (AugsburgFortress, $23), both are
remarkably rich in stories and insight.
Transforming Violence, edited by Robert and Judy Zimmerman Herr is an fine exploration
of many options (Herald, 1999, $13)
the hidden violence Every 15 seconds a woman is physically assaulted in her own home. Child abuse is equally prevalent, is
destructive in its own right, and at the same time, sows the seeds for much of
the violence in our society. The Center for the Pre-
vention of Sexual and
Domestic Violence offers very
well-crafted video programs to help church and school groups understand domestic violence and develop appropriate responses. (936
North 34th St., Seattle, WA 98103; 206-634-1903, http://www.cpsdv.org).
sharing the stories
For many of us, a good way to grasp the meaning of peacemaking today is
through the lives and activities and choices of inspiring peace
and justice heroes like Bonhoeffer,
Gandhi, King,
Rosa Parks, Dorothy Day, Nelson
Mandela, and Oscar Romero, to name a few.
LFP has assembled
over a hundred such stories throughout
history into a popular display called the Wall of Hope. This exhibit has been
experienced by 120 classes, groups, and conferences. Constructing one is a
superb class or youth project (a how-to kit is available free
from Lutheran Peace Fellowship).
arts, music, drama…
We can do a lot to
help express the spirit of the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence by
making use of individuals and groups in our school or church with gifts in
music, the visual arts, poetry,
drama, dance, puppetry…
strength for the journey
Maintain a devotional life that supports
growth in your vision and actions toward peace, justice, and wholeness.
Nourish yourself by reading publications
that explore peace and justice issues from a faith perspective. Subscribe to
periodicals like Fellowship, PeaceNotes,
The Other Side, Sojourners, and LOGA’s free Legislative
Update.
A prevalent theme in the New Testament is
encourage-ment in discipleship. Carry
these verses into your life:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again, Rejoice! Let your commitment to peace and
reconciliation be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything… The God
of Peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-6,9
Lutheran Peace Fellowship’s
work on the Decade for Peace receives support from Aid Association for
Lutherans (AAL); the ELCA Division for
Church in Society; ELCA Commission for Women; Women of the ELCA; and from congregations,
synods, and individuals. We are deeply
grateful for their assistance.
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Make a gift through your congregation, or directly
by phone: 206/720-0313, online, or by mail:
LPF 1710 11th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122-2420 lpf@ecunet.org
Copyright © 1999-2008 Lutheran Peace Fellowship. All rights reserved.