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Peace Advisory #2
February 24, 2002A Pastoral Word
Susan Mark Landis, peace advocate
From
--Mennonite Peace Staff Coalition for Peace with Iraq
--Peace and Justice Support Network
Contents:
Pastoral Care for congregations on the brink of war
Frenzy of activity, mourning, need for hope
Demanding to know where God is
Worship resources
Advocacy and Actions
In case of invasion
Public prayer service
Congregational service of mourning
Peacemaking for the Long Haul
Leadership
Preaching
Teaching (youth)
Reminders
Christian Citizenship Sunday
Atlanta Peace Gathering
Articles
What in the World is God Doing? (End times and Christians) by Loren L. Johns, Academic Dean, AMBS
Peacemaking is a Missional Activity by Leo Hartshorn, Mennonite Mission Network Minister of Peace and Justice
Attachments
Worship on the Eve of War,
Marlene Kropf, Mennonite Church USA Minister of Worship
United Nations Security Council address list
Dear pastors,
This is the second "Peace Advisory." The first was in November. These are e-mailed to conferences from the Executive Board with the request that conference office staff send them on to congregations. If you have questions about this content, please write to me, Susan Mark Landis, SusanML@MennoniteUSA.org or call 330-683-6844.
As people across our churches contact me more and more often, I feel a need to suggest these pastoral concerns and offer these resources.
Pastoral Care for congregations on the brink of war
Three emotions tend to dominate our work against the war: frenzied activity, deep mourning, and a longing for hope.Frenzy of activity
"Our vocation is not to give visibility to our powers but to God's compassion. When our own needs begin to dominate our actions, long-range service becomes difficult and we soon become exhausted, burned out, and even embittered by our efforts. The most important resource for counteracting the constant temptation to slip into activism is the knowledge that in Christ everything has been accomplished . . . .As long as we continue to act as if the salvation of the world depends on us, we lack the faith by which mountains can be moved . . . .Our action, therefore, must be understood as a discipline by which we make visible what has already been accomplished. Such action is based on the faith that we walk on solid ground even when we are surrounded by chaos, confusion, violence, and hatred.From Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life, 121-122 by Donald P. McNeill, Douglas A. Morrison, and Henri J.M. Nouwen
Mourning
For everything there is a season, and we must not rush our need to grieve the world's ills. The agony of our souls cannot be ignored if we are to be full and compassionate human beings. God speaks to us through deep sorrow and we must take the time to listen.More: http://peace.mennolink.org/anguish.html
As pastors, familiarize yourself with the signs of clinical depression, especially for your work with members of your congregation and community who are enlisted in the military and their family members.
Need for hope
We have hope, not that the events of the world will turn out "right," but that God is who God claims to be. We plant seeds of peace and justice for our children, believing they will grow strong whether we live to see them bear fruit or not. Our belief in the unexpected resurrection gives us the courage to face our unknown tomorrows. Our legacy is the faith of our martyrs' and the promise that God is in charge. We are fools for Christ, hoping against hope.
"Christian hope . . .is the difference between life as absurd and life as mystery."
--Segundo Galilea, A Spirituality of Hope
Hundreds of people are using the "Legacy of Hope" web page that offers a new quotation weekly and mini-posters you can download and share.
http://peace.mennolink.org/hope.php
Demanding to know where God is
We wonder "Where is God?!" when we are so close to cruelty and hatred and the pain of victims. But somehow God is in the very humanity of victims, shuddering and aghast at their experience, and God is in the strength of any who witness such pain, close at hand or from a distance, and who respond with human compassion. God does not desert us. God holds us ever more tenderly even when we feel distant from God.Worship resources
Reading for a nation on the brink of war: Susan Mark Landishttp://peace.mennolink.org/articles/onthebrink.html
"If the war goes on" text John L. Bell and Graham Maule, music John Bell, accompaniment, Marilyn Houser Hamn
http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/ifthewargoeson.html
Watch our "What's New" page for additional resources. http://peace.mennolink.org/new.html
Witness or protest?
When our members take to the streets, write letters to the newspapers, or otherwise take a public stand, encourage them to think about their reasons and be clear about their intent. Likely, many thoughts and attitudes are jumbled together, and no one is purely political, practical, or Christian. I try to remember that I am witnessing to hopeful, peaceful alternatives, rather than solely protesting a war. Some helps:Signs for the Times http://peace.mennolink.org/signsforthetimes.html
Talking your faith with others
http://peace.mennolink.org/articles/talkingfaith.html
Advocacy
February 19, Daryl Byler, MCC Washington Office Director, recommended the three steps below for advocacy. See his web page for the daily biblical reflections he faxes to President Bush as he fasts. http://www.mcc.org/peace/fastFebruary 19 - This is day 15 of the fast and I continue to feel healthy and well supported. After a weekend speaking trip in Kansas, I got stuck at the Detroit airport because of the East Coast blizzard! But, thankfully, I'm safely back in Washington now and am currently seeking a meeting with the President's National Security Advisor. This will be nothing short of a miracle if it happens, so I'll appreciate your prayers for this specific request.
Daryl suggests these three advocacy ideas:
1. Join 1000 people around the world who are taking part in the MCC Women's Fast.
http://www.mcc.org/canada/peace/fast/
2. Make contacts with U.N. Security Council members to encourage and thank them for their steadfast challenge
the United States position. (See addresses below entitled UNITED NATIONS.)
3. Join the February 26Virtual March on D.C. Use this as a congregational or youth group activity. http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar
Concrete actions
For additional ideas, including the occasional new one, see our web site home page:http://peace.MennoLink.org
In case of invasion
Public prayer service
Leo Hartshorn has created a worship service for congregations to use the evening of an obvious beginning of a possible war. Look to the Holy One: CANDLELIGHT PRAYER VIGIL On the Eve of Warhttp://peace.mennolink.org/articles/vigil.html
We especially encourage congregations to plan ahead and let your community know that you will be hosting this service.
http://peace.mennolink.org/articles/publicprayer.html
Congregational mourning service
Members of your congregation may desire a private, quiet time for interior reflection and grief if our nation goes to war. Leo Hartshorn is creating such a service. Watch the PJSN web site, "What's New" page for this special help.http://peace.mennolink.org/new.html
At either service, you might choose to distribute armbands for mourners to wear throughout a possible war. White and black are traditional colors of mourning; white bands might show up better on the sleeve of dark clothes. Red bands remind us of blood being shed: blood of military personnel, civilians, children, and of Christ who died for us all.
Peacemaking for the Long Haul
Let's admit it and plan ahead-the world is not going to be a comfy home for peacemakers these next months and possibly years. As Kathy Kelly, a founder of "Voices in the Wilderness" and Nobel Peace Prize nominee recently said,- We're going to work to stop an air war. If an air war starts, we're going to work to stop a ground war. If a ground war starts, we're going to work against occupation. If occupation starts, we're going to work for a short occupation. There are different phases to our job; the work doesn't stop.
Congregational Leadership
Spend some time with your congregational leadership, thinking how this is going to affect your members.| | Congregations mirror the escalating anxiety of the society around them. People may stick to their opinions more steadfastly, be less willing to compromise or forgive. As a congregational leader, you need to know the signs of increasing congregational tension that might explode into conflict. For further information, contact Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, 630-627-0507, http://www.lmpeacecenter.org |
| | Already the economy is hurting many-what will this mean for your church budget? Might you designate a higher percentage for those less fortunate, whether locally or victims of war overseas? |
| | How are new immigration laws and the Patriot Act affecting your community? |
Preaching
| | Likely your members are not of one mind about war. What preaching/teaching is needed? For entry-level instruction, try
|
| | As you prepare to preach about peacemaking, search out your own support system. You are serving your congregation as God's prophet, and you need others around you to sustain you on this journey. |
| | Members of your congregation who are earnestly searching for God's way of peace need your church to be a safe place to voice doubts and confusion. Remind your congregation of our church statement, "Agreeing and Disagreeing in Love" http://peace.mennolink.org/agree.html |
Teaching
| | Have your youth had an opportunity to choose to follow the Prince of Peace? Remember, the call to be a peacemaker is not dependant on a draft, but on the decision to be a Christian. http://peace.mennolink.org/youth.html |
| | Leap, Twist, Spy, Listen are Bible studies on nonviolence with dynamic content and graphic design available by mail. Be sure to download the free teacher guide! http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/toorder/index.html#leap |
| | Might members of your congregation or community who are serving in the military be open to pastoral counseling during this change in their plans? http://peace.mennolink.org/military.html |
Remind your congregation that peacemaking is not a win/lose occupation, but a faithful response to God's call. Even if a war takes place, we have not failed, because the transformation within us has meaning and value. We're heard the phrases often, but now is the time to live them:
-
We're called to faithfulness, not effectiveness.
Christianity is about being more than about doing.
Reminders:
Christian Citizenship Sunday
July 6 is Christian Citizenship Sunday this year. Our congregations are invited on this day to emphasize that the church is the primary community, not the nation-state. Loyalty to God often brings the church in conflict with the values, practices, and loyalty expected of citizens of the state. On Christian Citizenship Sunday we reflect on the claims that nationalism tries to pin onto us and we often gladly accept. We also wonder about what our relationship is and should be to the State. What policies do we support? What policies do we take for granted? What policies do we ignore because they do not affect us?Worship materials will be available later on the PJSN web site. We sense that being Christian in the United States might change over the next months. You can find many worship materials on our web site in the meantime.
November 9 is Peace Sunday this year.
Atlanta Peace Gathering
When the Saints Go Marchin'The civil rights movement as a model of social transformation
A peace gathering for everyone interested in peace and justice!
July 1-3, 2003
Held in conjunction with Atlanta 2003 at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center, Toccoa, Georgia. See the web site for easy-to-access information and registration blanks. Be sure your congregation is represented and especially encourage your youth to come!
http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/gathering2003
Get information!
The absolute most prompt way to get news and information is to subscribe to our news e-mail list. We hope every congregation has at least one pro-active person in leadership reading the list.http://www.mennolink.org/email/reg.cgi?grp+menno.org.peace
If you are unable to access information on-line, call and ask Kathy Harshbarger, Peace Advocate office Administrative Assistant, to fax or mail you a copy: 574-523-3047
Friends, may you the comforting arms of God, along with motivating nudges to take account of these times in your congregational life.
Pray for Peace,
Act for Peace,
Susan
Susan Mark Landis, peace advocate
Executive Board Directors Office
Mennonite Church USA
Articles
What in the World Is God Doing?
Some Practical Suggestions for Pastorsby Loren L. Johns, Academic Dean, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
The Problem
The world seems headed for war in a way unprecedented since World War 2. Some Christians welcome these developments, since they seem to fit several popular visions of the end times. If war is the inevitable means of passage through the acts of God in the end times, should not Christians welcome and even encourage this development? This would seem to be the message of the Left Behind series, the most widely read Christian fiction series of all time. But how should the faithful church today respond to the challenges of terrorism and war today? Is war part of the missio Dei? For pastors caught between a president seemingly bent on war and parishioners who thank God for these developments, I would like to suggest some alternative theological and scriptural resources. Three sections available on this new web page are Terrorism and War, Eschatology, and the Book of Revelation.
http://www.ambs.edu/LJohns/Godinthisworld.htm
Peacemaking is a Missional Activity
A word to preachers and missionariesAs our nation peers into the abyss of war and destruction, what can be more significant for the church's mission than peacemaking? The term "mission" (from the Latin missio) means "sent." God's people have been sent into the world as visionaries for peace and to preach the message of reconciliation. God sent prophets to Israel with a vision of "beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks" (Isaiah 2:4). God came into our world in Jesus, who is our peace, "to proclaim peace to those who were far off and peace to those who are near" (Ephesians 2:14-16). In his resurrection appearance to the disciples in the gospel of John, the risen Christ sent them forth with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and the message "Peace be with you" (John 20:21-28). Throughout the ages God has been sending the covenant people as missionaries to whom and where? bearing the message of peace.
Now is a critical time in the history of our nation for the church to exercise its mission of peacemaking. God is sending the church in this time of preparation for war. Proclaiming the message of peace may be difficult and risky during these present days, but utterly crucial to spreading the gospel message of the reconciliation of all things in and through Jesus Christ, and this is the good news of God's peace and God's justice.
Fasting for peace, as a spiritual discipline, can give us perspective and determination to pray and act for peace. Encouraging prophetic action calls for even greater courage. At this moment, God is sending us to our churches, to our friends, to our communities, to our nation as missionaries for peace. For missional resources on prayer, fasting, sermons, congregational resources, peace with Iraq, and many more peace related resources: Go to http://peace.mennolink.org
Leo Hartshorn
Minister of Peace and Justice
Mennonite Mission Network
UNITED NATIONS
UN Security Council Members with Veto Power Représentant Permanent Permanent Representative Ambassador Jean-Marc Rochereau de le Sabliere French Mission to the UN One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza 245 East 47th Street, 44th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 phone: (212) 308-5700 fax: (212) 421-6889 http://www.un.int/france/frame_anglais/accueil_frame/accueil_ang.htm email: ---------------------------- Ambassador Sergey Lavrov Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations 136 East 67th Street New York, N.Y. 10021 phone: (212) 861-4900/4901/4902 fax: (212) 628-0252 http://www.un.int/russia/home.htm#english email: ---------------------------- Ambassador Wang Yingfan Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN 350 East 35th Street New York, N.Y. 10016 phone: (212) 655-6100 fax: (212) 634-7626 e-mail: http://www.china-un.org/eng/index.html Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan Permanent Representative and Ambassador Wang Yingfan Tel: 212-655-6191 Fax: 212-481-2998 Deputy Permanent Representative and Ambassador Zhang Yishan Tel: 212-655-6123 Fax: 212-481-2998 Political Affairs Section Tel: 212-655-6141 Fax: 212-634-7625 ---------------------------- Britain at the United Nations One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza 28th Floor 885 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017 e-mail Tel: (212) 745 9250 Fax: (212) 745 9316 ---------------------------- To also contact non permanent members: http://www.un.org/Docs/scinfo.htm#MEMBERS Bulgaria H.E. Mr. Stefan TAFROV Ambassador , Permanent Represantative Permanent Mission to the United Nations 11 East 84th Street New York NY 10028, USA phone (212) 737-4790, fax (212) 472-9865 email: -------------------------- Cameroon Son Excellence Martin BELINGA EBOUTOU Ambassadeur Extraordinaire et Plénipotentiaire Représentant Permanent du Cameroun auprès de l'ONU 22 East 73rd Street New York, NY 10021 U.S.A. email: Téléphone : +1(212)-794-2296 Fax : +1 (212)-249-0533 -------------------------- Guinea Mamady Traore Permanent Representative of the Republic of Guinea to the UN 140 East 39th Street, New York, N.Y. 10016 Telephone: (212) 687-8115/8116/81, Telefax: (212) 687-8248 e-mail: -------------------------- Mexico Ambassador Alfonso Aguilar Zinser Two United Nations Plaza 28th floor, New York, NY 10017. Tel: (212) 752.0220 / Fax (212) 688.8862 e-mail: -------------------------- Syria Mikhail Wahba Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the UN 820 Second Avenue, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10017 Telephone: (212) 661-1313, Telefax: (212) 983-4439 E-mail: -------------------------- Angola S.E. Dr. ISMAEL GASPAR MARTINS Embaixador Extraordinário e Plenipotenciário Representante Permanente da República de Angola nas Nações Unidas e-mail: Missão Permanente da Républica de Angola nas Nações Unidas 125 East 73rd St. New York, N.Y. 10021 Tel: (212) 861-5656 Fax (2l2) 861-9295 e-mail: -------------------------- Chile Embajador Juan Gabriel Valdés Misión Permanente de Chile ante Naciones Unidas 305 East 47th Street 10th Floor New York, NY 10017 Estados Unidos Fono (212) 832 3323 Fax (212) 832 0236 e-mail: -------------------------- Germany Gunter Pleuger 871 United Nations Plaza (First Ave. betw. 48th & 49th Streets) New York NY 10017 Tel: (212) 940-0400 Fax: (212) 940-0402 e-mail: -------------------------- Pakistan Ambassador Munir Akram 8 East, 65th Street New York NY- 10021 Tel: 212-879-8600 Fax 212-744-7348 e-mail -------------------------- Spain Inocencio Felix Arias Llamas Misión Permanente de España en Naciones Unidas. 823 United Nations Plaza, 9th floor New York, NY 10017 Tlfno. (212) 661 1050 Fax (212) 949 7247 e-mail: