MC USA executive director brings congregational chorus for peace to Washington

September 18, 2002

Contact: Laurie L. Oswald (316) 283-5100, E-mail:

WASHINGTON (MC USA) - When Jim Schrag, executive director of Mennonite Church USA's Executive Board, spoke on behalf of the church to provide peaceful alternatives to a proposed war with Iraq during a press conference Sept. 12 on Capitol Hill, he brought with him a chorus of more than 12,000 voices.

As he read his statements during the press conference - planned to coincide with President Bush's U.N. address that morning -- he held a stack of 300 pages six inches high that contained that chorus. Those thousands of names accompany a letter he wrote to President Bush on behalf of MC USA calling for sowing seeds of peace.

In what church leaders see as a God-inspired movement, 246 congregations and other people in 33 states and District of Columbia gathered the names in two weeks after the letter-writing campaign began with a goal of 5,000 names. By midnight Sept. 14, the campaign had gleaned 13,477 names.

"This letter-writing and signature campaign tapped into a hunger across the church to somehow have a voice and make a difference," Schrag said. "While names represented many people, it was evidence of a church that wants to speak with one congregational voice on peacemaking. ...

"We have spent a lot of time and energy in the last few years on looking at ourselves and building relationships within to shape the identity of the new church. But now we're hungry to reach beyond ourselves and do things on behalf of others."

The press conference was one stop that Schrag made on his visit to Washington with Susan Mark Landis, peace advocate for the Executive Board, Sept. 10-12. He spoke at the press conference - one of only six people invited to do so - several hours after President Bush addressed the United Nations about Iraq. Daryl Byler, director of Mennonite Central Committee's Washington office, planned the trip and helped make it possible for Schrag to speak at the press conference and join other activities with Landis. A peace group of 16 churches including Baptists, Catholics and others -- called Churches for Middle East Peace -- sponsored the press conference, attended by such national media as FOX, CNN and NPR.

Part of Schrag's letter -- available in full on MC USA's Peace and Justice Support Network Web site at http://peace.Mennolink.org -- reads: "As leaders and members of Mennonite Church USA, we express our opposition to the proposed military invasion by the U.S. military. We believe that war will not sow seeds of peace and security. There are workable alternatives to war that will increase security in the Middle East and for the United States."

Byler -- who with MCC and its presence in Iraq since 1998 has paved the way for Mennonites to have a voice in Washington on Iraq issues -- said these congregational efforts created a powerful song for peace that's being heard in Washington. The efforts are also bringing a renewed identity for peacemaking among the churches themselves.

"I think it's very significant that about one-fourth of MC USA congregations participated on such short notice -- it was really phenomenal," Byler said. "And the fact that Jim and Susan made it priority to bring those signatures to the White House communicated that our denomination really cares about peace. Of all the speakers at the press conference, Jim clearly had the most backing of the congregations he represented. While other speakers spoke from the heart, Jim had the very visible expression in those six inches of signatures that all of MC USA cares about finding alternatives. ...

"But more than the impact those names may have on officials, I think they will have a greater impact on our church family. There is something powerful that happens when a people collectively say that war is not right. It has a strong impact on our identity."

Besides representing this grassroots peacemaking witness, Schrag, Byler and Landis also participated in several other events. On Sept. 11, they helped the MCC office, swamped with faxes and names, to process the deluge, and attended a luncheon sponsored by the Friends Committee on National Legislation, where participants applauded them for the signatures. That evening, Schrag and Landis attended a Sept. 11 service sponsored by Mennonite Disaster Service for area Mennonite churches at Washington Community Fellowship just blocks from the Capitol.

On Sept. 12, they attended a morning meeting with the National Council of Churches and Churches for Middle East Peace. Schrag signed a letter by this group that was sent to President Bush, "opposing on moral grounds the United States taking any further military action against Iraq now. The Iraqi people have already suffered enough through more than two decades of war and severe economic sanctions."

The press conference followed the morning meeting. Others who joined Schrag were Jesse Jackson Jr., congressman from Illinois; Robert Edgar, general secretary for the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA; Father Joseph Nangle, with the Franciscan Brothers and Fathers; Roy Sano, retired bishop of the United Methodist Church; and Corinne Whitlatch, director of Churches for Middle East Peace.

Following the press conference, Byler's efforts produced an unplanned, half-hour meeting with Ben Miller, the Iraq specialist for the National Security Council at the White House. The Holy Spirit's presence provided strong guidance during all these activities -- but especially during the meeting with Miller, Landis said.

"We were constantly aware of God's guidance throughout our days," Landis said. "The Holy Spirit guided us and helped us to know how to speak. That was especially important when we spoke with Miller. ... Between comments, I prayed that we would find words that were true to our understanding of God and might reach Miller's heart."

Many congregations are grateful for the opportunity to join these three representatives in spirit through their letter-signing, as shown by about a dozen thank-you notes Landis has received, she said.

One thank-you letter was jointly written by several members at Paoli (Ind.) Mennonite Fellowship. In part it reads, "We are writing to express our appreciation for taking the initiative to write the letter to President Bush. ... We feel it was an important thing to do at this point in time, to come together and combine our voices for peace. This is a time when we really need to be a positive force in our world. ... It's imperative for all of us to do what Christ has taught us."

Other congregations still have time to join this campaign, which MC USA is holding open until Sept. 30, when the church hopes to bring the total number of signatures up to 20,000, she said. For security reasons, the White House has informed the MCC Washington Office that it will not accept hand-delivery of the stack of signatures, and has asked that they be mailed to the White House instead. MCC office staff will mail one set of signatures to each of two senators representing the state from which the signatures come and will keep one copy for historical purposes.

Any congregation that wants to add signatures may send them by Sept. 30 to Kathy Harshbarger at the Elkhart, Ind., Executive Board office: 500 S. Main St., PO Box 1245, Elkhart, IN 46515-1245. Phone: 574-294-7523; fax: 574-293-3977.

Landis also suggests that if a congregation has already signed the letter, it could send a copy to its local newspaper, noting how many people signed. The congregation also could fax copies of the letter and the signatures to its congressional representative and senators. For contact information, refer to www.congress.org. For updates, refer to the Peace and Justice Support Network Web site at http://peace.Mennolink.org.

Most importantly, she and Byler invite the congregations to continue praying for peace as they act for peace, and to connect this letter-signing with their worship.

"I think many congregations are doing better at integrating action like this into their worship services," Byler said. "I am aware of many examples when the congregation incorporated the signing of the letter as a practical expression of their worship. This shows it's not an isolated political action but a part of who we are as God's people." Photo available