Just peace, prayer and common witness keep the church relevant
It’s the time for the “Top 10” news lists in secular media, giving a spin on what “news” they spun or overspun during the year.
We were prepared to write some editorial commentary on that theme, but instead found inspiration in the year-end/new year message of the Rev. Olav Fyske Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches.
We share a press release from the WCC:
2011 increases focus on just peace
The events of 2011 have brought an increased focus on the relevance of the church in pursuing just peace, said Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) during December in Geneva.
The freedom movements of the Arab Spring, the continued financial crisis, heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula and a rash of natural disasters have made a tumultuous year.
“Many things have changed, such as with the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa, which led to strong rising up of ordinary people and their request for justice and peace,” said Olav during an interview in which he reflected on the past year and role of the church in just peace. “They also ask for democracy, protection of human dignity, human rights and human values, so they can live together with justice and peace.”
Peace and security issues
“I think it is now important that we as churches, including churches in the Middle East give a common witness to what just peace means,” he said. “To provide just peace is the responsibility of the civil authorities of any state. They must provide the framework for living together with justice and peace. Otherwise, ordinary people are in danger.
“The particular uncertainty for the future of the churches should be addressed by all, who have responsibility for security and peace in this region. Their future presence is an important contribution to peace, as well,” he said.
Part of the common witness of the church emerged in May at the WCC-sponsored International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in Kingston, Jamaica, where more than one thousand church leaders and church peace activists gathered.
The outcome of the weeklong event was the recognition that peace and peacemaking are indispensable parts “of our common faith.” In a closing statement, the gathering said, “Peace is inextricably related to love, justice and freedom that God has granted to all human beings through Christ, and to the work of the Holy Spirit as a gift and vocation. It constitutes a pattern of life that reflects human participation in God’s love for the world.”
“Having seen the terrible and devastating effects of terror and violence close hand and in a longer perspective in my home country Norway this past summer, I see that the agenda of churches to overcome violence as initiated through the WCC Decade to Overcome Violence, which was celebrated at the convocation, must be high on the agenda of every peace lover and peacemaker in the world,” he said.
At the convocation, being peacemakers was viewed as integral to nearly all aspects of life and something the church must show leadership in.
Financial crisis, Occupy Movement
“For example, I think we see now a need for a new financial architecture that takes into account how to bring not only stability but also justice, not only for Europe but for the entire world, where political rulings must reflect the interests of all and not just the interests of a few,” Olav said. “The markets are not able to solve the issues of injustice in the world. I think we see that more clearly than ever.”
The financial crises that started in 2008 and continue today became the rallying cry of thousands of protestors of the Occupy Movement in late December 2011. The movement did not go unnoticed by the church and in fact challenged the church on economic issues.
“I think this movement rightly says that the first of January 2012 should be a day of repentance,” said Olav, who in early December visited the Occupy group camped at St. Paul’s Church in London. “The church has always called people to repent, to reflect basically on your own lives and what you contribute to the wholeness of life by what you do and what you don’t do.”
“The beginning of the next year could be a good occasion for us, particularly also in our churches, to ask for repentance for how we steward our financial resources or how we are not stewards in a proper way, praying for ourselves and also praying on behalf of our nations and on behalf of those empowered to steer our financial resources, whether they are politicians or in the finance system,” Olav said.
Geopolitical struggles
The recent deaths of the former president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, reflect both the hope and challenge of advocating for justice and peace.
“Vaclav Havel showed that it is possible to develop justice in a peaceful way, to develop democracy, a life together between nations and to develop the values we want to share as human beings,” Olav said.
At the same time the heightened uncertainty on the Korean peninsula because of the North Korean head of state’s death, signals the potential for more suffering on the divided peninsula and the possibility of a missed opportunity for peace.
“Together with the National Council of Churches in Korea, we want to express concern about the situation. We also pray for the people of North Korea and encourage the international community not to use this as an opportunity to break the security for ordinary people in these countries,” he said.
“The Korean people should not be the battlefield of geopolitical struggles with their security and their future as the price to be paid,” he added.
The relevance of prayer
“At all times we encourage churches to pray together for those who are particularly affected by changes or different types of crises,” Olav said.
Praying together shows “the deepest level of solidarity we can show one another as human beings. I think this solidarity of sharing the burden for others is a way of expressing the deep meaning of the ecumenical movement and the willingness to carry the burdens of others, to carry the cross together.
“To carry the cross together also means we are willing to give a common witness in situations about God’s will for justice and God’s grace,” he said. “We witness that in any situation God can create something new. Even in the situation of death, God can create new life.”
“This is what we as Christians are called to say through our words and deeds and particularly we are called to do this together as a common witness through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has come as the Savior of the world that Christians around the whole world celebrate at Christmas.”
More information in the work of the World Council of Churches and its coverage of news behind the news in headlines and stories of struggles and responses of people who do not make the headlines is at www.oikoumene.org.
Our comments at The Fig Tree on this report begin with a reminder that “oikoumene” refers to the whole inhabited earth as the focus of the caring and love people of faith put into action.
As we look to the coming year:
How are we called anew to serve, as Michael Gurian did with his oratorical poem?
What do we learn in the process of sitting beside our neighbors who are excluded from the housing market, as people in Family Promise host and support churches do?
What does a call to just peace require of us as individuals, as the faith community in this place?
Do we allow prayer, conversation with God, to intersect our decisions as Kevin Finch did?
How do we take the time to be still and walk with God, as people walking on labyrinths do?
How do we allow our understanding of faith to influence our concern about what is happening at all levels of political life, as Julia Stronks does in teaching and will raise at the upcoming Legislative Conference?
Will we join in just peace action, making a statement against hate and for equal rights and interracial relations by participating in the 2012 Martin Luther King, Jr., rally, march and other events?
As you engage your faith, we invite you to share your stories with us in The Fig Tree during the coming year.
Mary Stamp - Editor
Copyright © January 2012 - The Fig Tree