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2010-04-06 issue:

Decade to Overcome Violence continues

Rich Meyer connects Mennonite Church USA to the WCC initiative

by André Gingerich Stoner, Interchurch Relations of Executive Leadership of Mennonite Church USA

Print Article

For more than four years, Rich Meyer has been representing Mennonite Church USA on the U.S. Committee for the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV). Rich, a farmer and a mechanic, travels frequently to Palestine in his work with Christian Peacemaker Teams.  

In his work with the DOV—an initiative of the World Council of Churches—Meyer keeps company with other Mennonites, some of whom played a critical role in initiating the DOV.

The drama unfolded at the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1998. Fernando Enns, a delegate from the German Mennonite churches, stood and made a proposal from the floor. Though this is not how WCC business is usually done, the delegates responded favorably, and within a year the WCC Central Committee had declared 2001-2010 the DOV. 

One of DOV's goals is to "challenge the churches to overcome the spirit, logic and practice of violence, to relinquish any theological justification of violence and to affirm anew the spirituality of reconciliation and active nonviolence." The U.S. DOV committee meets two or three times per year and brings together representatives from primarily mainline Protestant churches and the Historic Peace Churches. During the first years, Meyer says, the agenda often seemed unclear, and he worked to figure out his particular contribution. 

"Violence takes many forms, and the WCC wanted to address the problem of violence in a broad and holistic way," Meyer says. "From my perspective, what often gets lost in the shuffle is war. This is one aspect of violence where churches have not only often been silent but have blessed and supported violence and publicly honored those who participated in it. My role in this committee, in one sense, is to keep asking, And what about war?"

After several years of regular participation and building relationships, significant opportunities  opened for Mennonite voices to play significant roles. In preparation for a culminating convocation in Jamaica in May 2011, an ecumenical drafting committee wrote a 23-page "Initial Statement Toward an Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace." Planners anticipate that some statement like this will be adopted in Jamaica. An intense process of consultation and dialogue is envisioned to shape the final statement and build ownership. Through Meyer's involvement in the U.S. DOV Committee, Mennonite Church USA stayed informed about these developments and was encouraged to participate in this process. 

Through Interchurch Relations of Executive Leadership, Mennonite Church USA recently submitted a two-page response to the “Initial Statement” that affirmed grounding the  peace witness in the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus, who loved even his enemies.

“Our peacemaking,” the Mennonite response stated, “involves putting on the mind of Christ and being led by the Spirit.” The response also encouraged churches in the "just war" tradition to make that theory “operative.” Specifically, it called on churches to support selective conscientious objectors and dramatically increase programs of active nonviolence. 

The two-page Mennonite Church USA response is posted at
www.mennoniteusa.org/interchurch under the Peace Initiatives tab. Peter Stuckey, leader in the Colombian Mennonite church, has been appointed by the WCC to the second drafting committee that will review comments submitted. Also as part of the DOV, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary is sponsoring "Peace Among the Peoples," an ecumenical peace conference July 28-31, 2010.

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