CHRISTIAN
WORLD COMMUNIONS UNITE
TO OVERCOME VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Thirty
delegates, representing the major worldwide church traditions,
took part in a pioneering consultation held in Dundee, Scotland,
August 23 - 28. The participants - all women - were chosen to
represent Christian church families as diverse as the Salvation
Army, Quakers, Methodists and other mainline Protestant denominations,
Roman Catholic Church, Seventh-day Adventists and several Orthodox
churches. They were invited by the World Council of Churches to
participate in a new process under the auspices of the Decade
to Overcome Violence (DOV) 2001 - 2010, during which the WCC encourages
churches and communities to acknowledge and address all aspects
of violence in their own context, working together to build a
culture of peace.
There
is a global epidemic of physical, sexual, racial and cultural
violence against women and girls. It happens everywhere, including
churches of all traditions and communions. In recent years, churches,
denominational and ecumenical bodies have begun to respond at
different levels, but much more remains to be done if churches
around the world are to become places of safety, compassion and
justice for all women. During the consultation, delegates from
Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North and Central America
and the Caribbean shared stories of good practice and solidarity
There
was good news from around the world, but participants also spoke
out clearly about the enormous challenges confronting churches
seeking to be credible witnesses to their calling as peacemakers
in a world of violence against women. They agreed nine principles
which should form the basis for any action on this issue, and
committed themselves to practical steps, as appropriate in different
contexts, to move towards fulfilment of these objectives.
The
consultation was a wonderful encounter for sharing, listening,
learning and friendship. Regardless of major differences in theology,
geography, social and church circumstances, the women who met
in Dundee found common cause and mutual inspiration - in worship
and relaxation as well as in working together. One participant
said 'this is the best experience of "church" I have
ever had.' The journey begun here will take different paths and
directions, as each delegate reports and seeks action sensitive
to grassroots needs as well as to the distinctive traditions and
structures of the world communions. The intention is not to impose
false uniformity, but to promote a firm and fundamental Christian
commitment to overcoming violence against women. Information,
communication and encouragement are vital in this struggle. The
two project consultants, working from a base in Edinburgh, Scotland,
will develop a comprehensive resource collection and will compile
a dossier of responses and policies from around the world. They
will also help to gather information on the internet, and facilitate
networks of concern, expertise and responsibility - both practical
and theological. At the beginning of DOV, the Dundee Consultation
calls on all the sending organisations -and Christians of goodwill
everywhere - to think, pray and act in faith, so that our churches
will truly be sanctuaries of welcome and courage.
Further
information from Lesley Orr Macdonald and Helen Hood
WCC DOV Project Consultants
Annie Small House
18 Inverleith Terrace
Edinburgh EH3 5NS
SCOTLAND, UK
phone +44 131 332 0881
fax +44 131 332 0804
wcc.dov-women@ecosse.net
Or
from
Karen
Flowers, Co-Director
Department of Family Ministries
General Conference of SDA
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
phone
+1 301 680 6175
fax +1 301 680 6155
Participants
represented the following Christian World Communions and organisations:
Friends
World Committee for Consultation (Quakers)
Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council
World Methodist Council
Armenian Orthodox Church
Salvation Army
Seventh-day Adventist Church
Lutheran World Federation
Roman Catholic Church
Anglican Consultative Council
World Alliance of Reformed Churches
Church of Cyprus (Orthodox)
African Indigenous Churches
Orthodox Church of Finland
Mennonite World Conference
Moravian Church
World
Council of Churches Justice, Peace, Creation Team, Geneva
WCC Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) Consultants, Geneva and
Scotland
The
Consultation also welcomed local guests from Scottish and English
churches and ecumenical organisations.
Important
points of DOV:
•
Comes from WCC's passionate engagement with issues of justice,
peace, and integrity of creation, while exploring purpose of Christian
unity in a broken world.
• Was both introduced by delegates to 1998 Assembly in Harare
and passed by overwhelming majority there - not as a programme
of WCC, but as a call to and commitment by the churches to work
together with other Christians, churches and ecumenical bodies,
and all people of goodwill (including those outside the Christian
faith), towards the goal of overcoming violence through justice
and peace.
• Full title: Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches seeking
Reconciliation and Peace
• The decade: 2001 - 2010.
• The Decade to Overcome Violence is a time of introspection
for churches and individuals
- to re-examine our own Biblical understandings of God's call
to reconciliation and justice
- to recognize the areas where we ourselves are perpetrators of
violence or do nothing when we notice violence happening around
us, and to repent for our complicity with violence
- to look for insights on how to overcome the spirit, logic, and
practice of violence from within our own faith traditions
- to share those insights with others and to learn from the insights
of others
• The Decade to Overcome Violence is also a time of action
- It is a time to work together with local communities, ecumenical
groups, secular movements, and people of other faiths, toward
the goals of overcoming violence and building a culture of peace.
- It is a time to analyze and expose different forms of violence,
and their interconnection.
- It is a time to act in solidarity with those who struggle for
justice and the integrity of creation.
• The Decade to Overcome Violence is also a process
that will be shaped by the input, feedback, and response of the
churches.
• Focus of the DOV is really the way in which the churches
are working with each other and with those outside the Christian
faith to overcome violence and build a culture of peace.
• Here at the WCC, we are doing several things to encourage,
facilitate, and support this process:
- All clusters, teams, desks, etc. at the World Council are working
on issues of overcoming violence, and are sharing their efforts
with each other and with the churches. (Examples… and 4 thematic
foci - see below)
- Commissioning studies and theological reflections on various
forms of violence and how we can overcome it.
- Highlighting stories, current initiatives, upcoming events,
and resources. (Deenabandhu, me, and Diana)
Four thematic foci for WCC work on DOV:
1. Anthropological presuppositions that seem to legitimize
violence
Which elements of our culture influence us to use violence as
a "solution" to problems (sometimes referred to as "redemptive
violence") - even cultural elements that we may be blind
to?
For example, a current question in some schools of thought relates
to how spanking of children might inadvertently "teach"
them that violence (hitting) is a valid way to solve problems.
2. Issues of justice
Address interpretations of restitutive justice across a range
of different types of violence, especially examining concepts
of social justice and restorative justice.
3. Issues of power
Examine the ways that misuse and abuse of power perpetrates violence.
In contrast to misuse and abuse, this may also include reflection
on proper and healthy use of power.
4. Religious Identity and Plurality
We live in a world and a time where differences in ethnic or religious
identities are often exploited to turn peoples within a society
against each other. Thus it is important to examine healthy ways
of understanding one's identity within the context of a pluralistic
society, to avoid further exploitation of these differences. An
interfaith approach to this issue will be important.
Click here to view a summary
"State of Affairs" re. overcoming
abuse and violence in the Seventh-day Adventist Church
