[Peace-discuss] church leader efforts

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

NEWS
CTBI Communications
Anne van Staveren 020 7523 2137 mobile 07939 139 881
email: communications at ctbi.org.uk
http://www.ctbi.org.uk/news/


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Notice to NEWS DESKS                18 February 2003
American Church leaders take their message
of peace to Downing Street

United States Christian leaders are in London this week (17-18 February) to
convey a message of widespread opposition to war with Iraq. They believe
there are other ways of solving the issue of Iraq’s non-compliance with
United Nation’s resolutions over Weapons of Mass Destruction. They spent
fifty minutes with Prime Minister Tony Blair, met British Church leaders,
and attended a Service for peace and justice.

The visit was the third of five urgent meetings with European leaders by
this ecumenical church delegation to encourage a peaceful response to war
with Iraq. The idea for sending American delegations to Europe came from the
US National Council of Churches (NCCCUSA) in New York, which is organizing
visits to Berlin, Paris and Moscow and Rome. Jim Wallis (Sojourners)
organizer of the delegation to London said: ‘It is a last minute plea, in
the name of peace, to seek a resolution for the current crisis with Iraq by
means other than war.’

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland has facilitated the visit. On
Monday the delegates met British Church leaders. A Service of Praise,
Penitence and Prayer for Peace, at St John’s Church, Waterloo Road, SE1 was
led by the Rt Revd Peter Price, Anglican Bishop of Bath and Wells.

Severe snowstorms in Washington grounded flights so Revd Jim Wallis, Editor
and Executive Director, Sojourners and Bishop John Chane, Episcopal Diocese
of Washington DC missed the service. Instead Jim Wallis sent a message,
(read to the congregation by CTBI General Secretary Dr David Goodbourn) in
which he said: ‘American church leaders have come to London this week
literally on a mission of peace. We’ve come so that we might join together
with you our brothers and sisters in the British churches, who have been so
very clear and strong in opposing the rush to war. We want the British
people to know, that the leaders of the American churches do not support a
war with Iraq. In fact, never before in our history, have the American
churches been so united for peace.

‘American church leaders agree that the threat of Saddam Hussein is very
real and that Iraq must be disarmed, but we also believe that the unintended
and unpredictable consequences of war could be catastrophic. American and
British leaders have reminded the world of how terrible Saddam is, but the
churches must remind the world about the realities of war.

‘We are pressing our governments to persevere in disarming Iraq without war.
We will offer our prayers for Tony Blair as he bears the heavy burden of
these momentous decisions.’

On Tuesday the delegates had a private meeting with Prime Minister Tony
Blair and also met Clare Short, Secretary for State for International
Development.

Following their meeting Jim Wallis said the Prime Minister had listened to
them cordially and they had said that they believed Britain is in a unique
position to influence the decision about War with Iraq, more than any other
country in the world. ‘Our prayer is that we stop this war before it starts,
’ they had said.

Bishop Melvin Talbert, Ecumenical Officer, Council of United Methodist
Bishops had travelled to Iraq in January and had shared with the Prime
Minister his particular concern for the innocent people of Iraq.

Revd Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church USA said the
delegates explored with the Prime Minister a number of alternative
approaches including working through the United Nations to empower the
people of Iraq, strengthening the process of weapons inspections, dealing
deeply with the Palestine question, building global policy which addresses
the gap between rich and poor, and building inter faith relations.

Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, Episcopal Bishop of Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and
Syria, said the road to peace in Iraq lay through Jerusalem. And he warned
that ‘War if it comes will be catastrophic for the faithful remnant of
Christians in the birthplace of our faith.’

The delegation comprised:
Revd Jim Wallis, Editor and Executive Director, Sojourners;
Bishop John Chane, Episcopal Diocese of Washington DC;
Bishop Melvin Talbert, Ecumenical Officer, Council of United Methodist
Bishops; the Revd Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church
USA;
Revd Dan Weiss, Immediate past General Secretary of the American Baptist
Churches USA.
Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town;
Bishop Clive Handford, Episcopal Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf;
Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, Episcopal Bishop of Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and
Syria;

They were accompanied by:
Rt Revd Peter Price, Bishop of Bath and Wells;
Rt Revd John Gladwin, Bishop of Guildford; Chairman of the Board, Christian
Aid;
Revd David Coffey, General Secretary, Baptist Union of Great Britain;
Revd John Waller, Moderator, United Reformed Church;
Revd Dr Keith Clements, General Secretary, Conference of European Churches;
Dr David Goodbourn, General Secretary, Churches Together in Britain and
Ireland and Paul Renshaw, Coordinating Secretary for International Affairs,
CTBI.
-Ends -

For further information:

Anne van Staveren Press Officer, CTBI 020 7523 2137 or mobile 07939 139 881

NOTES TO EDITORS
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland co-ordinates the work of its 31
member churches and liaises with ecumenical bodies in Britain and Ireland as
well as ecumenical organisations at European and world levels.  Its work
includes Church Life, Church and Society, Mission, Inter Faith Relations,
International Affairs and Racial Justice.  It provides a forum for joint
decision-making and enables the churches to take action together.
The National Council of Churches (NCCUSA) with headquarters in New York
city, is the leading ecumenical agency in the United States. Its 36
Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican member Churches comprise 50 million
adherents in 140,000 local congregations. www.ncccusa.org
<http://www.ncccusa.org/>
About Sojourners --- www.sojo.net <http://www.sojo.net>
Christians for justice and peace. Sojourners is a voice and vision for
social change. Founded in 1971 as a faith-based organization, Sojourners
provides an alternative perspective on faith, politics, and culture through
its magazine, Web site, e-mail services, media commentaries, and public
events. Ecumenical and progressive, Sojourners lifts up the biblical
connection between social justice and spiritual renewal. Sojourners nurtures
community by bringing together people from the various traditions and
streams of the church and also hosts an annual program of voluntary service.