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The
Idea
At
the Eighth Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Harare, Zimbabwe,
delegates from more than 300 member churches committed themselves to a
world wide Decade to Overcome Violence (2001-2010). The Decade continues
the World Council of Churches' involvement in issues of justice, peace
and the integrity of creation. Building on existing initiatives like the
world wide “Peace to the City” campaign, it was designed to give new momentum
to peace work, offer a forum for sharing experience and establish relationships
as a tool of advancing ecumenical learning. It is also a declaration of
the churches' readiness to work together with local communities, secular
movements, and people of other faiths to build a culture of peace.
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The
Religious Background
According to the understanding
of the World Council of Churches, the call to overcome violence and create
a culture of peace is not an invention of the General Assembly in Harare.
Since Jesus Christ called his disciples to fight violence not with violence
but with love, they see themselves challenged to overcome violence and
to create a culture of peace and to realise how little of this programme
has been put into practise both collectively and individually by Christians.
So the decade is both a call to repentance as well as renewal. Thus the
church wants to show in public that she is looking critically into the
history and the effect of her theology and practise and that she is willing
to learn from the mistakes of the past.
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The
Launch
On 4 February 2001, the
World Council of Churches officially launched the Decade to Overcome Violence
(DOV) in Germany. A church service on the occasion was broadcast on nation
wide German public TV. The launch day ended with a symbolic public action:
a candle procession to the Brandenburg Gate - for many the symbol of the
Cold War. The candles reminded of the 1989 non-violent candle revolution
which brought about the end of the East German Communist regime and related
to a quotation of East German theologian Friedrich Schorlemmer: “Those
who carry a candle are unable to engage in violence: One hand holds the
candle, the other one protects the flame.” In spite of impressive events,
it always remains a task to bring great ideas down to the grassroots level.
The first choice is to use existing infrastructure rather than establishing
just another desk or organisation.
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Co-ordinating
DOV Activities on a Church Level
The
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria has traditionally been involved
both in the work with Church members and non-members serving in the military
and in the work with conscientious objectors. Although civil service is
an established alternative to military service today there is still a need
for counselling. More recently two new distinctive groups of clients have
emerged: members of the reserve who object to the recent policy shift of
sending German troops into action outside of the former NATO deployment
areas in Europe as well as young men of Turkish decent with a German passport
facing the choice of either military or civil service.
Usually
counselling is done on a regional level by pastors and volunteers, but
in this context the Lutheran church finally established a central desk
for non?violent conflict resolution in 1998 to promote methods of constructive
conflict resolution as a way of respecting the human dignity. The tasks
of this desk include:
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offering seminars, training courses and other ways of public information
concerning conflict resolution, non?violence and peace
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supporting peace groups and initiatives within the church in their work
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continuous networking with church and non?church initiatives in the field
of peace and non?violence
With
regard to the Decade to Overcome Violence, the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in Bavaria has installed a working group with the following tasks:
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finding church members already involved in preventing violence, non-violent
conflict resolution, peace?work, work for antiracism, women's and children's
rights etc.
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building a network between these people and initiatives to enable co?operation
among them and to make them recognised in the public (not only of the church)
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raising public awareness about violence in all its different forms and
pointing out ways of preventing violence and overcoming violence
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pointing out special forms of violence in the church (theological and historical
backgrounds, violence in institutions, mobbing) and demonstrating ways
to overcome these.
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publishing teaching material.
In
the years 2002-2004, special attention will be given to violence against
women and girls. Organised in co-operation between the Women's Desk and
the Desk for non-violent Conflict Resolution a public campaign entitled
“Church in alliance ? recognise and overcome violence in families” aims
to raise public awareness and to support those who cannot fight against
this violence themselves. Media for this campaign are big posters, leaflets
with information, supporting material for congregations, for pastors and
teachers in religious education plus a number of central and local events
within the church. For this the church is using her potential of service
institutions which can also use the opportunity to make themselves known
in a competitive market of counselling and social service.
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Inspiring DOV Activities at the Congregational
Level
Being
one of the traditional main line churches in Germany, the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Bavaria can build on a network of congregations reaching out
all over the state of Bavaria country as well as on the fact that people
in the society have a certain confidence in the institutions of the church.
Nonetheless, this does not mean that programmes decided upon in the churches
headquarters or in the case of the Decade to Overcome Violence mobilise
people at the congregations and its surroundings.
Beside
the usual calls and promotional materials, one special way of implementing
the Decade in Bavaria is a curriculum for employees and volunteers so that
they can help those suffering from violence. The institutions of the church
for education and further training have been asked to develop this curriculum
based on their experience with similar efforts of qualification programmes.
Following a pilot course (1999-2001) with 16 participants, currently another
16 trainees are undergoing the two year course (October 2001 - May 2003).
The Desk for non-violent Conflict Resolution could have filled another
course but wanted to keep in line with its resources. The certificate that
is to be gained will be accepted as additional qualification when people
apply for a position in church institutions and wider recognition by secular
employers is already sought. Thus the church is strengthening its network
of qualified people and helping institutions, but there is still another
effect. As part of the curriculum and qualification each participant has
to plan, organise and evaluate an event on subjects relating to the Decade
to Overcome Violence. This event has to take place in the context of his
or her profession or congregation. In other courses, this has proven to
be a very effective tool for bringing general ideas down to earth and relate
it to a specific context which is not normally reached by central events
or media campaigns.
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Overcoming
Violence as a Topic of International and National Theological Formation
Another way of implementing
the Decade is available through the Department of World Missions based
in Neuendettelsau. For many years it has been involved in programmes of
theological formation both on a national and international level.
The Lutheran Church for
example sponsors South South dialogues overseas and summer schools for
overseas theologians in Germany. So, “Overcoming violence in the framework
of Lutheran Theology and Spirituality” was the topic of the July 2001 summer
school for theologians from Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. About
30 men and women from 20 countries joined in theological study, working
groups on best practices, congregation visits as well as a sightseeing
tour to the sites of the reformation. Each participant was expected to
bring along a paper how his or her church rises to the challenge violence
and conflict resolution bringing about both dialogue within each church
and between people of different countries and continents. Lectures from
outside included talks of Prof. Dr Dieter Becker (Neuendettelsau) on “Culture,
religion and violence” and Dr Klaus Schäfer (Hamburg) on “Overcoming
violence - a theological approach”, case studies on Bosnia, Liberia and
mediation in Germany.
On a national level, students
qualifying for service in the Bavarian Lutheran Church are required to
participate in at least in one course on ecumenical matters or world religions
and pass a test at the end of the course. So the Missions Department in
co-operation with the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg for 2002 organised
a course on the contribution of religions (plural!) overcoming violence.
It should be noted that there was an inter-religious perspective in it,
as Latin American indigenous religions, Islam and the “global ethos project”
were also covered. At both events, the Peace Education Standing Commission
was involved through commission co-ordinator Dr Hansjoerg Biener.
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Conclusion
One
has spoken of congregations as having the potential of being healing communities.
The Decade to Overcome Violence wants this potential to come to life, but
this can only happen if action against violence and for non-violent conflict
resolution is not something additional but interwoven in the current infrastructure
of churches and congregations.
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Velten Wagner is a pastor of the Evangelical-Lutheran
Church in Bavaria. After serving in congregations in Irmelshausen, Bayreuth
and Erlangen, he now heads the central desk for non-violent conflict resolution
of his church. Born in Breslau in 1940, he himself suffered the fate of
many Germans being expelled from Silesia and so he has traditionally been
involved with peace work and counselling for conscientious objectors. |
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