Peacemaking and reformed identity
God shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
—Isaiah 2:4
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
—Matthew 5:9
John Calvin was the most important and influential theologian in the development of the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition. Much of what Presbyterians believe comes from this early leader of the Reformation, including the very important tenet that God is involved in and sovereign over all creation. There is nothing that does not concern God; God is God of all of life. Rooted in this understanding, Presbyterians have worked for peace and justice in a variety of ministries through the years.
The Reformed commitment to seeking peace is affirmed in our confessions:
God the Holy Spirit fulfills the work of reconciliation in man. The Holy Spirit creates and renews the church as the community in which men are reconciled to God and to one another. He enables them to receive forgiveness as they forgive one another and to enjoy the peace of God as they make peace among themselves. In spite of their sin, he gives them power to become representatives of Jesus Christ and his gospel of reconciliation to all men.
—The Confession of 1967, 9.20
The Book of Order (G-3.0300.c):
The Church is called to be Christ’s faithful evangelist
- going into the world, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all he has commanded;
- demonstrating by the love of its members for one another and by the quality of its common life the new reality in Christ; sharing in worship, fellowship, and nurture, practicing a deepened life of prayer and service under the guidance of the Holy Spirit;
- participating in God’s activity in the world through
its life for others by
- healing and reconciling and binding up wounds,
- ministering to the needs of the poor, the sick, the lonely, and the powerless,
- engaging in the struggle to free people from sin, fear, oppression, hunger, and injustice,
- giving itself and its substance to the service
of those who suffer,
- sharing with Christ in the establishing of his just, peaceable, and loving rule in the world.
Statements of the General Assembly:
The church is faithful to Christ when it is engaged
in peacemaking.
The church is obedient to Christ when it nurtures
and equips God’s people as peacemakers.
The church bears witness to Christ when it nourishes the moral life of the nation for the sake of peace in the world. (pp. 5–6) Peacemaking: The Believers’ Calling, the 192nd General Assembly (1980), The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
Created by the statement Peacemaking: "The Believers’ Calling, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program helps Presbyterians, congregations and governing bodies live out the dimension of our Reformed identity that involves working for the wholeness of our sisters and brothers and the well-being of God’s creation."
The Commitment to Peacemaking is a tool that congregations or other entities can use to make a public statement that peacemaking will be an essential part of their ministries. It can then be used to help shape those ministries. The Peacemaking Program provides resources to assist in the implementation of the Commitment, including worship resources, Bible studies and information about current issues.
The International Peacemakers program enables sisters and brothers in Christ to visit congregations in order to help Presbyterians understand the peace and justice concerns of others around the world. Periodic travel/study seminars provide opportunities for Presbyterians to see such concerns firsthand.
The Presbyterian United Nations Office represents the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at the United Nations. Staff members help equip Presbyterians for discipleship in the global arena through a seminar program. The Presbyterian United Nations Office bears witness to Christ by advocating the concerns of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly to the United Nations.
The annual Intergenerational Peacemaking Conference provides an opportunity for Presbyterian peacemakers to focus on peacemaking issues affecting our community, church and world. The events include education, renewal and allowing participants to develop skills to work for peace and justice.
The Peacemaking Program’s Young Adult Network connects young adults interested in or already involved in peace and justice ministries in their churches or communities with like-minded individuals and agencies within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
"Peacemaking: The Believers’ Calling closes with the Reformed observation that “our hope is in the Kingdom of God and not in any particular political system or solution. That hope, however, invigorates us for the particular political struggles in which approximations of justice can be achieved. By trusting in the Kingdom of God, we know that the final fulfillment is not ours to realize. We also know, however, that the displacement of those arrangements and institutions that are antithetical to the realization of God’s Kingdom is part of the historical process over which God is sovereign and that we are called [to] serve God
in it. God redeems history; we do not. We must act as consistently with that redemption as our light and our power permit”" (pp. 24–25). |
