The focus will shift. The ministries will continue.

In 2001, the World Council of Churches (WCC) launched a decade-long program to address the violence that affects people around the world. The Decade to Overcome Violence (2001-2010): Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace (DOV) calls churches, ecumenical organizations, and all people of goodwill to seek peace, nonviolence, justice, and reconciliation. It calls for cooperation at all levels (local, regional, global) with communities, secular movements, and people of all living faiths. It calls us to work with and on behalf of those oppressed by violence, and to act in solidarity with those struggling for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation. It calls us to repent for our complicity in violence, and to engage in theological reflection to overcome the spirit, logic, and practice of violence. The DOV seeks to strengthen existing peace networks as well as inspire the creation of new ones.

Each year the DOV committee selects a particular geographical focus and theme. The United States was the geographical focus in 2004, along with the theme, “The Power and Promise of Peace.”

The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program has taken primary responsibility in interpreting the DOV focus to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and in working with the United States DOV committee. A number of Peacemaking Program events specifically related to the DOV focus in 2004:

• a January Term Doctor of Ministry course on globalization cosponsored by the United Nations Office;
• a gathering of international theological students in April;
• a Young Adult Network Travel Study Seminar to Guatemala;
• the 2004 Peace and Justice Conference on poverty, peacemaking, and the environment;
• a Ghost Ranch seminar on issues of power;
• the International Peacemakers program; and,
• the Interfaith Listening Project.

Throughout 2004, Presbyterians in congregations, presbyteries, and synods sought reconciliation and peace through many ministries. They will continue to do so during 2005 as the DOV focus turns to Asia and the theme “Building Communities of Peace for All.” A number of special events will again highlight the Peacemaking Program’s calendar in 2005:

• January Term Doctor of Ministry course on Global Religious Violence cosponsored by the United Nations Office;
• a Travel Study Seminar to Cuba in January;
• the 2005 Peacemaking Conference, June 20-26, focusing on “Transforming Fear into Love: Peace Building for Our Time”; and,
• the International Peacemakers program in the fall – this year’s participants will have a special emphasis on relating to children, since 2005 marks the midpoint of the Decade of the Child.

The Peacemaking Program will explore ways to be involved with the 2005 DOV theme and focus as well.

Presbyterians will continue to engage in many other ministries of doing justice and building peace by working to overcome poverty, leading conflict management efforts in congregations, pursuing racial justice, addressing domestic violence, and in countless other creative and meaningful ways. While the DOV focus shifts, by God’s grace Presbyterians and governing bodies throughout the PC(USA) will continue seeking peace, nonviolence, justice, and reconciliation in the name of Jesus Christ.