Come to the Water

by Mark Koenig

“Come to the water.” Students. Seekers. Scholars. Theologians. Disciples. They came.
“Come to the water.” From eight countries and ten denominations, they came.
“Come to the water.” With staff from the World Council of Churches and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), they came.
“Come to the water.” To consider how to nurture peace and overcome violence in the way of Christ for the sake of the work, they came.
“Come to the water.” Longtime friends. First time acquaintances. Sisters and brothers, they came.
“Come to the water.” Remembering their baptism, remembering whose they are, remembering who they are together, they came.

On 2 April 2004, ten international scholars gathered at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky to discuss issues of violence and to explore possibilities for peace and reconciliation in Jesus Christ. The scholars from around the world, currently studying at various schools across the United States, were called together by the World Council of Churches who has set the years 2001—2010 as the Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace (DOV). This initiative calls churches, ecumenical organizations, and all people of good will to work together at all levels (local, regional, global) with communities, secular movements, and people of all living faiths for peace, justice, and reconciliation.

The United States was chosen as the DOV focus for 2004 because of the violence within the country and because it is the world’s only super power with enormous influence in the world. At the same time, the United States has a rich history of movements for human and civil rights. Many churches and other groups continue such efforts, working to address violence and to make peace within the country and internationally.

The scholars who gathered to explore violence and peace opened their time together with worship. And they opened their worship service at the baptismal font. There, at the water, they gave thanks for God’s wondrous gift of diversity, represented by their newly forming community. There, at the water, they gave thanks for God’s wondrous gift of one baptism in Christ that transcends their diversity and binds them one to another in unbreakable bonds of love.

“Come to the water.” It is cleansing. Healing. Renewing. Life-giving. Sustaining.

Come to the water. And at the water, encounter God’s goodness and grace. Find hope and faith. Receive courage and community and all that is needed for the living of these days.

Come. Come to the water.