| NEW YORK CITY
– “The power and promise of peace” is the
theme for activities to be carried out this year within the framework
of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Decade to Overcome
Violence (DOV) 2004 focus on the USA.
Today a worship service will mark the opening of a year dedicated
to strengthening and resourcing churches and movements working
for peace in this country. The midday service at the Interchurch
Center here will lift up the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
as an inspiration to U.S. churches to work for peace and justice.
Scheduled as guest preacher is the Rev. Otis Moss Jr, who was
a friend and associate of King, and serves on the national board
of the Martin Luther King Jr Center for Non-Violent Social Change.
The service will also honor a special guest, the former chief
of staff to Dr King, Rev. Dr Wyatt Tee Walker, for his lifetime
commitment to seeking reconciliation and peace.
A calendar of events for 2004 is to be drawn up by the U.S.
DOV committee, comprised of U.S. denominational representatives,
at a Jan. 12-13 meeting here, where an international DOV advisory
group will also be looking at the mid-term and future of the Decade
in general.
The Decade to Overcome Violence was established by the WCC Central
Committee in the winter of 2001. Each year a particular country
or region in the world is chosen as the focus of that year’s
activities. In 2003, the focus was on Sudan while in 2002, it
was on Israel and Palestine.
The choice of the U.S. focus was made by the WCC Central Committee
in August 2003 on the basis of the opposition of U.S. churches
to war in Iraq, and their efforts to alleviate suffering at home
and abroad. The committee also highlighted work by U.S. churches
on domestic violence, gun control and restorative justice.
At the same time, it evoked what it saw as the unchallenged
power of the U.S. “The U.S. administration” seems
to believe that “it can afford to disregard the international
order ... and ignore the concerns of the world’s populations,”
the committee said, also noting problems of “poverty, violence,
racism in all its diverse forms, inter-faith relations, migration
and inequality in education and employment.”
For more information about the WCC’s Decade to Overcome
Violence, visit the website: www2.wcc-coe.org/dov.nsf.
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