Church and Peace https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/ European Ecumenical Peace Church Network Wed, 27 Mar 2024 14:45:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.church-and-peace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-icon-32x32.jpg Church and Peace https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/ 32 32 Church and Peace joined Solidarity Tour of Israel-Palestine – and you are invited too! https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2024/03/church-and-peace-joined-solidarity-tour-of-israel-palestine/ Wed, 27 Mar 2024 13:50:07 +0000 https://www.church-and-peace.org/?p=11104

Travel Reports from our members of their encounters in Israel and Palestine 

March 2024

In Israel/Palestine, some Christians have developed a non-violent approach to the conflict between (very right-wing) Jews and Palestinians. Many are inspired by it, but the war has multiplied the challenges. Several members of Church and Peace have gone to support the groups and people working for peace relentlessly: they need our support, especially at this time. The entire blog of the solidarity tour organised by the German Mennonite Peace Committee can be read online.

You can read how Gordon and Elias experienced the journey in their report here.

K also wrote down their perspective in this report.

Bruno has also sent us his article about the solidarity tour in French. You can read it here.

Partners in Israel-Palestine urgently invite visitation and support in this difficult time, and the German Mennonite Peace Committee (DMFK) is leading several trips this year to offer solidarity. We eagerly invite both people new to the Land and those who have visited before, recognizing the importance of reconnecting and strengthening ties in this time of vulnerability. So if Gordon’s, Elias’s, K’s or Bruno’s report made you curious, contact the DMFK and read more details in their invitation.

 

olive tree growing high into the blue sky
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When they buried Alexei Navalny they forgot that spring was so close! https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2024/03/when-they-buried-alexei-navalny-they-forgot-that-spring-was-so-close-2/ Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:27:43 +0000 https://www.church-and-peace.org/2024/03/when-they-buried-alexei-navalny-they-forgot-that-spring-was-so-close-2/

Illustration and article by Isabelle Eliat-Serck

2 March 2024

Despite the abundance of hooded security agents, the scanning of faces by surveillance cameras and the chilling threat of arrest and imprisonment, thousands of Russians gathered on 1 March to honour Alexeï Navalny around the church and cemetery where he was buried. They chanted and repeated his name “Alexeï, Alexeï, Alexeï…”, “Navalny, Navalny…”, as if to convince themselves that the creative spirit of this free man, anti-corruption activist, upright and courageous, was still alive! Alexei represented hope. He must stay alive! Having survived a poisoning orchestrated by the Kremlin in 2020, Alexei nevertheless decided to return to Russia, his “beloved country”, as a man on his feet. As soon as he arrived at the airport, he was taken away to be imprisoned.

After three years of imprisonment and torture, Alexei’s favourite gesture from his gulag cell was still joining his hands to form a heart! In his speeches, Alexei used the word love, the exact opposite of Putin’s language of death and hatred.

Some Russians at the funeral took the risk of confiding in the foreign press: “This man didn’t just die for an ideal: he died for all of us”, “This is a great day of mourning”. Others dared to shout out their political convictions: “Ukrainians are good people”, “Bring us back our soldiers”, “No to war”, which led to arrest and imprisonment for some.

Putin’s great strategy, in which he excels, is the art of divide and rule. Using propaganda, threats, lies, murder, controls and merciless repression against anything that threatens his absolute power, Putin divides not only Russians among themselves, but countries, continents and the world against itself. More death leads to more hatred…

“Putin wants to kill our hopes, our freedom, our future and the proof that Russia can be different”. Yet “there are tens of millions of Russians who are against Putin, against the war, against the evil he brings”, says Yulia Navalnya, urging us to remain creative, lively and innovative, as her husband was. “Be politically innovative”, “by effectively fighting organised crime and the mafia”, “rather than by multiplying diplomatic notes and declarations of war”, she asked the European Parliament.

What can we do? As ordinary citizens of our European countries, what can we do to break new ground? Not much, no doubt, but that’s no reason to remain paralysed: “It’s not shameful to do little, it’s shameful to do nothing” Navalny liked to repeat. It seems to me that what could weaken the power of Putin and his “gang” would be to create more links with the Russian people here or elsewhere. Meeting the Russians and Ukrainians around us, flooding all possible Russian networks with messages of support for the people, kind encouragement and enlightening information. Let’s make the Russian people our allies. Yes, I think that in this respect, we can each find a way to make our own small contribution. “We must use every possible opportunity to act”, Alexei insisted, adding: “All that evil needs to triumph is the inaction of good people”!

… Where there is division, let me bring union. Where there is error, let me bring truth. Where there is doubt, let me bring faith. Where there is despair, let me bring hope…
words attributed to Francis of Assisi

You can download Isabelle Eliat-Serck’s article here.

Drawing of two hands forming a heart with roots at the bottom while branches sprout at the top. In French, Russian and English it says: When they buried Navalny, they didn't know how close spring was
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Changeover at Church and Peace: General secretary Lydia Funck moves on and Juliane Prüfert starts work https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2024/03/changeover-at-church-and-peace-general-secretary-lydia-funck-moves-on-and-juliane-pruefert-starts-work/ Thu, 07 Mar 2024 11:17:17 +0000 https://www.church-and-peace.org/2024/03/changeover-at-church-and-peace-general-secretary-lydia-funck-moves-on-and-juliane-pruefert-starts-work/

Wethen, 07 March 2024

It is with gratitude and appreciation for seven years of energetic commitment that Church and Peace, the European peace church network, has taken leave of Lydia Funck, its longstanding general secretary. After graduating in politics and Middle East studies, topped by peace and conflict research, she took on many diverse assignments in the position. They included public communication of the peace church vision and practice, coordinating preparations for the annual international conferences and representing Church and Peace at the ecumenical level, for example in the Pathways to Peace initiative of the Conference of European Churches.

During these years, Lydia Funck has shaped the network with impressive charisma and expertise, strengthening, rejuvenating and expanding it. She will be taking on new professional challenges as the person responsible for international networks and ecumenism at Bread for the World Germany. We are pleased for her and say goodbye full of gratitude for her service,” says Church and Peace chair Antje Heider-Rottwilm.

In mid-February the Board was delighted to welcome Juliane Prüfert as the new general secretary. She is a peace expert, a university-trained theologian and an advisor on nonviolent conflict transformation in social movements. Juliane Prüfert brings practical experience in community-building and networking both in international contexts and with the non-governmental organisation Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Colombia, Lesbos and Kurdistan/Iraq. Until recently she worked as secretary for peace and reconciliation at the Ecumenical Information Centre in Dresden and then with the Frauenkirche Dresden Foundation.

It is wonderful that we were able to quickly find a general secretary who has such good connections in the network and takes on the position with a lot of experience,” says Antje Heider-Rottwilm. “In view of the complex, tough issues that we in Church and Peace want to keep confronting, I’m sure that Juliane Prüfert will strengthen the network and stand up for our witness to active nonviolence.”

Press Contact:

OKRin i.R. Antje Heider-Rottwilm, Chair of Church and Peace, +49 172 5162 799

Download this press release as PDF

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Weekly Online Peace Prayer https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2024/02/weekly-online-peace-prayer/ Mon, 19 Feb 2024 14:32:40 +0000 https://www.church-and-peace.org/2024/02/weekly-online-peace-prayer/

Church and Peace invites you to pray for peace in Ukraine and beyond. This prayer has been taking place weekly since February 2022.

Together with the branches of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation in England & Scotland and Wales (Cymdeithos y Cymod) and the Methodist Peace Fellowship, we gather on Zoom on Fridays at 7:30pm (London)/ 8:30pm (CET)/ 9:30pm (Kyiv)/ 10:30pm (Moscow).

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New newsletter issue 14 published https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2024/02/new-newsletter-issue-14-published/ Thu, 15 Feb 2024 15:03:14 +0000 https://www.church-and-peace.org/2024/02/new-newsletter-issue-14-published/

The new Church and Peace newsletter has been published.

This newsletter reports on our conference ‘Overcoming Racism in the Church’, sharing impressions of the gatherings’ challenging inputs, encounters and search for what overcoming racism means in daily life.

In addition, despite – or precisely because of – the current catastrophes in the world, this issue is about the ongoing activities of Church and Peace members: activities against hatred and enmity, against reliance on military solutions to conflicts, against nuclear deterrence, against overexploitation of creation and instead towards justice, peace and integrity of creation. Once again this year, those whom we have welcomed as new members have made us realise how necessary and energising it is to do this work together.

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Stop the killing in Ukraine – For a ceasefire and negotiations! https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2024/02/stop-the-killing-in-ukraine-for-a-ceasefire-and-negotiations/ Sat, 10 Feb 2024 13:20:00 +0000 https://www.church-and-peace.org/2024/02/stop-the-killing-in-ukraine-for-a-ceasefire-and-negotiations/

Call for anti-war actions on the second anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2024

Wethen, 10 February 2024

Church and Peace, as part of a civil society alliance, is calling for anti-war actions on the second anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2024.

The call states: “War is a crime against humanity. We condemn Russia’s attack on the whole of Ukraine, which has now been going on for two years in violation of international law. Since 24 February 2022, the war has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries as well as millions of refugees – every day that the war goes on leads to even more suffering.”

“So far, neither military offensives nor arms deliveries or sanctions have been able to open a window of opportunity for ceasefire talks. It is the responsibility of the international community to influence the warring parties and push for a negotiated solution. The call for negotiations is also supported by the resolutions of the UN General Assembly.”

Local anti-war actions are intended to send a clear message in favour of breaking the spiral of violence, a ceasefire and peace negotiations.

Find more information on the appeal, planned actions and materials at: https://stoppt-das-toeten.de/ 

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Embrace the vulnerability of God at Christmas https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2023/12/embrace-the-vulnerability-of-god-at-christmas/ Wed, 13 Dec 2023 07:36:13 +0000 https://www.church-and-peace.org/2023/12/embrace-the-vulnerability-of-god-at-christmas/

Wethen, December 2023

“Christmas is the time when we embrace the vulnerability of God”
(Sister Mary Leddy)

What an paradoxical sentence and a challenge: embracing God’s vulnerability?
Vulnerability and the need for protection are brutal. The images from Ukraine, Israel/Palestine and many other places in the world are a daily reminder of this.
They evoke the need for protection, for security, for everything that we see happening on a daily basis: bombs, tanks, grenades, walls and border fortifications.
Is there something else we can see in them? Can we also say: Stop protecting us with what brings so much suffering and destruction, andonly provokes counter-violence.

Israeli parents who have lost a child in terrorist attacks by the Palestinian Hamas and Palestinian parents whose children were killed by Israeli soldiers are expressing their emotional wounds and grief together and have founded the Parents Circle. Their message: Stop the hate! It will not bring our children back to life. It is our collective responsibility to end this cycle of violence!

The scene of the child in the manger brings this voice to life. Look, here is a human being, a small child who is dependent on others. Protect this child, protect every person and especially those who are weakest and most vulnerable.
The vulnerability of God is the antithesis to military security systems and the global arms build-up, which devours huge sums of money every year and spirals ever higher with hatred, threats, attacks and revenge. “In Jesus Christ, God has disarmed,” says Protestant theologian Dorothee Sölle.

That is the great challenge that Jesus’ vulnerable life leaves us with: that we risk our own vulnerability. It stays with us – throughout our lives, despite all the security systems.

If we recognise each other in our vulnerability and our need for protection we grow into a responsibility that does not stop with ourselves. It also includes the need for protection of the other, the stranger. It is this responsibility that encourages us to dare to cooperate instead of seeking confrontation, to move towards each other instead of building walls.

I greet you in these dark times with the words of a chorale from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio:

Break forth, oh bright and rosy morn,
till earth with splendour, blazes.
Ye, shepherds consternation scorn,
and hear the angels’ praises.
This child that lies a helpless boy,
Shall yet become your endless joy,
shall frustrate Hell’s endeavour,
and reign in peace for ever.

On behalf of the Board

Antje Heider-Rottwilm

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2023 Annual Report https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2023/12/2023-annual-report/ Mon, 11 Dec 2023 17:17:56 +0000 https://www.church-and-peace.org/2023/12/2023-annual-report/

Impressions from Church and Peace’s Year 2023

Stoppt das Töten Demo Berlin 23042023_credit: Kristin Flory

Nonviolent paths to peace

Committed to the hopeful vision of a just and nonviolent world, we have joined calls and initiatives for various peaceful protests to break the spiral of violence, for a ceasefire and peace negotiations in Ukraine and Russia, and also in Palestine/Israel. Numerous members have organised activities to mark one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Fellowship evening_Credit: Kristin Flory

If you want peace, make peace

In events and conferences in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and online, we dealt with various aspects of peace work which are central to the work of our members: from reflections on nonviolent strategies and methods of civil defence, to Christian pacifism in the face of current wars, to the importance of ethical banking, to racism in the church and how we can overcome it as well as its painful consequences.

With churches in Europe for peace

In June, General Secretary Lydia Funck took part in the General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) addressing the theme “Under God’s Blessing – Shaping the Future”. Speakers reminded the delegates, in particular, that nonviolence is a central task of the church. Church and Peace was invited to partake in the “Pathways to Peace” initiative, which is an endeavour to promote paths to peace in Ukraine; it will shape the work of the CEC in the coming years.

Prayer and advocacy for human rights

Conscientious objection to military service is a human right that we have once again advocated for this year. For example, as part of the action weeks for the International Day of Conscientious Objection to Military Service in May.

Since February 2022, we have been praying online every Friday evening with 40-60 participants for peace in the world, for peacemakers and conscientious objectors. A warm invitation to you to join the prayer!

 

 

Church and Peace is keen to continue its multifaceted commitment!

For this, we ask for support in prayer, through cooperation and financially.

Thank you very much for your donation.

Your donation reaches us

  • in sterling via BACS transfer to sort code 165810, account 20745001 or cheques made out to ‘Church and Peace’ to Gerald Drewett, 39 Postwood Green, Hertford Heath SG13 7QJ,
  • in euros via SEPA transfer to IBAN: DE55 3506 0190 1014 3800 07, BIC: GENODED1DKD, Bank für Kirche und Diakonie
  • or via PayPal to intloffice@church-and-peace.org.

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Call to Action Week for Conscientious Objectors in December 2023 https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2023/11/call-to-action-week-for-conscientious-objectors-in-december-2023/ Mon, 06 Nov 2023 09:26:00 +0000 https://www.church-and-peace.org/?p=10453

Protection and asylum for all from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine who refuse military service

Church and Peace is joining more than 30 organisations from Europe in calling for weeks of action to protect all those who refuse military service in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.The call for actions from December 4, 2023 to the International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2023 states:

War is a crime against humanity. We condemn Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine, which is contrary to international law and has already led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries and millions of refugees.

Many people from Russia and Belarus, but also from Ukraine, who are threatened with military service, try to evade it: They do not want to kill other people and they do not want to die in this war. Soldiers at the front want to lay down their weapons in the face of the horror. They all face repression and imprisonment, in Belarus even the death penalty. But: Conscientious objection is an internationally recognized human right!

  • We demand from the governments of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine: Stop the persecution of conscientious objectors and deserters immediately!
  • We demand from the EU: Open the borders! Give opponents of war the option to enter the European Union! Protect conscientious objectors and deserters from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and give them asylum!

For this purpose, we encourage you to organize and join rallies and demonstrations in front of Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian embassies as well as EU representations, vigils in front of deserter monuments and other creative actions at different locations in the week before the “International Human Rights Day” – from December 4 to 10, 2023. In doing so, we emphasize: conscientious objection is a human right!

More info at Connection eV 

Initiated by:

Initiated by:
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#CeasefireNow: Call for an Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza and Israel https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2023/10/ceasefirenow-call-for-an-immediate-ceasefire-in-gaza-and-israel/ Fri, 20 Oct 2023 16:01:00 +0000 https://www.church-and-peace.org/2023/11/ceasefirenow-call-for-an-immediate-ceasefire-in-gaza-and-israel/

Wethen, 20 October 2023

In the face of the shocking violence in Israel, in Gaza and also on the border with Lebanon, Church and Peace is calling for an immediate ceasefire and is thus joining the international call #CeasefireNow. The call is supported by numerous organisations worldwide, including many humanitarian aid organisations and initiatives for peace and human rights. Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim and Jewish voices are also among the signatories.

A broad coalition of civil organisations is calling for an immediate end to the violence and a ceasefire in Israel and the Gaza Strip. “The events of the last week have led us to the precipice of a humanitarian catastrophe and the world can no longer wait to act,” the appeal reads. The cycle of violence against innocent civilians must be stopped immediately. It also calls for life-saving aid to be delivered and civilian hostages to be released immediately.

Individuals can also sign the appeal on the platform Change.org

Here is the text of the call:

#CeasefireNow: Open Call for an Immediate Ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Israel to Prevent a Humanitarian Catastrophe and Further Loss of Innocent Lives

We have witnessed unfathomable death and destruction in the Gaza Strip and Israel. Thousands of people have been killed, injured, displaced, and nearly two hundred remain held hostage, including children and elderly.

In Gaza, the UN has said that water, food, fuel, medical supplies, and even body bags, are running out due to the siege. The UN warned that people – particularly young children – will soon start dying of severe dehydration. Neighbourhoods have been destroyed and turned into complete rubble. Palestinians in search of safety have nowhere to go. Many of those who relocated from northern Gaza to the south after the relocation order by the Israeli army were reportedly bombed as they attempted to flee or once they arrived in southern Gaza.

The events of the last week have led us to the precipice of a humanitarian catastrophe and the world can no longer wait to act. It is our collective responsibility.

On Sunday, October 15th, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator to the Occupied Palestinian Territory appealed to all parties to the conflict, and to Member States with influence, to urgently agree to a humanitarian ceasefire.

Today, we put our voices together and call on all Heads of State, the UN Security Council, and actors on the ground, to prioritize the preservation of human life above all else. During this ceasefire, we call on all parties to unconditionally:

1. Facilitate the delivery of lifesaving assistance, including food, medical supplies, fuel, and the resumption of electricity and internet to Gaza, in addition to safe passage of humanitarian and medical staff

2. Free all civilian hostages, especially children and elderly

3. Allow humanitarian convoys to reach UN facilities, schools, hospitals, and health facilities in northern Gaza and commit to protecting them along with the civilians and staff inside them at all times

4. Rescind orders by the Government of Israel for civilians to depart northern Gaza

5. Allow patients in critical condition to be medically evacuated for urgent care

The UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General and all world leaders with influence must take immediate action to ensure a ceasefire comes into effect. It remains our only option to avert further loss of civilian life and humanitarian catastrophe. Anything less will forever be a stain on our collective conscience.

Civilians are not bargaining chips. Families need a chance to bury and mourn their dead. The cycle of violence against innocent civilians needs to stop.

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