Peace Council works on central peace platform

The Peace Council of Mennonite World Conference (MWC), launched at the Calcutta gathering six years ago as a forum to discuss peace issues, met at the Bulawayo gathering to report on and discuss progress toward creating a unified platform on which member churches could stand as a collective of Peace Churches.

Stories had been collected from 13 member churches and analyzed. Five general levels of peacemaking relationships were ascertained: making peace with God, peacemaking within churches, peacemaking with neighbours, peacemaking with other Christians and members of other faiths, peacemaking within and between nations. Discussion generated by small groups suggested possible additions and variations on these categories.

The original reports from MWC churches also indicated five general practices which help Christians and churches on their journeys toward becoming habitual peacemakers: catechizing, worship, prayer, Christian education and global awareness.

—from report by Ron Ross