Statement on the War in Iraq
Mennonite Church USA Delegate Assembly
Charlotte, North
Carolina
July
9, 2005
Preamble
In
response to requests from our area conferences, congregations and members for Mennonite Church to state our belief in God’s call
to peace and to invite peacemaking actions as individuals and congregations,
the Executive Board offers the statement below. It follows a letter to
President Bush, in September 2002, signed by 17,000 members that outlined
alternatives to going to war in Iraq,
and a similar letter from the Constituency Leaders Council in March 2003. In
June 2004 the Executive Board sent a
pastoral letter to our congregations during this time of global turmoil.
This
is our faith:
We
believe that peace is the will of God. God created the world in peace, and God’s
peace is most fully revealed in Jesus Christ, who is our peace and the peace of
the whole world. Led by the Holy Spirit, we follow Christ in the way of peace,
doing justice, bringing reconciliation, and practicing nonresistance, even in
the face of violence and warfare. (Article 22, Confession of Faith in a
Mennonite Perspective, 1995)
We
believe that the church is God’s holy nation, called to give full allegiance to
Christ its head and to witness to every nation, government and society about
God’s saving love. (Article 23)
This
is our hope:
The
biblical vision is of a day when nations will no longer learn war (Isaiah 2:4,
Hosea 2:18, Micah 4.3), a day when God will wipe away all tears and when death,
mourning, crying and pain will be no more. (Revelation 21:4)
It is
this glorious vision and the example of Jesus Christ that moves us, even now,
to live as peacemakers in our world.
This
is how we, as God strengthens us, choose to express our love:
- We will repent for ways we
have contributed to this war;
- We will pray for peace,
justice and reconciliation;
- We will renew our
commitment to teach peace to every generation and to provide youth with meaningful
alternatives to military service;
- We will support Mennonite
Central Committee’s work in Iraq, including relief,
development, and projects;
- We will encourage those
called from our congregations to serve on Christian Peacemaker Team to Iraq;
- We will offer our support
to local military personnel and their families as they deal with the
trauma of war;
- We will reach out in
friendship to local Muslims;
- We will join our voices
with many other people of faith who are calling for our national leaders
to end U.S. military
presence in Iraq,
recognizing that such visibility is fueling a growing insurgency movement
and adding to the daily suffering of ordinary Iraqis.
In all this, we seek to be “that ‘city on a hill’ which
demonstrates the way of Christ” and to faithfully call the nations (and all
persons and institutions) to move toward justice, peace and compassion for all people.”
(Article 23, Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, 1995