Mennonite Church USA


Mennonites and other Christians call for ending Iraq war

Participants in a peace witness hold candles in front of the White House Lawn March 16. More than 200 people were arrested late Friday night for stopping to pray outside the fence of the White House front lawn. Photo by Dave Landis, Franconia Mennonite Conference.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Several hundred Mennonites from across the country joined about 3,000 other Christians in the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., March 16, to pray for peace and commit themselves to work for the end of the war in Iraq on its fourth anniversary.

The witness was organized by more than 35 partner religious groups, including the Peace and Justice Support Network of Mennonite Church USA. More than 3,000 people participated in the event, which included worship at the National Cathedral and New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, a candlelight procession to the White House, a prayer vigil and witness including nonviolent civil disobedience. Planners also organized pre-witness workshops and training as well as post-witness organizing and strategizing.

In her opening prayer for the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq gathering, Mennonite Church USA peace advocate Susan Mark Landis prayed for God’s peace for the world and asked God to stir Christians to action.

Mennonite Church USA members who participated in the event gave practical expression to the Charlotte 2005 Delegate Assembly’s Statement on the War in Iraq. The statement reads: “We will join our voices with many other people of faith who are calling for our national leaders to end the U.S. military presence in Iraq.”

Seven hundred Mennonites were expected to participate in the event. Several buses of Mennonites from Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania planned to attend the event but were unable to participate due to inclement weather conditions preventing travel. A final official number of participants was not yet available upon release of this report.

In the service at the National Cathedral, Celeste Zappala of Philadelphia said the death of her son killed in Baghdad in 2004 gives witness to the true cost war. More than 3,200 soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died since the war began. Two million people are refugees as a result of the war.

Rev. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, said racism, poverty and war are interconnected evils. He said the real danger in Iraq is not that America might lose the war, but that America could lose its soul.

“America needs our moral witness,” said Warnock about churches speaking out against the war. He noted that billions of dollars are available to bomb Baghdad, but money is not available to rebuild New Orleans.

Susan Anderson, former moderator of the Presbyterian Church USA, came from upstate New York to attend the gathering. She said it is important for Christians to join together to visibly show their opposition to the war. “Until now, our voice has been muzzled,” she said.

Jim Wallis of Sojourners told the crowd just before it began walking to the White House, that the war is an offense to God. “Jesus Christ is the hope of the world and the war in Iraq has hindered the cause of Christ in the world,” he said. He encouraged Christians during the Lent season to repent for their complicity in the war.

Mennonites in attendance joined a walk from the National Cathedral to the White House following worship at the National Cathedral. In Lafayette Park, adjacent to the White House, cheers from supporters bearing candles greeted walkers as they arrived. Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus told the crowd the war had caused enough suffering and that it was time to support our troops by bringing soldiers home.

More than 200 people were arrested late Friday night for stopping to pray outside the fence of the White House front lawn. Landis was among those peacefully arrested outside the White House lawn. She was released Saturday morning. Landis saw her arrest as another way to press the urgency of ending the war in Iraq.

“We need to build right relationships between countries through diplomacy, not war, and we need to let people know this is what we believe,” Landis said. “Working with people from many different Christian traditions to plan this event was an overwhelmingly spiritual experience for me.”

Those who participated in the civil disobedience action were asked to sign a pledge affirming their commitment to nonviolence and their willingness to be positive examples of Christ’s love for all people.

About 100 Mennonites gathered again the morning of March 17 to talk about ways to help promote peace in Iraq. Peace and Justice Support Network of Mennonite Church USA leaders said Mennonites expressed their gratitude for being able to show their commitment to peace in this kind of national Christian witness.

For more information on Mennonite Church USA’s Statement on the War in Iraq, visit www.MennoniteUSA.org, click on “Important Documents” and select “Statement on the War in Iraq.”

Susan Mark Landis, peace advocate for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership, and Rev. Samuel Lloyd III, dean of the Washington National Cathedral, plan the greeting and opening prayer for the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq gathering, March 16. Almost 3,000 people, including many Mennonites, gathered for worship at the National Cathedral to pray for peace. Mennonite Church USA file photo.

Rev. Bernice Powell Jackson, World Council of Churches; Phil Jones, Church of the Brethren; and Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta prepare for the Christian Peace Witness in Iraq worship service at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., March 16. Warnock said that racism, poverty and war are interconnected evils and that the real danger in Iraq was not that America could lose the war, but that it could lose its soul. Mennonite Church USA file photo.