Brethren leaders support ecumenical statements on Iraq, Middle East, Sudan

Three ecumenical statements made in May have received support from Brethren leaders. The statements call attention to situations in Iraq, the Middle East, and Sudan.

A Pastoral Letter on Iraq from the National Council of Churches (NCC) was shared in a May 17 mailing from the General Board's Brethren Witness/Washington Office, which encouraged congregations to read or share it during morning worship on Sunday May 23. The letter has received endorsement from Stan Noffsinger, general secretary, Church of the Brethren General Board.

Recognizing "the broad perspectives of many in the faith community in regards to war" and the stronger stance taken by the Church of the Brethren, the office called "the unified voice represented here as one vital, and needed, in such days as these." The Pastoral Letter is written "out of a deep love for this country, but also out of a profound concern at the direction this cycle of violence is taking us" and calls for a change of course in Iraq. The letter can be found at www.ncccusa.org/news/04iraqpastoralletter.html.

Jones added his signature to a letter from ecumenical leaders to US President Bush sent on May 7 and coordinated by Churches for Middle East Peace. The letter asked for understanding of "the crisis in the Holy Land confronting Christian Palestinians, Christian institutions, and those who wish to visit the birthplace of Christianity." Concerns regarded the effects of the separation barrier being constructed by Israel, taxation issues that may force some church institutions to close due to the removal of their longstanding tax-exempt status, and "the denial and delay of visas, by Israel, for clergy and church personnel result[ing] in understaffed seminaries, churches, hospitals, education and other institutions." Fifty Christian leaders signed the letter.

In another statement on an apparent attempt at ethnic cleansing in Sudan, the Executive Board of the NCC called attention to a genocide going on in Darfur that already has claimed tens of thousands of lives, a May 19 release said. The statement called on the government of Sudan to stop attacks against civilians and called on the US "to continue to press the Sudanese government to bring to a halt this unfolding horror and to support appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian, conflict resolution and peace enforcement efforts by the United Nations to these ends." The statement came after an April 23 observance of the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, sponsored by the NCC, at which speakers noted that the world is not stepping up effectively to stop the killing in Sudan.

"The Church of the Brethren would certainly echo this call of concern guided by the 1996 Annual Conference Statement on 'Nonviolence and Humanitarian Intervention,'" said Noffsinger.