Believers church conference explores Christianity and politics.

Questions about the response of Christians who live in a democracy that is the world's only superpower resulted in an election-season conference on "God, Democracy, and US Power." The 15th Believers Church Conference, held Sept. 23-25, was co-hosted by Bridgewater (Va.) College and Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), with sessions divided between the two campuses.

Speakers from varying traditions discussed issues such as political behavior, biblical pacifism, economic justice, and justice for oppressed minorities. Traditions associated with the Believers Church include Adventists, Baptists, Brethren, Discipleship of Christ, Mennonites, Methodists, Pentecostals, Plymouth Brethren, and Quakers—denominations that view membership in the church as a voluntary act of faith.

A highlight of the conference was an address by Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches. As the world becomes more burdened with violence, hate, and injustice, Edgar emphasized the active role Christians must play for change. "Questioning our government and its leaders' actions doesn't mean that we don't love our country," he said, "We live in a global village. God transcends national boundaries, and God calls us to be shapers, shakers, and remakers of this fragile planet Earth."

Echoing Edgar's themes, Dawn Ottoni Wilhelm, assistant professor of preaching and worship at Bethany Theological Seminary, gave a sermon on the parable of the widow confronting the unjust judge in Luke 18:2-8. She challenged the audience to call for justice in America, "the largest single superpower the world now knows—and resents."

Mwizenge Tembo, a Zambian native and associate professor of sociology at Bridgewater, brought an international perspective. Chatting with neighbors on a recent visit to Zambia, Tembo heard a man praising Osama bin Laden for engineering the Sept. 11 attacks. Friends were surprised to hear Tembo reply, "I could have been on those planes. I live there. I saw the suffering." Tembo saw the man's remark as a mirror image of the attitudes of many Americans who are unaware of the effects of US government and business on people across the world.

"Contrary to popular opinion, and we don't want to say it too loudly, we are only as good and as precious as everyone else in this world in God's eyes," said speaker David Radcliff of the New Community Project in Elgin, Ill. Asked whether Christians should seek persecution or hardship, Radcliff responded, "Those things come naturally if you live out the heart of your faith."

J. Daryl Byler, director of the Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office, spoke of Jeremiah's prophesy of a long, hard exile in Babylon. Notwithstanding easier circumstances, he said Christian pacifists in America face an exile in which pacifism becomes less tolerated. "We must find ways to both love and resist the empire," Byler said.

Conference planners are working with Pandora Press Canada for a forthcoming book in the "Studies in the Believers Church Tradition" series that will continue the conversation of the conference. Jim Bishop, of EMU; Karen Doss Bowman, of Bridgewater College; and freelance writer Chris Edwards contributed to this report.

Source: 10/15/2004 Newsline
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