1 - 2001

Overcoming Violence

The Involvement of the German Churches

Initiatives for the ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence

by Jens Dechow

The WCC has declared an ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence for the years 2001 to 2010. What responses has the call to participate in the Decade received in the German church and ecumenical circle?

If compared with the reception of other proposals which have come from Geneva - such as the launch of the Ecumenical Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with Women (1989-1999) - one can say right away that this Decade is well positioned on the starting blocks, in many places. In some of them it has already taken off, even before the official launching date. Synods of several churches have taken decisions to participate or are preparing to do so, and have named persons or departments to be responsible; some are even thinking of setting up special Decade offices. Committees and working groups are being established, first strategy papers are being drafted, and planning workshops offered; some first events are already being held for regional church synods or for a wider public.

Those from Germany who participated in the WCC Eighth Assembly in Harare had already identified with the idea of a Decade to Overcome Violence during the process of planning and agreement with ecumenical partners, and after its adoption by the Assembly they took it back to their member churches with a commitment to action. In making their official reports on Harare to their synods, church boards, councils and committees, they asked that their own churches take up this concrete Assembly decision and work with it.

At the time the Decade was adopted in Harare, many German churches were already discussing issues directly connected with violence and overcoming violence: they were reacting to the war in Kosovo, looking into means of civil conflict resolution and support of professional peace services, or asking how to continue work on the issue of violence against women after the Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with Women was over. In this context, synod decisions were taken to accept the proposed Decade to Overcome Violence and put it immediately on the official agendas of the churches.

The Decade to Overcome Violence was well conceived to pick up and integrate a great many already existing social-ethical and ecumenical commitments. This in combination with the quick appearance of official church support has had the effect that a large number of different groups and programmes, some of which had been working for years on the issue, were eager to place themselves within the context of the Decade, not least of all in order to establish their concerns more firmly within the purview of the churches.

The first activities at congregational and church district level are also getting under way. Here too working groups are being formed, existing activities evaluated with a view to combining or coordinating them, more specific ways of defining the theme and questions relevant to regional situations are being sought. But here one also meets with the old and oft-repeated question, "Another new ecumenical programme, on top of discussions about structure and changes in the congregational scene - how can we take on any more things to do?"

Action groups and networks see the Decade as a new stimulus and field for the actions to which they are already committed. The activities now beginning are regarded by many as a sign of hope that the new Decade will bring the old JPIC networks back to life, and give the ecumenical movement in Germany a new image for its social action work. Almost without exception these people see the Decade as picking up where the JPIC process left off, concentrating on a specific aspect of the theme. The "Plea for an Ecumenical Future" plans to seize this ecumenical opportunity by continuing its work with a special emphasis on "racism" and "economy and violence". The need to concentrate on globalisation and economic justice is also vehemently upheld by "Kairos Europa".

Publications on the topic, and the Decades reception in the media (church and otherwise), show that there is public interest in taking action this area. In these publications overall, a characteristic response to the Decade theme of "Overcoming Violence" can be recognised - they bring out its action-oriented approach, taking seriously the verb "overcoming violence". Instead of another description, analysis or theory of violence, they begin right away with possibilities of action for change. Any necessary analysis is subordinate to the theme of action.

New approaches to bridging the gap between church and secular involvement in overcoming violence are also appearing, as was the hope when it was made parallel to the UN Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Worlds Children. Examples are the willingness of the Foreign Ministry official responsible for the "International Year for a Culture of Peace" to cooperate with church representatives, and the enquiries which church institutions are receiving from local associations of political parties or from the media.

The ecumenical dimension of the Decade is lagging behind these other developments - it is clearly out of step with them. In any case this is true of the ecumenical scene in Germany. The pace at which the EKD churches are moving is an ecumenical problem. If this Decade is going to be good for the unity of the churches, they should find a common approach to ecumenical cooperation.

Since in many EKD member churches working groups have been active for some time, while in other Christian churches and communities this is not yet so, it could happen that ecumenical partners are invited only to join in a well-established concept and structure. What is needed here is not to put the brakes on peoples commitment, but rather to make it clearly an open process and announce it as such. This is especially true for cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church, which is just starting to get involved in the Decade. Opportunities to work together should be put to use. We are also out of step with regard to international ecumenical cooperation. The EKD member churches do have international connections through certain ecumenical organisations, so that initial decisions on common involvement in the Decade have been taken in the United Evangelical Mission. But many WCC member churches, in other European countries as well as in the South, are only beginning to accept the Decade as a framework for action by those in their countries who are working to overcome violence.

Representatives of churches in economically disadvantaged regions in particular are wondering whether the idea of the Decade means a new commitment to the peace issue which is so prevalent in Europe and North America, while their own central issues of social and economic justice are pushed into the background. Two things are important here for the German churches if they want to become part of the worldwide Christian movement to overcome violence.

First, they must use the year 2001 to put the Decade on the agenda of ecumenical contacts at all levels, and then together with their partners ask whether and how the theme of "overcoming violence" can be a moving force for ecumenical relations during the next several years. Second, they must make clear in these conversations that the German response to the Decade does not intend to be confined to peace ethics.

The Decade to Overcome Violence should play a role in as much of the work of churches and networks as possible. It should begin by creating as few new structures as possible and putting few new guidelines into peoples hands, but rather attempt, on a broad front, to "infect" the existing structures with this theme. This means that, within the general guidelines coming from the World Council of Churches, the churches and their offices, agencies, institutions, networks, districts, congregations, action groups and individual persons should be widely encouraged to decide for themselves what contribution they can make to the Decade, on the basis of the competencies and emphases they already have in their work.

Despite the diversity of church activities, the structures are still quite small and open. The necessary communication will be handled through the "Ecumenical Decade Forum", a loose-knit and growing "meeting-place" of church institutions, networks, groups and committed individuals; technically it will take place through existing ecumenical publications like the Ecumenical Information Service and through an open email group.

Of course the established churches and their institutions, such as the Christian Churches Working Group in Germany (ACK), are much more dependent on binding structures and clear lines of responsibility then the Decade itself, which is an open process that reaches beyond them. The Decades success will depend on the contribution which each one is willing to make in his or her own context. It is a responsibility which can no more be shrugged off than our faith and the action implied in it, for overcoming violence is an aspect of the Christian faith itself.

Dr. Jens Dechow works in the Programme for Mission, Ecumenism and the Churchs World Responsibility of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia. This article was abridged from one which appeared in the journal Ökumenische Rundschau (Ecumenical Review) 4/2000.