Let’s dialogue about this. Could it be said that peacemaking is that which brings people into harmony? If so, what are the activities, and attitudes, that bring people into harmony? Are there different types of peace? We hear of inner peace and we hear of international peace. Are these two separate things, or do are they embodiments of the same overall concept?
The diagram to the right, taken from Schirch, The Little Book of Strategic Peacebuilding (Goodbooks 2004), illustrates that yes, peacebuilding — including individual, relational, cultural, and structural — is all part and parcel of one, overriding concept. Shalom.
God’s purpose, God’s promise for all of creation, is Shalom. We seek the peace of God, we seek to be at peace with God, and we seek to be at peace with one another. How?
Exploring the answer to that question is the purpose of this web log. Trinity Peacemakers are not “the church” and we do not speak for the Presbyterian Church. Rather, Trinity Peacemakers are individuals who are embedded within (and in dialogue) with the Presbyterian Church about what peace means and how to create greater peace. We are individuals in dialogue.
As Presbyterians, we are guided by three key affirmations of the Presbyterian Church (USA), which are outlined in Peacemaking: The Believers’ Calling (http://www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/believers.pdf):
- The church is faithful to Jesus Christ when it is engaged in peacemaking;
- The church is obedient to Jesus Christ when it nurtures and equips God’s people as peacemakers; and
- The church bears witness to Christ when it nurtures the moral life of the nation for the sake of peace in the world.
The Presbyterian Church (USA) Resolution “Commitment to Peacemaking” (http://www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/commitment.htm ) has 8 areas of emphasis:
- Worship,
- Prayer and Bible study,
- Peacemaking in Families and in Community Living,
- Community Ministries,
- Study and Response to Global Issues,
- Global security,
- Making peace with the earth, and
- Receiving the Peacemaking offering.
We Presbyterians celebrate our diversity and the fact that each of us is called to be unique in our concerns and interests, even as we work together for the greater good. Our commitment to peacemaking is manifested in many ways, each of them as individual as the persons being called to be Peacemakers.
Some of us are passionately involved in finding peace through prayer, Bible study, and personal transformation at the individual level (see chart above). Some of us are focused on building peace on a community and relational level, for instance by working to strengthen marriages, families, and church congregations. Some of us are focused on peace building on a larger, cultural scale. This might include outreach and public service, public policy, and strong engagement with society and structures of society. At yet another level, many of us are concerned, in a prophetic and visionary sense, to continually challenge our culture and society to create and live by cultural norms which contribute to peace.
As a result of these varied concerns, our peacemaking activities are diverse. We Presbyterians are engaged in peacemaking activities ranging from Bible studies to migrant ministries, soup kitchens to environmental stewardship campaigns, mother’s morning out programs to international advocacy in global affairs (for examples, see http://www.pcusa.org/peacemaking/commitmentexamples.pdf).
If peacemaking and social justice is your passion, we invite you to consider joining our efforts to bring peace to the world, one person at a time.
Peace is the contentment and joy of believing and living the fact that we are all children of God and therefore brothers and sisters united eternally in love regardless of how we may appear to differ.
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