January 10, 2004

NEW YORK - "The power and promise of peace" is the compelling theme for activities to be carried out this year within the framework of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) 2004 focus on the USA. A Monday, Jan. 12, noon worship service will mark the opening of a year dedicated to strengthening and resourcing churches and movements working for peace in the USA.

A calendar of events for 2004 is to be drawn up by the US DOV committee, comprised of US denominational representatives, at a 12-13 January meeting in New York, where a DOV reference group and an international advisory group will also be looking at the mid-term and future of the Decade in general.

Taking place at midday at the Interchurch Center at 475 Riverside Drive, the Monday service will lift up the legacy of Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., as a source of inspiration to the US churches. Scheduled as guest preacher is Rev. Dr Otis Moss Jr, who was a friend and associate of King, and serves on the national board of the Martin Luther King Jr Center for Non-Violent Social Change. The service will also honour a special guest, the former chief of staff to Dr King, Rev. Dr Wyatt Tee Walker, for his lifetime commitment to seeking reconciliation and peace.

This is the third year in a row that the DOV is targeting a particular region; in 2003, the focus was on Sudan while in 2002, it was on Israel and Palestine.

The choice of the US focus was made by the WCC Central Committee in August 2003 on the basis of the courageous opposition of US churches to war in Iraq, and their efforts to alleviate suffering at home and abroad. The Committee also highlighted work by US churches on domestic violence, gun control and restorative justice.

At the same time, it evoked what it saw as the unchallenged power of the US. "The US administration" seems to believe that "it can afford to disregard the international order ... and ignore the concerns of the world's populations," the Committee said, also noting problems of "poverty, violence, racism in all its diverse forms, inter-faith relations, migration and inequality in education and employment."

DOV US focus spokespersons are Dr Bernice Powell Jackson, United Church of Christ (USA), WCC Central Committee; Ms Jean Martensen, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, co-chairwoman, US DOV Committee; and Mr Tom Paxson, Friends General Conference, co-chairman, US DOV Committee.

A DOV-US focus poster on "The power and promise of peace" will be available as of next Monday on the DOV website: http://www2.wcc-coe.org/dov.nsf

World Council of Churches