Statement from Annual Conference moderator, general secretary mourns cycle of violence in Syria

Church of the Brethren Newsline
April 7, 2017

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you” (Isaiah 54:10).

“Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever” (Isaiah 32:16-17).

“The Church of the Brethren has consistently spoken to the sinfulness of war–of the human cost both in lives lost and lives irreparably changed, in the financial cost and the priority that military spending is given over humanitarian efforts, and in the cost to our souls as we rely on violence for our security rather than the vision of God.”
–From the 2011 Annual Conference “Resolution on the War in Afghanistan” ( www.brethren.org/ac/statements/2011resolutionafghanistan.html )

As citizens under the reign of God, we mourn the violence of these days. We are appalled by the use of chemical weapons and the intentional targeting of civilians in Syria. Yet, as followers of the non-violent Jesus we know that the bombing by the government of the United States in response to Syria’s recent actions continues the cycle of violence. While we are reconciled to God and one another through the work of Christ, we reaffirm our convictions that militarization of conflict will not bring peace. And recognizing that violence is a way of the world that has yet to be fully redeemed, we commit ourselves to another way of living, to speak and work for peace in the righteousness of Christ our Lord.

Carol Scheppard, Annual Conference Moderator
David Steele, Church of the Brethren General Secretary

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