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Justice and Peace Covenant
As members of the First Congregational, United Church of
Christ, Naperville, Illinois, we covenant to work together for the making
of peace with justice in our homes, our church, our community, our nation
and our world.
We shall strive for justice and peace through the inward
journeys of spiritual nurture, and education; and the outward journeys of
outreach and political action. |
The Inward
Journey of Spiritual Nurture
Recognizing one foundation in Jesus Christ who is our
peace, we shall in prayer, worship, and searching the scripture:
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Develop awareness of God's
peace giving and the needs and opportunities to promote just peace |
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Nurture and celebrate
hope which gives people strength to change the world even when margins
of success seem slim |
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Reflect on the biblical
and theological perspectives of peace-making |
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Be God's human partners in
serving and redeeming the world so that the church works with unleashed adventure and creativity to
build a new reality - offering the world an alternative way of life - the
way of justice and peace. |
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The Inward Journey of Education
Recognizing that there are no easy answers to the
problems of justice and peace, we shall educate ourselves in the ways of
the Prince of Peace by:
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Encouraging our youth to grow in ways of peace and
justice through the church school curriculum, the annual youth work
camp, and by supporting each other in peaceful family living |
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Publishing and exhibiting examples of successful
justice and peace-making efforts plus dispensing literature to the
congregation |
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Providing programs on related subjects to groups
within the church |
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Establishing a library shelf stocked with books,
magazines and pamphlets pertaining to issues of justice and peace |
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Making short, concise progress reports in church
services on a quarterly basis. |
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The
Outward Journey of Community Outreach
Recognizing
that we are a part of a larger community, we strive as a congregation to:
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Support a continued and strong commitment to
mission spending at the level of 25% of our annual income or more, as
our finances will allow |
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Make a Just Peace Offering annually and retain 25%
to promote justice and peace locally |
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Join with other groups in demonstrating,
individually or collectively, our beliefs in justice and peace |
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Support church members who volunteer in community
programs that promote justice and peace, such as PADS, FISH, Little
Friends, and Family Shelter Services |
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Stimulate community awareness of justice and peace
issues by making available to our congregation bumper stickers, posters,
or other publicity materials |
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Act as a clearing house where all people will feel
comfortable bringing their concerns for justice and peace |
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Affirm the ministry of all Christians and support
those who accept that call as a professional choice. |
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The Outward Journey of Political Action
We agree to:
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| This we covenant to do in our effort to be
faithful to God's call in Jesus Christ, to seek ways of justice and peace
as a congregation. By vote of the congregation in January 1989. |
Just Peace Task Force Theological Basis of a Justice and Peace Covenant
(January 1989)
Just Peace theology is based on the concept of peace as expressed in the
biblical Shalom. In the Old Testament (300 references) Shalom means
communal well-being in God's perfectly ordered creation. It means wholeness, healing, justice, equality, unity, freedom, and community. Jesus
expressed the same thought by saying:
"If
you only knew today what is needed for peace." (Luke 19:42)
Shalom is a vision of God's will for creation with all people
whole, well, and one.
In Jesus Christ our broken relationship with God is restored.
As Christians we are empowered to be changed and to make changes in the world.
Reconciliation is not just a noun (static), but a verb (active), requiring our
actual participation.
We are to bond together to work for justice and peace to
identify with the oppressed, the despised, and the lonely. A Just Peace
Church is one whose members come together as friends of God to work as agents in
history for the creation of things that make for peace.
Why should our church create and adopt a Just Peace Covenant?
The covenant is a statement of our church's mission:
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moving us to look at our ministry to
see how justice and peace can be affirmed |
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calling us to be accountable |
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putting faith and action together |
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heightening our identity as
peacemakers |
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weaving several threads of action
into one fabric |
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giving us solidarity with churches of
shared purpose. |
A covenant makes it possible to offer a more clear and precise
witness to other religious and secular groups.
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