Canadian Mennonite
Volume 12, No. 12
June 9, 2008


God at Work in the World

Grassroots peacemaking

MC Canada joins campaign calling for the creation of a federal Department of Peace

Deborah Froese

Mennonite Church Canada

WINNIPEG

‘Because we believe in separation of church and state does not mean we should ignore the state.’ (Janet Plenert)

On April 19, the Mennonite Church Canada General Board approved a Christian Witness Council recommendation calling for the denomination to become a supporting organization of the federal Department of Peace movement.

As outlined on the campaign website (departmentofpeace.ca), the primary mandate of a peace department would be to rejuvenate and enhance Canada’s traditional peacebuilding role in areas of nonviolent conflict resolution, human rights, and social and economic justice. As a central coordinating agency, this department would have the potential to “infuse all departments and agencies of government with an ethic of peace,” the website says.

Several board members recognized MC Canada’s endorsement of the campaign as an important response to growing militarization in Canada. Others suggested that MC Canada support might encourage other Canadian churches and individuals to follow. Currently, the United Church of Canada and the Canadian Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) also back the movement.

International support for the development of federal departments of peace has been growing at a grassroots level. In response to increasing levels of global insecurity and violence, some 69 countries are involved in the movement, including Canada, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia and Italy.

“To get a national government to think creatively enough to have a Department of Peace is a radical movement,” says Janet Plenert, executive secretary of MC Canada Witness and a key player in presenting the recommendation before the MC Canada General Board. “It is clear that there are many places within the government where different peace initiatives could be lodged and discussed, but [these initiatives] are uncoordinated.”

Plenert believes that the variety of organizations giving sponsorship to the campaign for a Canadian Department of Peace—from Christian and interfaith groups to non-faith organizations—is a strong indication of the common desire among Canadians to see the government adopt an ethic of peace.

In Canada, the movement is supported by former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy and Senator Douglas Roche. Sponsoring groups include Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Conscience Canada, the Council of Canadians, the Dali Lama Foundation of Canada, the World Council on Religions for Peace, Nonviolent Peaceforce Canada, and YOUCAN, an organization for youth-led nonviolent conflict resolution.

Plenert is encouraged by the grassroots nature of the peace department campaign, saying, “I find it quite inspiring and motivating because, as Mennonites, we also talk about the church being the people. As a grassroots Anabaptist Church, we believe that the Holy Spirit inspires all people and not just the hierarchy.” She acknowledges that, although MC Canada’s General Board has given blessing and hearty endorsement to the proposal as a sponsoring organization, grassroots involvement is needed to provide hands and feet for the effort.

On May 12, Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled a $30 billion military budget over a 20-year timeline for its Canada First Defence Strategy. This may appear to fly in the face of a possible peace department, but Plenert remains hopeful. As a body of power, the government “will do what they will do, but ultimately they are responsible to the people through our elections. The government will feel pressure when it hears a groundswell of voices they cannot ignore,” she says.

Some may be surprised to find Mennonites involved on a political level, since Mennonite polity supports the separation of church and state. “There will be others who will come back and say that we’ve always been political,” notes Plenert. “So there are different perspectives. Is this political or is this not? Because we believe in separation of church and state does not mean we should ignore the state.”

As the national church body, MC Canada’s role will be to disseminate information to congregations and individuals, encouraging them to create local chapters to strengthen the campaign and intensify its influence on the government.

Beneath the tremors: A firm foundation

Response to Chinese earthquake begins, Mennonite workers in the region all safe

Ross W. Muir

Managing Editor

Sichuan Province, China

‘Please remember China and the many who are suffering in your prayers.’ (Philip Bender)

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite Church Canada are both accepting financial contributions to help people affected by the May 12 earthquake in central China.

MCC and Mennonite Partners in China—a joint program of MCC, MC Canada Witness, Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) and Eastern Mennonite Missions, based in Harrisonburg, Va.—have committed an initial $100,000 for earthquake relief and recovery efforts. They are providing $20,000 to the Amity Foundation, a Chinese Christian partner organization, to help distribute water, food, plastic sheeting and other supplies to families whose homes were destroyed, and $80,000 to churches in Sichuan province to purchase and distribute aid in affected communities.

“Depending on the level of giving that comes in, we can do more to assist Amity and the churches in responding to the needs created by the earthquake,” says Tom Wenger, MCC’s associate director for Asia.

On May 18, Peter Yuan, pastor of a church in Chengdu, Sichuan province, led eight mini-vans and sport utility vehicles full of church youths to a church in the earthquake-devastated city of Mianzhu, reports Mennonite Partners in China director Myrrl Byler. The group then split up, visiting eight villages outside the city, delivering food and supplies, including much-needed medicine. While most of the villagers were working in the fields when the quakes hit, many of their homes were destroyed, burying their possessions.

“I just felt so sad when I saw their suffering,” Yuan says of his experience in Mianzhu, which included a short worship service, in which he preached and encouraged the local believers. Two Christians lost their lives in the earthquake and others were injured.

MC Canada Witness/MMN workers Todd and Jeanette Hanson are on the ground in Nanchong, near the earthquake’s epicentre, and are responding with immediate medicine and other supply needs, while ongoing gifts will also be needed to assist with long-term spiritual care and compassion ministry in the affected areas.

The Hansons wrote in an e-mail of their experience: “The shaking seemed to go on for quite a long time. . . . The quake was centred in Wenchuan, northwest of Chengdu. We’re northeast of Chengdu. So far as we know, no one was hurt here. On our little walk, we noticed a shattered streetlight globe that had shaken loose, and noticed some soffit stuff that had fallen off. At Claire’s primary school, one of the old buildings apparently lost a few roofing tiles. But we’re all okay.”

Philip and Julie Bender, MC Canada Witness/MMN workers in Chongqing, about 350 kilometres from the quake’s epicentre, also sent an e-mail home. “The tremors here yesterday were quite sharp,” Philip wrote. “I was out for a walk when they struck and didn’t feel anything. However, when I started passing large groups of people on the street . . . I knew something was up. . . . Julie had been at home, in our 14th floor apartment, which shook. She and other foreign teachers around us exited quickly, along with the students on the other floors. All of our MC Canada Witness and Mennonite Partners in China colleagues are okay. Today’s New York Times says that this is China’s worst natural disaster in three decades. . . . Please remember China and the many who are suffering in your prayers.”

Eight MCC workers are serving as English teachers at universities in the affected areas of Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality. All have been accounted for, and none were harmed in the earthquake, according to Kathleen Suderman, an MCC representative in Beijing.


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