Reclaiming the Gospel of Peace

Just a little more than two weeks ago, the Episcopal Church concluded a conference, held in Oklahoma City, entitled "Reclaiming the Gospel of Peace", which was a gathering of lay people, religious, clergy and bishops, to dialogue about the epidemic of violence here in the United States, and to begin to discern where God might be leading us as a Church to confront this epidemic. There has been a good deal of press coverage for this event, but I wanted to add my own take on the conference as well.

Frankly, I thought the conference was extraordinary, not because we solved the problem of the epidemic of violence, but because we took time out of our lives, the week just prior to Holy Week, to at least begin this dialogue. A dialogue that we, and so many denominations, have been seemingly absent from for a long time.

We all know that violence is a major problem in our country. We all know the names of previously obscure towns - Newtown, Aurora, Lynchburg - that have become infamous for one reason - gun violence against innocent people, often children or young adults. But we seem only to get outraged over the latest shooting spree and then give a collective shrug of our shoulders and blame the NRA or the lack of effective mental health care in this country for the problem. But we don't ever seem to look to ourselves.

While we at least know the names of those towns, we do not ever seem to acknowledge the level of gun violence in our cities, or the level of domestic abuse, or human trafficking, or rape or bullying. And all of that is to say nothing about the level of violence afflicted by our government on our own citizens with the high rate of incarceration for non-violent offenses, and in capital punishment that occurs throughout the year. Rarely, do we speak of the levels of violence our government uses to enforce its will upon people around the world. So, the epidemic of violence is real. But that is not really news.

What does seem to be news is that we Episcopalians are really looking for ways to address this problem. Some folks are working on domestic abuse, others on human trafficking, still others on gun violence, or the campaign to end capital punishment. Yet others are campaigning about drones and nuclear weapons. 

It's not that we haven't had a witness for peace in the past because we have, most notably the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF). But now not only EPF, but others throughout the Church are joining in prayer and work to struggle with this issue. What I was most struck by at the conference is that we clearly have the church searching for a non-violent tradition within the broader Christian tradition. 

Having been founded as a state religion, Anglicanism has struggled with this over the centuries. Here in the United States, while never having been the state religion (we, of course, have never had one), we Episcopalians have certainly been, if not the Established Church, the establishment church, and that makes it difficult to speak out, in particular, against state sponsored violence.

But the Holy Spirit never gives up on us! And I believe that we Episcopalians made a giant leap forward in the prayer, work and study we engaged in together to reclaim that Gospel of Peace. A Gospel so filled with God's love and tender compassion that we cannot help but to respond by working and praying for a better world, a world in which the Reign of God is foremost in our minds, hearts, and actions. 

The old phrase and song "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me" is what we were about in Oklahoma City. Perhaps the biggest take-away from the conference was that peace must begin with me, with my parish, my monastery, my denomination. And let's join with other Christians as well to make this a truly world-wide movement of peace. Who will join us? I'll have a good deal more to say about this over the coming weeks, months and years. Non-violence is the only way forward in building a world in which God's reign is paramount. Whether you were at the conference or not, let's move forward together. Let's work toward a church that is grounded in the great tradition of the first Christians:  A tradition of non-violence. 

I'd love to hear from anyone interested in exploring ways that we can move forward together. 

Peace be upon you.