wfn.org | "Peace Pillars"

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
U.S.A.
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
Internet:  news@ncccusa.org

66NCC7/17/98                  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NOTE TO EDITORS, REPORTERS:  Upcoming "Pillars of 
Peace" regional consultations are scheduled for 
Sept. 11-13 in Chicago and Sept. 18-20 in San 
Francisco.  See story for details.

CHURCHES REVIVE VISIONARY "PEACE PILLARS" FOR 21st 
CENTURY CONTEXT

NEW YORK, July 17 -- Just as they did more than 
50 years ago, American churches are working together 
to develop a new agenda of world peace and security 
and to renew their support for the United Nations.

Member denominations of the National Council of 
Churches have begun developing "Pillars of Peace for 
the 21st Century," an updated version of "Six 
Pillars of Peace," a visionary 1942 document which 
emerged during World War II from the Federal Council 
of Churches, the precursor to the NCC. That document 
served as a cornerstone for the creation of the 
United Nations following the war.

"We want to continue this strong tradition," 
said Kathy Todd, interim director of the 
International Justice and Human Rights Program 
Ministry of Church World Service, the humanitarian 
response ministry of the NCC.

"We are trying to engage the church and remind 
it of its heritage, of its speaking out and being a 
witness on behalf of world peace and justice," she 
said. "Just as the church was a powerful actor in 
the formation of the UN 50 years ago, the church can 
be powerful and effective in strengthening the 
United Nations today."

The UN Task Force of the NCC's Program Ministry 
Committee for International Justice and Human Rights 
has drafted "Pillars of Peace for the 21st Century," 
which takes into account the increasing role of 
civil society, transnational corporations and the 
process of economic globalization.

The six "new" pillars are: 1) International 
political framework (provided by the United 
Nations); 2) International economic accountability; 
3) International legal framework; 4) Protection for 
the most vulnerable; 5) Resolution and 
transformation of conflict; 6) Honoring human 
rights.   Ms. Todd suggests there might even be a 
seventh pillar added -- one concerned with ecology 
and the environment.

-more-

PEACE PILLARS
66NCC7/17/98 - Page 2

The draft has served as a starting point for 
discussion at three regional consultations, which 
have been supported by the Stanley Foundation. The 
first, May 8-10, took place in New York around the 
issues of international political framework and 
conflict resolution. The second, scheduled for Sept. 
11-13, 1998, in Chicago, will focus on international 
legal framework and human rights. The third 
consultation, Sept. 18-20, 1998, in San Francisco, 
centers on international economic accountability and 
protecting the most vulnerable.

Church leaders, denominational representatives, 
ethicists and theologians are among those 
participating in the consultations, and their work 
is serving as the basis for a video and study guide 
that will be used at the congregational level by NCC 
member denominations.
 
The original "Six Pillars" stemmed from a 
feeling by prominent American church leaders that 
"civilization had failed," according to historian 
Robert Smylie. By 1942, many of these church leaders 
had fashioned the "Six Pillars of Peace," and this 
statement exemplified the significant role that 
churches then played in shaping thought and action 
in international affairs and in helping create the 
United Nations.

"Churches played a leadership role during the 
formation and early years of the UN," said Ms. Todd.  
"Today, more than 50 years after this important 
document was drafted, churches are being challenged 
to update the 'six pillars' for service in the new 
millennium and to reclaim their voice in 
relationship to the global community."

The new "Pillars of Peace for the 21st Century" 
that emerge(/s) from the consultations and study 
will serve as a governing policy statement 
considered by a number of NCC bodies -- including 
the NCC/Church World Service and Witness Unit 
Committee and the NCC Executive Committee -- before 
being taken up for a first reading at the NCC 
General Assembly in November 1998. The document will 
be slated for a second reading and final adoption at 
the NCC's 50th Anniversary General Assembly in 1999. 
If approved, it will become a new NCC policy 
statement on the United Nations.

One of the participants in the May consultation 
says the revised document holds the promise of 
reviving support for the UN, which has not been 
politically popular in the United States in recent 
years.

While the task for renewing interest in and 
support of the United Nations will not be easy, the 
churches can play a critical role, said Jennifer 
Butler, Associate for Global Issues at the 
Presbyterian United Nations Office in New York. 

"The church can serve as a powerful educational 
tool, and also as a comfortable place where people 
can discuss their concerns about the meaning of 
global community," she said. "We have a Christian 
call, a theological basis, to love our neighbor and 
expand our boundaries beyond our family and those we 
know to the wider world."

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