WCC FEATURE: Building a culture of peace in Jamaica

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World Council of Churches - Feature

BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE IN JAMAICA

For immediate release: 17 August 2010

By Jane Stranz (*)

The International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in the Jamaican
capital Kingston in May 2011 will be a testimony of solidarity for the
culture of peace that churches are trying to build on the island, 
says the
Rev. Dr Paul Gardner, the president of the Jamaica Council of 
Churches,
one of the event's hosts.

“It will give enthusiasm and momentum to the groups that are working
assiduously for peace in the various communities, that's what I think 
it
will do for Jamaica,” said Gardner, who has been president of the
Moravian Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands since 2005 and was
elected president of the worldwide Moravian Church in 2008.

Gardner was interviewed in Geneva recently where he was taking part 
in a
planning event for the convocation, which is being organized by the 
World
Council of Churches (WCC) and the Caribbean Council of Churches.

“The IEPC will bring a tremendous testimony of solidarity for the 
culture
of peace we are trying to build in Jamaica,” say Gardner.

He spoke about Kingston's “garrison communities” where, because one or
another political party can almost guarantee 100 percent support, they
often ignore criminality. Earlier in the year security forces tried to
move into the Tivoli Gardens district resulting in a state of 
emergency
being declared. Such communities are unique to Kingston, he said.

“Political parties turn a blind eye to criminality in those 
communities.
The country was being held hostage” says Gardner. “Politicians need to
dismantle the garrison communities so that people feel free to vote 
for
who they want.”

Churches, he says, needed to be proactive in such situations.

"I think it is important that churches take far more interest in the
development of communities, far more interest in what is happening to
people in depressed inner city communities," he states. "I don't 
think we
can have the luxury of not being involved or believing that nothing 
will
happen."

Deliverance from evil

In Jamaica, Gardner says, the main role of the churches has been in
advocacy for justice, peace and social transformation:

"One of the good things, if there is any good thing that has come out 
of
what has happened, is the formation of a civil society group holding
government accountable for the proper development of communities and 
the
implementation of the things that they promise,” he said.

“We are not a political party, we are church people, church leaders 
and
we must be able to speak as we discern what God is saying to the 
churches
at this time,” Gardner says.

In recent years an umbrella group, which includes churches that are 
not
members of the Jamaican Council of Churches, has been created. “We 
have
found a way to bring them together,” says Gardner. However, he says,
“The state of emergency almost threatened the existence of that group
… because some of us felt that we had to speak out that the government
is wrong. But there were church leaders who were not prepared to do
that.”

Referring to the passage “deliver us from evil” in the Lord’s prayer,
Gardner spoke of the challenges churches face in bearing witness in 
such
tense political circumstances.

“Part of the ‘deliverance from evil’ is not to be caught by a
political system because you want to be on the good side of the
government," he says. "You have to be independent of the political 
system
so that when you speak you speak clearly and your agenda is different 
from
the political parties.”

Gardner says he looks forward with great enthusiasm to the peace
convocation in May next year. “Jamaica is still open for business,
it’s still safe to come to Jamaica.” he says with a smile.

The experience of the churches in Jamaica in bearing witness and 
speaking
prophetically in such times, Gardner says, is “a powerful testimony 
for
just peace to Christians and churches around the world”.

[643 words]

* Rev. Jane Stranz coordinates the WCC language service. She is a 
pastor of
the Reformed Church of France and of the United Reformed Church in
Britain.

More on the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Kingston
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=ffb307edaa6b08c8a365 )

Country profile and WCC member churches in Jamaica (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=60ae217aee20a0a48894 )

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect WCC 
policy.
This material may be reprinted freely, providing credit is given to 
the
author.


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, 
witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship 
of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 
Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 
million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the 
Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse 
Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, 
Switzerland.



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