Let anniversary of September 11 attacks lead to peace and healing says church organization

["Daphne Martin_Gnanadason" <Daphne.Martin_Gnanadason@wcrc.ch>]

** High Priority **


World Communion of Reformed Churches  
News Release
07 September 2011
 
Let anniversary of September 11 attacks lead to peace and
healing says church organization
 
Let the tenth anniversary of attacks on sites in the United
States mark a time both of remembrance and of renewed commitment
to peace, says a global organization of Protestant churches. The
World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) based in Geneva,
Switzerland, is inviting its 230 member churches worldwide to
join in prayers for those who lost loved ones in attacks on the
World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington on
11 September, 2001.
 
The president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)
Jerry Pillay, says in a message from South Africa: “The enormous
suffering experienced by the families of American and foreign
nationals working in New York and Washington at the time, has
formed tragic links with victims of terrorist attacks in other
countries in recent years. It is time to resolve differences with
dialogue and peace building rather than with weapons of mass
destruction in whatever form.”
 
“WCRC member churches in North America and the Caribbean send
our prayers and condolences to those who mourn,” says Yvette
Noble-Bloomfield, WCRC’s vice-president for the region. “We pray
for comfort for those who are hurting. And we pray that a spirit
of healing and reconciliation will emerge from the ashes of this
disaster.”
 
“This is a time of pain relived and grief remembered,” says
Douwe Visser, WCRC’s acting General Secretary. “We are thinking
of those who were bereaved by the attacks and hold them up in our
prayers as we approach the anniversary of this event that changed
the course of American history.”
 
“WCRC celebrates American churches as they seek to draw on the
country's rich history of tolerance and inclusion. We recognize
how challenging Christ's message of love for one's enemy is in
these days of tragic memories and know that churches are seeking
to be faithful to the Christian gospel message that calls us to
healing and reconciliation, a costly discipleship,” says
Noble-Bloomfield.
 
“Churches in the United States and worldwide are left with
questions,” says Visser. “Is there room in the aftermath of such
events for the Gospel message of forgiveness? Does Jesus teaching
us to love our enemies and do good to those who harm us apply to
a situation like this?” the Dutch theologian asks.
 
At the end of September churches from the region will be meeting
the Dominican Republic around the theme of “Who is my neighbour?”
This theme reflects concern for what it means to be a neighbour
in the post-9/11 era. WCRC has 21 member churches in the United
States and Canada and in the Caribbean region.
 
WCRC was created in June 2010 through a merger of the World
Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical
Council (REC). Its 230 member churches representing 80 million
Christians are active worldwide in initiatives supporting
economic, climate and gender justice, mission, and cooperation
among Christians of different traditions.
 
Media Contacts:
Kristine Greenaway
Office of Communications
Email: kgr@wcrc.ch 
tel: +41 (0)22 791 62 43;
fax: +41 (0)22 791 65 05
www.wcrc.ch ( http://www.wcrc.ch/ )