The Decade of Nonviolence and World Peace

ELCA Church Council Action CC99.04.43a.3

Passed by the 1999 ELCA Church Council.

Resolved
To support the Nobel Peace Prize laureates’ appeal for a "Decade for a Culture of Nonviolence," and a "Year of Education for Nonviolence," with special emphasis on children and youth;

To encourage congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and church-related schools, institutions, and agencies to teach, practice, and model nonviolence — both for their own members and in service to their communities — making use of available resources on nonviolence;

To encourage this church in the development and distribution of educational resources and training programs that will help youth, congregations, and the related institutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to address the growing threats to the safety and peace of people everywhere (e.g., war, civil strife, school and community violence); and

To urge churchwide units of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to work cooperatively in identifying strategic ways through which adult and youth leaders might learn the elements of active nonviolent peacemaking and serve effectively in support victims of violence in their efforts to achieve wholeness, self-respect, and peace.