CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Nobel Peace Prize Laureates have issued an appeal for the General Assembly of the United Nations to declare a "Decade of Nonviolence (2000-2010)" and for the year 2000 to be declared the "Year of Education for Nonviolence" with a special emphasis on children and youth. The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will work to support the appeal.
The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here April 9-12. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is August 16-22 in Denver.
The Church Council will encourage congregations of the ELCA and church-related schools, institutions and agencies "to teach, practice and model nonviolence, both for their own members and in service to their communities" by making use of resources on nonviolence.
Churchwide units will help identify strategic ways through which adult and youth leaders might learn the "elements of active nonviolent peacemaking and serve effectively in support of victims of violence in their efforts to achieve wholeness, self-respect and peace."
The request for the Church Council to support the appeal came from the ELCA Commission for Women.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
