church and peace
“Not by might nor by power...” - A conference on vulnerability and security
14 - 17 June 2007
Corrymeela Community, Ballycastle Northern Ireland
“...but by my Spirit.” Zech. 4:6
The need for security and peace is a legitimate and elementary human need. Yet the quest for absolute
security and invulnerability fosters a climate of fear and inevitably undermines the very fundaments of
the security it seeks to defend.
For true security is, paradoxically, the fruit of the risk that we take when we choose to live and struggle for
values such as justice, interdependence and community without the use of violence. No weapons system
or pre-emptive war can ever provide this kind of security.
From the point of view of faith, pursuing security without resorting to "might" or "power" does not mean
denying the dangers threatening human life; rather pursuing true security means accepting human
vulnerability while relying on the Spirit of the life-affirming God and practicing the justice that He asks of
his disciples.
Church and Peace invites you to join Christians from across Europe for its next international conference
which will take a critical look at the effects of the current security ideology and strive to define alternative
community policies rooted in the choice of unarmed vulnerability and the pursuit of justice, two essential
pillars of the Church's calling.
The Corrymeela community with its wealth of thirty years' experience in reconciliation and peace work in
Northern Ireland provides an ideal setting for this undertaking which is intended as a waystation in the
Third European Ecumenical Assembly process and a contribution to the Decade to Overcome Violence of
the World Council of Churches.
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Thursday, June 14
Assessing the cost of the quest for absolute security
* Welcome and introduction to conference theme
Hansulrich Gerber, coordinator of the Decade to Overcome Violence of the World Council of Churches
* Affinity groups: Sharing experiences of (in)security in society today
* Evening prayers
Friday, June 15
Exploring paths to true security
* Morning worship with the Corrymeela community
* Belfast peace and reconciliation study excursion: Building justice and community
* Affinity groups: Reflecting on models of vulnerability and true security experienced during the day
* Defining conditions for a shared future: The case of Northern Ireland
Duncan Morrow, chief executive officer of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council, member of
Corrymeela
* Evening prayers
* For night owls: A true story of security through vulnerability - Film "Joyeux Noël" + discussion
Saturday, June 16
Identifying security choices for the Church
* Morning worship with the Corrymeela community
* Taking a closer look at shalom, the security strategy of the Bible
Alejandro Zorzin, Uruguayan liberation theologian, pastor of the Altleiningen, Kohlhof and Friedelsheim
Mennonite Churches
* Affinity groups: Considering the implications of shalom for day-to- day life
* Marketplace: Discovering vulnerability and true security initiatives within the Church and Peace network
Norman Kember, former Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation member held hostage in Iraq
Responding to God’s shalom calling
* Ecumenical worship: Celebrating an alternative vision of security through vulnerability
* Sermon - "Choosing the way of the Spirit"
Ana Raffai, co-director of Regionalna Adresa za Nenasilno Djelovanje/
Regional Address for Nonviolent Action in Zagreb, Croatia
* Festive evening with Irish music and dance
Information & Booking
Church and Peace International Office
Ringstrasse 14 * D-35641 Schoeffengrund
T: +49 6445 5588 * F: +49 6445 5070
IntlOffice@church-and-peace.org
Sterling cheque: Axel Landmann * 172 Ruskin Rd * Northampton * NN2 7TA
Euro wire transfer: Church and Peace e.V. * Account number: 2365103
* IBAN: DE77 5156 0231 0002 3651 03 * Volksbank Wetzlar-Weilburg *
BLZ 51560231 * BIC: GENODE51WZ1 (no Euro cheques, please!)
Schedule
Thursday, June 14th
15:30 - 17:30 Check-in & room assignment
18:00 Supper
19:15 Conference opening session
Sunday, June 17th
8:00 Breakfast, departure
Venue
Corrymeela Centre
5 Drumaroan Rd
Ballycastle
Co. Antrim
BT54 6QU
Northern Ireland , United Kingdom
Tel: +44 28 207 62626; (028) 207 62626
www.corrymeela.org
A contribution to the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3) and
the Decade to Overcome Violence
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church and peace
faith communities committed to nonviolent discipleship nonviolent * European * ecumenical Church and
Peace members
* understand the call in the Sermon on the Mount to seek God's kingdom and righteousness and to
proclaim in word and deed God's good news of reconciliation and peace as defining tasks for the Church
and its members;
* find the embodiment of this kingdom in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ:
healing and transforming broken lives; confronting violence with the power of love; restoring just relations -
personal, societal, with God and Creation; challenging unjust systems and structures with an attitude of
service, an economics of sharing, and a strategy of nonviolent transformation;
* seek to walk in nonviolent discipleship as a committed body of believers.
Church and Peace wishes to empower communities of Christ's followers today to be places where his
peace is lived out in a visible way.
To date groups and individuals from 11 European countries and the Mennonite, Quaker, Church of the
Brethren, Anglican, Methodist, Moravian, Lutheran, Orthodox, Reformed and Roman Catholic traditions
have committed themselves to journeying together as Church and Peace.