The Very Rev. David Giuliano

January 2009

The letter below was included in a United for Peace mailing sent to United Church pastoral charges in late January 2009. The mailing included a petition to the Canadian government promoting peacemaking in Canada, Israel/Palestine, the Philippines, and Colombia.

Dear Friends,

I greet you in the name of the One whom we call “the Prince of Peace.” Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). We’re all in favour of peace as an idea. I am writing to call on you to take action, to be a peacemaker in the world. One of the ways you can do that is by getting involved in the United for Peace Campaign.

The United for Peace Campaign was adopted during General Council 2006 in response to our heartache about the long history of violence in Israel and Palestine. Commissioners committed the church to raising $1 million for peace activities there. The United Church of Canada also committed to learning about root causes of violence and the work of our global partners in the Middle East. And the church promised to call on our own Canadian government to work for peace around the world. Since then, the Executive of General Council broadened the scope of the campaign to include peacemaking activities in other parts of the world and raised the campaign goal from $1 million to $2 million.

As your Moderator, I have visited our partners in Israel and Palestine, and in Nicaragua and Colombia. During those visits I heard stories of both despair and hope. I shared our intention to financially support, learn about, and advocate for their efforts for peacebuilding. Project proposals from partners in those and other places of violence have been arriving steadily.

Unfortunately, financial contributions to the fund have not. Less than 10 percent of our goal has been achieved. At the November 2008 meeting of the Executive of General Council, an additional $25,000 was committed from the Mission and Service Fund to promote the United for Peace Campaign. The work is too important to neglect.

In Palestine and Israel, I met children who attend schools in refugee camps in Bethlehem. These schools are run by United Church partners. I saw the murals they had painted on the towering wall that cuts them off from Jerusalem. The Cities at Peace project builds relationships and understanding between Arab and Jewish young people from neighbouring communities. I met members of Rabbis for Human Rights, Palestinian Christian ecumenical groups, and Arab women’s organizations, all seeking peaceful solutions to the violence, fear, and injustice that are part of daily life.

In Colombia, we visited Methodist Church leaders who are helping to heal individuals and communities wounded by the horror of forced disappearances and executions. In Nicaragua, the Antonio Valdivieso Ecumenical Centre works to heal those who were traumatized by civil war. All of these people—and countless others around the world—are peacemakers, children of God, and our friends. Their hope has been raised and their spirits lifted by the United Church commitment to being united with them for peace. We cannot let them down.

I am writing to invite you and your congregation to respond to God’s call to be peacemakers and to take an active role in the United for Peace Campaign. In this mailing, you will find resources that address the General Council commitment to call on the Canadian government to take action for peace. The United for Peace website also continues to offer a variety of excellent educational and fundraising resources.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

The Right Rev. David Giuliano