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BAPTIST PEACE FELLOWSHIP AUTUMN NEWSLETTER 2015

WeintheBPFhavebeencampaigningagainsttheuseofdronesformanyyears.Wehavealwaysarguedthatoneoftheproblemsthatarises fromtheiruse isthattheyremovetofurtherthanarm’slengththemoralresponsibilityforkillinganddestruction.Wehavenowwitnessedalogicalconsequenceofthis

diminished moral responsibility. “On August 21 this year, a Rubicon wascrossed.DavidCameronorderedthesummaryexecutionoftwoBritishcitizens,RuhulAminfromAberdeen,andReyaadKhanfromCardiff.BothwerekilledbyRAFdronestrikes inSyria……..Therearemanydisturbingaspects tothiscase.First,itwasanexecutionwithouttrialordueprocess.Second,ittookplacenotbecause of crimes already committed, but because of 'intended crime'.Cameronstated,"their intentionwasthemurderofBritishcitizens.Soonthisoccasionwetookaction".Third,ittookplaceinacountrywhichwearenotatwarwith,andwhichtheBritishParliamentvotedagainsttakingmilitaryactionagainst.”(DavidRobertsonisModeratoroftheFreeChurchofScotland).

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Of course the use of assassination and targeted killing is not entirely new.Though they are fictional the worlds of Smiley and James Bond are quiteevidentlybuiltontheirauthors’experienceinthesecretservices.AccordingtoAlasdairPalmerwritingintheDailyTelegraphinFebruary2010,“Inthe1980s,one element of the British Army routinely helped Loyalist death squads killsuspected IRAmen inBelfast.Agroupcalled theForceResearchUnithandedout names, addresses and photographs of thosewhowere thought to be onactive service for the IRA to Loyalist assassins. In thosedays, thewhole thinghad to be kept secret.Whenone officer referred obliquely to the practice incourt,hisclaimswereveryquicklydenied.Buttheofficerconcernedwasnevertriedorevenadmonished–infact,hewaspromoted.”Whoknowshowmanypeople have been killedwithout trial in the shady undergrowth of espionageand “counter terrorism” in the last 50 years since the abolition of the deathpenaltyin1965?OliverCromwelloncesaid,“Therearegreatoccasions inwhichsomemenarecalled to great services, in the doing of which they are excused from thecommon rule of morality.” That has been the justification for plannedassassinations ever since. As Arthur Hulnick and Daniel Mattausch wrote in1989: “Professional standards require intelligence professionals to lie, hide

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information,orusecoverttacticstoprotecttheir"cover,"access,sources,andresponsibilities. TheCentral IntelligenceAgencyexpects, teaches, encourages,and controls these tactics so that the lies are consistent and supported("backstopped"). The CIA expects intelligence officers to teach others to lie,deceive, steal, launder money, and perform a variety of other activities thatwouldcertainlybeillegalifpracticedintheUnitedStates.Theycallthesetactics"tradecraft," and intelligence officers practise them in all the world'sintelligenceservices.”TheBritishgovernment formed theSIS (secret intelligence service) in1909 totry to find out the military strength of what was perceived as the Germanthreat. The Americans created the CIA by an act of Congress in 1947 toundertake"specialprojects"inresponsetothegrowingthreatofcommunism.A report to President Eisenhower in 1954 argued that the U.S. faced "animplacable enemywhose avowed objective isworld domination bywhatevermeansandatwhatevercost,"andurgedtheU.S.to"learntosubvert,sabotageanddestroyenemiesbymoreclever"and"moreruthless"methodsthanthoseof its opponents. The report conceded that this entailed a "fundamentallyrepugnant philosophy" and contradicted "long-standing American concepts offairplay,"but it insistedthatsuchanapproachwasnecessarygiventhegraveinternational situation that existed. More recent advocates of strong U.S.espionageandcovertactionprogramshavetypicallyfocusedonthestrategiesandmethodstheydeemessentialtomeetingvariousforeignthreats,fromtheKGBtocontemporarydruglordsandterroristorganizations.ItisknownthataninternalCIA"HealthAlterationCommittee"existedasearlyas 1960, and that a CIA "executive action" capability, which includedassassination, was authorized by theWhite House as early as 1961 and thateven in the second world war drugs had been developed to be used toincapacitateor even assassinateNazi leaders and that theyhad subsequentlybeenauthorizedforuseagainstdoubleagents.Thispolicywaschangedinthemid1970sandsince thenassassinationhasbeenprohibitedbyU.S.executiveorders. Howeverdespitethis,amanualdevelopedfortheNicaraguancontrasbyoneormoreoftheirCIAadvisers,forexample,urgedthatSandinistaofficialsbe "neutralized" as part of a "selective use of violence for propagandapurposes." In addition, former CIA general counsel Stanley Sporkin reportedlyconcludedintheearly1980sthatviolentactionstakenagainstterroristswouldnotconstituteassassinationunderU.S. law,andthisopinionmayhaveserved

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asthejustificationfor"sensitiveretaliationoperations"launchedagainstthosebelieved responsible for the 1983 bombings of the U.S. Embassy andMarinecompoundinBeirut.So,inpractice,assassinationandtargetedeliminationhasnotbeenruledoutdespitethefact that itcontravenesofficialCIApolicy.NeilLivingstone inhisbookontheWaragainstTerrorismarguedthat“Justas it isnotacrimetokilltheenemyduringwartime,sotooshoulditnotberegardedasacrimeoramorallyreprehensibleactwhenanation,actinginconcertwithits obligation to protect its own citizens from harm, seeks out and destroysterroristsoutside itsborderswhohavecommitted,orareplanningtocommitatrocities on its territory or against its citizen”. But even he argues thatassassination should only be usedwhen there is no opportunity to bring theterrorists to trial, because assassinationbydefinitionexcludesdueprocessoflawinascertainingtheguiltorinnocenceofthe"accused"aswellasinapplyingan appropriate punishment if and when guilt is established. The assassin ineffectactsasprosecutor, judge, juryandexecutionercombined.AsTrygveLie(the1stUN secretary general)wrote, “A real diplomat is onewho can cuthisneighbour'sthroatwithouthavinghisneighbournoticeit.”

UK Reaper operations in Iraq and Syria (Jan – Jun 2015)

Month UK Reaper Missions solely in Iraq

UK Reaper Missions entering Syria

Total UK Reaper missions

% of UK Reaper missions in Syria

UK Reaper Missions releasing weapons in Iraq

No. of strikes from UK Reapers in Iraq

Weapons from UK Reapers in Iraq

Jan 2015 63 8 71 11% 12 25 33 Feb 2015 59 8 67 12% 7 12 13 Mar 2015 62 14 76 18% 13 17 18 Apr 2015 59 20 79 25% 11 13* 18 May 2015 59 25 84 30% 16 20* 28 Jun 2015 48 32 80 40% 10 10* 11

Total 350 107 457 23% 69 97* 121

The use of drones, in a countrywithwhichwewere not atwar, to take outalleged terrorists contemplating an act of terror goes further than the Britishgovernment has ever admitted to having gone before. Phillipe Sands QC,professorof lawatUniversityCollegeLondon,haspointedoutthattheBritishgovernment's use of the UN Article 51 line of argument that nations couldintervene with force to prevent a terrorist attack, represented a "newdirection"fortheUK,whichhadpreviouslytreatedcaseslikethisasmattersforcriminalratherthaninternationallaw.Now,hesaid,theUS"warlikeparadigm"hadbeenadoptedinstead."Planningafutureattackatsomefarawayplacehas

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neverbeengoodenoughininternationallawontheuseofself-defence-ithastobe imminentandon thatweneed theevidence,"he said. Indeed Iwouldarguethatusingdronesinthiswaysuggeststhatassassinationisnowregardedbyourgovernmentasa legitimatetoolofforeignpolicy.This isaverysinisterdevelopment. State-sponsored murder is still murder. And the fact that it isdonebyremotecontrolledkillingdevicesdoesnotremoveresponsibilityfromthosewhoauthorizeit.BobGardiner

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Practice,practice,practicemakesperfect…peace.There’s a well-known, if apocryphal story of a young musician asking aLondoner how to get to the Albert Hall. The reply comes back, ‘You mustpractise,practise,practise!’What istrueformusiciansappliestoathletestoo,who,asSt.Pauladvised,must‘train,train,train’withperseveranceiftheyaretowin the race.1 So it should comeasno surprise that ifChristiansare tobepeacemakersinaviolentworld,thenthey,too,needtoenteranarenawherethepatternsofGod’sShalom,arerehearsedagainandagain.Worshipprovidessuchaplace.ItiswheretheChurchcanpracticemakingpeace.Whileworshipisnever simplyaperformance, itmaybeuseful to thinkof itandpeace-makingthroughthesemusicalmetaphorsofpracticeandperformance.

Using such imagery, we can explore how a Christian commitment topeace-making results from the confession that ‘Jesus is Lord’. As such, wediscover that non-violence is not simply a social virtue, but is part of thecharacter of God revealed to us in Christ. Therefore the practices of Shalomoughttoshapeacongregation’slife,includingtheirworship.Allthisleadsustotheimportanceofworshipasarehearsalspaceforpeace.

In thinking of worship, writers such as James K.A. Smith have recentlyshownjusthowimportantitscontentcanbeforteachingandformingachurchof ethical disciples.2 He notes that people are, “‘liturgical animals,” creatureswhocan’tnotworshipandwhoarefundamentallyformedbyworshippractices.The reason such liturgies are so formative is precisely because it is theseliturgies,whetherChristianor“secular”, thatshapewhatwe love.Andwearewhatwelove.”3

Andso,ifthechurchistobeapeoplewholoveGodandthepeaceofGodthen, as Stanley Hauerwas has argued, ‘the regular, continual pattern ofgathering forworshipmaybe viewedas the church’s rehearsal.Worship thusbecomes a kind of performance before the performance, a preparationbeforehandforwhateverwitnessthechurchmightbecalledtogive.’4

1ICorinthians9:25andseealsoITimothy4:8.

2JamesK.A.Smith,DesiringtheKingdom:Worship.WorldviewandCulturalFormation,(Grand

Rapids:BakerAcademic,2009).

3JamesK.A.Smith,ImaginingtheKingdom:HowWorshipWorks,(GrandRapids:BakerAcademic,

2013).p4.

4StanleyHauerwas,PerformingtheFaith:BonhoefferandthePracticeofNonViolence,(London:

SPCK,2004),p98.

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Thus worship should become ‘why’ and ‘how’ and ‘where’ the character ofindividual Christians and the mission of the Church are practised. When thetimeofgatheredworshipends,thepeoplearesenttoperformwhattheyloveand now have learnt by heart. This brings some serious challenges to thecontentofworshipandtothosewhoplanit.Mostimportantlyitshouldcauseministersandworshipleaderstoaskifwhattheydoisconsciouslyrootedinatheologyofmakingpeace.

If worship has been deliberately structured to form the character andshape the mission of a community, those who have rehearsed as Hauerwassuggestswillbesentout toperformand in timewill re-convene to reflectontheirexperience.5Theywillbringstoriesthatcelebratesuccess,confessfailureandintercedeforperseveranceintheirwitness.Theremaybemuchvariation,buteachstoryshouldbeasked,‘howhasourlivingmadeknownthepeaceofGod?’Theanswertothatquestionoughttoinformthenext‘rehearsal’/timeofworship. The churchdoesall thisnot simplybecause in aworld rivenwithconflict, peace seems to be ‘the right thing to do’, but because as Alan andEleanorKreidernote,‘whenChristiansgathertoworshipGodwemakepeace…becauseofthenatureoftheGodtowhomweascribeworth-Godis“theGodofpeace.”(Rom.15:33;16:20.)’6

Thisstandsinthetraditionoftheprophetswhoproclaimedatimewhen‘swordswerebeatenintoploughshares.’7Butultimatelythechurchaffirmsittobetobetruebecausewebelievethat,inJesus,wehavethegreatestrevelationofthepeace-makingcharacterofGod.Heisthe‘imageoftheinvisibleGod’and

5Themetaphorofperformancedoesnotpermitanynotionof‘playacting’,butrather,is

understoodastheChristiancommunitybeingcaughtupintothemusicand‘doublingupthe

parts.’Inotherwords,theChurchjoinsinandperformsthemusicGod,asHolySpirit,is

alreadyplayingthroughoutcreation.

6AlanandEleanorKreider,WorshipandMissionAfterChristendom,(MiltonKeynes:

Paternoster,2009),p152.

7Isaiah2.4.

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Christ reveals a deity that within God’s-self is a nonviolent community ofpersons.8AsJohnDearnotesfromaconversationwithRichardRohr,‘“Nothingchanged on Calvary”. Jesus was nonviolent before, during and after.’9 Jesus’most famous sermonblesses thepeacemakersand instructs themtopray forthose who persecute them. His last recorded words to the disciples inGethsemane were ‘put down your sword,’ a final reminder to love theirenemies.Athisdeath, Jesus refused to callupon theangelarmieswhocouldhave delivered him. After his resurrection, Jesus continues as he left off,returning to those who had betrayed and abandoned him, offering themreconciliation,wishingpeaceupon themand inviting them,as itwere, to seethePassionassomethingofarehearsal,apreparationforthenextperformanceofGod’sunfoldingpurposes.

ThatnextperformancetakesplaceinwhatN.T.Wrighthascalled‘Act5ofthe drama of salvation.’ He suggests that after Creation and The Fall, (Acts 1and2),whentheShalomofEdenwas lost,peace-makingbecamecore to thepropheticproclamationsof Israelandthe lifeof Jesus, (Acts3and4).Now, intheviolentworldofAct5,WrightsuggeststhatChristiansmayknowhowtheplaywillend,butuntiltheeschaton,theyarecalledtoofferan‘improvisatoryperformance of the final act as it leads up to and anticipates the intendedconclusion.’10 We may not know the full nature of such improvisedperformance,butwedoknowthatineachperformanceweareanechoofour

8DavidCunninghamhasarguedthatthe‘otherness’locatedwithintheimmanentlivesofthe

Trinitycreatesagenuinepotential fortheirwills todiffer,butbecausethisconflict isnever

actualisedbetweentheFather,SonandHolySpirit,thereiswithinGodagenuineexpression

of Shalom. David Cunningham, These Three are One: The Practice of Trinitarian Theology,

(Oxford:Blackwell,1998),p241.

9JohnDear,PutDownyourSword:AnsweringtheGospelCalltoCreativeNonviolence,(Grand

Rapids,MI:Wm.B.Eerdmanns,2008),p11.

10N.T.Wright,TheNewTestamentandthePeopleofGod,(London:SPCK,1993),p141-143.

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futureselves,11andofthecomingpeaceableKin-dom.12Withinthedisciplineofrehearsal, performance and reflection, it is worship that offers the church aspace inwhich topractice,practice,practiceall thatwemightyetbecomeaspeoplewhoparticipateinthereconcilingworkofChrist.Afterall it isapeace-makingJesusthatChristiansproclaimasLord.FortheearlyChurchtodosowasnotonlyanactofreligiousdevotion,itwastantamounttopoliticalsubversion–itwas to ‘come out’ as a radicalwho denied the legitimacy of the governingCaesar.Itwasalso,ataspirituallevel,tostandagainstthedominantcosmologyof the day, what Scripture identifies as the ‘Powers and Principalities’13 andwhatWalterWinkhastaughtustounderstandastheDominationSystem.This‘System’encompassesallthatopposesthetruepeacethatisforth-toldbytheprophets, incarnated in Jesus and hoped for in the coming Kin-dom. It is theidolatrous inclinations found in all manner of global, national, local andpersonalmethodswhichmaintainunjustanddehumanisingpowerrelations.

Thesystemisenshrinedinthe‘mythofredemptiveviolence’,anarrativethatbelievesthatviolentmeanscanbringaboutpeaceableends.The ‘secularliturgy’ of this myth pervades everything from children’s cartoons andHollywoodmovies to immigration policies and international interventions for‘regimechange’.Itmeansthatthe‘goodguys’(usuallyus),canlegitimatelyuseviolence (inmany forms including the physical, but also the political and theeconomic) because that is how we defeat the ‘bad guys’. If James Smith iscorrect,thatweas‘liturgicalanimals,’becomewhatwehaveworshipped,thenthedangerwefaceisclear.ThechurchmustresistsuchliturgiesoftheSystem,and proclaim a non-violent alternative. If not, the Powers will devourhumanity’s devotion. If Jesus shapes the characterofourworship then itwillcompelustoshowlovetoourenemies.Buttheliturgiesofviolencesopervade

11TomWrightusestheimage‘ashadowofourfutureselves’inN.T.Wright,NewHeavens,New

Earth:TheBiblicalPictureofHope,(Cambridge:GroveBooks1992),p12.

12 The phrase Kin-dom,with evocations of amore egalitarian ‘family of God’s people’, is here

preferred to that of ‘Kingdom’ with its sometimes problematic overtones of patriarchy and

associatedviolence.SeeAdaMariaIsasi-Diaz,‘Solidarity:LoveofNeighborinthe21stCentury,’in

SusanBrooksThistlethwaiteandMaryPotterEngel,Eds.,LiftEveryVoice:ConstructingChristian

TheologiesfromtheUnderside,(MaryKnoll,NewYork:OrbisBooks,1998),p31-40.

13SeeRomans8:37-39,Colossians1:16andEphesians3:10-11and6:12.

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contemporary culture that they have become normative. As Wink says, ‘Noother religious system has ever remotely rivalled the myth of redemptiveviolencein itsabilitytocatechizeitsyoungsototally.’14Thesepeoplegrowuptobeleaders,policymakersandvoters,Christianorotherwiseandarelargelyunabletoresistthelureofthemythbecausethey’veheardnoalternativevoiceproclaimed.ButresistancetotheDominationSystemisnotonlyfarfromfutile,such resistance is the secret of the Christian’s joy.15 Here, in Act 5 of God’spurposes,thechurchresiststheSystemofDominationanddeathandconfessesher allegiance to the God of peace and life - ‘Jesus Christ is Lord!’ Theresponsibility for raising an alternative voice, the vocation for its propheticproclamation belongs, if not uniquely, then primarily to the church. It is thecommunity of Christ on earth who are charged with unmasking the violentSystemofDomination,proclaimingShalom,andworkingforpeaceintheworld.But to do sowith confidence and authenticity the churchmust first practise,practise,practisethatpropheticvocationwithintherehearsalspaceofworship.ButthechurchhasoftenfailedtoseethepracticeandperformanceofShalomascentraltoitsworship.

It might be helpful for contemporary congregations to consider howpeace-makingdisciplesmaybe formedthroughourpreaching, rituals,prayersandhymnody.TheearlyChurchaddressedthechallengesofnonviolenceandofresistanceinthecontextofitsworship.16Forthepre-ConstantineChurchsuchpracticesbeganwhatwascalledthecatechumenate,anintegratedapproachtodiscipleship andworship that socialised pagans into the alternative values ofgospelliving.Hereitre-formedconvertsinanewworldview,providingthem14WalterWink,ThePowersthatBe:TheologyforaNewMillennium,(NewYok:Doubleday,

1998),p54.

15‘ResistanceistheSecretofJoy’isthetitleofaPhDDissertationbyLieveTroch,notedbyMary

C.Grey,TheOutrageousPursuitofHope,(London:D.L.T.2000),p20.

16ForanoverviewofthisseeAlanandEleanorKreider,WorshipandMissionAfterChristendom,

p130-173,particularly152-155.

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withwhat Bob Ekblad sees as essential for the church again today, namely acosmologythattakesseriousaccountof‘themicroforcesthatassaultpeopleinforms such as anger, jealously, lust and greed, labeled by the early churchfathers as “passions” or “demons” and the larger macropowers such aslegalism, nationalism, discrimination, and the like, labeled by social propheticwriters according to the biblical vocabulary surrounding “principalities andpowers”.17Apeace-makingchurchneedstobetrainedinhowChristandGod’sShalomchallengethePowers.Thecatechumenate,ortrainingprogrammewasoften likened to exercise for athletes. This Greeks called this askesis. TheirregularexerciseisliketherehearsalofaworshippingcommunitypractisingtheactionsthatarerequiredtoresisttheSystemandfulfilthepurposesofpeace-makingGod.Anewaskesis isneeded,a rehearsalofpeace-makingwithin theChurch, that will equip and empower people to resist the Powers and trulyproclaimthatChristisLord.Thisistheheartofworship.

In order to resist the Powers, those responsible for facilitating worshipmight ask, ‘how does this help us to fashion Shalom and confess a peace-makingJesus?’Eachpartofworshipshouldask,‘howdoesthisworshipenableus to identify, engage and redeem the Powers within and around ourcongregation?’Howdoourprayers,rituals,preachingandhymnodyhelpustoresist the Domination System. For as Alan and Eleanor Kreider note,worshiptoday needs to be evaluated ‘not by how people feel about their “worshipexperience”butratherbytheextenttowhichworshipenvisionsandempowersthemtoparticipateinGod’smissionbyseekingfirstGod’sKingdomof justice,peaceandjoy.’18

Whileit isnotpossibleinthisshortarticletooffercomprehensivesuggestionsfor practical changes inworship, the following examplesmight illustrate howchurches may become training grounds, rehearsal rooms or ‘schools forpeace’.19

Somechurcheshaverecentlystoppedbringinganofferingwithinworship,arguing thatmostmembers give through their bank and that the ‘collection’sendsanunwelcomemessagetovisitors,i.e.‘thechurchjustwantsyour

17BobEkblad,ANewChristianManifesto:PledgingAllegiancetotheKingdomofGod,(Louisville/

London:WestminsterJohnKnoxPress,2008),p68.

18AlanandEleanorKreider,MissionandWorshipAfterChristendom,Backcover.

19Thephrase‘schoolsofpeace’istakenfromDavidCunningham,TheseThreeareOne,p267.

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money’.Thisisunderstandable,butitisworthasking,whereelsemightanyonewitness andparticipate in an alternative to thepervasive ‘secular liturgies’ ofMammonandTheMarket?Whereelseare thePowersofmoneynamedandengaged, how else might greed be redeemed for the joys of generosity? Ofcoursethechurchisnotuniqueinofferingalternativeliturgiesinthisway,butifitoffersnoaskesisofresistancetoitsmembers,willitnothavefallenshortofitsvocationtoparticipateandperformtheKin-domofjusticeandpeace?

Likewiseinselectingourhymnody,thosewholeadworshipmightask,asdid one Mennonite pastor, ‘Who do you sing that I am?’20 If in worship webecomewhatwelove,thenrephrasingJesus’questiontoPeteroffersacritiqueofthesongscongregationslovetosing.FormanyChristians,songsshapehowtheyunderstandGodandthushowtheyunderstanddiscipleshipandmission.Sodoourmusicians leadus in songsthat speakaboutapeace-making Jesus?Do our hymns offer words of lament and resistance against the Powers ofviolence that rage against theweakestmembersof a global villageor indeedagainstcreationherself?DotheyrehearsehowtherhythmsofShalomwillbesharedbytheChurchwithinahurtingworld?

Baptismmight need to be reclaimed as the act bywhich Christians areinducted into a counter- cultural community who have peace-making at theheartoftheirworship,discipleshipandmission.Theconsequencesofbelongingto such a communitywill need to be expressly explored through discipleshipbefore baptism is offered. At Baptism the whole community would reaffirmtheir commitment to non-violent living and pledge their ongoing support tothoseabouttobebaptised.

TheEucharistoffersrichopportunitiestorehearsethepracticesofpeaceandperformingShalom.TraditionallyCommunionofferssuchaspacethroughthe ‘sharing the peace.’ While this has been minimised in even the mostliturgical of congregations, it retains deeppotential for people to explore therealities of conflict and reconciliation within a congregation, before they areeversentintotheworld.MoreimportantlyCommunioninvitesafellowshiptorememberChrist’sdeath,butnotasasimple ‘inmemoriam.’TherecollectionoughttoaffirmthatonthenighthewasbetrayedJesusfaceddeathashehadlived,rejectingviolence,prayingforhisenemiesandcommandinghisdisciplestodolikewise.Communionmightthencreatespaceforpeopletoexpresstheir

20 Adam Tice, ‘Who Do You Sing That I Am?’ Senior Paper, , Associated Mennonite Biblical

Seminary2007,notedinAlanandEleanorKreider,MissionandWorshipAfterChristendom,p157

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resistance to the myth of redemptive violence, a myth that may not bealtogether absent from our theologies of the Eucharist or atonement.Moreover,itisattheTablethatChristiansareremindedthattheyarethis‘echoof their future selves’, that while Christ has died and is risen, so too he willcomeagain,bringingwithhimaKin-domofpeace, that isalreadybreaking inamongstus.ThefullnessofShalommaybe‘notyet’,butinbreadandwinethechurch is called to inhabit it within the ‘now’, bringing peace into a violentworld.

Ifmuchofwhathasbeensuggestedhereseemsafarcryfromtheusualexperiencesofworship,mightanyofitreallybepossible?Therecertainlyneedstobesomerealismwithincallsfornonviolentdiscipleship.Peace-makingisnotthe place for idealists. Violence will endure and increase. But, as DavidCunninghambelieves,theChurchcanprovideanalternative‘schoolforpeace’,ifit‘tellsstoriesandhabituatespracticesthatallowpeaceablenesstoshapeourlives.’21Thelifeofthechurchisshapedbytheirworship.Ifwebecomewhatwelove, then peace with justice, the Shalom of God, must be what the Churchloves.Itmustlearnresistanceandconfessionthatisbothrehearsedinworshipand performed amidst a violent world. To do so we must learn that onlypractice, practice, practice will help us to make perfect peace. In that way,whentheperformanceofa lifetime is required,ormore likely,whenmultipleperformancesofnonviolenceandreconciliationareneeded,thechurchwillbeable,withconfidenceandauthenticitytobecomeaGod’sgiftofpeace-makingtoaviolentworld.

21DavidCunningham,TheseThreeAreOne,p268.

CraigGardiner,committeememberofbpf.

This articlewaswritten for the BaptistMinisters’ Fellowship Journal and firstappearedinitspeaceeditionofAutumn2015.Reprintedbypermissionofthejournal’seditor.

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TheHoliestExperience:AReflectionfromFerguson My experience in Ferguson was life-changing. In my local Indianapoliscommunity, we were doing work aroundBlack Lives Matter for a few months,usually centred on protests, vigils, andconversations taking place in a veryconservative city and state. I did not haveto think too longabout theopportunity tobe around a group of like-minded peoplewho had been doing the work for blackliberation for over a year now. Not that Ididn’tconsidertherisks–Iknewthatthese

samepeople had been facing fully armedpolice officers, tear gas,mace, andotherpsychologicaltraumathatstilleffectsthemtoday.WhatIbelievesumsupmy decision is a quote I recently read, spoken by Aboriginal activist LillaWatson.Thequote reads, “If youarecomehere tohelpme,youarewastingyour time. If you have come because your liberation is bound upwithmine,then letusworktogether.” I felt,andstill feel, thatmy liberation isboundupwiththeirs.

However,Ihavealsogrowntorealizethatwhilewearefightingforblackliberation,wearenottheonlyoneswhowillbe liberated.PauloFreireputs itthis way in Pedagogy of the Oppressed: “In order for this struggle to havemeaning,theoppressedmustnot,inseekingtoregaintheirhumanity(whichisaway to create it), become in turn oppressors of the oppressors, but ratherrestorers of the humanity of both. This, then, is the great humanistic andhistoricaltaskoftheoppressed:toliberatethemselvesandtheiroppressorsaswell.Theoppressors,whooppress,exploit,andrapebyvirtueoftheirpower,cannot find in this power the strength to liberate either the oppressed orthemselves.Onlypower thatsprings fromtheweaknessof theoppressedwillbesufficientlystrongtofreeboth.”

Whilewearefightingforblackliberation,wearealsofightingtofreetheoppressors.Thesameoppressorswhodefendandsustainthesystemthroughviolenceanddehumanization,whobelievetheyaredefending“freedom”whenactually sustaining the status quo.We areworking to create a community, a

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world, which is revolutionarily different than the one we live in. After beingarrested in the Moral Monday action, I had a small taste of being literallyconfrontedbyasystemandphysicallybeingput in jail. Iwas ina jailcellwithabout 14 other women, among them Lisa Fithian, Rahiel Tesfamariam, andclergywoman,andallof them incrediblepeoplewhohavebeenapartof thismovement. While waiting in the cell, we reflected on the tragedy of whathappenedtoSandraBland,(whowasfoundhangedinhercellinJulythisyear)aswell asmanyotherswhoget lost in the systemandareneverheard fromagain.Wealsotalkedabouttheevilsofsolitaryconfinement,afterreflectingontheblessingthatnoneofuswereinajailcellalone.

WhenpeopleaskaboutmyexperienceinFerguson,Itellthemitwastheholiestexperienceofmylife,anditwas.IfeltlikeIwasputtingfeetonmyfaith,doing what Jesus has long commanded us to do. To fight with and for theoppressed.What Ihavecarriedwithmeeverydaysinceare thepeople that ImetinSt.LouisandFerguson.Anythingdealingwithpeopleandrelationshipsisgoingtobemessy–itisgoingtobeacommunityofstrong,hurting,inconflict,determined, and wary people with their own set of issues and baggage. Butabove all, I experienced a beloved community that I have not experiencedanywhereelse.

Alexis Tardy whowrote this piecewas one of the participants on the BPFNAdelegation to St. Louis, MO from August 6-12, 2015. She recently graduatedfromIndianaUniversity-PurdueUniversityIndianapolis(IUPUI)andisactivewiththeBlackLivesMattermovement in Indiana.ThisarticlewaspublishedontheFOR facebook page on the anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown inFergusoninAugustlastyear.FOR's training coordinator Gretchen Honnold co-led alongside Lizzy of DeepAbidingLoveProjectaBaptistPeaceFellowshipofNorthAmericadelegationtoFergusoninearlyAugustfortheanniversaryofthedeathofMichaelBrown.

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OfficersofBPFPresident&editorofthenewsletterRevdRGardiner,21Kingshill,Cirencester,GL71DE.bobgardiner@yahoo.co.ukSecretary:poststillvacant;someoneurgentlyneeded

Treasurer&MembershipSecretary MrsTinaParsons,tinajaneparsons@gmail.comPleasecontactTinaParsonsifyouarehappytoreceiveyournewsletteronlineratherthanasaprintedcopy.BPFwebsitehttp://www.baptist-peace.org.uk

SituationsvacantBaptistPeaceFellowshipRepresentation:TheNetworkofChristianPeaceOrganisations is a valuable forumwhere theleaders/officersofthevariousdenominationalandotherpeacegroupsareableto share news. The NCPO has also been largely responsible for organising aChristianPeacepresenceatGreenbelt.Therearenormally2or3meetingsperyear,oneat FriendsHouse in LondonandothersatOxfordorBirmingham. Ihavebeenabletoattendmanyofthesemeetingsforthepast10ormoreyearsand it would be great if another person associated with the BPF was to bedesignatedasourrepresentativeandabletoreceivenewsfrommeetingseveniftheywerenotalwaysabletoattend.ThuswecouldcontinuetotakeourpartintheNetworkGenerally10or12peacegroupshavepeopleatthemeetings.VolunteerspleasecontactoneoftheBPFcommitteemembersormedirectly.NormanKember.FORAt present, being the observer on the trustees of FoR involves beingpresent for the quarterly meetings (which are on Saturdays) andreporting back to the BPF committee of any issues. Whilst both myselfand the previous observer Alan Betteridge were members of the BPFcommittee I see no practical reason why this should be, as a shortwritten report would suffice which could be emailed prior to the twiceyearly BPF committee meetings. The meetings are usually, although notexclusively, at Peace House in Central Oxford and FoR do pay travellingexpenses.TinaParsons.