"Living Letters" Delegation Arrives in USA
New York City, USA
Church leaders and communities facing situations of violence in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and New Orleans will share their experiences with an international ecumenical team visiting the United States from 15-23 September. Being from South Africa, Lebanon, Pakistan and Brazil the team members will express the solidarity of churches worldwide with the US churches while learning from their peacemaking efforts concerning urban and gun violence as well as the Iraq war and community peace building. See main article.
By meeting an Arabic Lutheran congregation and Muslim leaders from its neighbourhood, the group will focus on violence and peacemaking efforts in the post 9/11 context of immigration to the US, especially issues affecting Arab and Middle Eastern communities.
On 21 September the team will attend an ecumenical event marking the International Day of Prayer for Peace. This WCC initiative calls on churches worldwide to pray for peace on 21 September, coinciding with the United Nations International Day of Peace.
Members of the team visiting the churches in the US are:
• Rev. Edwin Makue, a minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa who is the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches.
• Ms Lina Moukheiber, a Greek Orthodox (Patriarchate of Antioch) public health specialist who is the director of development at the Saint George Hospital in Lebanon.
• Dr Marcelo Schneider, a theologian specialized in ecumenical social ethics who is the ecumenical officer of the Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil.
• Ms Aneeqa Maria Akhtar, a Roman Catholic human rights lawyer from Pakistan who is a member of the international DOV Reference Group.
WCC staff members accompanying the team are Rev. Deborah DeWinter, from the US, and Rev. Hansulrich Gerber, from Switzerland.
The World Council of Churches is the world's most inclusive ecumenical organization, whose purpose is to promote Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. A fellowship of churches inaugurated in 1948, today the WCC brings together 347 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches in over 100 countries, representing more than 550 million Christians. The Roman Catholic Church works cooperatively with the WCC.
Websites: www.oikoumene.org / www.overcomingviolence.org
