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Delegates speak out on war; homelessness; Colombia
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Delegates to the 203rd Annual Meeting approved several resolutions related to current issues, including a statement against the expansion of the war in Afghanistan, a call for an end to homelessness in the state, and support for the people of Colombia.
Response to September 11th
The resolution addressing the government’s response to September 11th brought the most debate, and after being amended in several places it was passed by a vote of 70 percent to 30 percent.“We oppose the expansion of this war to other countries, such as Iraq,” the resolution reads in part. “We believe that non-violent actions of a diplomatic, financial, educational and intelligence nature in cooperation with other countries and international bodies are more effective strategies for dismantling terrorism than warfare.”
At the request of several delegates, a sentence was added to the resolution offering prayer and support for US military personnel around the world.
The debate surrounding the resolution was at times emotional.
“I was in Washington on September 11th, less than a mile from the Pentagon, with my family and 65 other children,” said Bill Cockshaw, Moderator of the Christ Church United in Brockton. “I saw terror on my children’s faces. They asked ‘will we be okay,’ and I couldn’t answer. We have to do whatever it takes so I can answer that question.”
John Glore of the First Congregational Church, UCC of Shrewsbury agreed that sometimes using force is necessary.
“I am hopeful that war may someday go away. But war saved us more than once in the 20th Century. War is a nasty but sometimes necessary evil,” he said.
And Doug Showalter, pastor of the First Congregational Church in Falmouth, questioned the part of the resolution stating that non-violent means are more effective at ending terrorism.
“In the long run, I believe they are, but in the short run? On some occasions, peacemaking requires a violent response,” he said, mentioning responses to the Dachau concentration camp and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
But Carrie Bail, pastor of the First Congregational Church in Williamstown, said her church had much discussion about the resolution before the Meeting.
“I came to believe that it is very rare that war is a solution for the problems around the world,” she said. “Too many innocent people are killed.”
And Peter Kakos, pastor of Edwards Church in Northampton, called on the delegates to remember the legacy of the Conference.
“In the 18th Century we stood up against oppressors – England. In the 19th Century we stood up against slavery. In the 20th Century we were against the completely pathetic and unfair Vietnam policy. We should be the moral compass not only of the state and nation but of the world,” he said.
Paul Clayton, a member of West Barnstable, added that debate over the resolution was not a political one.
“We are deciding what our witness is in the Christian faith on the war,” he said. “That is that we will be victorious if we use non-violent means.”
Homelessnesss
Delegates overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling on member churches to urge legislators to eradicate homelessness in the Commonwealth.Fran Bogle, Peace and Justice Coordinator for the Metropolitan Boston Association, told delegates that there are 350 families and 5,000 individuals who are homeless in Massachusetts today.
“The Bible is filled with calls to do justice and commit acts of kindness. To love our neighbors as ourselves. To do to others as we do unto ourselves,” Bogle said.
Bogle urged churches to tell their Legislators to adopt a one-stop housing application process for people, who now have to register in each individual city or town where they want to be considered for housing.
Don Wells, a member of Old South Church in Boston, spoke in favor of the resolution, recalling a service he attended in May commemorating the death of 183 homeless men and women and one child who died in the past year.
“Let’s act,” he said.
The resolution also calls on churches to offer services directly to homeless people, which many churches do now by running food pantries, supporting shelters and providing other assistance.
Colombia
Delegates also overwhelmingly approved a resolution in support of the people of Colombia, and of a multi-Conference delegation traveling there this summer. Massachusetts Conference members are part of that delegation.The resolution calls on churches to urge U.S. policymakers to replace military aid to Colombia with humanitarian aid, and to replace the aerial fumigation used to destroy coca crops – which are used to produce cocaine – with manual eradication.
Other business
Delegates also approved a resolution setting the new Clergy Compensation Guidelines for 2003, and they approved a balanced Conference budget of $2,288,300 for 2003. That budget assumes that churches will increase their Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support contributions by between 2 and 6 percent, and that they will pay Fellowship Dues of $12.65 per member.<Clergy Compensation Guidelines for 2003>
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