CANADIAN PEACE & JUSTICE
EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE
Mission Conferences Report --- Draft 3 -- August 6, 2006
SECTION A: INTRODUCTION AND
MANDATE
This report contains the findings of the Canadian Peace &
Justice Exploratory Committee which was formed by joint action
of the Canada East & West Missions at their respective
conferences in the Fall of 2005 (See Appendix A for the actual
resolution and mandate). The committee’s mandate needs to be
seen against the backdrop of the scriptural counsel to be
“dedicated to the pursuit of peace, reconciliation and healing
of the spirit.” The committee’s task in essence was firstly to
see if there are aspects of the above scriptural call that will
elude us unless there is a Canada-wide peace and justice
resource; and secondly, if that is the case, then to sketch out
the type of resource that would best facilitate such an
initiative.
SECTION B: DEFINITIONS AND
FINDINGS
The first step was to decide on a workable definition for
peace and justice.
1. Definitions
used by the committee for: peace, justice & the process of
change;
a. Peace:
Religiously we understand peace from its Hebrew word, shalom.
It is not simply the absence of conflict but rather a presence:
the recognition and acceptance of God's presence throughout all
of life's dynamics; and recognition and acceptance of all as
children of a loving God.
More formally, peace is understood as the well-being of all
life, always containing that openness to understand, and moving
to bring about justice for all, gauged by the effect on the most
disadvantaged.
b. Justice:
Its most basic definition is "what one is due". That definition
doesn't get one very far until one adds in the notion of the
equality of all people. We all have some innate sense of
fairness. Religiously, its Hebrew word, zedakah,
translates better as righteousness.
c.
Process of Change:
Issues of peace and justice imply that change is needed. Much
work has been done on examining the process of change.
Simplified, change is a process involving many stages and many
layers -- the right action at the right stage will advance the
cause; the wrong action will set things back. Some of the
stages are: awareness, fact-finding, education, changing
attitudes, laws, and societal structures. Some of the layers
are: whether to work outside the system, such as researchers,
activists, or independent monitoring; or whether to work inside
the system, such as changing attitudes, policies, and laws.
2. The
Basic Findings:
Our explorations involved finding out what was taking place at
the local level, what was available at the World Church level,
and then seeing what possibilities existed at the national level
that didn’t seem easily covered locally or through the World
Church. A summary of our findings follow:
a. Individual
congregations: Many are involved in peace and justice
activities:
i.
We had 22 of 66
congregations report on peace and justice activities (see
Appendix B). This is not an exhaustive list but only represents
those who replied to our inquiry.
ii. The
list was loosely broken into issues that dealt with symptoms and
root causes. Both must be addressed, but our general sense was
that at the local level, actions more often dealt with symptoms,
generally because they are easier to identify and easier to do
something about. For instance it is much easier to give to a
Food Bank (a symptom) than try to address its root cause, which
would involve untangling all the reasons that have caused people
to line up at the Food Bank (one reason can be that a government
cut funding to psychiatric care programs and thus we find people
who are less able to cope with life’s normal stresses out on the
street).
(1) Sample
list of activities dealing with symptoms: Giving to food
banks, Christmas hampers; making quilts, blankets (even starting
Blankets4Canada), Christmas stockings; serve at food or other
shelters; transport or assist people;
(2) Sample
list of activities dealing with root causes: Supporting
World Accord, Roofs Over Africa; serving Fair-trade products;
giving Peace and educational awards and scholarships; youth
peacemaker programs; prayer for peace; creating non-profit
agency to help at-risk youth;
iii. Lack
of time was seen as one of the factors preventing fuller
responses, both in the ability to do adequate research and to
formulate appropriate responses.
b. The
World Church: The World Church has peace and justice
resources, and some will be helpful, but others are geared for
the broader scene and thus don’t provide any Canadian context
which can be so crucial.
c. Canada-wide
Ecumenical bodies: We found that several ecumenical bodies
exist, both Christian and other traditions (see Appendix C for
our survey). We found that in terms of activities, most forums
tend to be regional in structure, indicating that our local
congregations are likely the suitable partner. We were unable
to determine what costs would be involved in joining national
coalitions or forums.
d. Canada-wide
Ecumenical Statements: We found that periodically such
statements are created (for example, regarding the War in Iraq).
But we found the signatories varied widely – it could be a
representative of a national organization or it could be a local
congregation or temple or sometimes even individuals. Thus we
felt that while in theory there could be value in such actions,
that before any recommendation could be made, more research was
needed about the actual mechanisms being used, as well as what
mechanism we might use in deciding whether to sign any such
statements.
e. Issues
of National Scope: We found there are peace and justice
issues affecting both Canadian national policies (for example,
day-care, or First Nations relations) and Canadian international
policies (such as peacekeeping) that are in need of analysis and
support. See Appendices D and E for examples.
f. Issues
Exist That Fall Between The Cracks.
This observation came via an actual submission to the committee
by a church member (by Sean Pigeon, who is involved in work for
the blind, and is the husband of committee member Christine).
The submission highlighted the lack of, and need for, national
standards for various disabled groups - that there seems to be
an unwritten assumption that government is uniformly looking
after such groups, which is not true (see Appendix F for actual
submission). It should be noted that our committee was
“exploratory only” and had no power to act on the submission.
But it did highlight that: (1) there exist areas pertaining to
peace and justice that are not being addressed; and (2) as Sean
stated, “Thank you for listening to my proposal. This in itself
is the most compelling reason to have a committee.”
3. Value
of a Canada-wide Resource
An analysis of our findings indicated that there is merit in
having a Canada-wide peace and justice resource, such as an
ongoing committee. The chief values would be:
a. Assist
local congregations that want to address root causes that are
found at a national level,
Treating symptoms is desperately needed for those suffering the
symptoms, but unless someone deals with root causes, we will
forever be dealing with symptoms, and that is something very
hard to do at local level in a broad sense.
b. Provide
dissemination of info: educational and action-oriented.
Congregations are able to educate themselves and take action.
But the committee found, even as members of congregations
themselves, that there was seldom the time needed to adequately
research a topic. And if a congregation was lucky enough to
have, for instance, a student studying international development
or a senior who had spent years on issues surrounding the
homeless, that such expertise seldom went beyond the
congregation. The Canada-wide resource could be a conduit for
such research, expertise, or action-oriented opportunities.
c. The
church will be a place where ideas are heard and considered.
There is value in having our church members find, within their
own community, a forum, be it a web-based chat forum to dialogue
about Canada-specific peace and justice ideas, or the committee
itself, to which one could submit proposals. The process to
handle such a request is outlined below in Recommendations.
d. Mediate
& refocus divisive issues.
Due to the ambiguity and complexity of certain aspects of life
as well as our diverse perspectives, certain peace and justice
issues can easily become divisive. The committee believes that
we are called, not to shy away from such issues, but to address
them respectfully. We have found some resources to assist in
such a mediating and refocusing dynamic which we feel could be a
definite value for the Canadian field.
e. Raise
awareness for broader community.
There could be some value for any friends in the broader
community who are particularly interested in peace and justice
issues, to find that the Canadian field is organized in this
respect. A website might help attract such people.
SECTION C: RECOMMENDATIONS
1.
Overall.
We recommend the formation of an ongoing Canada-wide Peace and
Justice Resource (hereafter, CdnPJR). Its purpose and structure
would be determined by the two Mission Centre presidents in
conjunction with the field apostle, taking into account the
following recommendations:
2. Purpose
and Process.
The overall purpose of the CdnPJR would be to assist
congregations address peace and justice issues that cannot
easily be done on a local basis and for which there are not
suitable World Church resources. Its overall form should be a
committee structure.
a.
Overall Orientation.
i.
It is a church
information resource both for education and possible actions.
The CdnPJR exists to assist congregations and individuals who
want to pursue peace and justice issues more fully and
intentionally. While one of its functions might be to provide
valuable actions – such as letter writing to our government on
behalf of Darfur - each congregation remains entirely free to
choose what it will do.
ii.
Its priority should be
to focus on issues that have a strong national aspect to them.
Life on our planet (within our planetary biosphere) is highly
complex and interrelated. Thus there are very few issues that
occur in isolation and do not affect us in some way.
Nonetheless, simply to prevent being overwhelmed by the endless
array of issues around the globe, we recommend that the CdnPJR
in general restrict itself to issues containing a major Canadian
element.
For example, it would likely skip issues on international
whaling (since we don’t have a major fleet) but might consider
the ethics of the Canadian seal hunt. Secondly, it might even
consider the whaling issue if some of our First Nations people
were affected by it, or if we found that World Church was not
addressing whaling and there was a group passionately wanting to
form a sub-committee (see Structure, below).
b.
Areas of Activity.
i. Provide
information and action possibilities on Canadian-specific Peace
& Justice issues.
There is a wealth of information out there, but sifting through
it all is overwhelming for most congregational leaders, who have
many other tasks and burdens to carry. One task for the CdnPJR
would be to do the basic research (often simply locating where
the research has already been done) and then feed that to
interested congregations. Secondly, for those congregations
that are able to research a topic, how much better if there was
a forum (the CdnPJR) through which the effort could be shared?
ii. Strengthen
a congregation’s reach by providing avenues to address root
causes.
Similar to (i), there was a recognition from the committee, that
on an individual congregation level it is easier to treat
symptoms – something badly needed – than root causes, because
the latter often have some of their causes embedded in the
national political landscape. The CdnPJR could help complement
such initiatives by providing a national context for such
issues.
iii. Provide
a web forum on Canada-specific issues (it should be noted
the World Church has such a forum for general issues) allowing a
moderated dialogue and encounter, as well as being a window for
the outside world.
iv. Provide
resources to help clarify and facilitate a better dialogue on
divisive issues.
In addition to normal conflict resolution guidelines and the
above mentioned “Process of Change” considerations, the
committee has material available {in its early-stage}
specifically designed to help a person or a group clarify and
broaden what goes into ethical positions.
v. Provide
a Canadian perspective to World Church.
While either Mission Centre, through resolutions brought to
World Conference, can bring a Canadian perspective, part of the
task of the committee should be to explore mechanisms through
which the entire Canadian field might add its voice to such
legislation.
vi. Join
ecumenical and interfaith statements and activities that are in
line with Community of Christ beliefs.
As noted above, the committee feels there may be value here, but
it needs more research.
vii. Provide
a Canadian Peace Award.
We haven’t probed this deeply yet – there seems to be consensus
that in theory it is a good idea, but there are differing senses
of its priority.
Its value is at least three-fold: (a) it acknowledges and
supports worthy candidates; (b) it raises the issue up in the
broader community and provides for them, a link between our
church and peace & justice; (c) within our church it heightens
awareness of specific issues and for those attending, gives a
sense of respect to the wonderful ways that God’s Spirit moves
through all people.
If and when such an initiative is in place, we felt the best
mechanism would be to have it during the MC conference, and
alternate locations – one year it would be in the East; the
next, in the West. It would start small – an evening
presentation followed by a speech by the recipient.
3. Structure
& Costs.
Whatever form the CdnPJR takes, it needs to be composed of
people passionate and knowledgeable about peace & justice
issues. We recommend a committee structure (see Appendix G for
recommended expectations and application form for chair and
members). While a large committee of 10 to 12 people might
provide good representation, we recommend a small committee as
outlined below, because (a) it would be more efficient and
manageable; and (2) we feel the core/sub-committee structure is
the best mechanism to match the actual time and desires of the
Canadian field regarding peace and justice – the greater the
desire and time, the more sub-committees that would form. We
further recommend that it be reviewed after the first year and
after the 5th year and adjusted as needed.
a. Chair:
Ideally the CdnPJR should
be headed by a full-time position. If budgetary constraints
prohibit that, then it could be someone paid a stipend for one
or two days per week. If that is also unworkable, then it
should be someone who can volunteer a minimum of 20 hours per
month, preferably much higher. Regardless the person should
have a broad background in peace and justice.
b. Core
Committee: It should be
composed of an equal number of people from each MC (preferably
two from each MC plus the chair). They would submit their names
to the MC presidents and field apostle who would then select the
members and bring them to the conference for confirmation. They
should be willing to devote 10-20 hours per month.
c. Terms:
Each committee member
would serve rotating three year terms, with a maximum of three
such terms; after being off for two years, they could submit
their names again. The MC conferences would vote to sustain the
committee annually.
d. Core
and Sub-Committees: The
purpose of the core committee would be to facilitate requests
and discern areas needing attention within the Canadian field.
For a given issues, they would send out requests for people to
form a sub-committee. From the list they would select members
and strike the sub-committee if there was adequate response.
The sub-committee would then research the issue and present its
findings to the committee. It would dissolve if the issue was a
temporary one (for example, the implications of supporting the
war in Iraq) or it could be an ongoing sub-committee (for
example, how to bolster preventative measures in medical
depression related illnesses).
e. Accountability:
The sub-committees report
to and are accountable to the core committee, and the core
committee reports to and is accountable to the MC presidents and
field apostle and to the MC conferences.
f. Liaison:
The CdnPJR should have
ongoing liaison with Encounter World Religions.
g. Costs:
$400 for each MC; plus the potential costs to pay the chair
position;
Respectfully
submitted,
The Canadian
Peace & Justice Exploratory Committee
Committee
Members: City
Betty Williams
Regina, SK
Christine Galbraith-Pigeon
Ottawa, ON
David Levitt
Hayter, AB
Rod Downing, Chair
Surrey, BC
Stephanie Johnson
St. Thomas, ON
