The Historic Peace Churches - Brethren, Mennonites and Friends - held their final conference of the Decade to Overcome Violence in early December in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with the theme "Hunger for Peace: Faces, Paths, Cultures."

The planning committee decided to focus on fifteen-minute testimonials by many participants, rather than keynote addresses. This had the benefit of a mosaic of images and experiences. There were also two opportunities to worship in local churches: Sunday morning at Luz y Vida (Light and Life) Mennonite Church and an evening at a Haitian Brethren congregation.

While the Brethren and Mennonites, because of their congregations in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, had greater visibility initially, the conference looked to the Friends' Peace Testimony as theological underpinning for much of its work. There was also an unprogrammed meeting for worship on the final morning, which helped ground the work to consider and finally accept the Letter from Santo Domingo, the epistle from the conference. Benigno Sánchez-Eppler of New England YM, one of the interpreters, coached participants from the other churches in the Quaker business method, and Delia Aspi Mamani of the National Evangelical Friends Church of Bolivia was a member of the small group that drafted the epistle.

Participants developed greater appreciation of each others' traditions as well as the churches' historic and contemporary commitment to peace. They left the conference determined to work together on issues of shared concern in their own communities and countries.

Detailed coverage of the conference is on the Church of the Brethren website. Coverage includes Adriana Cabrera's (Bogotá Monthly Meeting, Colombia) overview of Quaker foundations for peacemaking and personal testimonies of peacemaking struggles and successes in Latin America. The President of the Church of the Brethren in Brazil offered a Peace Church community hermeneutic that contrasted strongly with the growing influence of the prosperity gospel in Latin America.

Previous Decade to Overcome Violence conferences had taken place in Switzerland, Kenya and Indonesia. An additional gathering of Brethren, Friends and Mennonites in Canada and the USA, Heeding God's Call, had been hosted at Arch Street Meetinghouse in Philadelphia, so it was decided that the final event would focus on the Caribbean and Latin America.
 

Read Margaret Fraser's blog posts from Santo Domingo.
 

See video footage of the conference in both Spanish and English.

Latin American Friends present at the peace conference in Santo Domingo came from Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. They met on the last afternoon as a delegation and were enthusiastic about working together more closely in the future.  In addition to the existing COAL (Committee of Latin American Friends) programs - Quakerism workshops, intervisitation and electronic communication -  they agreed that they would like to work across national and yearly meeting boundaries on peace-building in the home, the church and local community, with a special focus on the problems caused by drugs.

The conference proceedings read:

The Quaker delegation listed several action points, including development of a special report about the conference for use by Friends, a new respect for their diversity and the understanding that differences between Quaker groups are an advantage rather than a disadvantage, seeking continued interaction with other peace churches, and working to address drug use in their homes, churches, and communities. Several presentations during the conference had linked the violence in a number of countries to drug use and trafficking, and related gang activity.

The Quaker United Nations Committee (Geneva) announces the appointment of Jonathan Woolley, a British national who has put down roots in Mexico, as Director.  He will take up the post in June 2011, when David Atwood, the present Director, retires.

Jonathan's professional knowledge of food, water, development, migration, climate change, international politics and economics will contribute to the work of QUNO, as will his considerable experience of advocacy, project design and program leadership.  

Jonathan says: "Even when I lived far from regular Friends' meetings, Quaker support and insights helped me to build understanding and cooperation among people. I feel extraordinarily fortunate now to focus that intention as a member of QUNO which, for over 60 years, has been such a consistent and inspired presence for a more peaceful and just world. Please hold all of the QUNO Geneva team in the Light as we respond to evolving challenges while remaining true to the original vision of supporting the UN's goals through quiet diplomacy in small groups."

Jonathan joined the Religious Society of Friends in Britain Yearly Meeting and is now an elder in Mexico City Meeting, part of Pacific Yearly Meeting. 

The Quaker United Nations Office, located in Geneva and New York, represents Quakers through Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). Since the founding of the United Nations in 1945, Quakers have shared that organisation's aims and supported its efforts to abolish war and promote peaceful resolution of conflicts, human rights, economic justice and good governance.

Workcampers will help local residents with their English. 

AGLI supports reconciliation, community building and trauma-healing at the grass roots level in Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and, Tanzania through Alternatives to Violence Project workshops, Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities workshops, mediation training, women's support groups, etc.

Learn more about this opportunity, or contact Program Manager Dawn Rubbert.