Title: ELCA Calls for End to Land Mines
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
April 19, 1996
ELCA CALLS FOR END TO LAND MINES
96-09-028-AH
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
will join its voice to those around the world calling for the
elimination of land mines. The ELCA's Church Council voted at
its April 13-15 meeting "to support the call for an international
ban on the use, production, stockpile and sale, transfer or
export of anti-personnel land mines."
Citing the ELCA's social statement, "For Peace in God's
World," the action calls the church's members and congregations
to write letters to the president and the U.S. Congress in
support of such a ban. It urges United States financial support
of United Nations efforts to clear mine fields and assist victims
of land mines.
The proposal came to the council from the board of the
ELCA's Division for Global Mission (DGM) and encourages that unit
and the Division for Church in Society "to support these and
related advocacy and education efforts that seek the elimination
of land mines."
The Rev. Will L. Herzfeld said in an interview, "This is a
beginning step for our church. I hope it can move us from
rhetoric to action. Now we need to look for ways in which our
church can be proactive in helping to rid the world of these
destructive weapons." Herzfeld is associate executive director
for DGM.
"For Peace in God's World," adopted by the ELCA in 1995,
urged priority attention to agreements to ban the production,
sale and use of land mines. The board of the Division for Church
in Society in 1994 joined the International Campaign to Ban Land
Mines on behalf of the ELCA. The Lutheran World Federation,
World Council of Churches and National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the U.S.A. have joined the campaign.
The council also addressed the status of the city of
Jerusalem. A lengthy recommendation was adopted after three
portions were removed. The motion cites a 1993 ELCA action
urging that free access to Jerusalem be guaranteed for all
peoples at all times and calling upon the international community
to respect and protect the unique historical nature of Jerusalem
as sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims.
ELCA members are called to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem,
remembering the suffering and the hope of both Palestinians and
Israelis and the challenges their leaders face as they work to
move the peace process forward."
Based on this action the ELCA will join with the Lutheran
World Federation and other Christian bodies to promote discussion
on the future of Jerusalem and call upon Israel and the
Palestinian Authority to protect and preserve internationally
recognized human rights.
The council endorsed portions of a "Memorandum of Their
Beatitudes the Patriarchs and of the Heads of Christian
Communities in Jerusalem," including the affirmation that "the
experience of history teaches us that in order for Jerusalem to
be a city of peace ... it cannot belong exclusively to one people
or to only one religion. Jerusalem should be open to all, shared
by all."
Portions deleted from the action reiterate existing ELCA
stands related to Israeli settlements, the United Nations
Security Council position regarding East Jerusalem, Palestinian
rights and interests in the city, the site of the U.S. Embassy
and ecumenical efforts concerning Jerusalem.
According to the Rev. Charles S. Miller, director of the
Division for Church in Society, the items were struck mainly
based on the council's "desire for more documentation."
Kay S. Dowhower, director of the Lutheran Office on
Governmental Affairs, Washington, D.C., said "We celebrate what
the council passed" and emphasized striking portions of the
action does not diminish prior ELCA actions.
For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia
Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956
