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Building Comunity - Overcoming ViolenceIntroductory JourneysThe de-escalation of conflict can have nothing to do with forgiveness and reconciliation – and everything to do with it. When the BTI was involved with faculty from Boston College filming material for the documentary, “Prelude to Kosovo: War and Peace in Bosnia and Croatia,” BTI students and faculty went to the city of Zenica, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where we had been invited to speak with some local Muslim leaders. After initial presentations we spent an uneasy hour or more on the front porch of the new Islamic Pedagogical Institute discussing the conflict in Bosnia. After getting almost nowhere, a young professor of Sharia (Islamic law) turned to me and said, “All we really want is for someone to say ‘I’m sorry.’” This having been said, statements of apology having been heard, we proceeded into a more fruitful, if still incomplete conversation. A similar encounter occurred in Ghana as Black Africans confessed to their North American brothers and sisters their sorrow over their ancestors part in the sale of the ancestors of the African-Americans into slavery, part of a slave trade that so decimated West Africa. Needless to say, this encounter with apology drew many other North Americans of whatever color into an atmosphere of forgiveness and reconciliation. Each of these episodes draws us to the important role theological consortia have in working with this topic. History bears upon the present. An inability to break out of a cycle of victimhood and aggression keeps us locked within a cycle of revenge. The Serb defeat at Kosovo Polje in 1389, enslavement at the Cape Coast castles of West Africa, Palestinian and Israeli anger and insecurity, or other stories we might add from other ethnic settings remind us that a failure to deal with the eddies of history keeps us in their thrall. Forgiveness and reconciliation have much to do with public life. Neighborhood Centers for Forgiveness and Reconciliation What would it be like if the church, or other faith communities were to be seen as a Neighborhood Centers for Forgiveness and Reconciliation and for Restorative Justice? To use the language of the advertising world so dominant in the twenty-first century: “How do we brand the Church?” This is a question that underlies much of the work of the Boston Theological Institute and its programs. In the end, this is not only about building the church, but also building community.
1. What is Community and What is Church?What is the “Church”?This is a topic of continuing reflection and debate, especially given rapid globalization. The Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches is currently seeking the responses of its member churches to the document, The Nature and Purpose of the Church. Section (I. A. i.) reads: 9. The Church belongs to God. It is the creation of God's Word and Holy Spirit. It cannot exist by and for itself. 10. The Church is centered and grounded in the Gospel, the Word of God. The Church is the communion of those who live in a personal relationship with God who speaks to them and calls forth their trustful response - the communion of the faithful. Thus the Church is the creature of God's Word which as a living voice creates and nourishes it throughout the ages. This divine Word is borne witness to and makes itself heard through the scriptures. Incarnate in Jesus Christ, it is testified to by the Church and proclaimed in preaching, in sacraments, and in service. (See: F&O # 181: www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/nature1.html. 1) Various DefinitionsTheologians like Augustine and Aquinas have left us with a tradition of debate over the identity of the church. One author (Brown) speaks of churches that reflect the different heritages of the Apostles. For Orthodox, this is the Church of the seven councils (Ware). From the perspective of what the church does, one might speak of different models of the church (Dulles). One compelling model is that of mystical communion, raising questions about the boundaries of the church. Rahner’s proposal is that if the church’s identity includes openness, then a certain amount of “vicariousness” means that the church thinks and feels on her own behalf and on behalf of others (Vatican II, Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, nr. 11). This is the third of three types of the church identified by Van Beeck, “pistic,” “charismatic, ” and “mystic” as centered in a Spirit-enlivened Jesus. But the struggle today is with unity, often defined as that of a common magisterium located in Rome (F. A. Sullivan), raising the question of how the Church of Christ is maintained in the truth of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit. At this point many issues pertain. Luther, fearful of a theology of glory that ended in self-exaltation, suggested instead a theology of the cross, often yielding an unstable reality. This, for Barth, is the church as herald, or an assembly that responds to God’s word (Küng). 2) Consider the Following Example:Taking as a point of departure the term “communio sanctorum,” we might fill this out with a sense of Jesus as the expected “prophet,” “priest,” and “king” long sought in messianic Judaism. Eusebius of Caesarea, Erasmus, and the company of the Reformed developed this christological theme. It has been drawn into ecclesiology as an aspect of ecumenical thinking (Y. Congar, G. H. Williams, etc.). Christians, the mystical body of Christ (Rom 8:17, 12:4; I Cor. 6:19; and II Cor. 2:5), might find their vocation under the rubric of the threefold office (triplex munus) of Christ. Heightened in times of crisis, they – and the church – play a prophetic role as truth-tellers and justice-seekers; find a priestly role in prayer and forgiveness and, in their [servant]-king role they regard one another as images of divine royalty, or God. But note how “forgiveness” defines the church: There is no worship apart from forgiveness (Matt. 5:23-24). Forgiveness defines the material identity of the church (John 20: 21-23). Forgiveness, as it tends toward reconciliation, defines (II Cor 5:19) vocation. 3) Examples of Recent Literature Include:
2. An Invitation to Field Education and Mentored MinistryField Education challenges students to integrate academic experience with the actual practice of ministry. Each BTI School offers a variety of settings in the church and the wider community for students to serve others while at the same time receiving support and supervision. Drawing upon the disciplines of theological reflection, students clarify their vision of ministry, form their theology and identity, and develop skills in the ministerial arts. Each BTI School has particular programmatic requirements. Organizations, parochial or non-parochial, may be affiliated with only one school. The BTI Directors have established procedures by which students may seek permission to “borrow” a Field Education site from another school. The student uses the forms and follows the deadlines of the school with which the site is affiliated. See the section on Field Education on this website.
3. A Sample Course in "Overcoming Violence: Practical Theology and Conflict Resolution"HDS 2829, Spring 2007 Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00-11:30 (plus film series & hour to be arranged) RODNEY L. PETERSEN, BTI Director: Available by appointment through the BTI Office ( 617-527-4880 x2) and through email. THOMAS MASSARO, SJ, WJST Faculty: email: tmassaro@wjst.edu; Office phone: 617-492-1960 , ext 182 Home phone: 617-876-1233 ; Office hours: Mondays, 1:30- 4:00, Thursdays, 10:15-11:45. Please consult appointment book at Weston reception desk to make appointments. SAMUEL JOHNSON, BUSTh Field Education Director: By appointment: 61...; email: sjohnsn@bu.edu ANN RIGGS, Director, Faith and Order, NCCCUSA: Available by appointment through the National Council of Churches Faith and Order Office ( 202-544-2350 x203) and through email: ariggs@ncccusa.org. I. Course Description and Objectives The twentieth century has been described as the most violent century in history. The problem of violence has recurred anew in this century with the “War on Terror” and genocide in Darfur. Two international bodies, the World Council of Churches and the World Health Organization, began the new millennium by calling for renewed attention to violence and for theological and political solutions. Yet, despite recent calls for apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation, our policies and theologies continue to waver between retributive and restorative approaches. This course will survey classic understandings of violence and its effects, along with contemporary writings in theology, law, politics, and public policy. In exploring various movements in political theology, restorative justice, and conflict resolution, we will examine violence as a problem of deep religious and spiritual significance for Christian churches and other religious traditions, and for the health of the human community in the 21st century. 4. The Work of the Decade to Overcome Violence of the World Council of ChurchesSee the website on the Decade to Overcomne Violence of the World Couoncil of Churches at: www.ercomingviolence.org.
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