Ecumenical team takes non-violence experiences to Germany

"Living Letters" from member churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Burundi, Brazil, Greece and the United States will arrive in Germany on Friday for a week of exchanging experiences in overcoming violence.

Churches in Germany have been heavily engaged in peace building efforts, training youth in nonviolent ways to handle conflicts. They encourage Christians to welcome strangers and to get to know their neighbours who belong to other faiths. They also work to keep alive the memories of victims of war and persecution and work for reconciliation.

These and other activities will be in the spotlight during the WCC delegation's visit. The visitors, who like their hosts are engaged in the churches' Decade to Overcome Violence in their part of the world, bring along prayers and greetings from their own churches.

While these encounters lend themselves to an exchange of good ideas and mutual encouragement, they are also intended to kick-start the reflection on the ecumenical declaration on just peace to be adopted at the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in 2011.

The visit is hosted by the German ecumenical organization ACK (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen in Deutschland).