Recommendations of the WCC Central Committee, Geneva, Switzerland, 14-22 September 1995

The WCC Central Committee, meeting in Geneva, September 1995, decided that:

a) The focus of the Programme to Overcome Violence (POV) should be building a culture of peace through practical means to overcome violence at different levels of society, and encouraging the churches to play a leading role in using non-violent means such as prevention, mediation, intervention and education to overcome violence in their particular contexts;

b) The POV should collect stories from different regions about the experiences of churches in overcoming violence;

c) The programme should include studies of the causes of violence, with special attention given to situations where churches or religious groups contribute to these causes. This should draw on the already existing material and experiences (for example peace institutes);

d) The programme should encourage the continuing attention to the theological and ecclesiological dimensions of violence. (See minutes of the Central Committee 1994, page 113, c.) This should relate to the WCC studies of the early seventies and already existing theological studies in various regions;

e) While the overcoming of violence should be a clear emphasis in all the units, the Programme to Overcome Violence should be a programme of Unit III. The programme should be given sufficient staff and resources to carry out its mandate;

f) A small consultation should be called, early in 1996, to give further shape to the programme, drawing from previous background discussions, and in light of the focus in a) above;

g) The POV can only succeed to the degree that member churches also give it priority in their own work.