OUR PEACE AND JUSTICE HERITAGE
1880s - In the early days of the Church of God, the editors of its magazine, The Gospel Trumpet, were the undisputed leaders of the fledgling movement. Adherents looked to them for guidance on doctrinal and practical issues. The magazine’s first three editors were pacifists. (For more information, see “116 Years: The Church of God on War and Peace.”) In 1883, Daniel S. Warner, founder of the movement and The Gospel Trumpet’s first editor, stated his position often. He wrote, “Let all who would have a cloudless sky and an unruffled peace in the evening of life eschew war and every other sin and walk in the light of perfect holiness.” He opposed all killing, even in self-defense.
I believe in being a loyal citizen and servant of the Government under which I live insofar as its requirements do not conflict with my duty to God as enforced by the law of my conscience. . . . It is contrary to my religious convictions as a follower of Christ for me to take human life. My religion and my conscience forbid my taking up arms for the slaughter of my fellowmen.
1930s - Russell Olt, Dean of then-Anderson College, and Adam W. Miller, Bible professor and later dean of the seminary, started the Interracial Fellowship, an annual gathering of pacifists concerned about eliminating racial prejudice and discrimination. A spin-off of the Interracial Fellowship was an Anderson Area Inter-Faith Fellowship, which included Jews, Catholics, and Protestants. Dean Olt was assisted in that endeavor by influential friends, including Church of God layman Judge Harold Achor, who later became Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court.
1940s As the dark clouds of World War II gathered, Dean Olt and Dr. Miller headed an informal network of counselors who tried to keep abreast of Selective Service rules (which were never adequately publicized) in order to counsel young men on their rights and responsibilities.
T. Franklin Miller, president of Warner Press from 1968 to 1975, was secretary of the Youth Fellowship. He, along with numerous Church of God leaders, assisted about fifty conscientious objectors, who worked in alternative service camps.
For many years, the Church of God yearbook included a page stating the church’s support of young men who stated their conscientious objection to war. (This statement was removed without official action in the 1980s.)
1966 - The Interracial Fellowship reorganized as the Church of God Peace Fellowship, adopted the Statement of Purpose of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and became an affiliate member of the FOR.
1997 – The Peace Fellowship established the “Mack and Irene Caldwell Peacemaking Fund” as an endowment to fund a Peace Studies program at Anderson University. The Peace and Conflict Transformation program (PACT) seeks to,
- Encourage the inclusion of the concerns of peace and conflict transformation into the existing curriculum and campus life
- Facilitate multiple forums for students and faculty to explore and analyze the spiritual, moral, philosophical and political issues inherent in conflict and efforts for peacemaking
- Inform students and faculty of the processes of nonviolent transformation of interpersonal, cultural, organizational and political conflict
- Support the efforts of Anderson University personnel to teach others mechanisms for conflict transformation
- Support research projects related to peace and conflict transformation
21st century – Peace and Conflict Transformation programs were established at two additional Church of God educational institutions, Warner Pacific College, Portland, Oregon; and Warner University (formerly Warner Southern College), Lake Wales, Florida.
Give Peace a Chane Photo: Public Domain, Public Domain Clip Art www.pdclipart.org |  |
