In the concluding business session of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Fernando Enns, a Mennonite delegate from Germany, broke with protocol to present a proposal directly to the delegate body. His proposal to make 2000 to 2010 "the decade to overcome violence" drew 80 to 90 percent support.
     Enns had earlier presented his motion to the Program Guidelines Committee, but the committee had decided to bring forward only those recommendations which had already been agreed to by the Central Committee.
     "So I presented my motion from the floor, after having apologized for being so stubborn, " commented Enns. In his motion, Enns added one sentence to the "non-violence and reconciliation" section in the Program Guidelines Committee's fmal report. This section made a general statement about the WCC helping churches "create a culture of non-violence" and develop "appropriate approaches to conflict transformation and just peace-making in the new globalized context."
     The sentence that Enns added was: "Therefore the WCC proclaims the period 2000-2010 as an ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence."
     "The proposal ... leaves enough space for different ways of fulfillment, " said Enns. But it ensures that "this topic stays on the agenda of the ... churches for the next ten years."
     For the past two years, Sara Speicher, a Church of the Brethren member from the USA, has served as a program assistant in Geneva for the WCC Program to Overcome Violence. She was seconded to the WCC as a Mennonite Central Committee volunteer. The support for her position was shared by MCC, and the German and Dutch Mennonites.
     So far, the Program to Overcome Violence has focused on a "Peace to the city" campaign, providing resources to programs in seven cities. The decade emphasis will ensure that the issue gets sustained attention. --Ron Rempel, Canada