Chorlton Central Church

'Peace is the fruit of Justice, and can grow on no other tree'

Christians have held - and still hold - differing views on war.

One the one hand christian ministers have 'blessed' nuclear submarines designed to carry Polaris and Trident nuclear weapons; on the other other hand christians have argued that such a 'blessing' is an impossibility and that the manufacture (let alone the use) of such weapons is inherently sinful.

It is common ground that one of Jesus' titles is 'Prince of Peace', and that his teachings recorded in the gospels counsel against retaliation and violence. As a result Christian Churches have normally held that warfare is - at most - an evil that may occasionally be justified by the realities of international politics.

Large numbers of individual Christians and some Christian Churches have maintained that the only position consistent with Jesus' teaching is Pacifism.

A Peace Haiku

Hope for peace, war's end
an amnesty of weapons
God's kingdom has come!

Sarah Brewerton

Hoot for Peace

Chorlton Central Church provides accomodation for occasional meetings organised by the Chorlton group of the 'Stop the War' coalition.

You may be able to spot one of our ministers, the Revd Sarah Brewerton, taking part in the regular vigil at Chorlton crossroads during the Friday rush hour.

Peacemaking Study groups

'Peacemaking - A Christian Vocation' has been produced jointly by the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church, as a resource to help Christians reflect on Jesus' call to be peacemakers, to love our enemies and to pray for our persecutors.

Asserting that armed conflict can only be a last resort, the document asks whether there can ever be a positive use of force in conflict and if so, who has the authority to pursue war.
It also explores the possibility of non-violent strategies for dealing with conflict and speaks of peacemaking on both local and international levels. The book goes on to address the economic, social, political and environmental factors that contribute to conflict in communities and between nations.

Mainstream churches, most notably the Roman Catholics, have moved closer and closer to the Christian nonviolence position in recent years. The historic peace churches, such as the Mennonites, believe that the refusal of war and the embracing of peace as a sign of God's coming kingdom should be first-rank identity markers for Christians in an age of religious and secular violence. They argue that the church's first duty is to witness to the state, not to justify or mollify government policies which cannot acknowledge the way of Christ as their decisive motive.

Links

revised 6 May 2008