U Worship U Events U VOICES Newsletter U Directions U About Us U Open and Affirming U Just Peace U Organization U Music Ministry U Outreach U Resources U Staff U Email us U Chestnut Nursery School & Kindergarten U Green Rooster Coffeehouse	A Just Peace Church In 1988, the United Congregational Church voted to join other UCC churches across the nation to become a Just Peace Church. To understand the meaning and importance of this vote, it is helpful to look at the initiation of this movement within our denomination, the United Church of Christ.
	JUSTICE AND PEACE ACTION NETWORK (JPANet) is the arm through which we carry out our mission statement. The UCC Justice and Peace Action Network (JPANet) is our denomination’s grassroots advocacy network composed of individual members and local UCC congregations across the country. What does the Network do? The UCC Justice and Peace Action Network both educates and engages its members in shaping public policy in keeping with God’s vision of a just and loving society. Our work is grounded in General Synod resolutions, consonant with historic UCC witness, and formed by a biblical understanding of prophetic ministry. JPANet collectively advocates around a variety of issues relating to Civil and Human Rights, Economic Justice, Global Concerns, Integrity of Creation, Peacemaking, and Racial Justice. These issue areas are resourced by national staff of the Justice and Witness Ministries. Check out our website, http://www.ucctakeaction.org.
	History: The actions within the United Church of Christ, which led to the Pronouncement "Affirming the United Church of Christ to be a Just Peace Church" began in 1981. A youth delegate to the 13th General Synod brought forth a resolution calling for the United Church of Christ to declare itself a pacifist church. The Synod, after much discussion, amended and passed a resolution calling for the United Church of Christ to become a peacemaking church. Passing this resolution was the beginning of a four year study of the theological roots of peacemaking and the development of a Proposal for Action. The process was led by the Peace Theology Development Team appointed by the UCC Office for Church in Society. The following excerpt from the Preface of the book written by the team summarizes what the declaring of a Just Peace Church means: · It affirms that making peace and doing justice are the tasks of Christians given to them by God in the shalom vision. · It attempts to develop a new theological language or theological paradigm of peace theology, moving beyond the historic three peace paradigms: pacifism, just war, and crusade. · It places the United Church of Christ in opposition to the institution of war. · It places the United Church of Christ in opposition to the doctrine of nuclear deterrence, joining the larger church in the process of withdrawing moral sanction from this doctrine and insisting that new doctrines of common security be developed. · It defines a Just Peace as shalom, the interrelation of friendship, justice, and common security from violence, underlining the linkage between peace and justice with the phrase "a Just Peace", and insisting that the search for disarmament and conflict resolution must be accompanied by the search for justice. · It affirms that all humans have a right to their basic human needs, including food, health care, housing, employment, and education. · It affirms that the struggle for a Just Peace must be seen from and must learn from the perspective of the poor who are in the struggle for liberation. · It stresses the critical historical moment in which we live and calls upon the church to recognize God's calling to an essential role in this moment.
	From A JUST PEACE CHURCH, edited by Susan Thistlewaite Members of United Congregational are striving to fulfill this mandate through their support of programs such as our Food Cupboard, Thanksgiving baskets to needy families, Greater Worcester Interfaith Hospitality Network, Worcester Missionary Society, Habitat for Humanity, Heifer Project, as well as efforts to be an intentionally inclusive church community.
	Check the UCC Web page for the up to date initiatives taken by the UCC. Justice and Peace Resources through the United Church of Christ