Churches Together in Britain and Ireland has published an inter Church Lent course, raising and answering questions on violence and forgiveness.

|TOP|The course is entitled, “Easter People in a Good Friday World: Witnessing Christ in the conflict of life”, and guides leaders to consider realistic steps towards making peace, in addition to seeking signs of hope to transform violent situations.

The World Council of Churches had designated 2001 to 2010 a Decade to Overcome Violence after the turn of the 19th century, which is regarded by many as the most violent century in the history of mankind. The WCC called on Churches to work together to overcome violence through peace and justice.

CTBI has published this course to encourage the Churches to act out in response. Thousands of Christians meet in ecumenical groups each year to follow the Lent programmes by CTBI and prepare for Easter together.

'Easter People in a Good Friday World' consists of five sessions which follows in the steps of Jesus to his death on the cross. CTBI reveal that the course “leads us on a dark and downward journey through fear, betrayal, retaliation, victimisation, humiliation, rejection, isolation and denial, just what Jesus experienced on his way to the cross.”

The authors of the sessions were Myra Blyth and Wendy Robins, who used up-to-date stories to explore the various types of violent situations witnessed in the media world every day, as well as highlighting forgiveness and reconciliation.

Particularly, CTBI tell how the sessions draw from the experiences seen in Rwanda, South Africa and Northern Ireland, along with the streets of Britain – the course looks deeply onto the violence and works out an appropriate response to it.

|QUOTE|Speakers are Wendy Robins; Dr Johnston McMaster, a lecturer with the Irish School of Ecumenics and Co-ordinator of the Education for Reconciliation Programme in Northern Ireland and the border counties; and Pat Gaffney, General Secretary of Pax Christi, the International Catholic Movement for Peace.

At the launch, Dr Johnston McMaster (who is a lecturer with the Irish School of Ecumenics and Co-ordinator of the Education for Reconciliation Programme in Northern Ireland) spoke and gave an outline of gestures of hope that the Christian community could use.

Dr McMaster spoke of hope in encounter, in verifiably decommissioning violent theology and in dismantling a culture of hate.

He said, “As we try to come to terms with violent acts and transform them, there is a need to understand why people or communities resort to violence. The London bombs have damaged community and race relations in parts of Britain. The loyalist riots in Belfast, while not sectarian, they are about intra-community violence, have damaged and threaten an already fragile peace process.”

He continued, “Christians and Muslims need to encounter one another to build trust and understanding. Those of us from the middle-class Protestant community in Belfast need to encounter the working class loyalists to hear and understand their fears, perceptions and sense of alienation. Communities of non-violence are built on face-to-face encounters.”

He concluded, “What we need is a pre-emptive peace.”

Positive action was one of the goals that Author Wendy Robins hoped for, as well as a deeper change of world view or prayer focus for others. At the launch she testified that each session included a bible passage, along with commentary, and up-to-date stories, questions and prayers.

The General Secretary of Pax Christi, Pat Gaffney hoped the course would aid British and Irish Churches to develop in how they approached and implemented their peacemaking skills.