Peace & Justice
  without forgiveness there can be no justice,
  without justice there can be no peace

Working for Salaam, Shalom, Peace

As we pick our way across a slippery landscape strewn with corpses on our walk to God’s Kingdom, questions arise seemingly from the least of their bones: “Why did you not try to stop this? Why did you deny me?”

What is the disciple of Christ to do when their government launches armed conflict on a defenseless nation starved and weakened after twelve years of harsh economic sanctions? How is the follower of Jesus to respond when their government openly defends the use of torture and maintains special prisons for that purpose throughout the world? What responsibility rests on each of us to act when our government nurtures a culture of fear and hate toward any group of people? How egregious do the crimes of the State have to become before the Church rebukes the State or otherwise becomes complicit in those crimes? And as Bonhoeffer would have us measure, at what cost is grace?

Over the next year our congregation will explore what it means in becoming a Just Peace Church, a Shalom Church, as outlined in the pronouncement passed by General Synod 15 and further resolved by General Synod 25 of the United Church of Christ. This page and the entire website has been developed for the purpose of aiding in that exploration, not only for the members of our congregation, but for other congregations here in Maine and beyond. We invite all who share an interest in becoming a community in shalom to join us in this exploration. We welcome your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.

The Mission Committee
mission.committee@sumhucc.org