July-August 2005

from the editor...
Making Peace, Living Peace

As this issue of Response was readied for press, the latest numbers of U.S. women and men killed in Iraq topped 1,700. Add to that troops from other nations fighting alongside U.S. forces, and the number killed climbs. Add the thousands of Iraqi women, men and children who have died and the number skyrockets.

Even as war has rages in Iraq, hostilities are erupting or expanding in other parts of the world. Too many people in too many places are living amidst war and conflict. Too many are displaced from homes and separated from families. The human toll to violence is overwhelming.

At the root of the conflicts is injustice -- homelessness; hunger; racism; environmental degradation; lack of health care, employment and schools; greed that impoverishes many to enrich a few.

This issue of Response looks at Christ’s call for us to wage peace, not war. It shares models of how we can be peacemakers in our families, our churches, our communities, our nation and our world. A key message that runs through the articles is the need for us to be in relationship with our sisters and brothers around the world despite our differences.

This issue is an example of one effort toward building relationships across denominational lines. At the invitation of the editors of Horizons, published by Presbyterian Women of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and Lutheran Woman Today, published by Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Response joined an ecumenical effort for each magazine to publish an issue on peace this summer. Glad Tidings, published by the Women’s Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, also contributed.

No two magazines are identical, but many articles are shared across the publications. Portions of articles are being published in Timbrel, published by Mennonite Women USA and Canadian Women in Mission of the Mennonite Church Canada. Combined circulations top 200,000.

Enjoy this issue. Share it with friends from other denominations and ask to see their magazines. Then let us hear from you.


Dana E. Jones, Editor djones@gbgm-umc.org