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(UMNS) -- United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert of San Francisco was among the National Council of Churches (NCC) officers who issued a "Call to Common Prayer for Bosnia-Herzegovina" on July 28.
"The unrelenting story of human agony and the slaughter of innocents requires a response from people of faith lest the very stones would cry out 'there is no peace!' " the call says.
The NCC is asking Christians, Muslims, Jews and other people of faith to join together in prayer and also to join "in a single interfaith approach to give aid and relief in the region as a tangible sign and symbol of the potential for unity even in strife."
Both Church World Service, the NCC's relief agency, and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) have provided humanitarian aid in the former Yugoslavia.
The complete text of the call to prayer follows:
Call to Common Prayer for Bosnia-Herzegovina
As people of faith living in the United States, our hearts are heavy with the continued news of human suffering in Bosnia-Herzegovina and political paralysis throughout the world community. The unrelenting story of human agony and the slaughter of innocents requires a response from people of faith lest the very stones would cry out "there is no peace!"
In Western Europe and in the United States, as elsewhere, we recently concluded celebrations in honor of those who a half century ago risked their all to bring peace and to halt the desecration of an unarmed and non-belligerent people. Will history judge us wanting now if we fail to find our voice on behalf of those who today suffer while the world's governments deliberate?
The precepts of our faith require us to act and speak in fidelity to our Lord and Christ. In this dangerous and uncertain moment, we recognize the dilemma with which all policies and options are fraught -- for our own government for others. With ecumenical colleagues in Europe and around the world we have steadfastly urged every effort for a negotiated settlement and protection for the vulnerable.
Yet, the world community is built not only of nations and governments but also of great faiths and of men and women of faith. It is to these we speak today.
Recognizing that ethnicity and faith are implicit in the struggle of Bosnia-Herzegovina, we believe that persons of faith must now witness together to the indivisibility of the human community.
Therefore we call for:
- People of every faith in our land to devote themselves to prayers for the peoples of Bosnia-Herzegovina and for the governments of the world community that they may gain the resolve to act in order to restore peace and justice.
- Common prayer by peoples of diverse faiths whenever and wherever possible in churches, mosques and synagogues that we might join our hearts in both sorrow and in hope.
- Other U.S. based religious aid and relief organizations to join with us in a single interfaith approach to aid and relief in the region as a tangible sign and symbol of the potential for unity even in strife.
July 28, 1995