Using the Social Statement in Your Congregation
Session One: Introduction and Section 1

Aims for this Session
Through this session’s study, participants will:

1. Become aware of each participant’s personal connections to the issues of war and peace;

2. Become familiar with the ELCA’s social statement: For Peace in God’s World.

3. Explore biblical images of God related to war and peace.

Resources and Advance Preparation

• Bibles
• Newsprint and markers
• Copies of the statements--one for each participant
• Copies of Handout #1: "Images of God"
• List and post the overall aims for the study and the aims for Session One on two pieces of newsprint.

Opening Devotion
Ask one of the participants to read aloud Psalm 85: 8-13. Pray the "World Peace Prayer": Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth. Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace. Let peace fill our hearts, our world and our universe. Amen.

Introduce the Aims
Using the newsprint lists, first introduce the aims for the entire study. You may want to share the image of the three legs under-girding the study process--see "Guideposts to Learning" above. Ask participants if they have any questions about the aims, and then briefly highlight the aims for the first study session.

Sharing
Invite each participant to take a minute or so to respond to this question: How has war touched my life? For example, have you or a loved one served in the armed forces? Has someone you know been wounded or injured in war? Have some worked in a defense industry? When have you been afraid of war or participated in a protest against a war? If the group is larger than 10-12, you may wish to break into two or more groups to do this exercise.

Introducing: For Peace in God’s World

1. Distribute copies of the statement.

2. Ask participants to read the first page of the statement, underlining what they think are key words and phrases. Ask someone to try to state in one sentence what the statement is about. Ask participants to share the key words and phrases they have underlined and put them on newsprint. Make sure the following are included: "calling to be peacemakers"; "global perspective"; "God’s final peace"; "earthly peace." Encourage participants to keep these words and phrases in mind as they read the statement.

3. Give participants a quick overview of the rest of the document, noting the five numbered sections and the implementing resolutions at the end. Help the participants understand the flow of the document--from God, to the church, to the calling of the individual Christian, and then to the tasks of peacemaking. Note that the study deals with the issue of war in section four.

Bible Study on Images of God

1. Distribute copies of Images of God (Handout #1) from the back of this guide and Bibles.

2. Using the handout, assign one passage for each "image" of God (all from Old Testament). Ask each person to look up the text and to read it aloud.

3. Ask someone to read aloud the portion of handout: "In view of this...
through the death of his Son." Then, have another person continue to read until the end of the handout.

4. The statement speaks about "God’s resolve for peace" and shows how we can read the biblical story to demonstrate that resolve. Invite participants to share how they experience that resolve both personally and in the world around them. When do I experience God making peace with me? When do I see God at work for peace in the world?

Preparation for Next Session

• Ask participants to read sections 1-3 of the statement.

• Encourage them also to follow the major international news stories in the newspaper or on television.

• Each might bring a newspaper or magazine clipping related to the issues of the study.

Closing Prayer

Next session