FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Anabaptist Consultation on Alternative Service Meets on the Possibility of a Military Draft, Discusses Military Recruitment and Highlights the Tradition of Christian Service

March 5, 2005 (Elgin, Ill.) - An Anabaptist Consultation on Alternative Service March 4-5 in Elgin, Ill., brought together more than 90 people from the historic peace churches-Church of the Brethren, Mennonites, Brethren in Christ and Friends (Quakers)-and other peacemaking traditions to address the possibility of a military draft, discuss increased military recruitment and highlight the tradition of Christian service.

Participants came away from the meeting with renewed determination and new ideas to strengthen the peace witness of their churches, the task of working together in the event of a draft and a priority to counter military recruitment of youth and young adults, which was called a "back-door draft" that is already happening across the country.

Participants also said the churches need to strengthen their commitment to Christian service whether there is a draft or not, and need to extend the Christian peace witness and the conversation about these issues beyond the peace churches. "This calling is not just for Anabaptists," said Dick Davis, pastor of Peace Mennonite Church in Dallas, Texas, and a former Southern Baptist Army chaplain. "This calling extends beyond our communities. We are agents of reconciliation, ambassadors of Jesus."

A Selective Service System official told the group no draft is planned. "The administration's position on the draft is quite simple: There isn't going to be any," said Richard S. Flahavan, associate director of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for Selective Service. Cassandra Costley, manager of Selective Service's Alternative Service Division, also gave a presentation on current planning for what a draft would look like if it were enacted.

In a counter viewpoint, J.E. McNeil, executive director of the Center on Conscience and War, a conscientious objector advocacy group, urged participants to consider the draft a real possibility. Recruitment shortfalls by the National Guard, Army and Marines indicate a draft can't be ruled out, she said.

Many speakers warned that increased military recruitment is creating unprecedented enticements that disproportionately target youth in communities of color and in impoverished communities. "In reality, the draft is ongoing as we speak. It's what I call a back door draft," said Davis, who noted he hoped this would stir churches to become increasingly concerned about communities outside their own.

The military has long enticed people of color by promising a better life and options that would not otherwise be available to them, Conrad Moore, an anti-racism trainer for Mennonite Central Committee U.S., told the group. Moore, who joined the Marines as a young man and later turned against the violence of the military, pointed out that slaves were promised freedom for fighting in wars, that those who were free hoped to become first-class citizens. For all people of color "it was always about improving our condition," Moore said.

Presentations on denominational volunteer service programs focused on discipleship to Jesus Christ as the foundation of Christian service. Dan McFadden, director of Brethren Volunteer Service, represented service as counter-cultural in North American society, and talked of preparing volunteers to deal with the racism, sexism, classism and the discrimination endemic in society.

He also pointed out the need for more funding, staff and church support for volunteer programs in the event of a draft, citing rises in numbers of volunteers in church service programs during the Vietnam war.

Mennonite service programs reflect the belief that "we really can transform the world," said Iris de León-Hartshorn, director of Peace and Justice Ministries for Mennonite Central Committee U.S. She cited the reform of the mental health care system after Civilian Public Service workers-mostly conscientious objectors-worked in state hospitals and other mental health facilities during World War II, witnessed abuses and worked to correct them. "The historic peace churches were a voice for the voiceless," she said.

De León-Hartshorn raised three ethical questions for denominational service programs: how to listen to communities in which service is being done, how to connect short-term service experiences with longterm advocacy, and how to connect overseas and domestic assignments. "We must form partnerships that are loving and mutual," she urged.

Other questions related to service included how to create service opportunities for people of color and economically disadvantaged youth and how service programs can provide opportunities to undocumented church members.

The Council of Moderators and Secretaries (COMS), a group of leaders of Mennonite and Brethren denominations that sponsored the consultation, will carry forward the issues and concerns raised in the consultation.

The consultation was held at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in Elgin, Ill. Participants attended from the Church of the Brethren, the Mennonite Church USA, the Brethren in Christ Church of North America, the US Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, Mennonite Central Committee U.S., the Conservative Mennonite Conference, the Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends (Evangelical Friends International), the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, Friends United Meeting, the Beachy Amish, Amish Mennonite Church, and the Bruderhof Communities.

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Statement by members of the Council of Moderators and Secretaries in attendance at the Anabaptist Consultation on Alternative Service March 4-5, 2005, Elgin, Ill.

The Council of Moderators and Secretaries includes the leaders of the following denominations: Brethren-in-Christ, Church of the Brethren, Conservative Mennonite Conference, Mennonite Brethren, and Mennonite Church USA

"As members of the Historic Peace Church family of churches, we gathered in Elgin, Illinois on March 4 and 5, 2005 as people in need of God's salvation, seeking God's healing and peace in a time of war and violence. Aware of the rich history on which we stand, we leave asking God for grace and courage as we face the challenges and the opportunities before us.

"We are called to a clear allegiance to Christ above all other allegiances, and a recognition that it is only through Christ that we can show love to our enemies. We confess that not only have we often failed to love our enemies, we have not always shown respect and love to one another in the Spirit of Christ. We remain rooted in our conviction that Jesus calls us to a life of love and peace, and call on our members to reject violence in all its forms.

"We listened carefully to presentations by staff from the Selective Service System and the Center on Conscience& War about the potential for a return to military conscription. Selective Service reported that a draft has not been authorized and is not imminent, but detailed plans for a draft and alternative service are in place in the event a draft becomes law. We acknowledge with appreciation the sincere efforts of Selective Service to protect the right of conscientious objection to war.

"Whether conscription is imminent or in the distant future, we know that God calls us to lives of joyful and sacrificial service in the way of Christ. We confess that we have not always modeled this in our own lives. To teach peace only when a draft seems imminent is a failure to live out the full meaning of Christ's ministry of reconciliation.

"We learned that intensified, high-pressure military recruitment is already occurring where poverty and racism exclude our brothers and sisters from the opportunities that give life meaning and hope. We were challenged to offer clear and meaningful alternatives to young people who would otherwise go to the military for jobs, education, or leadership training.

"We learned that many past and present models of service are designed around the needs of those serving without adequate thought to the long-term impact on the communities being served. We believe that God's Spirit is stirring anew among us, enlivening our imaginations and opening our hearts to patterns of relationship that are characterized by mutuality across the lines of race, class and nation that too often divide us.

"We were called to openness and transparency in sharing Christ's way of peace and loving service beyond ourselves, with our neighbors, our communities, and our world.

"The Council of Moderators and Secretaries will be the authorizing and delegating body for continuing work on the issues discussed at the Consultation, such as:

• contingency plans for a military draft or mandatory national service
• responses to the ongoing military recruitment among communities of color and areas of poverty."