The constant brutality seen every day on video, films and television hardens us. We are shaken by events happening around us, in our own neighbourhood and in our own region. The World Council of Churches is calling for a Decade to Overcome Violence, beginning this year. With this worship service we start to participate in it. We are invited to build a new culture of peace.
Violence comes in many forms, there is a diversity of victims and perpetrators.
In the WCC proposal for this worship, children and their suffering from direct and indirect spiritual and structural violence are central. Those who are vulnerable, small and without a lobby or voice of their own, do not count in the society of the strong emphasized by the global economy. But Jesus has spoken against this logic. During this worship service, we will name children who suffer and give them a face. All Christians, and the society at large, need to remember the names of those who suffer injustice.