"By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." - Luke 1:78-79 (NRSV)

This season of Lent, we are truly living "in darkness and in the shadow of death" as we mark, on March 19, 2008, the fifth anniversary of the war with Iraq. It is a war that is being waged by our country, financed by our taxes, and fought by our sisters and brothers. As U.S. Christians, we issue a call to the American church to lament and repent of the sin of this war.

We lament the suffering and violence in Iraq.

We lament the effects of this war on our country.

We repent of our failure to fully live the teaching of Jesus to be peacemakers.

We believe repentance means more than just being sorry.
We dedicate ourselves to the biblical vision of a world in which nations do not attempt to resolve international problems by waging war on other nations.