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November 8, 2005
A Call to Repentance and Peace with Justice

As followers of Jesus Christ, who named peacemakers as blessed children of God, we call
upon The United Methodist Church to join us in repentance and renewed commitment to
Christ's reign of compassion, justice, reconciliation, and peace.

As elected and consecrated bishops of the church, we repent of our complicity in what we
believe to be the unjust and immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq. In the face of the
United States Administration's rush toward military action based on misleading
information, too many of us were silent.

We confess our preoccupation with institutional enhancement and limited agendas while
American men and women are sent to Iraq to kill and be killed, while thousands of Iraqi
people needlessly suffer and die, while poverty increases and preventable diseases go
untreated.

Although we value the sacrifices of the men and women who serve in the military, we
confess our betrayal of the scriptural and prophetic authority to warn the nations that
true security lies not in weapons of war, but in enabling the poor, the vulnerable, the
marginalized to flourish as beloved daughters and sons of God.

We confess our failure to make disciples of Jesus Christ and to be a people who welcome
and love all those for whom Christ died.

Aware that we are to bring forth fruit worthy of repentance, we personally and as bishops
commit ourselves to:

    * Pray daily for the end of war in general and the Iraq war specifically; 
    for those who suffer as the result of war, including the soldiers and their 
    families; the Iraqi people in their struggle to find a workable form of 
    government; and for the leaders of the United States that they will turn to 
    truth, humility, and policies of peace through justice.
    
    * Reclaim the prophetic authority that calls nations, individuals, and 
    communities to live faithfully in the light of God's new creation where all 
    people know their identity as beloved children of God; where justice rolls 
    down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream; and where 
    barriers are removed and all creation is healed, reconciled, and renewed.
    
    * Commit ourselves to peacemaking as an integral component of our own 
    Christian discipleship, which means advocating and actively working for 
    the things that make for peace: personal, institutional, and governmental 
    priorities that protect the poor and most vulnerable; modeling an end to 
    prejudice toward people of other faiths and cultures; confronting 
    differences and conflicts with grace, humility, dialogue, and respect 
    without being so cautious in confronting evil that we lose our moral 
    authority.

We call upon all United Methodists to join in the pursuit of peace through justice as
revealed in Holy Scripture and incarnate in Jesus Christ.

    * Let us move beyond caution rooted in self protection and recover moral 
    authority anchored in commitment to Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.
    
    * Let us object with boldness when governing powers offer solutions of war 
    that conflict with the gospel message of self-emptying love.
    
    * Let us with compassion share the pain of God's children who suffer from 
    the devastation of war and those who live in poverty resulting from 
    misplaced priorities and misguided public policies.
    
    * Let us work toward unity in a world of diversity, that all peoples will 
    come to know that we belong to one another, and that "in Christ, God was 
    reconciling the world to himself and entrusting the message of 
    reconciliation to us" (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Bishops of the United Methodist Church:

   1. Bishop Daniel C. Arichea, Jr., Baguio City, Philippines
   2. Bishop George W. Bashore, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
   3. Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton, Pittsburg Area
   4. Bishop Bruce P. Blake, Winfield Kansas
   5. Bishop Benjamin Boni, Cote D'Ivoire Area, West Africa
   6. Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., Denver Area
   7. Bishop Monk Bryan, Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
   8. Bishop Minerva G. Carcano, Phoenix Area
   9. Bishop Kenneth L. Carder, Durham, North Carolina
  10. Bishop Roy C. Clark, Nashville, Tennessee
  11. Bishop Judith Craig, Powell, Ohio
  12. Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar, New Jersey Area
  13. Bishop William W. Dew, Jr, Danville, California
  14. Bishop Jesse R. DeWitt, Dexter, Michigan
  15. Bishop R. Sheldon Duecker, Fort Wayne, Indiana
  16. Bishop Sally Dyck, Minnesota Area
  17. Bishop R. Kern Eutsler, Mechanicsville, Virginia
  18. Bishop Violet Fisher, New York West Area
  19. Bishop Eugene M. Frank, Kansas City, Missouri
  20. Bishop Elias G. Galvan, Scottsdale, Arizona
  21. Bishop William Boyd Grove, Charleston, West Virginia
  22. Bishop Susan W. Hassinger, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
  23. Bishop Robert E. Hayes, Jr., Oklahoma Area
  24. Bishop J. Woodrow Hearn, Galveston, Texas
  25. Bishop Kenneth W. Hicks, Little Rock, Arkansas
  26. Bishop Leroy C. Hodapp, Evansville, Indiana
  27. Bishop Robert T. Hoshibata, Portland Area
  28. Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, Houston Area
  29. Bishop John G. Innis, Liberia Area, West Africa
  30. Bishop Neil L. Irons, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
  31. Bishop S. Clifton Ives, Portland, Maine
  32. Bishop Rueben P. Job, Goodlettsville, Tennessee
  33. Bishop Alfred Johnson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  34. Bishop L. Bevel Jones III, Decatur, Georgia
  35. Bishop Charles Wesley Jordan, Upland, California
  36. Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, Chicago Area
  37. Bishop Benjamin A. Justo, Baguio Area, Philippines
  38. Bishop Charlene P. Kammerer, Richmond Area
  39. Bishop Leontine Kelly, San Mateo, California
  40. Bishop Deborah Lieder Kiesey, Dakotas Area
  41. Bishop James R. King, Jr., Louisville Area
  42. Bishop Walter Klaiber, Tuebingen, Germany
  43. Bishop J. Lloyd Knox, St. Petersburg, Florida
  44. Bishop Arthur Kulah, Monrovia, Liberia
  45. Bishop Clay F. Lee, Jr., Bryam, Mississippi
  46. Bishop Linda Lee, Wisconsin Area
  47. Bishop William B. Lewis, Edwardsville, Illinois
  48. Bishop Ernest S. Lyght, West Virginia Area
  49. Bishop James K. Mathews, Bethesda, Maryland
  50. Bishop Marcus Matthews, Philadelphia Area
  51. Bishop Felton E. May, Little Rock, Arkansas
  52. Bishop Calvin D. McConnell, Portland, Oregon
  53. Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey, Charlotte Area
  54. Bishop Marshall L. Meadors, Jr., Anderson, South Carolina
  55. Bishop Jane Allen Middleton, Harrisburg Area
  56. Bishop C. P. Minnick, Jr., Raleigh, North Carolina
  57. Bishop Ruediger R. Minor, Dresden, Germany
  58. Bishop Robert C. Morgan, Birmingham, Alabama
  59. Bishop Susan Murch Morrison, Albany Area
  60. Bishop Albert Frederick (Fritz) Mutti, Kansas City, Missouri
  61. Bishop Abel T. Muzorewa, Harare, Zimbabwe
  62. Bishop William B. Oden, Dallas, Texas
  63. Bishop Benjamin R. Oliphint, Houston, Texas
  64. Bishop Donald A. Ott, Pewaukee, Wisconsin
  65. Bishop Oystein Olsen, Nordic and Baltic Area
  66. Bishop Bruce R. Ough, Ohio West Area
  67. Bishop Gregory V. Palmer. Iowa Area
  68. Bishop Jeremiah Park, New York Area
  69. Bishop Edward W. Paup, Seattle Area
  70. Bishop Joseph E. Pennel, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee
  71. Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader, Chicago, Illinois
  72. Bishop Roy I. Sano, Oakland, California
  73. Bishop John R. Schol, Washington Area
  74. Bishop Beverly Shamana, San Francisco Area
  75. Bishop Ann B. Sherer, Nebraska Area
  76. Bishop F. Herbert Skeete, Riverdale, New York
  77. Bishop Dan E. Solomon, Abilene, Texas
  78. Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, London, Ohio
  79. Bishop Forrest C. Stith, Upper Marlboro, Maryland
  80. Bishop Mack B. Stokes, Waynesville, North Carolina
  81. Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, Los Angeles Area
  82. Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, Brentwood, Tennessee
  83. Bishop Solito K. Toquero, Manila Area, Philippines
  84. Bishop Jack M. Tuell, Des Moines, Washington
  85. Bishop Hans Vexby, Eurasia Area
  86. Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, Mississippi Area
  87. Bishop Peter D. Weaver, Boston Area
  88. Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, Germany Area
  89. Bishop D. Frederick Wertz, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
  90. Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker, Florida Area
  91. Bishop C. Dale White, Newport, Rhode Island
  92. Bishop Woodie W. White, Atlanta, Georgia
  93. Bishop Max D. Whitfield, NW Texas - New Mexico Area
  94. Bishop Richard B. Wilke, Winfield, Kansas
  95. Bishop Joe A. Wilson, Georgetown, Texas
  96. Bishop Joseph H. Yeakel, Smithsburg, Maryland