| Church leaders respond to Iraqi war with prayers and concerns By Kathy L. Gilbert United Methodist News Service 
With President George W. Bushs declaration that war has begun, leaders in The United Methodist Church are responding with prayers, words of comfort, and support for those in the military and for the people of Iraq. In a March 20 statement to United Methodists, the Rev. R. Randy Day, top staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, reminded people that John Wesley called war a monster that cannot be reconciled to any degree of reason or common sense a monster bringing miseries to the warriors and to all those in the warriors path. Day urged all United Methodists including President Bush, a member of our Methodist family, to join in prayers for peace, praying with heart and mind and strength that humanity will be saved from the monster of war. Let us pray for the men and women engaged in combat. Let us pray for enemies as Jesus commanded. And let us pray that we shall find ways to show in a time of war that we love our neighbors, especially those in Iraq, as ourselves. The statement came the day after U.S.-led forces began attacking Iraq, with the stated goals of removing dictator Saddam Hussein and ridding the country of weapons of mass destruction. Bush had given the Iraqi leader and his sons until the evening of March 19 to go into exile or face military conflict. The Rev. Bob Edgar, a United Methodist and top staff executive of the National Council of Churches, has called for a weeklong Worldwide Hunger Strike for Peace. Were not asking anyone to fast or hunger strike until they die, said Edgar, joined in his appeal by folk singer Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. But a little bit of self-sacrifice at this time is appropriate. The Rev. Konrad Raiser, top staff executive for the World Council of Churches, called the U.S.-led attack immoral, illegal and ill-advised. The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of more than 300 denominations and includes the United Methodist Church. At this time for repentance, he said, we pray for all the people who will suffer in this war, as well as soldiers and their families. The World Council of Churches is responding to the humanitarian situation through Action by Churches Together International, http://act-intl.org. Bishops of four Methodist denominations issued a call for peace in a message to President Bush during a meeting on reconciliation, war and peace, education and the future. War is not the only option, the bishops wrote in a March 13 letter. The 46 bishops at the 8th Consultation of Pan-Methodist Bishops called on Bush to use restraint and allow the United Nations inspectors to continue their work of finding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The bishops represent the African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal and United Methodist churches, which have a total of 15 million members worldwide. A United Methodist Church cable television commercial offering a message of hope, healing and comfort to a world focused on war in Iraq began airing on CNN and other cable networks. | 
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