Park Hill is a "Just Peace Church," a designation that some United Church of Christ congregations adopt in order to make explicit their commitments to justice and peace through advocacy, service and education. In August 2004, our congregation adopted the following resolution that states our just peace convictions.

Park Hill Congregational UCC JUST PEACE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS:
The Congregation of Park Hill Congregational Church, United Church of Christ:

• Recognizes that God wills life, and not death, for the whole of creation, as attested to by the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, and
• Finds hope in the Biblical concept of Shalom that counters fear and offers peace, wholeness, justice, and well-being for all, and
• Recalls that disciples of Jesus are empowered and defined as peacemakers, and
• Is painfully aware that injustices and acts of violence perpetrated by individuals, classes, and nations injure and divide all peoples, and are contrary to the will of God, and,
• Notes that militarism, racism, greed, consumerism, sexism, homophobia, and nationalism are among the belief systems that impede peace, and
• Believes that conflict is inevitable, but violence is not, and that living in a just and peaceful world is an inalienable right for all human beings, and
• Knows that when some are powerless, and when human needs are not met, justice is not possible, and
• Acknowledges both God's gift of earth that sustains life, and our role as responsible stewards, and
• Desires to help create a just and peaceful world through nonviolent and peaceful means.

THEREFORE:
The Congregation of Park Hill Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, RESOLVES to:

• Study our scriptures and other teachings, and particularly the life of Jesus, to ground our peace and justice commitments in our faith convictions;
• Become informed on community, state and national policies and procedures that threaten a just, and therefore peaceful society, and promote effective alternatives to these threats;
• Find additional ways of weaving principles of justice and peace into all aspects of the life of our church - worship, education, fellowship, stewardship, outreach, choice of priorities, and relationships with each other and the world;
• Reaffirm its identity as an intentionally multiracial, multicultural, open and affirming, and accessible to all church, and to continually assess the culture of its own practices and customs to assure just treatment of all congregants;
• Oppose oppression and employ peace-building techniques;
• Augment the peace-making efforts of others who share a similar nonviolent vision;
• Actively engage in influencing our neighborhoods, governments, and other systems to encourage and support peaceful and respectful ways of relating to each other;
• Engage in life-nurturing, planet-protecting, nonviolent direct actions leading to a stable and just peace, and

In accordance with the recommendation of the UCC General Synod, and consistent with the congregation's core values, on the 22nd day of August, 2004, declare itself a JUST PEACE church.

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