Susu Lassa: Standing Up for Peace on Capitol Hill

Susu Lassa: Standing Up for Peace on Capitol Hill

“It isn’t enough to talk about Peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” -Eleanor Roosevelt. Romans 12 articulates the call to be personally transformed and bear witness to the peace we have received. The Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy aligns with this verse, seeking to live the peace of Jesus publicly by advocating for Brethren values like peace and simplicity with the context of U.S. policy. As the Church of the Brethren is a historic peace church with a moral aversion to war, the work done by the office lives at the nexus of peacebuilding and U.S. domestic and foreign policy. Located on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, the office also focuses on ecumenical interfaith relations on behalf of the denomination, working with other faith-based, non-governmental organization offices to address particular areas of concern within the scope of CoB’s annual conference statements. OPP works on issues relating to: regional advocacy around Nigeria, Israel-Palestine, and the Middle East; racial justice and creation care; food security; covert and drone warfare; and unarmed civilian protection. In terms of foreign policy, as the Church of the Brethren has a vibrant history and large congregation in Nigeria, our office convenes the Nigeria Working Group, creating a space through which the various organizations involved in providing humanitarian assistance and actively engaged in the country can come together to educate and advocate on issues in the northeast and middle-belt regions of Nigeria. The office also, through partnerships with groups like Churches for Middle East Peace and Christian Peacemaker Teams, coordinates direct advocacy with Congress, meetings with the State Department, and coalition sign-on letters. In terms of domestic policy, last year the office’s racial justice associate worked to create the Native American Challenge and the Dikalos 2019 bus trip, which served to foster understanding and reckoning about indigenous issues for the Brethren. There is much work to be done; the term peacebuilding alludes to an organic process through which we must actively work towards building peace, and that is what the Office of Peacebuilding and Policy is doing. Serving as a public witness on the Hill, the office heeds the Biblical call to use our voices to speak out for justice.