Religions for Peace helps U.S. communities with issues
Religions for Peace helps U.S. communities with issues
June 14, 2004
A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin
The Rev. Bud Heckman, executive director, Religions for Peace-USA
The
Rev. Bud Heckman says more than 110,000 unidentified remains of Native
Americans -held for years in museums and universities - have yet to
receive a burial with dignity. Through its �Return to the Earth�
project, Religions for Peace-USA supports Native Americans trying to
bury ancestral remains now scattered across the country and fosters
reconciliation between Native and non-Native peoples, according to
Heckman, a United Methodist pastor who serve as executive director. A
UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin. Photo number 04-220, 6/14/04
By Linda Bloom*
NEW
YORK (UMNS) – More than 110,000 unidentified remains of Native
Americans –held for years in museums and universities – have yet to
receive a burial with dignity.
Through
its “Return to the Earth” project, Religions for Peace-USA supports
Native Americans trying to bury ancestral remains now scattered across
the country and fosters reconciliation between Native and non-Native
peoples, according to the Rev. Bud Heckman, a United Methodist pastor
who serves as executive director.
“Religious
communities, we believe, have a unique responsibility here,” he
explained, pointing to historic oppression and mistreatment of Native
Americans by religious groups. Reconciliation and forgiveness, he added,
also “come naturally to religious communities.”
Allied
with the World Conference of Religions for Peace – an interreligious
body founded in 1970 that now has 50 chapters worldwide – Religions for
Peace-USA formed its own organization in 1999, Heckman said.
Its
members include the United Methodist Church and other Protestant
bodies, along with Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Buddhist,
Sikh and other faith groups and religious organizations.
“We
assume that religions are very distinct,” he explained. “We try to find
the places where they agree on things or where they work together.” The
organization also provides a safe forum for honest discussion of
differences among religions.
Heckman,
a former executive with the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries, was a consultant for the U.S. group for several years. He
became its interim executive director in May 2003 and was named to the
permanent post in December.
Religions
for Peace-USA follows the lead of its parent body in helping form
interreligious councils in local communities, particularly in places of
conflict. The international group, for example, recently formed a
council in Iraq. “It’s program-driven, it’s action-oriented and it has a
sustainable model,” he said about the world organization.
“They
have a unique approach, which is asset-based,” Heckman noted, adding
that the councils alert communities to specific assistance that
religious communities can provide on certain issues.
By
bringing together religious leaders at the community level, Religions
for Peace encourages meaningful relationships, provides forums to
discuss shared interests and differences of opinion in facing common
problems, and supports programming to address a variety of issues
related to a more peaceful and just society.
United
Methodists on the Religions for Peace-USA executive council include
Bishop Melvin Talbert, ecumenical officer, United Methodist Council of
Bishops, and the Rev. Robert Edgar, chief executive, National Council of
Churches. The Rev. Bruce Robbins, former top executive of the United
Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, and
Anne Marshall, a staff executive of the commission, also have been
council members. Diana Eck of Harvard University is on the advisory
council.
At
the local level, United Methodists also have been one of the leading
denominations involved in interfaith work. “I was really delighted to
see that,” he said.
Unlike
some countries, Heckman pointed out, the United States already has a
variety of interfaith groups in operation, so the goal is “relating,
cooperating and trying to network with what already exists.”
The
organization sponsored a Boston gathering of U.S. religious leadership
last December to examine the role of religion and international affairs,
in particular addressing the periods after the Cold War and the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
A
large grant from the Rockefeller Foundation allowed Religions for
Peace-USA to conduct meetings in a number of cities during 2003 to
discern which issues were most pressing to both communities and faith
groups. “We tried to target places where we felt there was a need for us
to go,” Heckman said.
Individuals
can become involved in Religions for Peace-USA through membership and
volunteer activities. More information is available at www.rfpusa.org, the group’s Web site, where visitors also can sign up for a free e-newsletter.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer.
News media contact: Linda Bloom·(646)369-3759·New York· E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org ·
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