New book focuses on peacemaking in the PC(USA)

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LOUISVILLE – In 2016, the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) approved a new peacemaking policy. The new policy includes five affirmations that are essential for Christians who want to fulfill their calling as peacemakers, and these affirmations become risks when taken. Author Christian Iosso explains what these five risks are, what each risk might look like when taken in today’s world, and how the new peacemaking policy differs from previous policies in Five Risks Presbyterians Must Take for Peace: Renewing the Commitment to Peacemaking in the PC(USA) (Westminster John Knox Press).

Inside this important peacemaking resource Iosso also examines just-war principles, elements of nonviolent strategy, and principles for just peacemaking. The book is ideal for individual or group study and questions for reflection and discussion are included at the end of each chapter. An extended study guide will also be available for download on A Season of Peace this Fall.

“This book proposes five stages of creative resistance to violence,” writes Iosso. “For members of the Presbyterian Church specifically, it offers next steps in a 40-year commitment to peacemaking.”

 With a foreword written by the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the PC(USA), Five Risks Presbyterians Must Take for Peace is now available for purchase through Westminster John Knox Press and other major retailers.

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Christian Iosso is Coordinator of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and an ordained minister in the PC (USA). He serves as the Senior Editor of UNBOUND, an online journal of Christian social justice, and has written numerous articles on peacemaking and social justice for The Presbyterian Outlook, Horizons, and Presbyterians Today. Iosso was the coeditor of Prayers for The New Social Awakening, also published by Westminster John Knox Press.