Peacemaking

“Let us become known as the dependable source of food – not arms. Let us demonstrate a commitment to nourish and develop the world -- not risk destroying it.” 33

JMA Denver Peace Conference

Allin speaks at the Presiding Bishop sponsored “To Make Peace” conference in Denver, 1983.

JMA Uppsala Peace Conference

Allin attends a plenary session at the 1983 Life and Peace Conference in Uppsala, Sweden. Participants came from all over the world to discuss the problem of nuclear weapons.

To Make Peace

Serving as Presiding Bishop in a time of fear about the proliferation and production of nuclear weapons, Allin observed the waste of resources spent on conflict, arms, and competition while the nation and world hungered for peacemaking and sustenance. He often used his platform as Presiding Bishop to deliver his message of peace. In 1981, he gave a sermon on peace at the Washington Cathedral beginning with familiar words proscribing the lifting of swords from Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3. Throughout the sermon, he challenged US leaders: “I call on the leadership and citizenship of this nation... to offer and combine talents and resources to feed and nourish the people of the world in place of arming them.” 34

In a 1981 Pastoral Letter entitled "Apocalypse and Hope," the House of Bishops called for “a new resolve of leadership in peace-making.” In response to that letter, the 1982 General Convention mandated that the Church implement ways to participate in the promotion of peacemaking. In an effort to uphold this mandate, Allin hosted the 1983 “To Make Peace” conference in Denver. Among those in attendance were diocesan representatives, academics, and legislators. Allin’s goal for the gathering was to have church participants and attendees “begin to realize their place in the fabric of peace related concerns.” 35

Allin also attended the 1983 Sweden Uppsala Peace Conference, Defense Forum for Religious Leaders in 1982, and a 1979 Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (Salt II) meeting at the White House in an effort to expand the Church’s role in advocating for limitations on the production of nuclear weapons.