The Role of the Church in Peace and Reconciliation in South Sudan
We are pleased to share this important reflection from Bishop Kenyi this month. His sabbatical here at VTS was supposed to occur this month but had to be postponed until fall 2025. We are grateful to Bishop Kenyi for sharing these words now and look forward to his witness in person next fall.
I am Rt. Rev. Dr. Lule James Kenyi, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kajo-Keji in South Sudan. I am sharing my experience of the work of building peace and reconciliation in the Diocese of Kajo-Keji. During my experience as a clergy member, I have been involved in facilitating peace and reconciliation conferences, workshops, and seminars.
I am much encouraged by the words of Apostle Paul in Second Corinthians 5:18-20 where the ministry of reconciliation is considered a gift from God to reconcile the world to himself through his son Jesus Christ. For that reason, since we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, he has given us the ministry of reconciliation and we are therefore Christ’s ambassadors in promoting peace and reconciliation and, even amidst violence, war, and pain, God is always at work, and sowing seeds of peace (Isaiah 43:19). This is true with the work of the church in South Sudan in the past and present. The church in South Sudan is still operating in a divided socio-political and military environment, but it has had an influential role in resolving conflicts, reconciling parties, and building trust and confidence between communities in South Sudan.
Additionally, the church can ensure the success of the national peace and reconciliation process and that resolutions of the grassroots conflict are heard at the national level through organizing grassroots workshops that give recommendations for local social cohesion. Why so? Because the church has access to and is always present in the communities, which gives the church a crucial role in ensuring that peace and reconciliation are sustained at the local level, linking to the national level process and its implementation. It was evident in 2013 when the Government of South Sudan mandated that the churches of South Sudan lead the Committee for National Healing, Peace, and Reconciliation. Also, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), composed of 8 member states in Eastern Africa, had been involving the participation of the church in negotiating with parties, giving the church an opportunity of sharing the gospel of Christ with everyone. During our conferences, we could see that the Church has a key role in truth-finding and reconciliation efforts on a grassroots level.
In the Episcopal Diocese of Kajo-Keji where I worked as Bishop, on the 9th-13th March 2024 the church was able to conduct a peace and reconciliation conference that brought over 500 participants, including political, community, and church leaders, to dialogue and look upon issues affecting peace, unity and security among communities in Kajo-Keji. The conference was able to come out with some critical resolutions to the community and a promise “to never again should they go for war.” In the conference the people were able to honor the ministry of the church on peace-building and reconciliation that gives people hope, love and unity; therefore, the church is invited to look with faith and hope to build reconciled, just, and peaceful communities in South Sudan. We pray that the church in every region in South Sudan values the ministry of reconciliation as the very heart of God’s mission is to mandate the church to heal, free, and reconcile people to God.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. James Lule Kenyi, Bishop of Kajo-Keji, Episcopal Church of South Sudan