EMU to Hold Memorial Service for Slain Christian Peacemaker
Eastern Mennonite University will honor slain peace worker Tom Fox during a memorial service Wednesday evening.
Eastern Mennonite University will honor slain peace worker Tom Fox during a memorial service on Wednesday.
The memorial service to be held Wednesday evening at EMU’s auditorium will include Scripture readings, songs, and photos of Fox carrying out his peacekeeping work in Iraq. EMU’s campus pastor, Brian Martin Burkholder, said the service will also include a candle-lighting ceremony in remembrance of Fox.
Fox had taken a semester-long peace building course at EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding before going to Iraq with CPT in September 2004.
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"We grieve his loss, but we honor his willingness to sacrifice his all for this good work," Burkholder told the Harrisonburg, Va.-based Daily News-Record on Wednesday. "We can’t let that pass without the memorial. We are compelled to have such a memorial service."
The body of Fox was found on Mar. 10 in Baghdad after he and three other peace activists from the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams were taken hostage on Nov. 26, 2005. A previously-unknown group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed responsibility.
The fates of the others abducted – Norman Kember of Great Britain, and James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, both of Canada – are not known. The four were last seen together on a videotape broadcast on Jan. 28 by the al-Jazeera news network. The kidnappers said they would be released only if Iraqi prisoners held by U.S. and Iraqi authorities were released.
The most recent videotape broadcast, aired on Mar. 7, showed three of the men, but not Fox.
Following the discovery of Fox’s body, CPT Co-Directors Dr. Doug Pritchard and the Rev. Carol Rose released a joint statement on behalf of the organization mourning the loss of the peace worker, who they said “combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone.”
“Even as we grieve the loss of our beloved colleague, we stand in the light of his strong witness to the power of love and the courage of nonviolence,” the statement added. “That light reveals the way out of fear and grief and war.”
In concluding, the directors said, “Despite the tragedy of this day, we remain committed to put into practice these words of Jim Loney: ‘With the waging of war, we will not comply. With the help of God's grace, we will struggle for justice. With God's abiding kindness, we will love even our enemies.’ We continue in hope for Jim, Harmeet and Norman's safe return home.”
CPT was set up in 1984 by members of the Mennonite, Brethren and Quaker denominations as a faith-based group of peace activists committed to non-violent action in conflict zones. It has offices in Canada and the United States.
The upcoming EMU memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. at the university’s Lehman Auditorium.
