who we are
Polk Ecumenical Action Council for Empowerment (PEACE) is a congregation-based community organization whose purpose is to build justice ministries and train members from diverse congregations to work together to identify root causes of community problems and to take action to resolve them. The purpose of the organization is to build a strong coalition capable of negotiating the interests of our community with a special concern for the vulnerable.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
why justice?
Jesus is quoting the prophet Micah (6:8) who is reminding God's people of three major requirements: faithfulness, mercy and justice.
Our congregations do a good job of reminding us to be faithful. We gather for worship, do Bible studies, retreats, and prayer groups—all as a part of our "humble walk" with God.
For many, our congregations also do a good job of showing mercy by providing help like mentoring, food pantries, and clothing to individuals who need help.
Unfortunately, many congregations do not "do justice" very well. Biblically, justice means to hold those in power accountable for the fair treatment of all people, especially the poor, widow, and the orphan—the most vulnerable in our communities. In our time, that means holding people like the Mayor or School Superintendent accountable.
To do justice, we need power. As an individual, we don't have the influence necessary to hold our officials with power accountable. But by coming together with other congregations, we have the people power we need to "do justice."
Nehemiah is our example of how to do justice in our community (Neh. 5: 1-13).
While in Jerusalem, Nehemiah hears of the economic exploitation of the people by public officials who charged unfair interest rates to take advantage of the poor and vulnerable people of the land. They were displacing people from their homes and selling their children into slavery.
Nehemiah called a "great assembly" in Jerusalem and the entire community came out to confront the nobles and officials and asked them to stop their unjust practices. They demanded that the land, children, and money from interest be returned to the people immediately. Faced with the power of a great assembly, the nobles and officials agreed to do as they were asked and stop their unjust ways.
One individual congregation doesn't have enough people-power to hold systems and those in power accountable for justice.