Interchurch Peace Council (IKV), 'Long Term Plans: An Attempt at Structuring'

LONG TERM PLANS

AN ATTEMPT AT STRUCTURING

IKV/1976/86

I promised you—during the November 13^th consultations—to produce a scheme, elaborating on IKV’s long term plans and when these plans will come up for discussion in the council’s monthly meetings. Thinking about this, I realized how it is impossible to actually fulfill such a promise. The number of unanticipated factors that can derail things are countless. The scheme below is thus based on a series of assumptions, and therefore purposely left minimal and general. One of these assumptions, for example, is that IKV’s study groups will work very efficiently, make a detailed plan and carry it out, all geared to the well-functioning of the council. Well, in this process there are numerous uncertainties at play; I would like to ask you to keep this in mind while reading the following, all the more so when you want try to specify the scheme further. Which, by the way, I would appreciate.

1. Internal structure of the IKV

The Interchurch Peace Council consists of:

A council, that gathers once a month;

A secretariat, that looks after the daily business;

Five study groups, which assist the council and the secretariat in preparing talking points and the execution of certain tasks.

The coordination between the study groups mutually and between the study groups and the council is done by the secretariat. The IKV secretary on top of that is assisted in this particularly by the chair and treasurer of the council. The secretariat furthermore maintains a large number of external contacts that usually only come up for discussion in council and the study groups implicitly. In the first place the responsibility for the IKV has been entrusted to him, but also the care for IKVOS^[1] (with its 16 field workers). Additionally, the IKV-secretary participates in a number of administrative boards of other organizations, of which I would like to mention to you:

Betaald Antwoord; X minus Y movement^[2]; National Contemplation Group Development Aid; International Coalition for Development Action; National Committee Information and Consciousness Development Cooperation; Section International Affairs of the Council of Churches; Pax Christi and the National Study Group Bangladesh.

Next to the IKV secretary, three so-called “conscientious objectors”^[3] work at the secretariat: one for research tasks on behalf of the IKV; one with special attention for IKVOS-activities and one mainly for administrative work.

For completeness’ sake, I will also list the IKV study groups:

1. study group Peace and Security (wVV)
2. study group Development Cooperation (wO)
3. study group Theological Contemplation (wTh)
4. study group Peace Week (wVr)
5. study group Church Contacts (wKc)

2. Main themes for the council in the coming period.

As far as I can determine at the moment there are five subjects which will continuously occupy the council in the coming year (1977):

1. Designing an antimilitarism program, (probably in cooperation with the Council of Churches).
2. The development of a vision on our society (the necessity for this has been determined following the commentary on the memorandum Selective Growth, IKV/1976/64).
3. The Standpoint 1977.^[4]
4. The Peace Week 1977
5. The intensification and structuring of the contact with the churches.

In my opinion, the last three subjects deserve priority at the council’s monthly meetings, because they are more or less fixed in time. The Standpoint 1977 needs to be ready—where did I get that—in 1977; the Peace Week will be held from 18–25 September 1977; and the study group Church Contacts has scheduled a “meeting day with the churches” around the time of the Peace Week. It is in any case difficult to schedule the first two subjects. The content of our anti-militarism program for example is dependent on the intentions and the working speed of the Council of Churches. And developing a vision on our society is not an easy job either and is, moreover, a continuous process. It is the case, however, that i) and ii) are helpful especially for iii) = the Standpoint, so they surely need to receive attention in the council.

3. Schedule for handling of the main themes.

I would like to propose to you to follow the following schedule in the coming period. Mentioned are the dates of meetings, the main themes (according to the numbering i through v), and the study groupsresponsible for preparation and follow-up. Finally a rough indication of the issues that could be discussed in particular.

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Wednesday 12–1–77……………..iv………..wVr + wKc

Rough layout for the Peace Week ‘77: themes, publications, relations with the churches.

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Wednesday 9–2–77……………..iii.……….wVV + wO + wTh

chapter I of the Standpoint 1977, see IKV/1976/87;

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Wednesday 9–3–77……………….v…………..wKc (+ wVV + wO + WTh)

Volume “Ten years IKV,” IKV/1976/62;

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Wednesday 13–4–77……………….iv…………..wVr + wKc

determinaton theme, slogan, organization Peace Paper, etc.;

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Wednesday 11–5–77………………..iii…………..wVV + wO

chapter II of the Standpoint 1977, IKV/1976/87;

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Wednesday  8–6–77…………………iv+v………wVr + wKc

final settlement the text Peace Paper ‘77; meeting day with the churches;

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Wednesday 14–9–77…………iii……………wVV + wO + wTh + wKc

chapters I, II and III of the Standpoint 1977, IKV/1976/87;

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Wednesday 12–10–77 ............iii.....................wVV + wO + wTh + wKc

determination text Standpoint 1977

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Saturday 12–11–77…………….IKV One-day session.

In the hope to have been of service to the council with this,

Mient Jan Faber

5 December 1976.

^[1] Interchurch Education Work concerning Development Cooperation. Founded by the IKV.

^[2]Both nationally oriented action groups. ‘X minus Y action’ supported Third World liberation movements to change world economic structures. ‘Paid Answer’ was an action group against racism: especially against Dutch commercial and financial activities in Southern Africa.

^[3]Young men of draft age performing civilian tasks instead of mandatory military service.

^[4] See the previous document.