MONROVIA, Oct. 12 -- Liberia's leaders and churches must not mistake the end of the war for the arrival of peace. That was the charge Rev. Dr. Samuel Reeves delivered from the pulpit of Providence Baptist Church on Sunday.

By Rodney D. Sieh

"Listen, church, listen, Liberia, the first generation after conflict must not be satisfied merely because the guns became silent," Reeves said. "Silence is not the same as reconciliation. Stability is not the same as justice."

In a sermon billed as "A Message for the Nation," Reeves went further, singling out the economic yardstick the country has been using to measure progress. "Economic growth, and raising 1 billion dollars in revenue is not the same as human flourishing," he said. "Institutional...