April 2008
Equipping for Peacemaking E-Newsletter
Welcome to the April 2008 Equipping for Peacemaking Network E-Newsletter. Our hope is to help bring attention to resources that relate to the work of the ELCA Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence (2001-2010). Included in this monthly e-newsletter are events and resources that can be used at the small group, congregational and individual level. Thank you for being part of the network! Forward this to your friends and encourage them to sign up for the network as well. You can find additional resources and sign up for the network at http://www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Justice/Decade-for-Nonviolence/Join-the-E4P-Network.aspx
In this E-Newsletter you will find information about:
Celebrate Earth Day - April 22, 2008
Are you called to share your peacemaking skills through care of creation? Celebrate Earth Day on April 22, 2008. Join activities scheduled in your congregation and community or organize your own. See the ELCA Social Statement Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice; download the leader guide and participant materials for "Awakening to God's Call to Earthkeeping"; obtain a copy of the National Council of Churches' 2008 Earth Day Resource The Poverty of Global Climate Change; or visit the ELCA Environmental Education and Advocacy site or other Earth Day sites for additional ideas.
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Bishop Hanson to Speak at Churches for Middle East Peace Conference
ELCA Bishop Mark S. Hanson will be one of the featured speakers at the April 20-22 Churches for Middle East Peace conference in Washington, D.C. Participants in the Calming the Storm: Middle East Peacemaking in a Turbulent Time conference, will join with other Middle East peace advocates from across the country to "learn about opportunities for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking in the context of broader regional dynamics and with the Bush administration's initiative to move the peace process forward in 2008; and lobby Congress with up-to-date specific talking points designed to make your voice heard."
Visit the Churches for Middle East Peace website for more information about the organization or click here for more information about the conference and to register online.
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Lutheran Peace Fellowship Spring Peacemaking Training
Participate in the Lutheran Peace Fellowship Spring Peacemaking Training in Seattle, WA on Friday evening, April 25 and all day Saturday, April 26, with an optional Sunday session. Thanks to grant and LPF member support, over 2/3 of the workshop costs are already covered. The participant registration fee is $25 - $80 on a sliding scale. Scholarship help is available for registration, transportation, etc. No one will be turned away for lack of funds! Congregations are encouraged to sponsor youth or adult leaders as a means to develop leadership. This workshop extends the impact of the ELCA Equipping for Peacemaking trainings which included approximately 90 Lutherans from every part of the U.S.
Why? Many Lutherans feel a new sense of urgency for bringing the gospel vision of shalom to the conflicts we face in our family, workplace, congregation, community and the world. This workshop is designed to help congregation and youth leaders respond more effectively to this need.
What? Participants will strengthen their leadership in the biblical vision of peacemaking, conflict transformation, and nonviolence in action. You'll learn how to help others transcend lethal cultural myths about violence and conflict, and take your next step on Jesus' way of Shalom.
How? Participants will learn how to present lively and creative exercises, audiovisuals and small group discussions on peacemaking which have been refined in more than five hundred LPF workshops, including sixty intensive workshops. Outstanding resources on key workshop topics will be available for browsing or purchase.
Plan now to come to LPF's spring workshop "Peacemaking in the Real World!" This exciting weekend training will explore the full range of peace from interpersonal and group to community and global.
Through hands-on activities, you will explore the roots of violence, the strengths of Jesus' Way of Shalom in addressing conflict, and tools for working for peace in your congregation and community.
This intergenerational workshop will have a basic track for those new to peacemaking, as well as a leadership track for those who want extra training in group facilitation.
Contact LPF now for more information or to register for the event. Email Monica at lpfyouth@gmail.com, Glen Gersmehl at lpf@ecunet.org, or call 206.720.0313. Click here for more information about Lutheran Peace Fellowship.
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Participate in April Actions Against Cluster Bombs
From the Friends Committee on National Legislation:
On April 30, 1975, Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces, finally ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. But the U.S. left millions of weapons behind that continue to kill.
Between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. dropped 90 million cluster bomblets on Vietnam's neighbor, Laos. Thirty-three years later, more than 1 million cluster submunitions still litter the land, waiting to explode in the hand of a curious child or at the foot of a subsistence farmer.
In the last 10 years, the U.S. has used cluster bombs in civilian-populated areas of the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Join the national effort to mark the 33rd anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam by supporting legislation to stop the U.S. from using cluster bombs ever again.
For more information about landmines, cluster bombs and S.594 (Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act of 2007) see the website for the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines. Read the complete World Council of Churches' statement on cluster munitions here.
For more information about the April Actions or the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines, contact Lora Lumpe, Coordinator for the United States Campaign to Ban Landmines.
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Season for Nonviolence - 64 Daily Practices
"A Season for Nonviolence is a national 64-day educational, media, and grassroots campaign dedicated to demonstrating that nonviolence is a powerful way to heal, transform, and empower or lives and our communities. Inspired by the 50th and 30th memorial anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this international event honors their vision for an empowered, nonviolent world." (From http://www.64-days.org/aboutus.htm.)
Visit the 64 Daily Practices Page to download handouts for adults, teens, and children. The handout is also available in Spanish for adults and teens. Although the Season for Nonviolence was scheduled for January 30 through April 4, 2008, this valuable resource could be used in any 64 day cycle. Each week has a theme and each day has a daily emphasis and suggestion for action. For more information about A Season for Nonviolence, visit the website.
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Kirkridge Retreat Center Offers "Experiments in Truth and Conscience"
Join Daniel and Robert Ellsberg at Kirkridge Retreat Center May 16-18, 2008. Spend a weekend with this famous father and son. Their storytelling, informal conversation, provocative presentations, and shared reflections about facing the moral challenges of yesterday and today will leave you inspired and empowered to continue your own experiments in truth and conscience.
The weekend will begin with dinner at 6:30 on Friday evening and end with lunch on Sunday. Program fee is $200, plus $175 room and board. For more information about the event, earlybird registration discount, CEU's, scholarships, commuter rates see the Kirkridge Retreat Center website.
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Volunteers Needed to Help Convey Middle East Peace Message at Synod Assemblies
The ELCA Peace Not Walls campaign is implementing the churchwide strategy to promote a permanent peace solution for Israel and Palestine and has been looking for volunteers in each synod to help raise awareness during 2008. The following synods are in need of contact persons:
1A - Alaska
1B - Northwest Washington
1D - Eastern Washington-Idaho
2D - Grand Canyon
3A - Western North Dakota
4A - Nebraska
4B - Central States
5C - Central/Southern Illinois
5G - Northern Great Lakes
5J - Greater Milwaukee Synod
6C - Indiana-Kentucky
7A - New Jersey
7D - Upstate New York
7G - Slovak Zion
8C - Allegheny
8E - Upper Susquehanna
9F - Caribbean
Primary responsibilities would be to contact your synod's assembly planner to reserve time and space in the program, and then be the liaison for receiving and distributing materials. There are no funds available to cover costs related to table display space. (Check with your synod office to determine if an appropriate committee would be willing to assist with this cost.)
The request is that your synod to do any or all of the following at the spring assembly, in rough order of importance:
1. Include in all assembly packets a two-sided color Peace Not Walls flyer and a bookmark, designed by the Lutheran International Center in Bethlehem.
2. Show Middle East peace videos (one at 2 minutes and/or one at 28 minutes) during spare moments during the plenary or repeatedly in a display area.
3. Have available other Peace Not Walls handouts (we will provide master copies to duplicate) in a display area.
4. Offer a workshop on Israel-Palestine peace efforts, provided you have a qualified presenter in your synod and/or the video and powerpoint resources we will provide on a master DVD.
If you are in one of the synods listed above and willing to serve in this capacity for your 2008 synod assembly, please contact Matt Ley, ELCA Global Mission, by phone at 800.638.3522, ext. 2655, or by email at as soon as possible.
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NPR Interview: For Former Combatants, a Plan for Peace
Click here to access the National Public Radio website and listen to a March 10 interview with Bassam Aramin and Zohar Shapira, the co-founders of Combatants for Peace. They "talk about their mission to end the cycle of violence in Israel and Palestine by bringing together individuals who previously fought against each other."
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New Resource from Mennonite Central Committee Now Available
The Mennonite Central Committee has released a new resource entitled "Thermostat." According to the website, "Thermostat features a DVD and study guide with 33 sessions divided into 7 units: Peacemaking, Imagination, Allegiance, Security, Terrorism, Camouflage and Nonviolence. You can mix and match to choose what interests your group most."
"Though Thermostat is designed for youth groups, the concerns addressed are the concerns of the whole church. Many sessions encourage intergenerational conversation."
This resource is available in English or Spanish for $19.99, plus shipping. Click here to order this resource or visit the online store for additional peace related materials.
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Lutheran Leader Condemns Kidnapping and Death of Iraqi Archbishop
From the ELCA News Service:
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), issued a March 19 message calling the kidnapping and death of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho "a tragic act of violence." Rahho, 65, was abducted Feb. 29 and his body was found March 13 in Mosul, Iraq.
"We extend our condolences to members of the Chaldean Catholic Church and unite with people of faith from every tradition who condemn not only this kidnapping and death, but all acts of terror and extremism," Hanson said.
Hanson said Rahho was recently quoted as saying, "Everyone is suffering from this war irrespective of religious affiliation, but in Mosul Christians face starker choices." Click here to read entire article.
Visit the ELCA News Service website for current articles and blogs.
Go in peace and serve the Lord!
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