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Welcome to the July 2010 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! CLICK HERE to find additional resources and enroll in the E4P network.
In this E-Newsletter you will find information about:
Got Peace? Let's Grow It and Share It!
International Day of Prayer for Peace, September 19-21
How can we as Christians share hope with those feeling discouraged about violence today? How can we learn more about how conflict can be transformed into peace? And how can we help peacemaking to grow in a world that direly needs it?
More than 10,000 congregations worldwide observe the International Day of Prayer for Peace (IDPP) as a chance for people to grow in faith and action for peace. NOW IS THE TIME to ask pastors and worship planners to put this on the fall calendar, to explore resources, and to plan prayers, forums, and advocacy for the weeks before and after September 19 (and/or September 21).
Why organize a day like this? Prayer is central to peacemaking. We are capable of far more when we place our efforts in the hands of the One who is Peace, who has called us to be peacemakers, and who walks with us on the Path fostering Shalom.
You can use the half page bulletin insert written by two Lutheran leaders for the first IDPP and revised for 2010 at www.lutheranpeace.org. And you can find more from the World Council of Churches, the ELCA and others.
The Day of Prayer is a chance to inspire and encourage people of faith to realize that we can grow as God's peacemakers in our families, churches, communities and world, empowered by the Gospel's deep roots of Shalom. God has given us the peace that passes all understanding. Let's learn together how to grow it – and share it!
As of July 1 – ONLY 82 DAYS until the International Day of Prayer for Peace. Read a message from the United Nations Secretary-General which began the 100 day count-down on June 13, 2010.
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WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle
Visit the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Prayer Cycle web site. This site lifts up a different area of the world each week and provides prayers for personal and congregational use. Prayers are available two weeks in advance. Prayers for this month include:
June 27 - July 3: Bolivia, Chile, Peru
July 4 - 10: Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela
July 11 - 17: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama
June 18 - 24: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico
July 25 - 31: The Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas,
Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada,
Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and
Tobago
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ELCA Glocal Mission Gatherings - Connecting Global and Local
Deepen your understanding of the changing context and practice of global mission, enjoy great food and music, meet others who share your passion for ministry. Attend one of the following Glocal Mission Gatherings in 2010:
July 16-17, Austin, MN
August 6-7, Billings, MT
September 10-11, Lexington, SC
October 1-2, Grand Forks, ND
October 8-9, West Linn, OR
November 12-13, Camp Hill, PA
For more information, please email GlobalMissionInfo@elca.org or call Mia Cortez at 1-800-638-3522, ext. 2642.
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Peace Among the Peoples: Overcoming the Spirit, Logic and Practice of Violence - July 28-31
From a Press Release:
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary will host an ecumenical peace conference July 28-31, 2010, focusing on contemporary North American responses to war. Christian peacemakers of all traditions and disciplines are invited to attend this event.
Peace Among the Peoples is a preparatory meeting for the World Council of Churches' 2011 International Ecumenical Peace Convocation. This gathering will see to reinvigorate conversation on war and peace by building on the recent work of the U.S. Decade to Overcome Violence Committee and peace dialogues facilitated by.....MORE
CLICK HERE for event schedule, detailed program information and registration.
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Events at Kirkridge Retreat Center
Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center in Bangor, PA is offering the following:
Labyrinths: A Pathway to Peace - Calen Rayne - August 6-8, 2010
On this 55th anniversary of Hiroshima Day, we will reflect on that event and explore ways to channel energy that might be used for destructive thoughts and actions for more peaceful pursuits, beginning with our own inner peace. Labyrinths provide just such an opportunity; to stand at the entrance, ask for the ancient paths, then walk in a good way.
Creating a Culture of Peace - Janet Chisholm - August 19-22, 2010
A nationwide program for community peacemaking, this innovative training provides a holistic and practical foundation in active nonviolence. Participants come to recognize their own power for making personal and social changes that will create a world without violence.
Creating a Culture of Peace Facilitators' Training - Janet Chisolm -
October 7-11, 2010
Training for individuals who want to develop skills for leading "Creating a Culture of Peace" events. (Participation in "Creating a Culture of Peace" is a pre-requisite for this event.)
Visit the website for more information or to register.
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Re-membering Peace: Still the Believer's Calling - August 25-28
The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program invites peacemakers to attend the 2010 Peacemaking Seminar, "Re-membering Peace: Still the Believer's Calling," August 25-28 at Ghost Ranch Conference Center, Abiquiu, NM. Participants will share stories of peacemaking, replenish spirits, hearts and minds for peacemaking work, and envision how we can, as believers, respond to God's call to be peacemakers in the years to come.
CLICK HERE for informational brochure, press release and registration.
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Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Comments on World Refugee Day
From the ELCA News Service:
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), Baltimore, renewed its call for passage of legislation to protect refugees and for reform of the domestic refugee resettlement program in a statement for World Refugee Day, June 20.
LIRS is one of the nation's leading agencies in welcoming and advocating for refugees and other immigrants. It works on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
According to a recent United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees report, there are 15.2 million refugees, 27.1 million internally displaced persons and 983,000 asylum-seekers in the world, the LIRS statement said.
In fiscal year 2009 LIRS said it resettled to the United States nearly 11,000 refugees, including many Iraqis, Burmese and Bhutanese. LIRS works in partnership with MORE....
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Draft Message on Human Disabilities
The ELCA Draft Message on Human Disabilities is now available on the website. Members of the ELCA are invited to send comments and suggested revisions to disabilitiesmessage@elca.org by August 15, 2010.
Eight synods — Alaska, Greater Milwaukee, Metropolitan Chicago, Nebraska, New England, New Jersey, Pacifica, and Southeastern Pennsylvania — called upon the ELCA to prepare a social statement on human disability leading to “strengthened awareness within the ELCA” of “the particular challenges faced by people living with MORE......
Visit the website for more information.
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NEW RESOURCE!
Unfinished Journey: From War to Peace, From Violence to Wholeness, by The Rev. Dr. Jerry Pedersen, was recently released. It can be ordered from Amazon, but better yet can be ordered directly from Jerry Pedersen with no shipping charges.
Lowell O. Erdahl, Bishop Emeritus, St. Paul Area Synod, ELCA, recently said the following about the book:
"While reading Jerry Pedersen's moving and insightful autobiographical reflections I was often reminded of Ashley Montagu's assertion that 'There are millions of Christians in the  world but very few followers of Jesus!'. If that is true, Pedersen is most certainly among those 'very few' who seek to be followers of Jesus and not just worshipers of Jesus. For him such following relates not only to his personal life and pastoral ministry but also to prophetic confrontation with local and global injustice and oppression. 'My journey of peacemaking,' he says, 'has led me to become less concerned about believing 'who' Jesus was, and more about believing in his way of living and its importance for us. I have come to see Jesus as one who created a 'New Way of Living' in relation to power, money, peace, war and violence'".(p.190)
"The story of his commitment to live out this conviction in the concrete and often controversial situations that he encountered during his decades of ministry provides a fascinating and challenging model that demonstrates how the pastoral and the prophetic should, and can, go together. Such ministry should be the goal of every pastor and seminary student and I'm grateful to Jerry Pedersen for the insight and example of his "Unfinished Journey" to inspire and empower us to live it out."
Read an excerpt from the back cover of the book.
Dr. Peterson is a retired Lutheran Pastor, former president of the board of Lutheran Peace Fellowship, campus pastor, seminary professor, chaplain at University of East Africa, Tanzania, Doctorate from Claremont School of Theology, graduate study at London School of Economics, among other things, and deeply committed to Active Nonviolence. His book is an advocacy for that Unfinished Journey.
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We Want to Hear from YOU!
How did you observe the International Day of Prayer for Peace in September of 2009 in your community, your congregation or your family? Are you planning to participate in the 2010 International Day of Prayer for Peace? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Share your story of last years' observance or share your plans for this year. Contact Jean Morehouse, Coordinator of the ELCA Equipping for Peacemaking Network and inspire other peacemakers in the Network! We'll look forward to hearing from you soon!
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Peace Notes and Quotes
If you have a favorite quote or want to share a brief thought about peacemaking, please send your contribution to Jean Morehouse, Equipping for Peacemaking Program Coordinator.
JULY PEACE QUOTE:
"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body."
Colossians 3:15, Holy Bible, NRSV
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Go in peace and serve the Lord!
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