Action Alert - Brethren Action Alert

Action Alert
Brethren Witness/Washington Office

We write you today to invite your congregation/ parish/ seminary/ organization to help bring a dimension of our faith’s view of true security to the U.S. Presidential race.

On Sunday, March 9, 2008, from 7:30 to 9:30 PM Eastern, we as one of the sponsors of Ecumenical Advocacy Days, will be hosting a 2008 Presidential Candidates Town Hall Forum on a Vision of True Security. We have been working with the Democratic and Republican Presidential Campaigns to invite the remaining candidates for President of the U.S. to address the participants about how their faith informs their approach to International and Domestic Security.

We will be broadcasting this event over the internet for Churches, Seminaries and other Locations to host this historic candidates’ forum. This is where we need your help. WE INVITE YOU TO BE ONE OF THE HOST SITES.

To participate your community would need a local host person, an internet hook-up that can stream the live broadcast of the event, and depending upon how big of a crowd you expect a projector to enlarge the viewing of the event.

To sign-up your parish/congregation/seminary/college as a host site for the live webcast, please follow the link below and complete the information. This will also enable you to test your internet connection and determine if you can show the broadcast. It is recommended that you register from the computer (or network) through which you will be hosting the event.

Once you sign-up you will get the promotional materials and other items your local church/seminary/college will need to host this event.

This is an historic occasion and one that will allow us to hear from our Presidential Candidates and to ask them questions of how we can develop a vision of true security for our future as a nation and world. The more sites we have the more exciting of a prospect this can be.

If you have any questions regarding this event, please e-mail them to Russ Testa at JPIC@HNP.ORG.

We truly hope that you will be able to have your home site be a part of this historic event.

Brethren members and congregations are encouraged to participate in the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq in Washington, DC, March 7. The Washington City Church of the Brethren will be one of many host sites for a time of worship, prayer and reflection around the Iraq war and concerns over Iran. Worship services will begin at noon on Friday and following those, feeder marches from around the city will make their way to the front of the nation's Capitol. A rally and witness will begin there at 2:30 p.m. with nonviolent actions to follow. The Brethren Witness/Washington office will be hosting Brethren who come to the city for this event. A gathering is planned following the worship service at the Washington City church.

For those able to stay for the weekend Ecumenical Advocacy Days will begin that evening. Visit the BWWO website or www.advocacydays.org for complete details.

For those unable to make their way to DC please visit http://www.christianpeacewitness.org for details of how you can plan and be active in your local community on this important day of witness.

3. Anabaptist peace forum in Washington, DC on April 11-12: “Bridging Divides: Uniting the Church for Peacemaking”

The Brethren Witness/Washington Office and the Anabaptist Peace Center in Washington, D.C., are jointly sponsoring an Anabaptist peace forum on the theme, “Bridging Divides: Uniting the Church for Peacemaking.” The event will take place April 11-12 at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C.

The forum is for pastors, theologians, service workers, academics, and laypeople to explore how the church can unite for mission despite political divides, and also how the church can work to heal divisions in communities. The event will include plenary and seminar sessions, and each day will begin with Bible study and worship.

Myron Augsburger, president and professor emeritus of Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., is the keynote speaker. Other plenary and seminar speakers will include Chris Bowman, pastor of Oakton Church of the Brethren in Vienna, Va., and a former moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference; Celia Cook-Huffman, assistant professor of peace studies and associate director of the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa.; Phil Jones, director of the Brethren Witness/Washington Office; Michelle Armster of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) US; and Steve Brown, of Calvary Community Church.

Adam Tice of Hyattsville Mennonite Church, will be worship leader. A pre-conference seminar on “How We Talk When We Disagree,” will be led by Grant Rissler, MCC peace and justice coordinator. Participants also are invited to join in an annual “Hymn Sing for Peace” at 5 p.m. on April 12.

The registration fee is $80, $40 for students, and those who register by Feb. 15 will receive a $10 discount. Register online at www.apcwdc.mennonite.net/Bridging_Divides or contact Keith Swartzendruber at 202-548-0010 keith@apcwdc.mennonite.net. For more information contact the Brethren Witness/Washington Office, 337 N. Carolina Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20003; 800-785-3246; washington_office_gb@brethren.org.

If you have questions on these or other issues, contact the Brethren Witness/Washington Office at the address below. We would love to hear from you!

Brethren Witness/Washington Office Action Alerts are sent out as important issues arise. Forward this alert to others! To add an e-mail address to our list, contact us at:

Brethren Witness/Washington Office
337 North Carolina Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
Local Phone: 202-546-3202
Toll Free: 1-800-785-3246
Fax: 202-544-5852
E-mail: washington_office_gb@brethren.org

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