A new book titled A Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace: Global Mennonite Perspectives on Peacebuilding and Nonviolence, edited by Fernando Enns, Nina Schroeder-van ’t Schip, and Andrés Pacheco-Lozano, is related to the emergence of the new Global Anabaptist Peace Network.
This year I caught a glimpse of the first firefly next to a pile of refuse near our back gate, blinking beautifully and hopefully in an abandoned place. When we celebrate Pentecost we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. The disciples gathered in prayer, hidden in a room, in fear. While there may have been hope and expectation, it was likely tentative. I imagine it felt like an abandoned place. Into that place of fear and disorientation came a blinking light. A flicker of flames amidst a rush of wind.
The Office of Peacebuilding and Policy encourages congregational study of the situation of farmworkers, with new resources provided by its long-standing partner the National Farm Worker Ministry (NFWM).
Chidinma (Chidi) Chidoka has begun as a fellow at the Church of the Brethren’s Office of Peacebuilding and Policy in Washington, D.C.
On Wednesday, Dec. 7, a letter was sent to Congress urging members to support efforts to repeal the authorization for the US to participate in the ongoing war in Yemen. The Church of the Brethren’s Office of Peacebuilding and Policy was one of the faith-based and civil society organizations that signed the letter.
A webinar sponsored by the Interfaith Working Group on Drone Warfare is the subject of an action alert from the Church of the Brethren’s Office of Peacebuilding and Policy. Titled “Drone war, tech assassinations, and the future of conflict: Theological, legal, and policy developments,” the webinar is planned for Dec. 13 at 12 noon (Eastern time).
Last week the Heifer Project International board gathered in Little Rock, Ark. Though I have been representing the Church of the Brethren on this board for two years, this was the first time I met fellow board members and most of the staff. In addition to physically meeting board members and staff, who I’ve been with for many hours of Zoom, I met the new CEO, Surita Sandosham. Having joined the board only 20 days earlier, Sandosham was still in intense listening mode.
More than two dozen faith groups, including the Church of the Brethren’s Office of Peacebuilding and Policy, have written a letter to President Biden urging the abolition of nuclear weapons, and stating that “the possession and use of nuclear weapons cannot be justified.” The letter comes after the Biden administration responded with threats of “catastrophic consequences” to Russian Pres. Putin’s veiled threats to use nuclear weapons.
The Church of the Brethren’s Office of Peacebuilding and Policy is one of the faith-based groups signing on to a letter to President Biden concerning Cuba and a statement calling for a return to the Iran nuclear deal.
Action is defined as the fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim. There are many good ways to take action, and while it is less important which action you take, it is of the utmost importance that we act and act together in ways that get us closer to our goal. During the month of May, the mass shootings at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, N.Y., and Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, spurred the Washington, D.C.-based faith community to take action to address the scourge of gun violence in a few different ways.
