The Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy has signed a letter asking Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to strengthen US refugee resettlement as a core part of a robust international religious freedom agenda. The 42 signatories to the letter, which was coordinated by World Relief, represented a wide range of faith traditions. It was sent to the appropriate officials at the State Department and to the Vice President’s office.
Church of the Brethren general secretary David Steele is one of 21 Christian leaders from across the country to sign a letter regarding the war in Yemen. Coordinated by Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), the letter was sent to Congress, including the leadership of the House and Senate and relevant committees.
The Intercultural Ministries of the Church of the Brethren has launched a venture called the Xenos Project. The word Xenos is a Greek word meaning stranger or alien. The purpose of Xenos is to build a community of congregations feeling called to speak up, stand up, and take action supporting immigrants within our nation.
Anabaptist Church Consultation on the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service
From May 13-14 in Flint, Mich., 23 board members of Creation Justice Ministries, an ecumenical eco-justice organization, gathered to pray, learn, and act for water justice. The Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy is an active member, and membership affords opportunities to network with other Christian communions, denominations, and fellowships with active commitments to protect, restore, and more rightly share God’s creation.
About 150 people from peace churches, peace organizations, communities, friends, and guests–from 10 denominations and Christian traditions and 14 countries–met to mark the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the European ecumenical network Church and Peace. They gathered on May 18 for a ceremony in the Reformation Church of Moabit in Berlin to celebrate the network’s past, present, and future with the theme, “‘I will give you future and hope’ (Jeremiah 29:11): 70 years of living nonviolence and resisting militarization.”
The Christian Citizenship Seminar gathered 47 high school youth and advisors from Church of the Brethren congregations throughout the US, beginning on April 27 in New York City and ending in Washington, D.C., on May 2, focused on the theme “Creative Solutions to Violent Conflict Worldwide.” The event was led by five Church of the Brethren staff from the Youth and Young Adult Ministry and the Office of Peacebuilding and Policy.
The Church of the Brethren has renewed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Selective Service System, the federal department responsible for the nation’s preparation for a military draft and draft registration. Selective Service also has worked with the historic peace churches to plan for alternative service for conscientious objectors in the event of a draft.
An ecumenical gathering on Wednesday, May 15, will hold a ceremony related to the 2019 International Conscientious Objection Day, and all are invited. A special focus of this gathering will be to dedicate engraved stones remembering those who, in the spirit of two cherished Bible passages (Isaiah 2:4 and Luke 19:42), were conscientious objectors during World War I.
“The earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened…” (Matthew 27:51). NEWS 1) Planting potatoes, harvesting choirs in Rwanda2) Office of Peacebuilding and Policy signs on to letter about Syria3) EAD 2019 stirs up ‘good trouble’ for healing of national and global problems PERSONNEL 4) Gimbiya Kettering resigns from Intercultural Ministries
