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
Over the first weekend of April, members of various Christian churches gathered in Washington, D.C., to learn about and advocate for political action. This national gathering, called Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD), is a three-day conference headed by leaders of many Christian denominations and attended by Christians from across the United States. This year’s theme was “Troubling the Waters for the Healing of the World,” and participants were encouraged to stir up “good trouble” to initiate positive change.
On April 20, 1999, Tom and Linda Mauser joined a club that no one wanted to join: the parents of a child victimized by gun violence. Their son, Daniel Mauser, was a victim of the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colo.
The Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy has signed on to a letter to President Trump regarding Syria. The letter signed by seven faith-based denominations and organizations, some of whom are engaged in providing support for peacebuilding efforts in Syria and humanitarian assistance to displaced Syrians, called for the complete withdrawal of US troops from Syria. It also urges the US administration to address root causes of insecurity in the region.
oday, March 21, a broad coalition of religious and civil rights leaders will deliver a letter to Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo requesting an official invitation to professor E. Tendayi Achiume, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, to the United States. The Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy has signed the letter and its staff were at the initial planning meeting, reports director Nathan Hosler.
Ma Sili Ibrahim, aged 102, was buried beside her late husband Ibrahim Ndiriza in a round heart at her home town of Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria. She was among recent losses of members of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). In two releases this week, EYN reported losses among members and an attack on the town of Michika.
“Conflict Competent Leadership” is the title of a “New and Renew Webinar” offered through the Discipleship Ministries. The webinar is scheduled for March 19 at 1-2 p.m. (Eastern time). Participants in the live event may earn 0.1 continuing education credit.
What does the affirmation “All War Is Sin”* mean when wars are waged on drugs, on crime, on poverty, when the designated enemy is not a soldier on foreign soil, but citizens of one’s own country?
NEWS
1) Annual Conference registration opens March 4, business schedule will focus on compelling vision
2) Compelling vision online conversation is offered March 23
3) Interfaith letter opposes CIA lethal drone strikes, Brethren invited to May 3 rally against drone warfare
4) Global Food Initiative manager visits sites in Ecuador
5) National Youth Cabinet is named for 2019-2020
6) Brethren bits: Remembrance, personnel notes, prayer requests from Nigeria and Haiti, Bridgewater College project, Dunker Punks podcast, and more
