Newsletters

Date: February 14th 2008

Friends,

This note will be quick!

1. You can finally register for the Washington Witness!!!

Go to www.christianpeacewitness.org to learn more about and register for the Washington Events, or to register your own Lenten worship or witness for Peace on the CPWI page.

• There are great workshops and nonviolence trainings on Thursday night the 6th and Friday morning the 7th.
• There are nearly a dozen different Christian worship services to choose from on Friday the 7th at noon.
• There are plans for an Interfaith Witness and public action (during which some may choose to risk arrest as an expression of conscience) at the capitol.
• There will be a workshop on Saturday afternoon the 8th for those who want to volunteer as local/regional organizers for ongoing CPWI efforts.
• Saturday night there will be a Faith-Based Coffee House for Peace and Justice.
• If you can’t come to D.C., register your own local service/witness to end the war in Iraq on the CPWI website!

2. Check out the Pledge to Seek Peace. You can sign online.

Go to www.pledgeforpeace.org to view and sign the pledge, and to invite your friends and colleagues to sign as well.

3. Learn more about the new Olive Branch Interfaith Peace Partners.

I’m excited about this emerging coalition because I think we are into a new age of Interfaith relationships. Thirty years ago, the task of reaching out beyond the boundaries of the Christian faith was largely left to the leaders of our denomination, or perhaps to pastors. Now, however, those relationships are commonplace where we work and live, and most of us have the opportunity to live the rich possibilities of those relationships rather than simply learning about them second hand.

That opportunity is also a responsibility, of course. Our nation is said to be the most religiously pluralistic in the world. As my friend, Dr. Sayyid Syeed, the founder of the Islamic Society of North America, has claimed, “we are responsible to model for the world what healthy, multi-faith community is.”

4. The Christian Peace Witness for Iraq and Olive Branch Interfaith Peace Partners have planned the Washington Witness to coincide with Ecumenical Advocacy Days.

Go to www.advocacydays.org to register now!

5. Check out the “Picturing Peace” Youtube video contest Go to www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10139607274 to learn more.

The bottom line is that you have the chance to get in on the ground floor on a movement that I believe is going to take off. Bring your youth group for a witness you can trust will be principled, thoughtful, and positive. Come with your Bible study or adult group for some or all of the events. Fill minivans and buses, and if you can’t make it to DC, remember that you can hold your own service and witness locally around the county. Remember to register your event at www.christianpeacewitness.org.

One last thing. I’m reading a book during Lent that I highly recommend, called “The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem” by John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg. I highly commend it to you.

Peace to you, and blessings as your Lenten journey moves toward Jerusalem.

rick