PPF Newsletter

Peace Colloquium, Internship, and Delegation

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:03:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title>Peace Colloquium, Internship, and Delegation</title> </head> <body> <div style="float: right; width: 200px; border: 1px solid black; margin: 0 0 10px 10px;"> <h3 style="font-size: 120%; background-color: #520C79; color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-left: 5px; margin-top: 0;" >In this email:</h3> <ul> <li><a href="#1">Gun Violence and Gospel Values</a></li> <li><a href="#2">PPF Internship</a></li> <li><a href="#3">Philippines Delegation Jan '09</a></li> </ul> </div> <h2 style="font-size: 130%; color: #3D095A;" >From Rick</h2> Friends, I hope the summer finds you well. The Peace Week at Ghost Ranch was a rousing success, and included great seminars, a strong sense of community, morning prayers with Philip and Alie Newell, amazing worship with John Fife and Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, and good fellowship in the campground community as we shared our meals and campfire time. About forty of us also spent August 2nd in Los Alamos for the commemoration of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As we moved in silent procession wearing sackcloth and carrying ashes, I was struck once again by the power of our quiet, unassuming, witness of faith. <a name="1"></a> Please check the Stony Point Center website (http://www.stonypointcenter.org) for information about the upcoming Peacemaking Colloquium on Gun Violence and Gospel Values on September 15 to 17. Our hope is to both provide good information about how to combat gun violence in our communities, but also to work on developing new strategies for our work on this important issue. <a name="2"></a> Finally, the PPF is accepting applications for a one-year internship. The Intern will be expected to live at Stony Point Center and participate in community life there. It will include significant opportunities to work cooperatively with ecumenical and interfaith colleagues. If you�re interested, check out the details on our website at http://presbypeacefellowship.org. Many blessings, Rick <a name="3"></a> <h3 style="font-size: 120%; background-color: #520C79; color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-left: 5px;" >Delegation to the Philippines, January 2-17, 2009</h3> While violence, torture, and persecution continue to be dominant forces in the Philippines, this two-week visit by Presbyterian peacemakers can have a significant impact. Join us as we walk with our sisters and brothers, hear their stories, and learn what can be done for a country and a people longing for peace and justice. For more information please visit http://presbypeacefellowship.org/delegations/philippines/2009jan.

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PPF at the General Assembly

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:40:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title>PPF at the General Assembly</title> </head> <body> <div style="float: right; width: 200px; border: 1px solid black; margin: 0 0 10px 10px;"> <h3 style="font-size: 120%; background-color: #520C79; color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-left: 5px; margin-top: 0;" >In this email:</h3> <ul> <li><a href="#1">GA Summary!</a></li> </ul> </div> <h2 style="font-size: 130%; color: #3D095A;" >From Rick</h2> Friends, For as long as all of us can remember, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship has been a presence at the General Assembly. I�ve attended almost every GA for the last twenty years, and the PPF National Committee members have always been there, doing their best to assure a consistent witness from our denomination on what it means to be followers of the Prince of Peace. This year, our work before and during the Assembly made what can reasonably be argued was the strongest impact at any of the nearly twenty assemblies that I�ve attended. Members and friends of the PPF were instrumental in shaping a wide variety of overtures and commissioners� resolutions, most of which were passed with few changes, and some of which were strengthened by this Assembly�s resolve to speak out for the cause of peace. There were bold actions calling for the end of the War in Iraq, re-stating our denomination�s support for support for Conscientious Objectors, and condemning the use of mercenary or �for profit� soldiers in Iraq and around the world. The Assembly also expressed a clear resolve to maintain and further develop our nonviolent work in Colombia, and in response to the pleas of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, called for an end to U.S. military aid to the government of Colombia. Two of our members who participated in our delegation to the Philippines in February wrote a Commissioners Resolution that was passed overwhelmingly by the Assembly. That action raised serious questions about the rising level of violence and political killings directed against community and church leaders, and called on Presbyterians to participate in delegations there to seek greater ways to be in solidarity with our sister church, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. The General Assembly then complemented those actions by also choosing to sign on to a clear statement condemning the use of torture as a technique of interrogation in the U.S.�s efforts to combat terrorism. For the first time in many years, this Assembly also spoke out on the epidemic of gun violence in our country. I wish you all could have been there with me as I listened to Rev. Jim Atwood, a member of our National Committee, give a powerful and prophetic call to the Social Justice Committee of the Assembly to invite all of us to address this crisis at every level of our society. His insistence that the church must be the conscience of the nation was especially compelling given the deeply disturbing decision of the Supreme Court on Friday of that week � on a five to four vote � to severely undermine the existing laws controlling the sale of these weapons. Finally, PPF folks were supportive of efforts led by the Israel/Palestine network to continue to craft a consistent witness for peace among our Muslim, Christian and Jewish sisters and brothers in Israel and Palestine. The importance of our actions over the last four years was re-enforced by Archbishop Elias Chacour, who preached at the Ecumenical Worship service on Wednesday morning, and by Mubarak Awad, the Palestinian Christian who founded the Center for Nonviolence in Washington DC, who was the keynote speaker at the PPF breakfast. At that breakfast, the PPF also presented PeaceSeeker awards to Anita David and Beth Pyles for their work in Iraq, to Gary Cozette for his human rights work in Colombia, and to long-time National Committee member Peggy Howland for her lifetime of service to the church and to the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and her consistently strong message for peace and justice. It was, indeed, a powerful moment for the cause of peacemaking in the church. For me, what was most important was that the strength of our witness as a Peace Fellowship grew out of our direct involvement as nonviolent accompaniers and peacemakers around the world. This was no intellectual exercise � it was the natural result of efforts of dozens of Presbyterians who have chosen to get directly involved in the cause of peacemaking in places of extreme conflict in their own communities and around the world. I hope that many of you will be inspired to join us as our work and witness grows. Moments like the San Jose General Assembly make it crystal clear just how important that work is. Rick <a name="1"></a> <h3 style="font-size: 120%; background-color: #520C79; color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-left: 5px;" >GA Summary</h3> While much reporting and discussion on this year's General Assembly focuses on divisions in the church, the Assembly saw remarkable consensus on issues of peacemaking. Most peace related actions passed by very wide margins, and some were even unanimous. We've prepared a comprehensive summary of GA's actions on peace issues on our <a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org">website</a>. Click on any of the links below to view GA's action on a given issue. <ul> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#nonviolence">Nonviolence, not war</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#iran">Peace with Iran</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#mercenaries">Mercenaries</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#philippines">Philippines</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#colombia">Colombia</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#iraq">Iraq</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#israel">Israel/Palestine</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#co">Conscientious Objection</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#gun">Gun Violence</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#immigration">Immigration</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#torture">Torture</a></li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/188#social">Social Creed</a></li> </ul>

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Peacemaking at General Assembly

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:56:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title>Peacemaking at General Assembly</title> </head> <body> <div style="float: right; width: 200px; border: 1px solid black; margin: 0 0 10px 10px;"> <h3 style="font-size: 120%; background-color: #520C79; color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-left: 5px; margin-top: 0;" >In this email:</h3> <ul> <li><a href="#1">Peace Breakfast</a></li> <li><a href="#2">Overture Analysis</a></li> <li><a href="#3">Visit us at Booth #301</a></li> <li><a href="#4">Let us know if you'll be there!</a></li> </ul> </div> <h2 style="font-size: 130%; color: #3D095A;" >From Rick</h2> Sisters and Brothers, You�ll notice that we�ve switched over to a new format for our email newsletter, thanks to Matt the wonder-boy web developer. I hope you�ll find it easier to read, or to scan the information if you�re pressed for time, as I always seem to be. For those keeping up with such things, the Ufford-Chase family has safely arrived in Stony Point, NY and unloaded all of our belongings into a garage to await our return here in early August. In the meantime, I�m off tomorrow for Montreat, NC for a retreat with about two dozen of the organizing partners from the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq. I am looking forward to two days of strategizing about the next steps to organize an authentically Christian, nonviolent movement to end the war. This is likely to be the last email newsletter before the General Assembly of the PC(USA) in San Jose from June 21 to 28. Below, you�ll find information on the Peace Breakfast (you must request your ticket by Friday!), as well as the many important issues before the Assembly this time. One of the most important functions of the PPF is to be a strong presence for peace and nonviolence at the General Assembly. I believe that our witness is unique, and our advocacy is critically important to our denomination. Kathy Conner is fond of telling the story about how her husband John (who, like me, had the great honor of being elected moderator of the General Assembly) once reflected that receiving the PeaceSeeker Award from the PPF was the greatest honor he ever received. As I�ve worked so closely with all of you who support the Peace Fellowship over the last two years, I�ve come to appreciate the great wisdom of what John had to say. The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship has been unwavering in its insistence that the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to love even our enemies. I believe that our commitment to live what we say we believe in regions that are troubled by violence is the greatest gift we can offer our sisters and brothers in the church today. That�s what the PPF�s involvement in the General Assembly is all about. I hope to see many of you there! Rick <a name="1"></a> <h3 style="font-size: 120%; background-color: #520C79; color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-left: 5px;" >Peace Breakfast</h3> There's still time to register for the Peace Breakfast! Don't miss this chance to hear a dynamic speaker, share a meal, and collaborate and celebrate with other peacemakers! Join us on Wednesday, June 25 at 6:45am! If you still need tickets: OPTION ONE - this week only. For the Advance Discounted Price ($19.00) for Peace Breakfast tickets, checks must be received in New York THIS WEEK, by Saturday, June 14, payable to Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and mailed to Peggy Howland 245 Rumsey Road, Apt. 3J Yonkers, NY 10701-4526 914-423-0623, PegHowland@aol.com Peggy will acknowledge by email when she has received your check. You may pick up your pre-paid tickets by Tuesday afternoon, June 24 at the Peace Fellowship Booth (booth # 301) in the Exhibit Area (preferred), or on Wednesday morning before the Peace Breakfast, at the Fairmont San Jose Hotel, Regency Ballroom One. Doors open at 6:30. Breakfast at 6:45 am. OPTION TWO - in San Jose, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 20-22, at the Peace Fellowship Booth (#301) in the Exhibit Area. Tickets will be available for $20.00, cash or check only, Friday to Sunday. On Monday or Tuesday, only a limited number of tickets will be available at the booth. OPTION THREE - G.A. Ticket Sales Booth, opens Friday at the Convention Center. Price $21.00, limited number of tickets. Note: A $10 rebate will be given at the door to Commissioners and Advisory Delegates wearing their official GA Nametag, who come with tickets purchased in advance. <a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/GA2008/breakfast">Click Here for full details!</a> <a name="2"></a> <h3 style="font-size: 120%; background-color: #520C79; color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-left: 5px;" >Overture Analysis</h3> PPF has provided comprehensive analysis of the many peace-related overtures before the Assembly this year. This concise review is designed help commissioners navigate the many overtures and their impact on these complex issues. <ul> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/GA2008/overtures">Click Here</a> to view peace-related overtures and analysis on our website.</li> <li><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/files/PPF%20GA%20Issues.pdf">Click Here</a> to view our analysis in one four-page document in pdf form.</li> </ul> <a name="3"></a> <h3 style="font-size: 120%; background-color: #520C79; color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-left: 5px;" >Visit PPF at Booth #301</h3> Stop by and see us at booth #301 in the Exhibit Hall! <a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/GA2008/booth">Click Here for Booth Events Schedule</a> <a name="4"></a> <h3 style="font-size: 120%; background-color: #520C79; color: white; border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-left: 5px;" >Are you attending GA? Let us know!</h3> Whether you're a commissioner, advisory delegate, or observer, please let us know if you will be at GA and would like to help in our work for peace. Just <a href="mailto:ppfwitness@gmail.com">send us a quick email</a>!

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On Discernment, Transitions, and the Movement of the Spirit

Wed, 28 May 2008 18:29:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title>On Discernment, Transitions, and the Movement of the Spirit</title> </head> <body> (This is a rambling note on the transition of the PPF's offices and the Ufford-Chases to Stony Point Center in New York. If you skip it, you won't miss much of critical importance. As always, stay up on next events by checking the website at <a href="http://www.presbypeacefellowship.org">http://www.presbypeacefellowship.org</a>.) Friends, Lately I've spent a great deal of time celebrating relationships and saying goodbye. I've made two trips across the border into Mexico to visit with folks with whom I've been friends for nearly twenty years. Sitting Tree, our small intentional community of more than thirteen years, held a small retreat in April during which we all camped out in our yard together (kids and adults), had pancakes and bacon cooked on our camp stoves in the yard, and then went to the park for Ultimate Frisbee and Capture the Flag. A few Sundays ago Southside Presbyterian Church commissioned our family to continue our work for justice as we move to Stony Point Center this summer, and a few hours later we held what my wife Kitty called a special "Quaker Meeting for Worship for Deep Breathing" at Pima Friends Meeting. That evening, nearly a hundred people joined us at Sitting Tree for a potluck, great music and sharing memories. On May 19th (my 44th birthday) we cleared the last hurdle holding us in Tucson as our family went to juvenile court to celebrate the formal adoption of Troy and Leana. In a few days, having been as careful as possible about saying good-bye, we'll head east in a rental truck and the family car, and after a summer of travel and time with family, we'll settle in at Stony Point Center in August. Kitty and I will share a full-time position as "Transitional Co-Directors," and I will continue half-time as the Director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. Many friends and colleagues have wondered how we could leave behind so many important relationships here on the border, but Kitty has captured our hopes with her articulation that we intend to stretch our roots across the country rather than pull them up and transplant them. Twenty years ago the border seemed a distant reality to people in the interior of the country, but I now see that border in almost every community I visit across the country. Further, our concerns for economic justice, sustainable food systems, nonviolent accompaniment in situations of conflict, care for creation and massive migrations of people are more obviously connected to one another with each passing year. The trick is not to leave the border behind, but to carry our learnings and our relationships with us as we confront similar challenges in this new place where God has called us. I'm excited about what this move means for the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. As we've strengthened our work with similar fellowships and organizations working for peace from other Christian denominations and faith traditions (see <a href="http://www.christianpeacewitness.org">http://www.christianpeacewitness.org</a> and <a href="http://www.olivebranchinterfaith.org">http://www.olivebranchinterfaith.org</a>), my passion for the work of nonviolent direct action to protest war and torture has grown. Much of the locus of that organizing effort needs to be on the east coast, where all of us can work together to focus our energy on building the strongest possible witness against the war that the faith community can muster in Washington, D.C. For those who have been a part of the Peace Fellowship for a long time, this move from our historic location in Nyack seven miles up the road to Stony Point is a great way to keep our connections to the Fellowship of Reconciliation strong. Further, Stony Point itself offers to strengthen the PPF with its history of several generations of witnessing for justice and reaching across barriers of separation. This move is, in many ways, a return to the historic roots of the PPF. Though many have also questioned what my move to half-time will mean for the work of PPF, this too offers a chance to intentionally model what the next generation of vibrant, faith-grounded work for peace will look like. I believe that our work will continue to be fully dependent on the efforts of volunteers, part-timers and "tentmakers" who have other jobs to pay the bills. I'm pleased to experiment with that model myself, and to struggle, along with our volunteers with the challenge of juggling multiple vocational commitments. This is, in many ways, our attempt to issue a call to all of you to step up and offer your talents to the work of creating a meaningful, authentically Christian, nonviolent movement for peace in the world. My job, mostly, is to encourage and support all of you in your efforts and to resist the temptation to try to become the focal point of that movement. In many ways, it's that desire for a committed new generation of followers who radically re-order their lives that has planted the seeds for the Ecumenical Order for Peace and Justice which we hope to foster at Stony Point Center. Over the last couple of years, many of us in the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, together with many other friends and colleagues, have been trying to imagine how we might give shape to a community that will provide spiritual grounding and concrete skill-building for the peace and justice movement. Our hope is to capture the imagination of a new generation of people of all ages who are committed to give their lives over to following Jesus. We're aware that what we're dreaming about is nothing new. It grows out of thousands of years of faithful folks re-imagining the church, and it builds on the efforts of countless others around the world who are experimenting with new monasticism, global partnership, emergent worship, the missional church , and new expressions of Christian community. The Board of Directors at Stony Point and the staff and elected members of the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (USA) – which owns Stony Point Center - have affirmed that this is an experiment worthy of the commitment of the resources of Stony Point. The title "Transitional" Co-Directors for Kitty and me is meant to imply a general recognition that Stony Point is going to become something new. Though it's difficult to quantify, we hope to plant an intentional community there at Stony Point that will model a spiritual practice of a Daily Rule of Prayer, weekly worship, and Sabbath Keeping. We expect that community to reflect the best of the reformed theological tradition, spiritual practices and disciplines borrowed from other Christian traditions, and strong partnership with communities from other faith traditions as well. Together, we dream that Stony Point will become known as the place where people of faith will come from around the world to strategize and work together to develop the skills to transform situations of violent conflict and entrenched injustice in their communities. Committed Christians must give their lives, together with partners from other faith traditions, to the overwhelming challenge of our time – to confront the lies of a security based on aggression and power with the far-more sustainable, gospel-centered vision of a security based on love for one another, generosity, and justice that crosses all boundaries. So stay tuned, my friends. You can expect the witness of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship to grow exponentially over the next several years. You can expect an ongoing process of discernment at Stony Point and in sister communities across the country as we try to imagine a renewed kind of Christian community. Perhaps most importantly, you can expect, as we do, the movement of God's spirit as we all seek to be faithful. We look forward to your participation in the journey. Peace to you, Rick

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Announcing the new PPF website!

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:01:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title>Announcing the new PPF website!</title> </head> <body> Dear Friends, After months of hard work and preparation, I�m excited to let you know that the new PPF website is up and running at <a href="http://www.presbypeacefellowship.org">www.presbypeacefellowship.org</a>! This new website has something for everyone: History, Colombia Accompaniment Project, General Assembly peacemaking events and concerns, School of the Americas Watch and support for Prisoners of Conscience, great links to other sites, a �peacemaker�s calendar� � the list could go on and on. We would be honored if you�d make this your homepage! There will be changes to it often, so I don�t expect you�ll get bored. Also, you'll find details on the site for all the exciting events coming up this summer: <ul> <li style="padding: 5px;"> <a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/116">Memorial Day weekend</a> for counter-military recruiters </li> <li style="padding: 5px;"> The <a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/GA2008/breakfast">Peace Breakfast</a> at the General Assembly </li> <li style="padding: 5px;">The Ghost Ranch <a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/123">Week of Peace</a> in late July </li> <li style="padding: 5px;">The <a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/delegations/philippines2008aug">Philippines Delegation</a> August 1 � 15! (this one�s brand new) </li> <li style="padding: 5px;"><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/143">Colombia Accompaniment Training</a> September 11 � 15 </li> <li style="padding: 5px;"><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/node/121">Peacemaking Colloquium</a> at Stony Point September 15 � 17 </li> <li style="padding: 5px;"><a href="http://presbypeacefellowship.org/WHINSEC">SOAW and Southwest Witness</a> against Torture in November </li> </ul> As you design your �down time� this summer and fall, please think about taking one of these opportunities to live out a radical commitment to the Prince of Peace. Many Blessings, Rick (with great gratitude to Matt Black � PPF web-developer extraordinaire!)

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PPF Newsletter

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:45:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title> PPF Newsletter</title> </head> <body> Friends, It has been a busy transition from winter to spring, and I apologize that it has been so long since you�ve heard from me. I hope you�ve had an opportunity to read about our experience in Washington DC with the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq and the Olive Branch Interfaith Peace Partnership in early March. The weather, once again, was lousy. However, the worship, the witness in Upper Senate Park, and the nonviolent action in the Hart Senate Office Building that resulted in 42 arrests were all quite moving. More than a third of those arrested were Presbyterian, which made me very proud. For a first-hand account of the events, please see Matt Black�s article on our website at www.presbypeacefellowship.org. You may have heard that there are big changes on the horizon for the Peace Fellowship and for my family. My wife Kitty and I have agreed to become the Transitional Co-Directors (sharing one, full-time position) of the Stony Point Center just north of New York City. I will continue as the Director of the Peace Fellowship half-time, and our offices will move to Stony Point. We will be leaving Tucson in early June, then settling into our new home and getting started at Stony Point in August. There is a great deal of dreaming that has gone into this plan, and there are exciting implications for the Peace Fellowship. I�ll fill you all in with another email in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I want to be sure that you have some of the following, important dates and opportunities at your fingertips. This summer is full of opportunities for renewal, and training. There are some things on the horizon that I�ll hope you�ll consider being a part of: High Desert/River Trip Training for Counter-Military Recruiters: May 23 - 26 at Ghost Ranch. We�re focusing on 16 to 20 year olds who want to offer an alternative to military recruitment on their high school or college campuses, though we�ll consider applicants as young as fourteen or older folks as well. Please help us spread the word. We�ll stay in the campground at Ghost Ranch, and the experience will include hiking on the Ranch and an afternoon of whitewater rafting on the Chama River. Check it out at <a href="http://www.presbypeacefellowship.org">www.presbypeacefellowship.org</a>. (Cost: if you can get to Albuquerque, we�ll pay the rest.) General Assembly Peace Fellowship Breakfast: Wednesday, June 25: Palestinian Human Rights attorney Jonathan Kuttab will be our keynote speaker. 2007 Peaceseeker Award recipients are Anita David and Beth Pyles, and Gary Cozette is receiving the award in 2008. (Tickets are $19 if you purchase them in advance � email us at ppfwitness@gmail.com) The Church Unbound: July 1 � 5: There will be amazing speakers, and Rick will be among them, for this important conversation to be held at Montreat Conference Center. Go to <a href="http://www.montreat.org/current/2008-church-unbound">http://www.montreat.org/current/2008-church-unbound</a> for details. 2008 Peacemaking Conference: Sowing Mustard Seeds: Working for God�s Justice � Confronting Poverty July 15 - 18 at Chapman University in Orange, CA � This is going to be another amazing event! Join Mark Lomax, Lisa Schirch, Roberto Jordan, Cindy Edwards, Anuradha Mittal, Patrick Evans and Diana Wright for a week of inspiration and renewing your energy for the task at hand. More information at <a href="http://www.pcusa.org/peacemaking">www.pcusa.org/peacemaking</a>. High Desert Spiritual Quest: July 21 - 27: Some of you know that I now co-lead this week-long seminar with my close friend Brandon Wert. In many ways, this experience of wilderness is what grounds me in my work for peace and justice throughout the year. The week is entirely experiential, including hikes on Ghost Ranch, a sweat-lodge experience, and three days rafting and kayaking on the Chama River. The last two years, we never entered a classroom for the entire week. If you�re interested, go to <a href="http://www.ghostranch.org/index.php?option=com_oscommerce&osMod=product_info&cPath=34&products_id=358 ">http://www.ghostranch.org/index.php?option=com_oscommerce&osMod=product_info&cPath=34&products_id=358</a> for more information. (The cost is $710 including room and board, gear, and the river trip.) Paths toward Peace and Justice at Ghost Ranch: July 28 to August 3: This event grows every year! Our time is centered on evening worship in the beautiful new worship space that looks out on the Chama River Valley. This year, there is an effort to integrate the �arts� and the �peace and justice� sides of the program for the week. Keynote preachers will be John Fife and Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, who will also co-lead one of the many seminars. Music by Tim and Tom Zehnder and last year�s high school piano virtuoso Eric Choate! Go to <a href="http://www.ghostranch.org/index.php?option=com_oscommerce&osMod=index&cPath=93">http://www.ghostranch.org/index.php?option=com_oscommerce&osMod=index&cPath=93</a> for information about registration. (Cost: $250/person plus room and board � Gail Brown and I will reprise the popular �camp community� in the Ghost Ranch Campground for those who need a lower cost option or who just want to be a little closer to the wilderness.) Colombia Accompaniment Training: September 11 - 15 at Stony Point Center: Please consider joining us for a weekend of discernment, orientation and preparation to serve with the PPF as a volunteer accompanier in Colombia. If you�d like more information about this event, please contact <a href="mailto:sarah@presbypeacefellowship.org">sarah@presbypeacefellowship.org</a>. Gun Violence and Gospel Values at Stony Point Center, NY: September 15 � 17: Co-Sponsored with Stony Point, The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, and the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, this colloquium at Stony Point will begin to unlock ways in which the church must respond to growing gun violence in all of our communities across the United States. Registration isn�t open yet, but save the dates and stay tuned to the <a href="http://www.presbypeacefellowship.org">Peace Fellowship website</a> for more information! Rick

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Come to Washington on March 7th - and sign the Pledge to Seek Peace!

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:02:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title>Come to Washington on March 7th - and sign the Pledge to Seek Peace!</title> </head> <body> Friends, This note will be quick! 1. You can finally register for the Washington Witness!!! Go to <a href="http://www.christianpeacewitness.org">www.christianpeacewitness.org</a> 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. <ul> <li>There are great workshops and nonviolence trainings on Thursday night the 6th and Friday morning the 7th. </li><li> There are nearly a dozen different Christian worship services to choose from on Friday the 7th at noon. </li><li>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. </li><li>There will be a workshop on Saturday afternoon the 8th for those who want to volunteer as local/regional organizers for ongoing CPWI efforts. </li><li>Saturday night there will be a Faith-Based Coffee House for Peace and Justice. </li><li>If you can�t come to D.C., register your own local service/witness to end the war in Iraq on the CPWI website!</li> </ul> 2. Check out the Pledge to Seek Peace. You can sign online. Go to <a href="http://www.pledgeforpeace.org">www.pledgeforpeace.org</a> 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 <a href="http://www.advocacydays.org">www.advocacydays.org</a> to register now! 5. Check out the �Picturing Peace� Youtube video contest Go to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10139607274">www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=10139607274</a> 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 <a href="http://www.christianpeacewitness.org">www.christianpeacewitness.org</a>. 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

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New Year Updates - there's a lot going on

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:55:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title>New Year Updates - there's a lot going on</title> </head> <body> Friends and Colleagues, I hope that this correspondence finds you well, and energized as the New Year begins. I confess that it has taken me a few days to "get my head back in the game" after the holidays, though my energy has ramped up considerably in the last couple of days. This is a longer update than most, covering several topics: A final invitation to participate in the Conference at Colombia Seminary called "Terror, Torture and Security: Theological Considerations for Tomorrow's Leaders from February 3 – 5. An update on what's going on with the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq An invitation from PPFers Britt Johnston and Dana Larson to join them for an SOAW sponsored event on January 12th in L.A. A reminder that there is another Colombia Accompaniment training the end of February. An update on plans for the Pentecost Trip to Jordan, Palestine and Israel. So here we go! 1. The "Terror, Torture and Security" conference is designed for primarily for Presbyterian undergraduate and seminary students and professors, as well as pastors or other leaders who are concerned about how we can raise the difficult questions around torture in our churches and on our campuses. The conference is extremely cheap (under a hundred bucks for room and board and fees), and there are still scholarships available – especially for poor students! Drop me a note at <a href="mailto:ppfwitness@gmail.com">ppfwitness@gmail.com</a> if you need financial help. The line-up of speakers looks great, and the schedule is designed for a lot of interaction and brainstorming among participants about how to work these issues in our congregations. To register, go to: <a href="http://www.peopleware.net/index.cfm?siteID=572&event=2008LL&subeventDisp=0203TORTUR">http://www.peopleware.net/index.cfm?siteID=572&event=2008LL&subeventDisp=0203TORTUR</a> 2. The Christian Peace Witness for Iraq is really taking off. There are a number of ways you can get involved: a. We've begun "local organizer phone calls" twice a month for those who want to volunteer to organize local vigils and witnesses. There usually is a speaker on the call updating the group on timely info. based on that person's experience in the Middle East. Go to the www.christianpeacewitness.org for info about the calls (I'm hosting the next one Thursday night (yup – tomorrow) at 10 p.m. eastern time. b. The plan for the March witness in Washington is coming together. On Friady, March 7th – at noon - there will be simultaneous worship services to end the war at 8 to 12 different churches in DC, each with a different worship style or tradition (emergent, Quaker meeting, Catholic and Episcopal masses, traditional Presbyterian, Taize, etc.) Then, from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m., there will be an Interfaith public witness on or near the National Mall that will include speakers, musicians, some kind of interfaith expression of unity, and a nonviolent public action that is likely to have a component for those who feel called to risk arrest. We're also hoping for a "Peace and Justice Coffeehouse" on Saturday night the 8th. Please reserve these dates on your calendar, and start thinking about organizing bus or van loads from your church or school. Also, if you're interested, we can use more help on the logistics and planning for this big event. Drop Kirk a note at <a href="mailto:ppfwitness@gmail.com">ppfwitness@gmail.com</a>. All the info. should be updated on the website at www.christianpeacewitness.org by the end of the week. 3. School of the Americas Watch is planning an event in Los Angeles for January 12th. PPFers Britt and Dana write: SOA Watch LA is having a vigil on Saturday, January 12 from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm at the Los Angeles State Historic Park (Gold Line stops 4 blocks from the park). We will be re-creating the Annual Vigil to Close the School of the Americas with a Solemn Procession March, return to Life Celebration, music, puppetistas and more. The event is being hosted by SOA Watch Los Angeles and Program for Torture Victims. Father Roy Bourgeois will be present. If you are Presbyterian and planning to attend wear a Presbyterian or PPF shirt! See you there! Danna Larson and Britt Johnston. Join them if you can! 4. The next Colombia Accompaniment Training is scheduled for Washington D.C. from February 28th through March 3rd. Our partners in Colombia continue to reflect their gratitude at the way Presbyterians in the U.S. have been willing to give of themselves to stand with their Colombian sisters and brothers in the midst of the violence. If you're interested in learning more, check the website at www.presbypeacefellowship.org, or write to <a href="mailto:Sarah@presbypeacefellowship.org">Sarah@presbypeacefellowship.org</a>. 5. The Pentecost Trip to Jordan/Palestine/Israel is going to be great. The trip will spend three to four days in Jordan trying to understand the region, and meeting with Iraqi refugees, and the balance of the time will be spent in Israel and Palestine. Unfortunately, Ann Barr Weems has had to back out of the leadership position due to health concerns, but fortunately, it looks as if Rev. Stuart Taylor from St. Mark's Presbyterian Church in Tucson will be co-leading the trip with former Young Adult Volunteer Andrea Leonard. Send an email to Andrea at <a href="mailto:andrea.c.leonard@gmail.com">andrea.c.leonard@gmail.com</a> for more information. O.k. friends, I think that about does it for now. I'm sorry for the overload of information this round. Many blessings as you head into the New Year. Rick

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Torture, Terror and Security: Theological Considerations for Tomorrow's Leaders

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:36:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title>Torture, Terror and Security: Theological Considerations for Tomorrow's Leaders</title> </head> <body> Friends, Torture is hard to talk about. It is hardest, of course, for those who have experienced torture, either as victims or as perpetrators. Years ago, as a young adult volunteer working on the U.S./Mexico border with Central American refugees, I had to learn the Spanish words for all kinds of horrible things that refugees had been subjected to by the death squads of El Salvador and Guatemala. I confess as the numbers of stories shared with me grew from dozens to hundreds, it was difficult to be fully present with the refugees as I helped them to write their stories for an asylum claim. Years later, just after I was elected Moderator of the General Assembly, I was asked to speak out against torture, and I willingly accepted the task because I believe this is, fundamentally, a question of morality. There are many reasons to stand against torture. It is a totally ineffective way to attempt to get reliable information. It is a crime against humanity. It decreases security for all of us – especially our soldiers. It destroys the lives of both the torturer and the tortured. Most important to me, however, is that it is just flat out wrong. It was wrong when they tortured Jesus. It was wrong when Jesus' earliest apostles were tortured. It was wrong when members of the early, pre-Constantinian church were tortured. It was dead wrong when Church members carried out torture against those of other religions during the Crusades. It was wrong when Christians tortured and beat their slaves in this country, or when good Christians participated in lynchings of African Americans. Perhaps most important for those of us trying to be faithful in the midst of this time of fear in the United States, it is flat-out wrong right now and we must stand against the temptations and seductions of those who tell us it will bring us security. You know what the problem is? Good Christians don't seem to want to talk about such a difficult subject in church. On February 3 to 5, 2008, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship is teaming up with Columbia, Princeton and Fuller Seminaries and No2Torture to host a conversation for Presbyterian professors and students. The title of the conference is: Torture, Terror and Security: Theological Considerations for Tomorrow's Leaders. The goal of the conference will be to discuss how we can make difficult subjects like this one a topic for sermons and adult ed hours Christian Education with our kids. Though there will be some amazing speakers, we've intentionally left the agenda very open for the participants to work together on how to put these questions before the church. If you are a student or professor at a college or seminary, please plan to be with us for this critically important conversation. Students, please go find your favorite professor and challenge her or him to participate. Get evangelical about this – we need your help. With huge support from Columbia, we've kept this very cheap (thirty bucks a night if you share a room, plus cheapie meals in the campus dining hall). Travel in and out of Atlanta is reasonable, and you can get to the campus for a couple of bucks by metro. If you're interested, go to: <a href="http://www.peopleware.net/index.cfm?siteID=572&event=2008LL&subeventDisp=0203TORTUR">http://www.peopleware.net/index.cfm?siteID=572&event=2008LL&subeventDisp=0203TORTUR</a> There's more info. and a link to register. Hope to see you there. In search of bold believers, Rick

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Blurring the distinction

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 23:29:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title>Blurring the distinction</title> </head> <body> Sisters and Brothers, I�ve been thinking a lot lately about how one�s faith blurs the distinction between the personal and the political, or between the personal and the professional. The task of good organizing during this difficult time is to create opportunities for people of faith to get involved in ways that make it difficult to tell the difference between the two. Our hope with the Peace Fellowship is to invite folks to take action that will embody the values we profess as followers of Jesus. <ul> <li> We want to see grandparents and their grandchildren show up at events where they are confident that their commitment to be nonviolent and positive in their approach to peacemaking will be honored. </li> <li> We want to encourage folks who are in the pews together on Sunday morning to commit to take bold, daring action for the cause of peace during the week � an extension of what it means to be �church.� </li> <li> We�re looking for students who know that their education takes on real meaning when they engage the world around them and go to work on the things that matter most in a world of need: justice, care for creation, and responding to violence in our communities and around the world. </li> <li> We�re looking for parents who want to model what it means to make a difference for their kids, inviting them to work together to change the world. </li> </ul> Over the next few months, we�ll continue to highlight some of the opportunities to get involved. I hope that you�ll see that our commitment is not to create good programs, but rather to offer opportunities for action that will help ground you in the things that are most important to you. This weekend, please keep the folks who involved in nonviolent protest in your prayers � especially those gathered at the gates of Ft. Benning in GA to close the School of the Americas/WHINSEC (<a href="http://www.soaw.org">www.soaw.org</a>), and those here in Arizona who are speaking out against torture (<a href="http://www.southwestwitness.org">www.southwestwitness.org</a>). Many Presbyterians are among them. Peace to you, and more to follow soon. Rick

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PPF Newsletter

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 19:26:00 GMT

<html> <head> <title> PPF Newsletter</title> </head> <body> Friends, For ten years, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship has made the closure of the U.S. Army School of the Americas (now called WHINSEC) one of our top priorities. Each year this vibrant movement has gotten a little closer to shutting down the funding stream that sustains the School, now located at Ft. Benning in Columbus, GA. The witness of our members has grown ever stronger over the years, with nearly a dozen who have now spent time in prison for nonviolent acts of civil disobedience aimed at Closing the School. In the last three years, our depth of conviction has deepened as we've sent nearly fifty accompaniers to stand with our sisters and brothers in Colombia. For them, this issue is not academic. They have made it clear that people in their communities live in fear of members of both the formal military and the informal paramilitary forces, many of whom have received training in "counter-insurgency" techniques at the School of the Americas. Here's the thing. We are very close to closing the school. It's no longer a question of whether the School will close, but only when it will close and how many of us will have the opportunity to stand up and be counted in the effort. In the last few years, as the U.S. has overtly embraced the use of torture as a technique in the so-called "war on terror," it has been clear that we must expand our efforts to insist that torture is ineffective as a security technique, morally repugnant as a matter of conscience, and totally unacceptable to us as followers of Jesus Christ. So here are some ways that you might want to get involved in efforts to stand unequivocally against all torture: 1. Go to <a href="http://www.presbypeacefellowship.org">http://www.presbypeacefellowship.org</a> to learn more about how to join with Presbyterians for the demonstration to close the School of the Americas on November 17th and 18th at Ft. Benning in GA. 2. Go to <a href="http://www.southwestwitness.org">http://www.southwestwitness.org</a> to learn about the Southwest Weekend of Witness in solidarity with School of the Americas Watch. On the same days – November 17 and 18, 2007, folks will come from all over the southwestern U.S. to witness together in Tucson and at Ft. Huachuca in Southern AZ, home of the U.S. Army's training center for military interrogations. 3. Check out <a href="http://no2torture.org">http://no2torture.org</a> to learn how you can get involved in a grassroots effort to end the use of torture. This group is doing great work, and it's all done by folks like you. One other note: On February 3 – 5, 2008, the PPF is a co-sponsor (with No2Torture, and Columbia, Fuller and Princeton Seminaries) of a working seminar at Columbia Seminary for students and faculty of Presbyterian related seminaries and colleges/universities. The title of the seminar is "Terror, Torture and Security: Theological Considerations for Tomorrow's Leaders." Our goal is to strategize on how to lift up a generation of church leaders who know that they cannot equivocate on about the moral dimensions of torture and war. If you are a student or faculty member and you want more information, drop us a note at <a href="mailto:ppfwitness@gmail.com">ppfwitness@gmail.com</a>. May peace be with each of you as you work for peace in this troubling time. Rick

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