Friday, March 4, 2022

Preaching peace during war

Is not this the fast that I choose?
An Abolitionist Ash Wednesday Prayer (excerpt)

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

We remember the everyday violence that happens to people.
We recognize our desire to interrupt the systems that enact this violence.
Let us seek to move past the punitive
and to see each other as people
Humans
Children of God.
Let us create a space of abundance and imagination
a space of liberation and life
for we are all beloved.
We are ALL beloved.


Honoring Jim Atwood with Guns2Gardens campaign
Our PPF ancestor, Rev. Jim Atwood, said, "Don't you think the Church of Jesus Christ should say something about gun violence today?"

The gun violence prevention working group says: Yes! And they've created a way for congregations to say, "Yes", too with the Guns2Gardens campaign.

What's Faith Got to Do with It?
Christians Responding to Gun Violence
A special event in honor of Jim Atwood,
hosted by Grace Presbyterian Church, Sprinfield, VA
Sunday, March 20, 2022, 2-4:30P ET: (Online on Zoom)

Join us for this special event highlighting the Guns2Gardens movement with Rev. Deanna Hollas and Shane Claiborne as keynote speakers.

Then go sign up for the spring Guns2Gardens action circle and learn how to host an event at your church.

The next cohort begins March 10th. Let's all become #ChopsawChurches!
Preaching peace during war
PPF has a network of Peace Churches who recognize that war and militarism are inconsistent with the Gospel of Christ.

As war breaks out again, Ben Daniel, one of the working group members writes, "Divine beauty changes us. Transports us. It motivates us to find and to create beauty. It is the opposite of military violence, which is destructive, painful, and inspires more violence and hatred. 

We have been trained to put our trust in the ugliness of military violence. We have been trained to believe violence is a cure for violence, that the horrors of bloodshed can be cultivated into a garden of peace.
But I say only beauty can create more beauty and only peace can lead to peace."

Read Rev. Ben Daniel's full sermon from Transfiguration Sunday, a day when it is traditional for churches to highlight nuclear disarmament, in the same week Russia put its nuclear arsenal on high alert.


Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship | 17 Cricketown RoadStony Point, NY 10980

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