Presbyterian Peace Fellowship - We know it's audacious, but...

We are asking that you give an Advent gift to the impossible this year. Among the possibilities presented to us by the Advent season, none seems as preposterous as the prophesy in Isaiah: The wolf shall live with the lamb;     the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together,     and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze;     their young shall lie down together;     and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. To us, it seems as unlikely for humans to overcome their long-evolved reliance on violence and war as it would for the lion to suddenly become a vegetarian. And yet, the possibility we are promised is that, in the reign of the Prince of Peace, we can become citizens of a radical new vision.  The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, founded by conscientious objectors in 1944, has always rejected war as an option for resolving human conflict. Even with this history, it is hard for us to speak convincingly about the abolition of all war as a real and possible goal. Nevertheless, in recent years abolitionist voices are increasingly heard in the church and in our communities. In the Vision Statement adopted this year, PPF commits to using “every nonviolent means to disrupt and transform the culture of domination that normalizes racism, ecocide, militarization, and war.”  Help us resource this vision! Our Peace Church working group has a particular focus on militarization and war. We develop and provide resources for congregations to explore becoming Peace Churches. We discern faithful ways to respond when the loudest voices call out for military action. Together with the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program (a program inside the PC(USA) denomination), we equip congregations and members to examine and confront militarism as a part of being a Matthew 25 Church. As participants in the PCUSA Militarism Working Group, we are helping to plan more “Connecting the Dots” webinars for 2023 to focus on all the ways we can turn away from war and preparation for war and turn toward building a culture of peace and nonviolence. Thank you for being part of PPF. Your generous contributions fund our work. We still have over $45,000 to reach our goal by the end of this year. Your gift during this season of Advent is a sign of your trust in the Advent vision of a peaceful world.  Let's move in hope together, Marilyn White PPF Activist Council Member & Peace Church Working Group P.S. Our gift to you this week is a reminder that the PPF Advent playlist is still available this year! You can find it on spotify here. When war feels inevitable, we remember the lyrics of the song by Basya Schechter and Daniel Ori, "There is no way to peace, my friend, peace is the way." Presbyterian Peace Fellowship 845-786-6743 | presbypeacefellowship.org Instagram | Facebook | Twitter DONATE

Presbyterian Peace Fellowship | 17 Cricketown Road, Stony Point, NY 10980