PPF E-News: Taking Action, Giving Thanks

We Reached Our Giving Tuesday Goal! Last week, we set a goal to raise $10,000 for Giving Tuesday. You came together and we raised over $10,000 by the end of the week. Thank you! In fact, we've raised over $20,000 towards our $80,000 Advent campaign goal so far now. In honor of our 80th year as on organization, we thank you for being a part of continuing our peacemaking advocacy work. You can donate towards the remainder of this goal to keep the momentum going. Guns to Gardens: Winter Action Circles Beat swords in ploughshares and help to prevent gun violence. Action circles prepare people and congregations to host their first Guns to Gardens event. Our team will walk you through how to invite your congregation into this ministry, how to properly dismantle a gun, how to promote your event, and how to offer pastoral care to those who bring guns to be dismantled. The online action circles will meet for 5 weeks for one hour at a time and will start on January 11, 2024. Sign up for the daytime cohort or the evening cohort now! Keep Speaking Out for A Ceasefire for Gaza We're two months into the genocide in Gaza and we cannot look away. Call your senators every day to ask them to support a ceasefire. Simply select your state on this page and you'll see their phone numbers. The 5calls app on your smartphone also makes these daily calls easy. For a creative Christmas-oriented form of activism, check out Ceasefire Christmas Carols. Choirs are forming around the U.S. to sing publicly for a ceasefire. The free toolkit is available here. Giving Thanks for Deanna Hollas Rev. Deanna Hollas has been PPF's amazing Coordinator of the Gun Violence Prevention Ministry since 2018. Deanna was the first clergy in the United States ordained to the Ministry of Gun Violence Prevention. As one member of PPF put it, Deanna has been an inspiration and prophet to those of us working alongside her to end gun violence in America. Deanna is completing her current work with PPF to be present for medical needs in her family. You can reach her with a message of appreciation until December 15 at deanna@presbypeacefellowship.org. We will keep her and her family in our prayers. Some of us call Deanna "the Mother of Guns to Gardens" and we promise to do everything we can to keep her work growing. PPF Executive Director Rev. Dr. Laurie Lyter Bright put it this way: It is a moment of both grief and constancy, caring for Deanna and planning for how the work of gun violence prevention will continue. Deanna says, "Upon hearing the news of the medical needs in my family, people often ask: 'how can I help?' The best way you can help me is to continue the work to end gun violence by making a donation to PPF in my honor thus ensuring there will be funds to bring on the next GVP Ministry Coordinator. And, If you haven't already, download our Congregational Toolkit or sign up for a Guns to Gardens action circle. Knowing the work we have done these past 5 years will continue beyond me is the best gift you can give me." Get Involved with PPF The next PC(USA) General Assembly is coming right up starting June 25, 2024. Every GA, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship has a strong presence where we advocate for the Church to lean into peace and justice values in all overtures. We're going to kick off our GA planning work with a brainstorming call on December 30 at 11:00 AM Eastern / 8:00 AM Pacific. Register here. Would you like to help us with our efforts by joining the Development Team? If you have skills in grant writing, event planning, or fundraising campaigns, or if you're interested in gaining those skills, reach out to Executive Director Laurie Lyter Bright at laurie@presbypeacefellowship.org.