Peace Delegation to Iran: February – March, 2008

by Ellen Francis

The purpose of this delegation, sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, is to seek alternatives to the current political standoff between the United States and Iranian governments and to affirm friendship and solidarity between the people of the United States and the people of Iran. This will be the sixth Iran Peace Delegation to be sponsored by FOR.

When the Violin Can Forgive the Past

by Terry Rogers

“I don’t want to see war ever again,” said the middle-aged Iranian man in the wheelchair. We met him in a convalescent home in Tehran, where he lived with 25 men, disabled in a war that ended 19 years ago, the Iran/Iraq war (l980-l988).

During my recent trip to Iran, sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, our delegation was told that this war had been the longest conventional war of the 20th century, yet it had barely registered in my awareness at the time. The Iranian government (which had arranged and approved the schedule of all our meetings) clearly wanted us to understand the suffering from this conflict, in which at least a million Iranians had died.

EPF participates in Diocese of Minnesota MDG Summit

by Rex McKee

The Diocese of Minnesota Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Task Force hosted the first ever training summit on Saturday the 15th of September attended by over 200 adults, children and youth. Participating in this summit were Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), Episcopalians for Global Relief (EGR), Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN), Bonnie Anderson President of the House of Deputies, and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF).

Peace Notes

• New Resource: “Cost of War” from the American Friends Service Committee based on statistics by the Kennedy School of Government – visit www.afsc.org
• Interested in Nonviolence Training? Call EPF at (312-922-8628). We can provide consultation and direct services, like these:
  • Want to become a nonviolence facilitator? See the new training calendar from Kirkridge Retreat & Study Center – Creating a Culture of Peace: www.kirkridge.org or call 610-588-1793.
  • Pace e Bene Nonviolence Center offers nonviolence training to meet your needs. Visit www.paceebene.org.

• EPF collecting Nonviolence Resources: Do you have a wonderful nonviolence resource you would like to share? EPF is pulling together the best of our resources for our up-coming Tool Kits. Send your resource to epfnational@ameritech.net and we’ll include it in our Tool Kits.
• Passed Great Resolutions? Did your Diocese pass Peace and Justice Resolutions this year? Please send a copy of your resolution and let us know the result of the election…we need to share these!

Designer Joins EPF Team

As part of its ongoing strategic plan, EPF has hired Josh Frank as the new Communications Specialist. This part-time consultant position will encompass four main areas: layout and design of the Episcopal Peace Witness (beginning with this issue); design and maintenance of the EPF website (www.epfnational.org); design of the monthly e-mail newsletter; and other design needs as they arise (such as posters, flyers, mailings, tool kits, etc.).

Peace Partners Initiative

by Gary Commins

With the leadership of our Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the EPF is launching a Peace Partners Initiative that will play a critical role in our future success. The Peace Partners Initiative invites individuals, parishes, dioceses, and institutions to become our active peace partners.

Three years ago, Passion for Peace was our first development campaign in 65 years. It enabled us to expand nonviolence work into underserved communities, organize regional and ecumenical events to protest the war in Iraq, revolutionize our communications, have our strongest presence ever at General Convention, and launch new efforts with young adults.

EPF Strategic Planning Process

by Linda Gaither

“Episcopal Peace Fellowship is actively dismantling violence, doing justice and striving to be peacemakers.”

This EPF mission statement is one achievement of an intensive strategic planning process undertaken in 2007. Your national executive committee engaged in this process to more effectively partner with you, the chapters and individual members, as we build our witness through national and regional events. Our vision: every parish a Peace Partner. Our strategy: provide tools, training and organizational support to dismantle the culture of violence in ourselves, our congregations, our communities and our nation.

A Soldier’s Journey to Peace Activism

by Michael Burroughs

I’m often asked: “Why would a retired Army officer like you be a peace activist?” Many are surprised that I now carry a sign in peace marches and am a member of Veterans for Peace while some of my military friends just call me “a hippie.” For me, striving for peace and justice has become a spiritual matter rather than a political one.

Iraq Action Group Report: Can I get a witness??

by Hal Hayek

As part of our ongoing support for the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq St. Anne’s in Winston-Salem, NC reads the names of the service personnel who have died in the previous week. A little over a month ago the local paper did a story on faith communities who are incorporating the names as part of their weekly worship. It is an act of witness to the actual cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and joins our prayers with those who are grieving. I was away at the time the editor was writing the story, but one of our faithful and peace loving members took the interview. Linda recounted that during the interview the reporter asked if she knew of other communities who were also reading the names. She mentioned two and that others were printing the names in their bulletins. For some reason simply printing the names was not sufficient for his work and he added a comment that he did not want to give the pro war readers ammunition for criticism. When Linda asked what “giving them ammunition” meant he responded that many found reading the names to be a political act, and that did not belong in church.