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Presbyterian Peacemaking Program
Sorrow and outrage over the death of George Floyd and other victims of police brutality extend beyond the shores of the United States and around the globe.
At this time of the year, the staff of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program would traditionally be making final arrangements for the arrival of a dozen-or-so Peacemakers from around the world to fan out across the United States to tell their stories.
In less than a month, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations will begin observing the Season of Peace, a four-week spiritual journey designed to deepen the pursuit of peace.
Protest! Why would a 74-year-old retired PC(USA) pastor join in a protest in South Korea? The answer will come later. First, I must tell you I was part of a study group organized by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and World Mission in November 2018. What an eye-opening experience. Along with my wife and nine others, we spent 12 days traveling from Seoul to the southernmost part of the Korean Peninsula and then north to the “demilitarized zone” (DMZ) where the 39th parallel divides North and South Korea. We learned about the so-called “forgotten war” in Korea. We were appalled to hear about the atrocities committed by all sides. We learned about the continuing tensions on the peninsula because the war ended with a truce and not a treaty. We heard about the hope of a peace treaty being signed this year, the 70th anniversary of the start of the “conflict.” Such a treaty could reduce tensions, making the outbreak of war much less likely.
The pandemic has ushered in a time of bewilderment but also a golden opportunity, according to the Rev. Dr. Paul H. Lang, author of “The Pilgrim’s Compass: Finding and Following the God We Seek.”
The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival attracted more than 2.3 million people to watch its three-hour-plus Assembly and Moral March on Washington June 20 online and on cable TV.
About three years ago, Brian Odhiambo lived a life of “survival of the fittest” on the streets of Nairobi, Kenya. He was rescued from his street boy existence and taken to Eastleigh Community Center (ECC), a vocational skills training primary and secondary school of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) that promotes peacebuilding at every grade level.
Beth Mueller got a note from a man who saw the virtual choir of international peacemakers video she created for the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and had a question.
“He wanted to know how we got all those people from around the world to sing at the same time on Zoom,” Mueller said, laughing.
A little under a year after it launched, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program’s gun violence prevention webinar series concluded Tuesday afternoon with a discussion about domestic violence.
The Rev. CeCe Armstrong had barely arrived in Charleston, South Carolina in June 2015, when a white supremacist opened fire on a Bible study class at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, killing nine people.
