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Date: May 2, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL: CoBNews@AOL.Com

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN	NEWSLINE
May 2, 2005

BRETHREN REPRESENTED AT `BEYOND IRAQ: BUILDING	THE BELOVED
COMMUNITY'

May 2, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- On the 37th	anniversary of the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., his words echoed  once
again through the sanctuary of Riverside Church in New York City:
"A  nation that continues year after year to spend more money on
military defense  than on programs of social uplift is approaching
spiritual death."

On  April 4, voices once again offered similar challenges, echoing
the need for a	spoken truth for peace in the face of yet another
war. James Forbes and the  Riverside Church hosted the event "Beyond
Iraq: Building the Beloved  Community," in cooperation with over 60
sponsoring organizations. Phil Jones,  director of the Brethren
Witness/Washington Office of the Church of the	Brethren General
Board, represented the denomination in a procession into  the
sanctuary carrying a banner that read, "Church of the Brethren,  A
Living Peace Church."

Speakers for the evening worship included a  Jewish rabbi, a Muslim
imam, Christian ministers, and others. Jane Campbell,  mayor of
Cleveland, Ohio, spoke of the disparity and inequity of  military
recruitment that preys on minorities and those in  economic
difficulty. Jesse Jackson reflected on the work of King  and
admonished worship participants to consider "who we are, and whose
we  are." Jackson went on to remind the audience that, "As God's
creatures of  conscience, the sin of silence is abhorrent."

Celeste Zappala and Cindy  Sheehan, mothers of soldiers who lost
their lives in the Iraq war, also  spoke. Sheehan spoke with passion
against the violence of the war that had  brought death to her son,
one year ago on the same date. She called for  America to consider
its place in the world, and for its leaders to	acknowledge the lies
and deceptions that brought it into the war. "Not only	do I weep,"
Sheehan said, "but in Iraq the great wail of mothers  reverberates
across a broken country."

Zappala reported that her son  had the tragic honor of being the
first National Guard member from  Pennsylvania to die in military
battle since 1945. "He should not have been  there, there was no
reason for this war to happen," she said.

The  Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to
continuing  the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living
out its faith in  community. The denomination is based in the
Anabaptist and Pietist faith  traditions and is one of the three
Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its  300th anniversary in
2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United  States and
Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil,  the
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.

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For more  information contact:

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News  Services
Church of the Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin,	IL 60120
847-742-5100 ext.  260
cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org

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The  Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl
Brumbaugh-Cayford,  director of news services for the Church of the
Brethren General Board.  Newsline stories may be reprinted provided
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