Newsline: Intercultural consultation celebrates unity through cross of peace

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl
Brumbaugh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org

Intercultural consultation celebrates unity through the cross of peace / Co 
nsulta Intercultural celebra la unidad a través de la Cruz de la Paz

(May 11, 2011) Elgin, IL -- "I hope we are all looking forward to being in  a 
sacred space...and just love each other," said Rubén Deoleo, director o f 
Intercultural Ministries, as he welcomed participants to the Church of th e 
Brethren's 13th Intercultural Consultation and Celebration.

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>Las noticias en el español:
>www.brethren.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=14894&news_iv_ctrl=-1
>"Yo espero que todos estemos anticipando estar en un espacio sagrado. y que  
>todos nos amemos," dijo Rubén Deoleo, director de Ministerios Intercultu 
>rales, cuando daba la bienvenida a los participantes de la 13va Consulta y  
>Celebración Intercultural. Fue una apertura apropiada para la reunión d el 
>tema: "Unidos por la Cruz de la Paz" (Efesios 2:14-22). Aproximadamente  100 
>hermanos Brethren de los EE UU y Puerto Rico se reunieron del 28 al 30  de 
>abril, en Mills River, Carolina del Norte, auspiciados por la Iglesia de  los 
>Hermanos/Iglesia Jesucristo el Camino y el Distrito Southeastern...."
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It was a fitting opening to a meeting on the theme "United by the Cross of  
Peace" (Ephesians 2:14-22). Approximately 100 Brethren from across the US a nd 
Puerto Rico gathered April 28-30 in Mills River, N.C., hosted by His Way  
Church of the Brethren/Iglesia Jesucristo El Camino and Southeastern Distr ict.

On Earth Peace (OEP) offered a day and a half on peacemaking. Matt Guynn, O EP 
coordinator of peace witness, led several sessions with help from a team  
including Samuel Sarpiya, church planter in Rockford, Ill., and a nonviole nce 
organizer for OEP; David Jehnsen, nonviolence educator from the area of  
Columbus, Ohio; Carol Rose, co-director for operations for Christian Peace 
maker Teams; Bob Hunter of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in Richmond, I 
nd.; and Kay Guyer, Manchester College student and a member of the 2011 You th 
Peace Travel Team. An afternoon on mentoring and coaching in churches wa s 
given by Stan Dueck, the denomination's director of Transforming Practice s.

Each day included an evening worship service, moments for prayer, music fro m 
many different traditions, and warm fellowship during break times and mea ls 
provided by the host church and district volunteers. Concurrent Spanish- 
English interpretation was provided.

Throughout the weekend, speakers linked peacemaking to central themes of Ch 
ristianity, in particular the love that Jesus expressed for the whole world , 
symbolized by the cross. General secretary Stan Noffsinger greeted the ga 
thering, for example, with his conviction from scripture that "there are no  
ifs, ands, or maybes: love our neighbors as ourselves." His Way associate  
pastor Carol Yeazell, while listing areas of the world represented, said, " 
Christ's body is all over the world. He came for each and every one of us."

Guynn characterized the OEP-led sessions as being about the "holistic peace  of 
Christ" that "ripples out to issues in the community...issues where we  
challenge the situations in the world where there's injustice and violence. "

Participants shared in Bible study of the Sermon on the Mount and Acts focu 
sing on concepts of peace, and learned about nonviolence theory including t he 
six basic principles of Kingian nonviolence and the three levels of viol ence 
posited by Dom Helder Camara. The meeting also identified barriers to  peace or 
"bricks in the wall of hostility," and talked about how Christ's p eace might 
break in. In small groups, participants shared about situations  of violence 
and oppression, practiced listening to each other, and prayed f or healing.

Each section of the OEP presentation invited responses from the group. Many  
focused on immigration issues, and in discussion the group identified many  
different types of violence suffered by immigrants: economic exploitation,  
targeting by gangs as well as law enforcement, anti-immigrant laws, ICE ra ids, 
deaths while crossing the border, family separations, discrimination,  drug 
violence, immigrant children's loss of cultural and family connections.

"How is God leading you in the midst of this? How might the love of Christ  be 
available?" Guynn asked at one point during a session in which people li sted 
"faces of violence" in their own communities. Some minutes later, a wo man from 
Caimito, P.R., responded: "In the name of God, the reign of violen ce needs to 
be expelled out of human life."

Preaching for worship also addressed the theme of unity through the cross o f 
peace. Jehnsen spoke for the opening service, saying, "We cannot particip ate 
in the violation of God's creation." He traced the development of nonvi olence 
theory coming out of the New Testament, the historic peace churches,  and the 
work of Martin Luther King Jr.

Jesus came to shine "the light of love, the light of mercy, the light of tr 
uth," preached Hunter on Friday evening. "The vocation of the Christian is  to 
shine the light" in times of darkness, he said, telling stories of nonvi olent 
action that has shined light on situations of violence and oppression . "The 
gospel of peace is a revolution, and it is a place of reconciliation ."

Friday's service also included presentation of the Revelation 7:9 Diversity  
Award to Sonja Griffith, executive minister for Western Plains District an d 
one of those who helped found the Intercultural Consultation. She was hos t 
pastor of the first consultation, held in 1999.

Three people spoke for the closing service celebrating ethnic diversity: Gl 
adys Encarnación of Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren, Glen Arm, M d., 
who gave the message in Spanish; Timothy L. Monn, pastor of Midland (Va .) 
Church of the Brethren; and Founa Augustin, of the Haitian Brethren comm unity 
in Miami, Fla.

Augustin and Monn, by coincidence, both rephrased the theme scripture in th eir 
own ways. "To follow the cross in unity with mutual agreement, for the  sake of 
the love of Jesus," stated Augustin. Monn displayed his version on  an overhead 
screen, beginning with verse 11: "Therefore, remember that you  who are... 
Black... Hispanic... Anglo... Haitian... Korean... Native Americ an... 
Pennsylvania Dutch.... You who were once separated from each other ha ve been 
brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, h e has made 
the many groups one.... making you all Brothers and Sisters--in  Christ. You 
are BRETHREN!!!!"

The Intercultural Advisory Committee that organizes the consultation includ es 
Founa Augustin, Barbara Daté, Rubén Deoleo (staff), Thomas Dowdy, Ro bert 
Jackson, Nadine Monn, Marisel Olivencia, Gilbert Romero, and Dennis We bb. 
Webcasts were offered on the Bethany Seminary website by a team includi ng 
Enten and Mary Eller, David Sollenberger, and Larry Glick.

View recordings at www.bethanyseminary.edu/webcasts/intercultural2011. A ph oto 
album is at www.brethren.org/site/PhotoAlbumUser?AlbumID=14833&view =UserAlbum.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continu ing 
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 Hist 
oric Peace Churches. It
celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members ac 
ross the United
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Br 
azil, the Dominican
Republic, Haiti, and India.

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>For more information contact:

>Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
>Director of News Services
>Church of the Brethren
>1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
>800-323-8039 ext. 260
>cobnews@brethren.org