Newsline: Day of prayer for peace brings communities together

[CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>]

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

Day of prayer for peace brings communities together

(Sept. 21, 2011) Elgin, IL -- Today the International Day of Prayer for Peace 
(IDPP) observance takes place around the world, as an initiative of the World 
Council of Churches. 

The Church of the Brethren agency On Earth Peace is holding its annual IDPP 
campaign this year with the goal of involving 200 congregations and groups on 
the theme, "Seek the Peace of the City."

On Earth Peace reported that as of Monday, 110 congregations and community 
groups had registered an event at www.onearthpeace.org. There were 21 US states 
and 10 countries represented on the list. Organizers were affiliated with at 
least 11 different denominations or religious traditions. "Please let us know 
if you are observing IDPP in your worship service by sending us a quick note at 
idpp@onearthpeace.org!" On Earth Peace invited.  

The agency this year is encouraging congregations to consider how youth can 
lead observances, and how to support youth as leaders for peace in their 
communities. Suggestions have included presenting a children's message on 
peacemaking, focusing on specific acts of violence children may encounter and 
their role to stop violence, and working with small groups to name specific 
acts of violence in a community and around the world, following up with prayer 
for victims, perpetrators, and those working for peace in named situations.

The Church of the Brethren's advocacy and peace witness office will share 
regular IDPP updates today at several places online: 
http://twitter.com/#!/cob_peace, 
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=123295755551&ref=ts, and 
http://blog.brethren.org.

Here is a sampling of events at Church of the Brethren congregations and 
districts, and Brethren-related groups that are taking part in today's 
observance:

-- This morning the staff at the Church of the Brethren General Offices in 
Elgin, Ill., met for a chapel service on peace.

-- Timbercrest Community, a retirement community in North Manchester, Ind., is 
holding a Peace Day observance in its chapel from 3-4 p.m.

-- Heeding God's Call, the Philadelphia-based initiative against gun violence, 
holds a vigil at 4 p.m. today at the site of one of almost 200 Philadelphia gun 
deaths this year--1600 Catharine St. A procession will then take participants 
to Dilworth Plaza, carrying t-shirts symbolizing each life lost to guns this 
year. At the plaza a public witness and prayer begins at 5:15. (For more 
information contact Heeding God's Call at 267-519-5302.)

-- The Heeding God's Call Harrisburg (Pa.) Chapter holds a Prayer Vigil in 
uptown Harrisburg beginning at 5:30 p.m., in an announcement shared by 
Harrisburg First Church of the Brethren pastor Belita Mitchell.

-- The Church of the Brethren's Virlina District held an IDPP event this past 
Sunday at Lighthouse Church of the Brethren in Boones Mill, Va. An additional 
district peace service will be this evening at 6 p.m., sponsored by West 
Richmond (Va.) Church of the Brethren.

-- An event at 7 p.m. at Cedar Lake Church of the Brethren in rural Auburn, 
Ind., will include prayers for peace interspersed with media clips that speak 
to several levels of peacemaking including inner peace, forgiveness, and 
courageous leadership.

-- York (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren opens its chapel today for those 
wishing to pray for peace. "Prayers can be offered for non-violence in many 
areas," said an invitation from the Witness Commission. "Prayers for healing 
between individuals, in families, in cities, and between nations is being 
stressed." 

-- A community worship service hosted by Lafayette (Ind.) Church of the 
Brethren will gather around the congregation's Peace Pole.

-- A Peace Walk in Bridgewater, Va., is being publicized by the Church of the 
Brethren's Shenandoah District. It starts at Bridgewater United Methodist 
Church at 7:30 p.m. Each walker is to bring a candle. Donations will be 
accepted for "Invisible Child of Uganda," a program that rescues children who 
have been recruited or abducted into military service. Contact Roma Jo Thompson 
at 540-515-3581.

-- A public lecture by Jeffrey Helsing of the US Institute of Peace, sponsored 
by the Mahatma Gandhi Center, is being publicized with help from Shenandoah 
District. Preceding the 7 p.m. lecture at the Lucy F. Simms Center in 
Harrisonburg, Va., a dinner and peace pole dedication is planned. The event 
closes with a candlelight vigil. Contact LaDawn Knicely of the Gandhi Center 
board at 540-421-6941 or LaDawn@LaDawnSellsHome.com.

-- "10 Days of Prayer for Peace" in Richmond, Ind., has been sponsored by the 
interfaith group Children of Abraham, with participation from Brethren in the 
area. The observance began on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and 
concludes today. Bethany Theological Seminary participated as vigil No. 8 in 
the series of 10 citywide vigils from Sept 12-21. Participants prayed indoors, 
then went outside and stood along US 40 holding candles and praying for peace 
in a drizzle of rain.

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
celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members across 
the United
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, 
Brazil, the Dominican
Republic, Haiti, and India.

># # #

>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