wfn.org | Baptist Peace Fellowship News June 9, 1997

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

June 9, 1997
For more information contact:
Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America
Ken Sehested, Executive Director, or David Teague, Associate Editor
Phone: 704/456-1881
Fax: 704/456-1883
Internet: bpfna@primeline.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BPFNA asked to sponsor conflict mediation

TUSKEGEE, AL-The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America has been asked
to host a proposed conflict mediation between warring political parties in
Asia.

At its May 29-31 meeting, held on the campus of Tuskegee University, an
historically-black school in Tuskegee, Alabama, the BPFNA Board of
Directors authorized the staff to pursue plans for sponsoring the
negotiation, which could occur as early as late summer of this year.

At the invitation of indegenous leaders, BPFNA staff have been involved in
this situation since 1993, the first of two trips to the region. Additional
planning for the proposed negotiation took place during the November 1996
conference on conflict mediation for Asian Baptist leaders, co-sponsored by
the BPFNA and the Asian Baptist Federation, held in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Due to the sensitive nature of the talks, further details cannot be
disclosed at this time.

In other news, the board:

*agreed to become a member of International Service for Peace (Servicio
Internacional para la Paz or SIPAZ), a coalition of North American, Latin
American and European organizations formed to contribute to the search for
peaceful solutions to the conflict in Chiapas, Mexico.

*discussed plans to sponsor up to four pages of peace and justice coverage
in Correro Bautista, a Spanish-language newsletter distributed in Cuba; and
initiated planning for a book which will collect material from Baptist
Peacemaker since its debut in 1980. The book would be available in 2000 to
welcome in the new millennium.

*heard updates on the BPFNA's conflict mediation projects in Mexico and Liberia.

*announced plans for a second meeting of "The Next Generation," BPFNA youth
advisory committee, during the organization's July 21-26 summer conference,
where young people from Canada, the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico will chart
the future for this youth movement.

*received an update on plans for the July 27-August 1, 1998, BPFNA summer
conference in Puerto Rico.

*celebrated the election of board member Edward Wheeler, currently dean of
the chapel at Tuskegee, to the presidency of Christian Theological Seminary
in Indianapolis, Indiana.

BPFNA Board names new officers

TUSKEGEE, AL-The Board of Directors of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of
North America approved a new slate of officers for 1998 at its May 29-31
meeting at Tuskegee University.

Steve Hammond, a member of the BPFNA board since 1990, has been named
president. He is co-pastor of the First Baptist Church of Oberlin, Ohio and
serves as executive director of Ohio Campus Ministries. In addition, he
recently joined the Families Against Violence Advocacy Network as Eastern
Region organizer.

Lindsay Penn Matheson, who joined the board in 1993, will serve as vice
president for the third year in a row. A community activist, she is a
member of the social concerns committee of the Baptist Convention of
Ontario and Quebec and a member of First Baptist Church, Oshawa, Ontario,
Canada.

Isabel Docampo, who also joined the board in 1993, was elected secretary.
Currently serving as resource development director of Baptist Senior Adult
Ministries in Washington, D.C., she will soon be joining the faculty of
Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas to supervise seminary students
in their field placement.

Beverly Donald, a board member since the BPFNA was founded in 1984, will
continue to serve as treasurer. She is president of the American Baptist
Churches of Wisconsin and a member of Underwood Memorial Baptist Church in
Fredonia, Wisconsin.

Angela Ferguson, a member of the board since 1995, will serve as board
pastor. She is coordinator of spiritual services for the AIDS Interfaith
Network in Ft. Worth, Texas.

BPFNA announces dates, speakers for conference

Lake Junaluska, N.C.-"Disarming the Heart: The Gospel of Nonviolence" is
the theme of the 12th annual gathering of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of
North America, July 21-26, in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Highlighting this year's conference will be preachers from each of the
North American countries represented in the BPFNA-Canada, Mexico, Puerto
Rico and the United States. The guest preachers will include Revs. Tama
Ward Balinsky, of Vancouver, Canada; Olivia Juárez González, of Mexico
City, Mexico; Carmen Pagán-Cabrera of Bayamón, Puerto Rico; and Nancy
Hastings Sehested, of Clyde, North Carolina.

Ken Sehested, BPFNA executive director and editor, will lead the daily
bible study. Featured musicians include Stan Dotson, director of the Center
for Service Learning at Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, North Carolina, and
Darrell Adams of Louisville, Kentucky. Daniel Buttry, coordinator of the
BPFNA's Gavel Memorial Peace Fund and pastor of First Baptist Church in
Dearborn, Michigan, will be plenary speaker.

The conference, hosted by Eastern Mennonite University, will also include a
special skills training on conflict resolution, in addition to a variety of
seminars, field trips and special musical events. As in years past, the
conference features a specially-designed program for children and youth
each morning.

For more information, contact: BPFNA, P.O. Box 280, Lake Junaluska, N.C.
28745; phone, 704/456-1881; fax, 704/456-1882; or e-mail,
bpfna@primeline.com.

Founded in 1984, the BPFNA is a network linking Baptists involved in
justice and peace issues throughout North America. Its board of directors
is composed of members affiliated with 12 Baptist conventions and five
racial/ethnic groups in Canada, the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico. The
organization has no official sponsorship of any convention. Its primary
purpose is to encourage greater Baptist involvement-at local, national and
international levels-in justice and peace concerns and to help clarify
understanding of such involvement as essential to Christian discipleship.