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07575 September 13, 2007
Presbyterians urged to join ongoing ecumenical Iraq War vigil
Launch of nationwide observances set for Sept. 16
by Evan Silverstein Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship (PPF) <http://www.presbypeacefellowship.org/>, an affinity group of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) committed to nonviolence and peacemaking, is urging Presbyterians to join a continuous nationwide ecumenical prayer vigil and witness to protest the Iraq War, starting Sept. 16.
More than 30 religious organizations are expected to launch the non-stop anti-war initiative with prayer vigils in churches and by staging witnesses in cities across the country.
The effort is being sponsored by the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq (CPWI) <http://www.christianpeacewitness.org/>, a group that PPF executive director Rick Ufford-Chase helped form to organize a large national peace witness last March in Washington, DC.
"The prayer vigil will be continuous, 24 hours a day, somewhere in this country," Ufford-Chase told the Presbyterian News Service. "In other words, there will be different churches taking on different pieces of it indefinitely. Probably until at least the spring of 2008 when we gather back in Washington again."
Goals of the effort are to achieve the five "pillars" around which CPWI was formed: end the United States-led war in Iraq and occupation; support U.S. troops; support an Iraqi-led peace process; say "no" to torture; and say "yes" to justice.
Ufford-Chase, who was moderator of the PC(USA)'s 216th General Assembly in 2004, said suggestions for local witnesses include visits to congressional representatives, visiting veterans in the hospital, and non-violent public action.
"That's exactly what we're looking for," Ufford-Chase said. "For churches and campus groups to step up and take those kinds of things on."
CPWI has launched a new section on its Web site <http://www.christianpeacewitness.org/vigil> where churches, campus groups and other Christian organizations can register their vigil plans and post photos and videos from their gatherings.
"The idea is to use the Web site as a clearinghouse and hopefully have continuous vigils and witnesses going on all over the country," Ufford-Chase said. "People will say 'We'll do a vigil here at this time, anybody who can join us please do.'"
One local event being planned for Sept. 16, Ufford-Chase said, is a small peace witness in the nation's capital.
Organized by a group of DC-area clergy and laity, the vigil will include a liturgy of peacemaking and the placing of more than 4,000 stones at the White House gates to represent those killed in the Iraq War. The event will start at 6 p.m. in Lafayette Park across from the White House.
He noted that Sept. 16 is exactly six months to the day from CPWI's anti-war gathering last March 16 in Washington, which was attended by more than 4,000 people from numerous states, including some 500 Presbyterians and six former General Assembly moderators.
"We chose that day as a way to take the next step in creating a positive Christian witness for peace and against the war in Iraq," Ufford-Chase said. "We know this is going to be an ongoing way that local faith communities can do their own vigil and witness and add the power of their witnesses together collectively."
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