We, the National Middle Eastern Presbyterian Caucus, are grieved by the barbaric bombing of 8 churches in Iraq (7 in Baghdad, 1 in Mosul) on Sunday, July 12, 2009. We denounce the cowardly aggression of militants against innocent and peaceful Iraqi civilians. We emphatically deplore all violence, in particular violence in the name of religion or political ideology, targeting Christians and minority groups, and all hostilities aimed to dehumanize, terrorize, persecute, and murder people in the name of God or any political cause.

The Church Providing Shelter in the Midst of Violence

This article by Adelaida Jiménez-Cortes was recently featured in Horizons magazine.

A Mission of Presence in Colombia (pdf)

by Yvonne Hileman
Special to Presbyterian News Service

“God did not intend us to face life’s hardships alone,” Jean Marie Peacock said at the Churchwide Gathering plenary session on the evening of July 13. “That is why God gives us the gift of community.”

The theme for the plenary was “Wonder of Hope.”

Steadfast Hope: The Palestinian Quest for Just Peace is a 48-page perfect-bound booklet with a free companion DVD. Steadfast Hope challenges common myths and misperceptions about the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, presents a compelling snapshot of the present situation on the ground, and offers a guide to the challenges that lie ahead in the quest for peace.

Join the online PPF Newtork!

We've just launched a new section of our website that is designed to nurture and empower the kind of grassroots organizing that has always been part of PPF's work.

Connect with other peacemakers, locally or around the world. Find others who have energy in the same areas of peacemaking as you do. Stay connected on events and issues.

At the center of identity we are a Fellowship. Powerful things happen when peacemakers get together. Come see what these relationships look like online, and join us.

by James E. Atwood

Gun violence across our nation and in our individual states is in large measure the direct result of irresponsible, even absurd laws that our elected public officials make or support. Below you will find a set of questions concerned citizens can ask their public officials in order to hold them responsible for laws they write or support that literally are the difference between life and death.

A key part of our work in Virginia to stop gun violence is to identify the stance of public officials who are making our state and local laws on guns. We are now working on a set of questions to identify the stance of our leaders on their views on guns. May I suggest that these questions are applicable for use in your state to address our ongoing gun violence problem.

Josh, an Iraq War Veteran turned conscientious objector, is walking across the country to raise awareness for organizations that work for peace.

The following is an excerpt from his blog, Contagious Love Experiment

The basic idea is this…

When I got out of high school, I saw some real problems in the world and figured I’d do what I could to solve them. So I joined the US Army as an infantryman, wanting to be on the front lines of destroying my nation’s and my religion’s enemies. Back then, I thought military action was one of the only legit ways to solve problems; back then, I thought military might was synonymous to God’s will.

Rev. Fred Maier was among the first half a dozen members of the PPF in 1944. Recently he spoke with a group at Stony Point Center about his lifetime of peacemaking.

Below is the full transcript of his reflection, most of which can be viewed in this video.

JOURNEY TOWARD PEACE

My journey began in the year 1880, when my grandfather, who was born and brought up in Germany, was about to become 18 years of age.