Friends,
Back in March, my friend Geoff Browning paid a visit to MPC to preach and to talk to us about what it might look like for our congregation to consider self-identifying as a “Peace Church”, a designation that would recognize our congregation’s historic commitment to peacemaking, and opposition to America’s various and ongoing wars. A peace church designation might also allow the young people of the church to register as pacifists and opt out of a possible draft.
The process of becoming a peace church involves a lot of conversations. We have to discern if we, as a congregation, really do oppose war and, if so, on what terms. We need to explore historical expressions of Christian pacifism and decide if they give voice to our beliefs. If they don’t, we need to talk about new ways of expressing our opposition to violence.
After our conversations, we may decide not to self-designate as a peace church. But it seems to me that the conversation is important, and for that reason I’d like to invite you to join me and the Social Justice and Peacemaking Committee in a conversation about what it might look like for us to be a peace church. We will be meeting on Tuesday, May 24th at 7PM in the Thornhill room. I hope you can join us for this important conversation.
God’s Peace,
Ben