On Earth Peace builds on 30 years of peacemaking.

The year 2004 marks the 30th anniversary of On Earth Peace. In 1974, M.R. Zigler gathered a group of peacemakers at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., because of his belief that the church needed a hands-on organization to teach people about biblical peacemaking, conscientious objection to war, and faithfully living the words of the Gospel.

Since that day, many people have helped to carry out Zigler's vision to make the Church of the Brethren a Living Peace Church, and have provided leadership and programming for thousands of youth and adults to learn how to live and work as Christian peacemakers. On Earth Peace will celebrate these 30 years of empowering people to discern "the things that make for peace" at various regional weekends and at the 2004 Annual Conference.

Each event will feature music from the JOYA (Journey of Young Adults) quartet of LuAnne Harley, Shawn Kirchner, Brian Kruschwitz, and Barb Sayler, which first gathered in 1994 while in Brethren Volunteer Service. At Conference this year, JOYA will be featured at the On Earth Peace breakfast July 6. At each regional weekend, JOYA will provide concerts and worship leadership. At the regional events a "Conflict Transformation for Congregational Leaders" workshop will be provided. Workshop topics include understanding conflict dynamics, centered speaking and listening, transformation in a conflict setting, being a "non-anxious presence," and handling power in leadership roles. Workshop registration is $40, pastors will be eligible to receive 0.6 continuing education units. For more information about the workshops, contact Annie Clark at 260-982-8595 or e-mail annieclark@mchsi.com.

The first regional celebration of the On Earth Peace anniversary will be held in the Great Lakes area of northern Indiana and southern Ohio, June 11-13. There will be JOYA concerts at Trotwood (Ohio) Church of the Brethren June 11 and at Bethany Church of the Brethren, New Paris, Ind., June 12. On June 13, JOYA will provide worship leadership at Manchester Church of the Brethren, North Manchester, Ind. On June 12 at the Bethany congregation, two workshops will be offered: "Conflict Transformation for Congregational Leaders" 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., and "Peacemaking in the Family" 1:30-4:30 p.m., for parents and children above age three, led by Judy Myers-Walls. For more details on any of these events, visit www.brethren.org/oepa/30thAnniversary.html or call On Earth Peace at 410-635-8704.

Other regional celebrations will be held Aug. 13-15 in the Mid-Atlantic Region at the Brethren Service Center and Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren; Nov. 12-14 in the Plains Region at First Central Church of the Brethren, Kansas City, Kan., McPherson (Kan.) Church of the Brethren, and Wichita (Kan.) Church of the Brethren; and March 4-6, 2005, in the Pacific Southwest Region at Modesto (Calif.) Church of the Brethren and La Verne (Calif.) Church of the Brethren.

Source: 6/04/2004 Newsline
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