Cross-Cultural Celebration meets on the theme of peace.

“Paz (peace). Croyez (believe). Joy....” The theme banner in five languages at the Cross-Cultural Consultation and Celebration also featured the words for “It is good” in Japanese, and “The good path” in Cree. The banner made by Dena Lee, a physician from Ohio and member of the On Earth Peace board, followed the scriptural theme from John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you....”

The gathering April 19-22 at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., attracted some 100 Brethren of a wide variety of backgrounds from across the US and Puerto Rico, to share daily worship, Bible study, fellowship, and opportunities for conversation about cross-cultural issues. Main sessions were offered with Spanish translation.

Daily Bible study sessions were offered for small groups, some in multiple languages. The scriptures and questions for study focused on peace, but participants also had an opportunity to share personally from their lives and experiences, and to develop new relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ. Youth had an opportunity to make new friends at an overnight retreat hosted by Union Bridge (Md.) Church of the Brethren. The conference also included a report from the Intercultural Study Committee (see story below).

Worship and music in many languages and styles formed the heart of the celebration. Members of the Bittersweet music ministry led by Gilbert Romero, pastor of Bella Vista Church of the Brethren in Los Angeles, were joined by many other musicians and singers as the Spirit led. Opportunities were given for participants to bring testimonies, prayers, songs, and dance. Don Mitchell of Harrisburg (Pa.) First Church of the Brethren led congregational singing. Youth helped lead the Saturday morning worship, when the music included some favorites from National Youth Conference.

Preachers included Stephen Breck Reid, academic dean of Bethany Theological Seminary, who spoke about the meaning of Christian baptism. “What does it mean to be a people in water that might carry you away?” he asked. Reid called the church to participate in the baptism of Jesus Christ in order to claim a new identity, and to transform the world into the Kingdom “that is beyond racial and class distinctions.”

“There is no peace in the world without Christ,” said Gaston Pierre Louis in the Friday evening sermon. Louis serves as a pastor at Eglise des Freres Haitiens, a Haitian Church of the Brethren in Miami, Fla. His message was given in French Creole, and translated by Founa Augustin, a member of his congregation. “If we don’t have peace together, how can we share it with the world?” he asked. “Let’s walk in peace with Christ. Let’s live in peace together...even with those that hate us. Christ will say, come here my children, this is my Kingdom.”

Among other speakers, the gathering also heard from Annual Conference moderator Belita Mitchell, who sang “What a mighty God we serve” as she walked to the podium; from Carol Mason, coordinator of Congregational Life Teams, Area 3, who spoke for closing worship; and from On Earth Peace board member Doris Abdullah of Brooklyn, N.Y., who gave a prayerful meditation on the stations of the cross. She asked for remembrance of suffering people around the world, just as Christians remember the suffering Christ. “We remember the dark CIA prisons... we remember the two million in the camps (in Darfur, Sudan)... we remember those crossing the borders,” she prayed. “We remember how you loved us to your death. Help us peacemakers to change the world.”

A presentation by Mennonite guests Conrad Moore and Titus Peachey received a standing ovation. The two men told their personal stories: one was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, the other a Vietnam veteran who has become an advocate for peacemaking. They challenged the church to provide opportunities for employment and service to members of all ethnic and minority backgrounds. “The issue is access to opportunities,” Moore said. Inviting youth in the congregation to rise and be seen, he said, “Stand up young woman. Stand up young man. We need to make sure he has an opportunity to go to the mission field.”

The board of On Earth Peace held its spring meetings concurrently with the consultation, and joined in worship and Bible studies. A presentation about On Earth Peace prompted questions about the agency’s work against military recruitment, what resources are available for those faced with gang recruitment, violence against immigrants, and whether peace resources are available in Spanish. Several invitations were extended for On Earth Peace staff to visit in congregations.

Closing worship featured the newly formed Best Friends group, dedicated to sharing music from the African-American tradition. Founder James Washington Sr., an ordained Church of the Brethren minister from Whitehouse, Texas, introduced a set of songs that ranged from a soulful a cappella “Precious Lord,” to upbeat praise. The set included two of five original compositions that the group has in its repertoire. Best Friends performed a short tour of congregations earlier this year. It will be featured at Annual Conference in July.

The Cross Cultural Ministries Team Steering Committee that plans the annual celebration includes Barbara Date, Thomas Dowdy, Renel Exceus, Sonja Griffith, Robert Jackson, Marisel Olivencia, Gilbert Romero, and Dennis Webb, with Duane Grady as staff support from the General Board’s Congregational Life Teams. Carla Gillespie, a student at Bethany Theological Seminary, assisted with coordination of the event.

Find a photo journal of the event at www.brethren.org, click on “Photo Journals.” The dates of next year’s Cross Cultural Consultation and Celebration are April 24-27, 2008, in Elgin, Ill.

Source: 4/25/2006 Newsline