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Peacemaking Update
from , Presbytery Peacemaker

Bridgit HurleyFebruary 27 Edition

Welcome to the February 27, 2008 Peacemaking Update! Please be in touch if you have a question or comment.

, Peacemaker
Presbytery of the Genesee Valley
(585) 242-0080 ext. 19

March 2 is Self-Development of People (SDOP) Sunday

SDOP, funded primarily through the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) offering, enables Presbyterians to establish partnerships with oppressed and disadvantaged people, providing small grants for self-help projects aimed at helping recipients achieve self-sufficiency.

Visit the SDOP FAQ to learn:

Here are ten ways to celebrate SDOP Sunday

Rochester's Declaration of Peace—Town Hall Meeting

The Rochester Declaration of Peace Affinity group, along with other area peace organizations, would like to invite the community at large to join us in an important discussion about how the US got into the Iraq war and whether or not continued occupation of Iraq is legal.

Participants will include:

Sr. Helen Prejean Lecture Rescheduled

“Death of Innocents: Dead Man Walking”

The Office of Multicultural Affairs of Nazareth College regrets the cancellation of the recent lecture by Sr. Helen Prejean due to weather issues. We are very happy that we have been able to reschedule Sr. Helen Prejean's lecture for Monday, April 21, 2008 at 7:00pm in the Linehan Chapel.

For more information please contact Gaynelle Wethers at 389-2073 or Jamie Fazio at 389-2308.

PC(USA) Peacemaking Blog

The Peacemaking Program has created a blog to help tell the story of the travel/study seminar to South Africa and Malawi and to address a range of peace and justice issues

Prayers for Iraq

Each week during Lent, find prayers for those affected by the war in Iraq on the Spiritual Nurture for Peacemakers page.

Conference opportunities

July 15–19
2008 Prebyterian Peacemaking Conference, Sowing Mustard Seeds: Working for God's Justice—Confronting Poverty
July 28–August 3
Peace and Justice Week at Ghost Ranch

March 22 is World Water Day

World Water Day was created by the United Nations on March 22, 1992, and marks the season of heavy rain in many countries. Water is increasingly seen as a commodity, not as a resource that should be available to all.

Church World servcies offers many resources at its The Water For All Campaign.

Legislative Alert: Farm Bill

The 2007 Farm Bill is the final stages of negotiation between the House of Representatives and the Senate. After they reach an agreement on a final bill, it will be sent to President Bush for his signature.

The current farm bill expires on March 15, 2008.

The House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill both include increases for the Food Stamp Program, but the funding is not secure. In the Senate bill, the funding will expire in 2012.

25 million Americans participate in the Food Stamp Program every month. A safety net for the families who will be hit hardest by an economic downturn is now more important than ever.

Please contact your Senators and your House member to urge them to vote for secure funding for the Food Stamp program. For more information visit Bread for the World.

To identify and contact your House of Representatives member

Contact Senator Hillary Clinton

Contact Senator Chuck Schumer

A prayer in praise of water

LEADER (while pouring water from a pitcher into a bowl):

Holy Spirit, Life-giver, who moved over the waters in the creation, who led your people through the waters of the Red Sea to liberation, and who comforted your exiled people by the waters of Babylon, draw us together as we gather in your name.

ALL:

Creator God, we thank you for your love in all creation, especially for your gift of water to sustain, refresh, and cleanse all life. We ask you blessing on this gathering. As we come together from many places and mingle the waters of our experience and faith, may we find sustenance, insight, and refreshment for the task of repairing our world. Amen.

(“Worship with the Water” by Church World Service)

 

Bridgit HurleyFebruary 6 Edition

Welcome to the February, 2008 Peacemaking Update! Please be in touch if you have a question or comment.

, Peacemaker
Presbytery of the Genesee Valley
(585) 242-0080 ext. 19

Blessed Are the Peace-Makers: Shalom with the Whole Shebang

There is a rising energy for a peaceable kingdom right now. Jesus’ Beatitudes show us how to live into a hopeful future by living in shalom with ourselves, each other, creation and our Creator in a civilization that is becoming its own suicide machine. Join us in listening to stories of Beatitude energy and in exploring practical ways to bring Jesus deep wisdom into our threatened world.

Sponsored by the Greater Rochester Community of Churches, Under the Leadership of its Worship & Discipleship Team. For questions, call Rev. David Inglis, 334-0030

All’s fair in love and chocolate
(Note Feb. 8 ordering deadline!)

Catholic Relief Services, the international aid and development program of the Roman Catholic Church, offers you a wonderful way to give that special someone in your life a Valentine's gift that will show the world just how sweet you are. Purchase delicious Fair Trade chocolate for the loves in your life.

Your purchase will help further justice and fight poverty overseas. When you buy Fair Trade chocolate through CRS you know that farmers are guaranteed a fair price for their cocoa crop and that no exploitative child labor is involved.

http://divine.serrv.org/crs/cart.php

February 8 is the last day to order for delivery by Valentine’s Day if you live on the East Coast. Order online or call Customer Service at 1.888.294.9665.

Sister Helen Prejean

“Dead Man Walking: The Death of Innocents”

2008 Ecumenical Advocacy Days Conference

Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a movement of the ecumenical Christian community, grounded in biblical witness and our shared traditions of justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Over 1,000 participants learn, worship and lobby together.

Presbyterian Peacemaking Resources

For more than twenty-five years, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program has been helping the church grow in its witness and commitment to peacemaking. It has developed a variety of resources to assist congregations and individuals respond to the gospel calling to “Seek peace and pursue it.” Here’s a summary of available resources.

Legislative Alert

As Congress begins to consider the 2009 federal budget that President Bush proposed last week, now is a good time to urge our Representatives and Senators to approve an increase in poverty-focused development assistance for 2009.

Bread for the World, a nationwide Christian movement that seeks justice for the world's hungry people by lobbying our nation's decision makers, has some excellent resources for use in congregations.

Bread for the World’s 2008 Offering of Letters seeks more and better development assistance so that our country can fulfill its commitment to achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. The first MDG is to cut hunger and extreme poverty in half.

The 2008 Offering also supports passage of the Global Poverty Act , which would make the first Millennium Development Goal an official part of U.S. policy. The House has already passed the Global Poverty Act. Now senators have the opportunity to cosponsor the Senate version, S. 2433. It is important that senators hear from people of faith and conscience about this chance to make improvements in public policy that will help millions of people around the world escape from extreme poverty.

Bread for the World's 2008 Offering of Letters kit offers a wealth of up-to-date resources:

It also includes a video that shows daily life for 13-year-old Catherine Phiri, her sister, and their grandmother, who live together in a village outside Zambia's capital city, Lusaka. To order the Offering of Letters kit or learn more about this year's campaign call 1-800-82BREAD.

Prayer

As we begin our Lenten disciplines of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, consider these words from Isaiah:

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord ?

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter?
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Isaiah 58:5–8