Workshops
Please request your workshops once you arrive at the Gathering.
BE
NOT CONFORMED
(from Romans 12, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God –
what is good and acceptable and perfect.”)
1-A What Am I Called to Render unto
God, and What Shall I Render Unto Caesar?
Robin
Harper and Paul
Alexander
Learn about tax resistance and
government responses.
1-B How Can We
Make our Peace Witness More Powerful and Effective? FILLED; waiting
list only
David
Hartsough and Matt Guynn
We will explore together how our
nonviolent witness can be spiritually strong, effective and powerful.
1-C How Does
Pop Culture Reinforce Conflict or Encourage Healing?
Gareth
Higgins and Warren
Cooper
Film
& Television, music and literature, and other art forms are capable of both
asserting violence and challenging it - this workshop will explore these
themes, facilitated by a musician and a film critic, both of whom are also
broadcasters, and activists for a more peaceful and just world.
1-D How Can
Hip Hop Be Used as a Tool of Nonviolent Resistance?
Calenthia
Dowdy and Cruz
Cordero
The participants will learn how Hip-
Hop is used as a tool for nonviolent resistance.
LOVE
YOUR ENEMIES (AND YOUR NEIGHBORS) (from Matthew 5, “You have heard that it was
said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you,
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”)
2-A What is
the Purpose of Sacrifice?
Matthew
Johnson and Michael
Hardin
Nonviolent Atonement is one of the hot
topics in the church today. Popular atonement theories associate Jesus'
death with the wrath of God. This workshop will explore alternatives to
this from the historic peace church tradition and African American theological
perspectives.
2-B How Can We Talk to the Military?
Titus
Peachey and Conrad
Moore
Learn how to Talk with the military on
matters of Conscience and violence.
2-C How Can We Build Peace in Our
Cities?
Elisha
Morris and Doris
Kung Dalton
What
would happen if we were able to change the paradigm of thinking that keeps us
distant from each other and living in fear of each other? Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s "vision of total relatedness" requires us to move
towards living in the reciprocal love of our fellow human. We will
explore the power of community and intentional relationship-building as the
most effective way of instituting peace in our urban communities.
2-D
How
Can Today’s Youth become Peacemakers in an Increasingly Diverse World? (interfaith workshop)
Marjorie
Scharf, Nicole Diroff and Students from “Walking the Walk” (
Learn about
the philosophy behind and experience the
four components of Walking the Walk, a cutting edge, local interfaith
youth service-learning program developed by the Interfaith Center of Greater
Philadelphia: community building, interfaith dialogue, community service and
creative reflection. This workshop, facilitated by a Walking the Walk
Group leader and two teen participants, will provide opportunities workshop
attendees to experience, hear stories, and leave with tools for creating their
own grass roots interfaith youth program.
RESTORE
MY EARTH
(from 2 Chronicles 7, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will
I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”)
3-A How Can We
Restore Our Relationship with the Earth and Find Justice for all God’s
Creation?
Jordan
Blevins, Jim Hall and Kristina Keefe-Perry
Discover how Creation care is part of
justice ministries and witness. Examine
the work of God and the work of peace as we work to restore right relationship
with creation.
3-B How Can We
More Equitably Share the World’s Resources?
John Hill and Leslie Woods
Explore how we can build a more
equitable world.
3-C Can We
Imagine a World Without Oil?
Matthew
Corson-Finnerty and Tyler Edgar
At this time we are using oil faster
than ever. How can we reverse this trend?
FORGIVE
SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN
(from Matthew 18, “Lord, how often shall my brother or sister sin against
me, and I forgive them? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him,
“I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”)
4-A How Can I
Help Build a Community that Works for Peace?
Janet
Chisholm and Scilla Wahrhaftig
Participants will explore active
nonviolence and community-building in an interactive workshop. They will begin
to recognize their power, alone and with others, for making personal and social
changes. They will practice skills for respective engagement with opponents,
instead of confrontation that polarizes or demonizes. There will be exercises
and group sharing. The leaders are trainers for a program on the spirituality
and practice of peacemaking in daily life, Creating a Culture of Peace.
4-B Must I
Forgive Seventy Times Seven? Really?? Do
I Have To???
Sue Regan and Pat Clark
What can forgiveness do for me?
for others? Why should I do it? Is transformation possible?
How can I engage in forgiveness work?
Come, join with others in exploring answers to these questions.
Tools and techniques for doing forgiveness work will be shared.
4-C How May We
Heal Body and Soul?
Ruth
Wenger and Charles
Duplessis
Learn about trauma healing and resilience. Explore how forgiveness interacts with healing of
body-mind-spirit; Jesus' instruction to “Forgive seventy times seven;” and how
faith-based meaning-making can help or hinder how we forgive and how we heal. Explore the effects of violence on
body-mind-spirit; how individuals, groups and communities can break free of
cycles of violence, victimhood, and vengeance; how reconciliation and new
growth can emerge from trauma; and how resilience enhances peace-making.
4-D How Shall I Reconcile with My Neighbor?
Celia
Cook-Huffman, Elaine Enns and
An introduction to the application of the principles of restorative justice. Learn how to seek the well-being of all through reconciliation and winning together.
FEED
MY SHEEP
(from John 21, “He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you
love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love
you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’”)
5-A How Can I
Preach Peace without Starting a War (in my congregation?)
Melissa
Bennett and Ched
Myers
Preaching about peace in our
congregations.
5-B What is
the Shape and Impact of Economic Violence? FILLED; waiting
list only
Will
O’Brien and Johanna
Berrigan
Using biblical reflection, personal
stories, and social analysis, this workshop will explore the theme of poverty
as economic violence, both in the way poverty violates the sacredness of each
person made in God’s image, and by how poverty represents a profound fracturing
of human community. We will look at how the most radical approach to
healing the wounds of economic violence begins by a commitment to reweave human
community, whether locally, nationally, or globally, by recognizing our common
belovedness of God.
5-C Is the Ecumenical
Movement a Movement for Peace?
Michael
Kinnomon and Bernice P. Jackson
The search for Christian unity
(ecumenism) is at its heart a movement for peace, even as the churches work for
peace must be done ecumenically. This
workshop. led by a president of the World Council of Churches and the general
secretary of the National Council of Churches, will explore what the churches
have said and done about peace through the ecumenical movement, focusing
especially on the current WCC-initiated Decade
to Overcome Violence and how you can become involved in the ecumenical
peace movement.
5-D What is the Faith-Basis for Social and Economic Justice? (interfaith
workshop)
Mordechai Liebling, Iftekhar Hussein and Dwayne Royster
WELCOME
THE STRANGER
(from Hebrews 13, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by
doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”)
6-A What Binds
us Together as We Work for Peace in the World and Peace in the Streets?
Drick
Boyd, Donna Jones and Mary Lord
Explore the Connection between wars
abroad with “wars” at home
6-B How Can I
Engage the “Other” in Public Dialogue without Perpetuating Violence?
Bonnie
Tinker and Rita
Clinton
Utilizing Gandhian philosophy we will practice a simple
verbal nonviolence technique, "LARA" to put in your "friendly
persuasion" toolbox. Through opening our own hearts and minds
we create the possibility that others will open to us, revealing the common
ground we share. This unilateral verbal disarmament technique is useful in
contentious political dialogs and also in personal relationships. This is a
practical tool to enter into verbal conflicts while remaining spiritually
grounded in nonviolence.
6-C How Can We Build Peace Through Interfaith
Dialogue and Action? (interfaith
workshop)
Achmad
Munjid, Phyllis Berman and Rebecca Mays
Please request your workshops once you arrive at the Gathering.