Justice Speaks

Justice Speaks is a weekly online conversation between African-American pastors and leaders, who address "the intersection of theology and current events" (Spectrum). The video series is hosted by pastor Jaime Kowlessar of City Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church in Dallas, Texas. Each episode originates as a Google Hang-out on Thursday nights, and the series can also be seen on YouTube. Adventist Peace Fellowship co-founder Doug Morgan states on his blog, "If you care about justice and Adventism, ya gotta take a listen" (History and Hope).

The most recent episode is titled "The MisEducation of the Adventist," posted below:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Die471QvQz4?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

Volunteer with APF at the 2015 GC Session in San Antonio

The 2015 General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church will soon convene in San Antonio, Texas (July 2-11). This world-wide gathering of Adventist leaders and laity occurs every five years for the purpose of making denominational decisions and electing leaders. The Adventist Peace Fellowship will have an exhibit at this year's event, and we are looking for people to join us at the booth, welcoming people who pass by. All you need is a friendly smile and a desire to spread APF's message of peace and justice. We'll help all volunteers prepare for the most common questions.

We need volunteers to sign up for hours when you can be at the booth, telling people about our actions and goals. We hope to have two or more people at the booth at all times.

Please click here to register as an APF representative at the booth.

And if you'll be at the GC Session, please stop by our booth even if you aren't able to volunteer with us. Come say hi!

See you in Texas!

Anaheim Congregation to Mark Adventist Peace Sabbath

The Adventist Peace Fellowship has designated May 23, 2015 as the first annual Adventist Peace Sabbath. On a weekend when our nation remembers those who have lost their lives in war, this Sabbath will be an opportunity to be inspired again by Jesus’ vision of peace for the world. Dr. Jeff Gang, DMin., Pastor for the Anaheim SDA Church will be giving a presentation on F.M. Wilcox’s seminal book Seventh-day Adventists in Time of War (R&H: 1936) at 9:30 AM. Dr. Zane Yi, PhD., Assistant Professor in the School of Religion at Loma Linda University, will be preaching the sermon in the main worship service at 11:00 AM. A special “Litany for Peace” is also planned for the service. For more information please visit http://anaheimadventist.org.

APF Sabbath Brochure (PDF)

APF Statement on Freddie Gray and Baltimore

The APF Board has released the following statement on Freddie Gray and the subsequent events in Baltimore:

The Adventist Peace Fellowship is deeply troubled by recent events in the city of Baltimore. While all the facts are not yet known, it is beyond dispute that a young man's life was violently taken from him while in the custody of police officers—an event that falls within larger patterns of systemic racism, structural injustice, historical inequalities, and brutality targeting young Black men. It is also clear that many citizens—including the elderly poor—are now suffering severe hardships from the destruction of several days of violent riots.

It is our hope and prayer that Baltimore now experience not merely a return to the “peace” of the status quo but rather a true transformation of values and policy priorities that promote justice and equality for residents of the city’s neglected neighborhoods. We call on Seventh-day Adventists in Baltimore and throughout the country to follow the examples of the Hebrew prophets and to actively resist injustice and oppression wherever they encounter it, whether on their streets or in City Hall. We herald Adventist pastors Reginald Exum, David Franklin, and DuWayne Privette who have embodied these ideals on the streets of Baltimore. We continue to urge peacemakers to follow the principles and tactics of nonviolent resistance to oppression powerfully demonstrated by individuals such as Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We also encourage pastors to promote a culture of nonviolence and a vision for peacemaking within their churches. History has taught us that violence begets violence and hatred begets hatred. As Christians we are called to seek justice precisely through tireless and active peacemaking.

APF Endorses Call for Nuclear Abolition

On May 1, 2015, religious leaders presented a statement against nuclear weapons to the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, reported Religion News Service. The Adventist Peace Fellowship has signed on to the statement. Faith Communities Concerned about the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons, which is made up by 50 religious groups, delivered the following message:

Since August 1945, when the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were subjected to atomic attack, the continued existence of nuclear weapons has forced humankind to live in the shadow of apocalyptic destruction. Their use would not only destroy the past fruits of human civilization, it would disfigure the present and consign future generations to a grim fate.

Nuclear weapons are incompatible with the values upheld by our respective faith traditions—the right of people to live in security and dignity; the commands of conscience and justice; the duty to protect the vulnerable and to exercise the stewardship that will safeguard the planet for future generations. Nuclear weapons manifest a total disregard for all these values and commitments. There is no countervailing imperative—whether of national security, stability in international power relations, or the difficulty of overcoming political inertia—that justifies their continued existence, much less their use.

We raise our voices in the name of sanity and the shared values of humanity. We reject the immorality of holding whole populations hostage, threatened with a cruel and miserable death. We urge the world’s political leaders to muster the courage needed to break the deepening spirals of mistrust that undermine the viability of human societies and threaten our shared future.

For decades, the obligation and responsibility of all states to eliminate these weapons of mass destruction has been embodied in Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Progress toward the fulfillment of this repeatedly affirmed commitment has been too slow; today it is almost imperceptible. Instead, ongoing modernization programs divert vast resources from limited government budgets when public finances are hard-pressed to meet the needs of human security. This situation is unacceptable and cannot be permitted to continue.

Therefore as people of faith, we pledge to:

1. Communicate within our respective faith communities the inhumane and immoral nature of nuclear weapons and the unacceptable risks they pose, working within and among our respective faith traditions to raise awareness of the moral imperative to abolish nuclear weapons;

2. Continue to support international efforts to ban nuclear weapons on humanitarian grounds and call for the early commencement of negotiations by states on a new legal instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons in a forum open to all states and blockable by none.

As people of faith, we call on the world’s governments to:

3. Heed the voices of the world’s hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) urging the abolition of nuclear weapons, whose suffering must never be visited on any other individual, family or society;

4. Take to heart the realities clarified by successive international conferences on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons; take concrete action leading to the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, consistent with existing obligations under the NPT.

5. Associate themselves with the Pledge delivered by Austria at the Vienna Conference and pursue effective measures to fill the legal gap for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons.

The statement is available online as a PDF-- http://www.peoplesdecade.org/pdf/faithcommunities/joint_statement.pdf.

Featured Image Credit: "Castle Romeo" by United States Department of Energy - This image is available from the National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office Photo Library under number XX-33. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castle_Romeo.jpg#/media/File:Castle_Romeo.jpg

UK Adventists and WWI Tribunals

Victor Hulbert, communication director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the UK and Ireland, has posted a short article about the role of tribunals for WWI recruits. Hulbert explains:

Approximately 130 Seventh-day Adventist young men were conscripted between 1916 and 1918, some serving in Non-combatant corps, others spending time in prisons or work centres across the country. A generally pacifist religion, Adventists held strongly to the principles of the 10 commandments, including the 6^th, “Thou shalt not kill”. They were believers in civil and religious liberty but could be described as ‘conscientious co-operators’ rather than absolute objectors to the country’s conduct in war.

Hulbert shares that "The tribunals generally respected their refusal to bear arms – but that was the only exemption."

William George Chappell worked selling Christian literature. He was called to a tribunal in Brynmawr, South Wales on 25 March 1916. In his notice of appeal he stated that “as I am a Seventh-day Adventist [I] am opposed to war.” Noting Bible verses that supported a pacifist stance he stated that he felt it more important for him to ‘go preach the Gospel’ than to be involved in the war.

The tribunal disagreed stating that his work was ‘not of national importance’ and only exempting him from combatant service.

Read the entire article at Everyday Lives in War.

Photo: "Adventist Conscientious Objectors in Dartmoor Prison." Posted by Victor Hulbert at Everyday Lives in War.

APF Listed in Best Practices for Adventist Ministry

The Adventist Peace Fellowship was recently covered in Best Practices for Adventist Ministry, an email service provided by the Ministerial Department of the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The email said:

The Adventist Peace Fellowship is a 501c3 non-profit organization and independent lay ministry founded in 2001 that seeks to raise consciousness about the centrality of peacemaking and social justice to the beliefs and heritage of Adventists.  We provide a wide array of resources for Adventist peacemakers, including a certification program for churches committed to working on peace and justice issues as a central part of their identity and mission.  Five Seventh-day Adventist churches spread across the United States have passed resolutions to be known as Adventist peace churches, and one church, Glendale City, has already completed certification.  One additional Adventist church located in a region of Papua New Guinea marked by constant violent tribal skirmishes has expressed a strong interest in becoming a peace church that models principles of nonviolent peacemaking and reconciliation.

The blurb linked to a longer article posted on the Ministerial Department website. The information can also be found on Facebook.

Glendale City Church Remembers the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide (by Todd Leonard)

(The following article was submitted by Todd Leonard, pastor of Glendale City Church, the first Adventist church to become a fully certified Adventist Peace Church.)

In April 1915, an edict went out from the government of the waning Ottoman empire for the removal and execution from what is now Turkey of every Armenian, man, woman and child. Over the next ten years, approximately 1.5 million Armenians were killed by gun, sword, drowning, crucifixion, immolation and more. Raphael Lemkin, a polish lawyer who spent his life working to prevent and punish those responsible for mass killings, coined the term “genocide” to describe what was done to the Armenian people.

On April 24, 2015, the nation of Armenia and the Armenian diaspora pause to grieve this atrocity, to give thanks for those who came to their defense during this time of terror and to protest governments, including Turkey and the United States, who still will not acknowledge this event for what it is: a holocaust upon the Armenian people.

The Glendale City Seventh-day Adventist Church is located in a city adjacent to Los Angeles whose population is made up of over 100,000 people of Armenian descent, almost half of Glendale’s citizenry. For the past 35 years, the church has hosted an Armenian-speaking worship service on its campus each Sabbath in addition to having a number of Armenian-descent members who worship in its English-speaking worship.

On April 18, this congregation hosted a Day of Remembrance, a collaborative worship gathering hosted by the English- and Armenian-speaking congregations. Dr. Hovik Saraffian, the pastor of the Armenian congregation and a voice for Armenian Adventists around the world, presented the history of the genocide, called for Turkey’s repentance and expressed confidence that God’s righteousness would ultimately be triumphant over all evils in our world. The 40-voice Armenian Society of Los Angeles Chorus provided traditional Armenian songs that celebrated the heritage of the Armenian people, lamented the atrocities of a century ago, grieved God’s apparent absence during this awful time and, at the same time, celebrated God’s work in courageous men and women who stood up to do the work of God in the face of monstrous violence.

Over 100 guests of Armenian descent attended the Day of Remembrance. Afterwards, you could hear people sharing the stories of their ancestors, how their parents made it to an orphanage or how their grandparents were able to escape to a neighboring country. One guest told me how her mother was being taken by boat with dozens of others into the Black Sea to be drowned. Just before she was thrown overboard, she was pulled aside because the executioners thought she must not be Armenian because of her blonde hair and blue eyes.

For those in attendance who were not of Armenian descent, it was an eye-opening experience to be immersed in the story of the genocide. Because the events that began in 1915 have never been formally acknowledged by the United States, many Americans grew up, myself included, never having a history lesson about what happened. Many people expressed their gratitude at the opportunity to learn of this history and experience the sorrow of their Armenian neighbors.

Hosting this gathering is part of Glendale City Church’s commitment to be an Adventist Peace Church working to follow Christ’s call to bring peace into our city through community service, ecumenical relationship-building and gatherings that highlight the need for and celebrate those who do the work of peacemaking locally and around the world.

The Day of Remembrance service can be viewed in its entirety online at www.CityChurch-Online.org.

How will your congregation mark Memorial Day?: A Liturgy for Adventist Peace Sabbath, May 23

The Adventist Peace Fellowship has designated May 23, 2015 as the first annual Adventist Peace Sabbath.  May 23 is the Sabbath before Memorial Day in the U.S. calendar and so an occasion when some churches in the United States devote part of their service to honoring those who have served in the military.  In view of the Adventist tradition's official stance of conscientious objection in times of war, and in view of the sacrifices and heroism of countless noncombatants and pacifists throughout history (including many Adventists), we are urging all Adventist churches to treat this day as an occasion not for glorification of military victories or military service but rather for somber remembrance of the terrible loss of human lives in war, including both combatants and innocent civilians.

We are also urging all Adventist churches to draw inspiration from the five Adventist congregations that have already passed resolutions to be known as official Adventist Peace Churches.  May 23 is a Sabbath when Adventists can bear creative witness in our worship life to the good news of Christ's peace.  We are very happy to share with all pastors and churches an Adventist Peace liturgy, "Let Us Be Peacemakers", (created by APF members Yi Shen Ma and Maury Jackson with input from Nicholas Zork) that includes Scripture readings, hymns, and prayers focused on themes of peace and justice.  The liturgy is already formatted for printing as a PDF document and can be downloaded here:

https://adventistpeace.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/adventistpeacesabbathservice.pdf

Adventists and the Death Penalty: Why Are We Silent?

(The following article is an original contribution to the APF blog by Herbert Bodenmann, Communication and PARL-Director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Switzerland pictured below.)

On March 3, 2015, - the Thursday before Easter – I read an article in the news service of the Reformed Churches in Switzerland reporting that nearly 400 Church leaders in the United States, including Catholic and Protestant theologians, evangelical leaders and faith-based social justice advocates, have launched a call to end the death penalty. The introduction to their open letter, an initiative of the organization Faith in Public Life (FPL), states: “All who reverence the sanctity of human life, created in the image of God, must never remain silent when firing squads, lethal injections, electric chairs and other instruments of death are viewed as morally acceptable.”

I searched the names of the signatories in the statement hoping to find a representative of the Adventist Church among them. I reasoned that Human Rights issues are very dear to the Adventist Church since we are also defenders of Religious Liberty – for us a central Human Right. I also thought that "created in the image of God“ is a core theological theme of our church and much more important than the question of the chronological details of creation that are about to be adjusted in the fundamental beliefs at San Antonio 2015.  "Created in the image of God" is for me one of the central religious concepts and the basis for protecting the human dignity for all persons. Confident that I would find an Adventist among the signatories, I searched the list of more than 400 names.  But there was not a single Adventist voice among them!

All Adventists in every region of the world have cultural and religious imprints. Swiss Adventists have a very different background than American Adventists, including in regards to the death penalty. But it is hard for me to accept that our church publishes statements on many minor issues or matters of lesser importance yet none about this very central issue: the sanctity of life and efforts to end the death penalty world wide. When will the Adventist Church not only launch a worldwide campaign to end violence against women – which is very important - but also an initiative to abolish the death penalty as an inhuman act? Some of our pioneers fought for the abolishment of slavery in the US although it was not abolished in the Bible. Abolitionism was a position that was not supported by all Christians. It seems to me that the moral questions are quite similar in regards to the death penalty.

The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) is promoting as a long-term objective the worldwide abolishment of the death penalty by 2025.  I appeal to the North American Adventist Church to sign the call of the 400 in the US. And I also appeal to the worldwide Adventist Church leadership to take a "pro life" stand and fight for the abolishment of death penalty.

(Editors note: The Adventist Peace Fellowship has an official position supporting efforts to "Abolish the death penalty as a cruel and inhumane form of state violence", which can be found on the "Campaigns" page of our website under the heading of "Peacemaking and Reconciliation".  APF Director Ronald Osborn has asked that his signature be added to the FPL's letter on behalf of the Adventist Peace Fellowship.) 

AU to hold Social Justice Summit: Race and Justice in America

Peacemaking through Medical Care

On March 12, 2015, students and professors gathered in Newbold auditorium at Andrews University to hear how doctors in western Galilee are using medicine to build trust and promote peace between Israel and Syria. Dr. Arie Eisenman and Dr. Ohad Ronen shared how the Galilee Medical Center has begun to care for Syrians who have been wounded in the ongoing Syrian Civil War. Injured Syrians who are brought to the border are transported by the Israeli government to the Galilee Medical Center. While at the hospital, no questions are asked: anyone who is injured is treated, whether they are a member of ISIS or a civilian. Dr. Ronen described the surprise of many of these patients – who typically view Israel as the enemy – when they wake up and find themselves being treated in an Israeli hospital. While only wounded individuals were originally being brought to Israel for care, the word has spread and some noncritical patients are coming to the border for help, such as pregnant women who cannot acquire adequate medical care within Syria. Dr. Ronen hopes that providing for the medical needs of these Syrian patients will build trust between Syria and Israel, with those who have been cared for in Israel returning to share their positive experiences with family and friends once they have recovered. As someone who is working towards a career in medicine, it was inspiring to hear how even doctors that don’t devote their careers entirely to humanitarian work can have opportunities placed in their path to help people in need and even promote peace in a world full of upheaval.

Sumiko Weir, Andrews University

Andrews University Holds Forum On Racially Divided Conferences

On March 7, 2015, the Andrews University APF Chapter, along with a number of other student organizations, sponsored an event which looked at the state and regional conference structure within the North American Division (NAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. After a review of the NAD's organizational structure, panelists with ties to Andrews University answered a number of relevant questions. A video of the event can be viewed on YouTube--A Forum On State and Regional Conferences.

After the panel was completed, the student organizers read a statement that they are sending to NAD leaders. It reads:

A request from the Andrews University Adventist Peace Fellowship Chapter (AUAPF), in collaboration with the officers of the Andrews University Student Association (AUSA) and Black Student Christian Forum (BSCF);

To the Executive Committee of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists:

In light of the national conversations surrounding race and race relations over the past year, we have become increasingly concerned about the lack of clarity regarding the administrative separation of our church conferences along racial lines in the North American Division.

We understand that there are many strong and diverse opinions on this issue. Even within our own group, there are opinions as to whether restructuring should even be sought; and opinions regarding how restructuring could be appropriately accomplished.

However, one thing on which we all agree is that the present structure seems peculiar. Without explanation, we worry about how it looks to the outside world. We worry about how it looks to us.

Therefore, we request that the North American Division do one or both of the following:

1. Form a Commission tasked with developing a strategy that culminates in the restructuring of our conferences by the year 2020;

2. Release an official public statement, to be passed at the North American Division Year-end Meeting in the fall of 2015, clearly explaining why we maintain the current organizational structure.

This request is presented with the hope of reconciliation, in a spirit of deep regard for the sensitivity of this subject, profound respect for church order, and earnest desire for the advancement of God’s Kingdom through this unique Adventist movement.

The statement is also available online here.

Professor Zane Yi challenges Loma Linda community to connect healthcare with human rights

In a chapel talk addressed to the entire Loma Linda University community, Dr. Zane Yi, assistant professor of theological studies in the School of Religion at LLU, challenged Adventist medical students and healthcare providers to use their skills to engage with urgent matters of human rights and social justice. Citing the work of the Adventist Peace Fellowship, Yi invited his listeners to boldly envision the meaning of medical missions in an age of massive and growing social and economic disparities. "Can you imagine what it might look like in the world if Loma Linda University graduates went out into the world not just as skilled practitioners of their craft but as passionate advocates and champions of justice in healthcare?"

Professor Yi's talk begins at the 19 minute mark of this video. His comments about the APF begin at approximately minute 33.

[ustream id=59780499 hwaccel=1 version=3 width=480 height=302]
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Adventists and Muslims Resolve Land Dispute in Ghana

A Seventh-day Adventist congregation in Ghana has had an on-going land dispute with neighboring Muslims, reports Adventist Today (link). The conflict became violent in mid-February when 12 Muslim youth apparently incited a group of more than 1,000 Muslims to destroy the Adventist property. Excerpt from Adventist Today:

The initial investigation revealed that twelve Muslim youth “spearheaded the misunderstanding between the two religious groups,” reported GNA. The Daily Guide described the destruction of property on February 13, reporting that a crowd of more than 1,000 Muslim young people “stormed the SDA church premises near the Atebubu Government Hospital on Friday afternoon after the mid-day prayers with guns and offensive weapons.” The crowd then “set the newly built mission house ablaze and further brought down the walls around the church and demolished the temple.”

The destroyed mission house “accommodated close to 20 teacher trainees who are doing their teaching practice in the school. They lost valuable items such as laptops, cellular phones, books and certificates, among others,” reported Ghana Nation. (link)

After a regional security council mediation, both sides have signed a peace pact. Adventist leaders forgave the youth and gave the disputed land to the Muslims. In return, the Muslim leaders said they will build a new mission house for the Adventists elsewhere.

SOURCES

• Muslims and Christians at Atebubu smoke peace-pipe (Ghana News Agency, 23 Feb 2015)
• Security Council orders arrest of 12 suspects at Atebubu (Ghana News Agency, 23 Feb 2015)
• Muslim Youth Burn Church At Atebubu (Daily Guide, 14 Feb 2015)
• SDA abandons church after Muslim youth attack (Ghana Nation, 16 Feb 2015)

Featured blog image credit: "Flag of Ghana". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Ghana.svg#mediaviewer/File:Flag_of_Ghana.svg.

Hollywood SDA Church: Where God's Spirit Continues to Change Lives

(The following article was contributed by Cher Blue and Mireya Chaffee, who are co-coordinators for Adventist Peace Fellowship initiatives at the Hollywood Seventh-day Adventist Church in Los Angeles.  Hollywood SDA is one of five Adventist congregations that have passed official motions to become certified Adventist Peace Churches.)

The Hollywood Adventist Church is located in the heart of Hollywood. We take our urban context seriously and actively seek to discover what our role is in our community. We believe that God loves the city and therefore invites us to love the city on God’s behalf. We also love our city by simply being involved in its life, eating in local restaurants, shopping in local stores, listening to and being in relationship with our neighbors, and participating in community and civic life.

At Hollywood Adventist Church where our unspoken creed is, “Where God’s Spirit is given space to change lives,” we are committed to the ongoing work of making that space fully inclusive.

We accept that God’s love is broader and deeper than we can fathom. Fellowship and membership in His church should, likewise, be open and generous. The redemptive power of Christ’s love extends to everyone regardless of age, race, class or sexual identity. All are welcome in our church.

We embrace the challenge of being a diverse community, which encourages dialogue and welcomes questions, as we continue to identify the ways God is at work in all of our lives. We believe this will ultimately enrich us and transform us to be a witness for and a foretaste of the kingdom God intends to establish in the earth made new.

In our church community, we seek to encounter God’s presence in what He is actively doing in people’s lives and our surrounding communities.  One aspect of our search for God’s activity is through our Peace and Social Justice lens.

For example, in Los Angeles County and Hollywood it is very difficult for low income and homeless members of the community to experience life and community without dire hardships. Meeting even the most basic needs such as finding a place to rest during the day or use the bathroom is often impossible. By law, police officers in the City of Los Angeles may detain and ticket individuals for loitering (including standing or sitting) on sidewalks and other public right of ways between 6am and 9pm. For our homeless friends and neighbors, it is impossible to obey this law since you can’t just disappear during the day. Individuals often end up getting tickets which cannot be paid because these individuals don’t have any money to begin with. If the person has tickets that remain unpaid for a certain length of time they turn into warrants which then get them arrested and in jail.

The Hollywood Adventist Church is committed to provide a safe space to come off the street Tuesday through Friday. Once a guest rings our bell they are greeted by a staff member or volunteer who directs them to our service counter. At the service counter, first time visitors fill out our new guest form. Each day, guests are offered the ability to sign up for the currently offered programs and services, like access to showers or may be referred to other local services provided by other community agencies.

Genuinely caring and building a trust relationship with our new friends has opened many opportunities to minister and provide for the needs that we may have otherwise missed.

Our staff is intentional about getting to know our guests, learn their story and understand their needs. Genuinely caring and building a trust relationship with our new friends has opened many opportunities to minister and provide for the needs that we may have otherwise missed. A lot of our homeless neighbors feel forgotten by society.  Many feel they will live out their life as invisible people walking the streets of our city. We have designed our effort to support our homeless friends in such a way as to get in touch with their immediate needs and provide them a place of safety and belonging. We remain available for spiritual conversations, counseling, and extend an open invitation to participate in any aspect of our church community but do not impose our beliefs. By taking this approach, we seek to be a part of the solution to end homeless and take on a role and responsibility not currently being offered by other agencies that support our homeless neighbors.  This is one aspect of faith-based social justice that our church has practiced for more than 7 years.

This aspect of the church’s peace and social justice, currently provides 200+ showers each month for our homeless neighbors. When a person visits us for a shower we provide them with a clean towel, body wash, and shampoo. Our lobby is available Tuesday through Friday for those waiting for the shower or that just need a safe place to rest. In the lobby our service counter offers the opportunity to sign up for our services as well as information on services provided through our community partnerships.

Several months ago, our church administrator was approached by some of the 25+ homeless young adults that we serve on a regular basis. They asked if there was any way the church could assist them in obtaining their GEDs.  The church staff collaborated with one of our community partners (which partner, add link).  Through this partnership, we were able to start offering GED classes to our guests. Each Thursday one of our staff takes 4 people in their car to GED tutoring.

As we continue in our journey to be active participants in what God is already doing in our neighborhood, we both wait and are active in seeking His Leadership for us individually and collectively as a part of the body of Christ in our community.

Andrews University holds panel on social justice with Mark Finley

On Thursday, January 29, a panel discussion including Mark Finley, Nicholas Miller, and Sherine Brown-Fraser, was held in the lobby of the Howard Performing Arts Center at Andrews University. The panel answered questions centered on the topic: “The Role of Seventh-day Adventists in Social Justice.” Questions included: What social justice issues should the SDA church be or not be involved in? Are ethnically separate conferences a social justice issue? What social justice issues do you (directed at the panel) find pressing? Brown-Fraser, being the Chair of the Department of Public Health, Nutrition and Wellness, stressed food disparity. Miller, a professor of church history, noted that Adventists were once vocal on topics such as abolition and temperance, but lost their social gospel message and became silent on issues such as Civil Rights. Now, Miller mentioned, Adventists say little on race, torture, immigration, and sex trafficking. Finley, Assistant to the General Conference President with regard to global evangelism, pointed to creation as the basis for social justice. Finley pointed out organizations such as ADRA that do such works as digging wells. When a woman who walks three miles a day to get water sees a well gushing in her own village, “that’s social justice,” Finley said. Education seemed to be the preferred method of fixing social injustice, but the overall appeal of the panel to the Andrews University campus was that each person would find the issue that “gets their heart beating” and work towards justice.

By Łukasz Krzywon, AU APF student leader

Glendale City SDA Church becomes first APF certified Adventist Peace Church!

Glendale City Seventh-day Adventist Church has become the first church to complete all of the steps to become an APF certified "Adventist peace church." Todd Leonard, who is the congregation's senior pastor, was recently interviewed by Adventist Today about why Glendale City chose to join the APF network.  An accompanying news story highlights the church's community outreach and activism.

The values of peace and justice were not new to the Glendale church, so joining the APF network seemed like a natural step, Leonard told Adventist Today.  Even though members of the congregation have a range of political views, they are unified in their desire to serve their community.  "We took it to our church board and shared the mission of Adventist Peace Fellowship," Leonard said:

"One of the comments on the board was, 'This already seems to be the values of our congregation. This doesn’t seem to be a stretch or different from who we are.' So it was probably one of the easiest decisions we’ve ever made as a church.  In our congregation there are people all along the political spectrum about how we should address issues in American politics, but we’re united about this. In the context of what our church is doing, this is who we’ve been as a church—about healing brokenness, being inclusive where others exclude."

Over the past year, the Glendale congregation has co-founded two nonprofit agencies to focus on different areas of service. The Caesura Youth Orchestra will provide musical instruments and lessons for youth who could not otherwise afford to participate in extracurricular musical pursuits. The Glendale Communitas Initiative is a collaboration between public and private sector organizations to care for families at risk of becoming homeless. The goal is to reduce poverty in Glendale by 10 percent over the next five years.

Leonard explained to Adventist Today why the Glendale City church board sees joining the APF network as strengthening the church's work in the Glendale community.  His congregation “would love to have the collaboration and collegiality of networking with other churches who have the same mission and vision for their congregation. We can share ideas, share what’s working in our local context, find resources that would be beneficial for one another. There’s that connection where the sharing and the interaction can happen more effectively and much easier.”

Leonard says he hopes that the Adventist peace church movement will "catch fire" and "would be something that more and more Adventist churches would want to be a part of" as they see "our heritage of not only preaching about the kingdom to come but actively working in society to make life better for the world we’re in".

To learn more about the Glendale congregation, visit their website.  To learn how your congregation can join the peace church network, visit the APF website.

Peace and Justice are at the heart of Advent Hope's church life in New York City (by Jacqueline Murekatete)

(Jacqueline Murekatete, is an internationally recognized human rights lawyer, a Rwanda genocide survivor, and the Adventist Peace Fellowship coordinator at the Church of the Advent Hope in New York City, which is one of five Adventist congregations that have passed official motions to become certified peace churches.  She shares some of the recent and ongoing actions for peace and social justice that church members at Advent Hope are involved with.)

Based in the middle of New York City, Church of the Advent Hope (which has passed an official resolution to become a certified Adventist Peace Church) is uniquely positioned to make a positive impact in our local and global community. Year after year, our members have engaged in various social justice and peace initiatives with the aim of sharing the gospel and God’s love not just through words, but action.

Through our Meals on Heels ministry as well as our partnership with God's Love We Deliver, members of our church frequently cook and deliver nutritious meals to many of our homebound neighbors, which also often provides an opportunity to share God’s words of encouragement.

Our annual commemoration of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is an occasion to remember the millions of men and women who have lost their lives to war and genocide in recent times, and to discuss the dangers of racism, hate, state sanctioned discrimination and the type of intolerance which enables genocide to take place. It is also an opportunity to recommit ourselves to peaceful co-existence with all of our neighbors irrespective of their race, religion or ethnicity.

Through our annual holiday benefit concert, we have raised awareness and funds to address many local and global crises as they appeared, such as the Haiti earthquake, the heavy floods in the Philippines, and Hurricane Sandy in USA. This past December we raised more than $11,000 for an Adventist hospital struggling to stay open amidst the Ebola crisis in Liberia.

As part of World AIDS Day on December 1^st, and building on our annual participation in New York AIDS Walk, Church of the Advent Hope held an educational workshop where an Adventist physician and a social worker who work with those living with HIV/AIDS spoke about the complicated social and economic inequalities that often lead to the spread and inadequate treatment of this illness. They also discussed the need for church members to be less judgmental and show more of God’s love to those living with HIV/AIDS.

As we were confronted with the tragic deaths of Michael Brown in Missouri, Tamir Rice in Ohio, and the death of Eric Garner which took place in our own New York City backyard, Church of Advent Hope also stood up with those calling for racial justice and better police-community relations by holding a conversation about the role of the Adventist church in promoting racial, economic and social justice.

In the coming months, we plan to hold additional social justice and peace programs, including a program during the Adventist Peace Fellowship Sabbath on May 23^rd, as well as an event surrounding the United Nations International Day of Peace, which takes place annually on September 21^st.

Church of the Advent Hope is honored to be part of the Adventist Peace Fellowship network. We look forward to working with fellow Adventist Peace Churches as we strive to promote peace and justice for all and to answer Jesus’ call to love our neighbor as ourselves, not just through words but also through actions.

Walla Walla University focuses on racial justice for Adventist Peace Education Week (by Emily Muthersbaugh)

(The following article was written by Emily Muthersbaugh and is an original contribution to the APF blog) Walla Walla University’s fifth annual Peacemaking Weekend, which this year coincided with the APF-led first annual Adventist Peace Education Week, focused on racial justice and injustice in the light of recent events in Ferguson, New York, and throughout the country.

The weekend events, which took place January 16 and 17, were held just before the national holiday celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to honor King’s commitment to peaceful struggle for racial equality, elimination of poverty, nonviolence and social justice. Recent clashes between police and protestors in the United States highlight the need for ongoing work to realize Dr. King’s dream of a more just society.

Adventist Peace Education Week at Walla Walla included a Friday night candlelight vigil outside the University Church immediately following the vespers program. The vigil was organized by Walla Walla University’s Amnesty International Club. Nearly 50 students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered to honor lives lost in recent clashes, both police and civilians alike, by lighting candles. After a reading from Matthew 5:3-12 and a prayer, participants marched with candles around the perimeter of the campus, singing songs.

The candlelight vigil and peacemaking march ended at the Student Activities Center where over 50 students engaged in a debate on the incidents in Ferguson. Students were divided into three groups to represent either police, Michael Brown, or the peacemakers, and were given 15 minutes to prepare in their group for the debate. The debate was held in three rounds with three judges (two students and one professor) evaluating the presentation by each group. The group representing the police was deemed the winner, presenting the most compelling argument from the position of authority.

Saturday morning featured a panel discussion on the topic “Race and Peacemaking: Authority, Responsibility, and Justice.” Panel participants included Pastor Terrance Taylor, an Adventist pastor from a neighboring city who attended Walla Walla University and has experienced racial profiling and encounters with police officers; Chris Current, associate professor of social work and sociology at Walla Walla University whose research has studied minority and immigrant populations and work as an ally; and Henning Guldhammer, executive pastor of the Walla Walla University Church.

The panel was moderated by Terrie Aamodt, professor of history at Walla Walla University with a background in African American studies, and discussed the role of authority in peacemaking, the responsibility of all members of a community in promoting and achieving peace, and the definition and implementation justice in peacemaking as it relates to race, both historically and today.

The Walla Walla University Peacemaking Weekend Committee and the Office of Diversity are already beginning preparations for next year’s Adventist Peace Education Week, with a commitment to promoting peaceful discourse in the Walla Walla Valley.