Enter the Peace Pioneer Quest at Ben & Jerry’s!

” As a company that has been supporting peace initiatives for thirty years, Ben & Jerry’s wants to recognize the outstanding work that these Peace Pioneers do. If you or someone you know is working to create positive change, inspire others and further the cause of peace and justice, we want to know about it. Tell us, in 200 words or less, what you or your friend is doing to bring about peace.

To give them their “just desserts,” the 2 Grand Prize Winners will each receive:

• a $10,000 donation to the peace organization of their choice
• a trip for two to New York to be part of the launch of our Imagine Whirled Peace campaign

Just like efforts for peace, you’ve got to act now! Contest ends on May 9th!”

Sounds like a great contest and a fantastic place for all of you to showcase the work you’re doing to build a culture of peace. The application form can be found at http://www.benjerry.com/features/imagine/peace_pioneer/.

CONTEST ENDS FRIDAY, MAY 9 - sign up quick!

Peacebuilding initiative for youth in Burundi!

A plug for a friend’s organization working on a peacebuilding project in Burundi’s Riyugi Province. Many of you play team sports and so you might relate. After a few trips to the province, Heather has begun working with one of the soccer clubs there to secure uniforms, equipment, cleats, etc for their youth teams, who are currently playing barefoot and with sparse equipment. She hopes to create partnerships between some teams here and over there and help build up their programs! Youth usually love helping youth so if you’re interested and want more info, check out her website http://burundikids.wordpress.com/ or email office@uu-uno.org and I can put you in touch!

This is a very grassroots initiative that is going well and its first fundraiser will be in New York on May 17 in the Lower East Side for those of you of legal drinking age who want to find out more about the project. In the spirit of good sportsmanship, my sports league will be sponsoring the event to get the ball rolling!

FYI: Teleseminar - Monday, April 28

To those interested - a teleseminar directly related to our Spring Seminar for anyone to participate in. Please email office@uu-uno.org for phone-in instructions and access code. Thanks!

Building a Culture of Peace:
How Can UUs Lead the Way?

You are warmly invited to join in a series of informal discussions by teleconference featuring noted UU leaders and scholars, on the topic of how UUs can provide leadership in building a culture of peace. This presentation is sponsored by the UU Peacemaking Congregational Study/Action Core Team.

Seminar #2 – “Strategic Options for Building a Culture of Peace” – presentation by Sharon Welch

8 pm Eastern Time, Monday, April 28

Presenter: Sharon Welch, provost of Meadville Lombard Theological Seminar, and author of several books including After Empire: the Art and Ethos of Enduring Peace. Sharon is a leader in the UU Peacemaking Congregational Study/Action Issue Program. Her new book, Real Peace, Real Security will be published very soon.

Moderator: Judy Morgan, CSAI Core Team

Host: Mac Goekler, CSAI Core Team

Long awaited poetry from David Williams!

Without further ado…

A Homily by Rev. Dr. Jan Carlsson-Bull

Please find below the homily given by Rev. Dr. Jan Carlsson-Bull at the worship service on Saturday, April 5, 2008.

“Peace Work”
A Homily by Rev. Dr. Jan Carlsson-Bull
UU-UNO Intergenerational Seminar
New York, NY
April 5, 2008

It’s good to be here. It’s good to be here with you as we think, speak, plan, strategize, worship, sing, sleep a few hours or so, and hold silences, because how can we not be silenced by what we know still rages in our oh so fragile world. Violence brims, propelled by rhetoric that conscripts the language of faith and the psychology of fear in this slice of history in which you and I happen to be alive. How can we not be silenced by what we know rages in each of us when we turn away, too busy to notice, or when we close the ears of our hearts to the story of another and become complicit with a nuanced lack of reverence for one who stands before us, or when we heaven forbid gather in a circle of self-righteousness because how could we cool UUs not be right even though our affinity bends somewhat to the left?

Beautiful sermon about the Spring Seminar

Almost everyone at Spring Seminar must have seen a man walking around the seminar, crouching behind seated people, perching on the sides of the stage, and popping up in other areas with a giant camera lens, documenting our Spring Seminar with gorgeous photos. Unless you go to his church in Brooklyn, what you don’t know is that Rev. Tom Martinez went home and wrote a sermon on his seminar experience. Please click on the “Read More” link below to find his sermon for all to enjoy.

Facebook!

The UU-UNO has its own facebook group and a couple of others have created one as well as a follow-up to the Spring Seminar. Please check them out at:

UU-UNO - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2210980722

Youth for Peace (started by Kelly Pryde and Christy Samuels): http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24248153112

If anybody else has created groups on facebook, post them so people can join!

Suggested Resources for Building a Culture of Peace

Please find below a list of suggested resources from our Spring Seminar Committee! Feel free to add any other suggestions in the comments

Books

Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World…Samantha Power, 2008

The House at Sugar Beach … Helene Cooper, September 2008 … Liberian who fled to US with her family during 1978 coup

Kofi Annan: A Man of Peace in a World of War … Stanley Meisler, 2006

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier … Ishmael Beah, 2007

Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life … Thich Nhat Hanh, 1992

Practicing Peace in Times of War … Pema Chodron, 2007

The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger … Jonathan Schell, 2007

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time … Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, 2006 … working for peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan with books, not bombs

Films

Sometimes in April … HBO, 2006 … Rwandan brothers divided during the 100 days of Rwandan genocide in 1994 … “the will to survive, the strength to endure, the courage to face the truth”

Child Warriors … THE HISTORY CHANNEL, 2007 … “spans the globe to understand the heartrending, inhumane practice and to uncover individual stories of hope and triumph” including Ishmael Beah’s

Why We Fight … Eugene Jarecki, 2005 … critique of American militarism

The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo … HBO, 2007 … Lisa F. Jackson’s award-winning “documentary of the highest calling” re: sexual violence as a weapon of war

UN Organizations

Children and Armed Conflict … www.un.org/children/conflict/english/index.html

Stop Rape Now … www.unicef.org/protection/index_38552.html

UN Peacebuilding Commission … www.un.org/peace/peacebuilding

Voices of Youth … www.unicef.org/voy

Will You Listen? … Young voices from conflict zones … www.unicef.org/publications/index_41267.html

Youth at the UN … Youth Flash, email newsletter … www.un.org/youth

Canada and US

Canadian Voice of Women for Peace … www.home.ca.inter.net/~vow

4^th World Youth Conference … a celebration of youth-led development … www.wyc2008.qc.ca

Peaceful Schools International … Canadian network supports schools committed to a culture of peace … www.peacefulschoolsinternational.org

United for Peace and Justice … 1400+ US groups protest Iraq War and oppose government policy … www.unitedforpeace.org

US Institute for Peace … National Peace Essay Contest … www.usip.org

Non-governmental Organizations and Civil Society

The Earth Charter … www.earthcharter.org

The Global Peace Initiative of Women … providing global leadership for women … www.gpiw.org

Global Youth Action Network … www.youthlink.org

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation … worldwide efforts to abolish nuclear weapons and empower new generation of peace leaders … www.wagingpeace.org

Peace Boat … building a culture of peace around the world … www.peaceboat.org

Peace Education Center … Teachers College, Columbia University … www.tc.edu/PeaceEd

Peace Jam Foundation … Nobel Peace Laureates work with youth to create positive change … www.peacejam.org

Peace Women … WILPF project monitors and works toward rapid and full implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 … www.peacewomen.org

Pennies for Peace … encouraging children to be active in the creation of global peace … started by Amira Mortenson, Greg’s daughter … www.penniesforpeace.org

The United Network of Young Peacebuilders … global network of youth working mostly in conflict and post-conflict regions … www.unoy.org

The Waves of Change … empowering youth and women to promote ocean sustainability … www.thewavesofchange.org

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom … www.wilpf.org

Jane Addams Peace Association … educational affiliate of WILPF … 6^th Floor, 777 UN Plaza … www.janeaddamspeace.org

Day 3 Recap!

After a beautiful service in the Tillman Chapel, everyone reconvened to listen to a few more speakers and listen to some moving poetry by David Williams and a sing-a-long by Jean Rohe. Video will be posted soon and if you would like contact information for David Williams, please email office@uu-uno.org. 

Check out pictures from the last day of the Seminar! More to be added later.

http://picasaweb.google.com/uuunoffice/SpringSeminar2008Day3

1st Day Recap

A great first day, everybody! You succesfully navigated registration and enjoyed a beautiful ingathering sermon by Janice Marie Johnson and an introduction to the seminar’s activities by co-chairs Jennifer Channin and Kasey Neiss. Bruce Knotts and Marilyn Mehr spoke briefly on the work of the UU-UNO and Zoya Craig introduced ideas for follow-up activities you can participate in when you all go back home. The first round of touch groups led to fruitful discussions on perspectives on peace.

 A small group attended a luncheon with Amb. Prudence Bushnell in the Delegates’ Dining Hall while others enjoyed lunch in the neighborhood and browsed the UN bookstore. An outstanding panel on sustainable peacebuilding followed lunch with Bushnell, Simone Monasebian, and Sam Cook. A video of the panel will be uploaded shortly.

We moved from the UN to the Community Church where everyone watched “Sometimes in April”, a moving film on the Rwandan genocide. Before breaking into Touch Groups to reflect on the film, everybody enjoyed a pizza dinner and continued to meet other participants in the Seminar. Touch Groups allowed for discussion of the film as well as the day’s earlier panel and the feelings and thoughts they evoked. At the end of the night, the Youth headed back to All Souls for an ice cream party.

 View pictures of today’s events in our Picasa album at http://picasaweb.google.com/uuunoffice/SpringSeminar20081stDay. If you know the names of anyone in the pictures, please make comments so they can be identified! If you have pictures you’d like to contribute, please email them to office@uu-uno.org and they will be included in our albums for everyone to see.

 What did you think of the first day? Comments? Suggestions? Insights? Share your views here!