Dr. Lucille (Sis) Levin,  Peace Education Program Consultant, Birmingham, AL

Lucille (Sis) Levin
Peace Education Programs Consultant
December 2007
 
It is my pleasure to be on board in this new capacity as a member of a small team of professionals and director to collaborate on the mission of pursuing peace with justice.
 
This fall, I have concentrated on working with. ECAPC congregations, whose focus has been that of sustaining international peace program in the midst of violent conditions in a specific area of the world.   We have established a program model for how churches can accomplish this goal. With our support, for example, the Church of the Reconciler (United Methodist) in Birmingham, AL is partnering with the Peacebuilders in Education in Bethlehem, Palestine. We have used power point presentations to illustrate the work that is being done through the Holy Land Trust in partnership with the work with the homeless children in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
 The domestic problems in Birmingham are deeply concerned with, but not limited to the violence present among the poor and homeless. The state is listed as the 6th most violent in the country. The chief of police for one area has approached us about doing a nonviolence workshop for his department. (We have done this successfully for other police departments as well).The mistreatment of low income African Americans  is a situation this initiative is committed to address before the City Council. This work, then involves our establishing a framework in which ECAPC can further its mission of collaborating with churches to promote its nonviolence programs locally and nationally, with special emphasis on the implications of systemic economic and racial injustice
 
Since an ECAPC congregation is also prepared and equipped to implement nonviolence leadership education and training programs within the congregation and their local and regional community, our goal is to create a culture of peace by facilitating/supporting ongoing interreligious dialogue. ECAPC's peace education program partners with other credentialed consultants that offer an array of peacemaking experience. In collaboration with our partners we are designing materials that will be presented during ECAPC's regional peace education conference workshops.
 
Although my work with this ECAPC initiative began in late October, a pastor in Birmingham has already begun incorporating the lessons of the Education for Peace workshops and training into his sermons for the congregation.   Sunday school teachers have been recently trained, and they are applying the basics of nonviolent peacemaking into their Bible lessons so that this newly ECAPC supporting congregation can provide a clear biblical and spiritual foundation for nonviolence leadership that works for peace and economic and racial justice.
 
In keeping with ECAPC's desire to support congregations by empowering and equipping themselves to contribute toward the expansion of their denomination's peace and justice ministries at every level, we are working with Samford University. It  is considering bringing together all of the church peace groups and fellowships n a collaborative institute of higher learning designed by Charlie McCarthy, John Carmody and myself. The universities of Montevallo and Jacksonville State have agreed, in principle, to be partner participants via satellite. 
 
Each of these approaches will be used as ECAPC models for peace education across the nation.  Our next step is to further develop a comprehensive strategy for effectively duplicating this kind of peace education resourcing, program development and training nationwide. We are off to a great beginning, and we anticipate great success.