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Individuals, small groups,and congregations are invited to join the National Registry of Peace Churches. More...
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| Following Jesus in nonviolent struggle for justice and peace, we love our neighbors and enemies
as God loves us all, becoming a peace church to share in God’s work to save the world. |
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Drew Turner, ECAPC Southeast Regional Coordinator
Drew D. Turner
ECAPC, Southeast Regional Coordinator
December, 2007
With the oversight of ECAPC's national director, I am excited about assuming this new role to expand our peace and justice efforts in the Southeast. Although, as many will concur, the South can be considered the birthplace of the non-violence and peace movements in the U.S., it has taken a period of time to increase efforts in the Southeast. This "acceleration" stage is expected to take from 3 to 6 months.
During this time, I have initiated dialogue with several pastors, lay persons, and a local District Attorney, introducing them to the mission of ECAPC. I urged them all to visit the ECAPC website and to schedule a convenient time when we could meet for more discussion. Their questions about ECAPC ranged from that of wanting to know about its theological focus, political affiliation, and funding. The overall response to ECAPC has been very positive.
In November met with a small group of pastors in the Atlanta area to get input from them about ways that ECAPC could impact their ministry and surrounding communities. I encouraged them to consider making the peace and justice teaching of Jesus a part of their congregational life. A few of them have made the commitment to make peacemaking a ministry focus for their congregations in 2008.
Perhaps the most exciting meeting that took place was with a local District Attorney about a major issue in their community—domestic violence. As we talked, we both agreed that this is but one of the many issues of peace and justice confronting the local community, and we could work on them together. For example, in an effort to reduce there is the problem of weapons on the street. While there might be a number of ways to combat this problem, one of the ideas that came up during our discussion is that of considering a gun "buy-back" event in the Atlanta area. Residents of the community would be encouraged to turn over weapons with no questions asked in exchange for free vouchers for products or services that would be donated by various community partners. As the ECAPC partner and major sponsor, I would facilitate/coordinate church support for such an effort. In addition to our working together to solve a community problem, this would also increase ECAPC's visibility in the southeast.
With the onset of the New Year, there should be close to 27 new names of organizations and individuals added to the ECAPC National Registry. What a blessing! It's inspiring and encouraging to witness the growth of ECAPC and the peace and justice teaching of Christ in such a short time. There is still so much to be done: working with the new communications person to develop a variety of resources that can be shared with friends of ECAPC, e.g., a blog to spur continued dialogue and events that raise the consciousness of the church community to the presence and mission of ECAPC, and further develop a strategy for how ECAPC will grow in this region of the US.. This new year holds a great deal of promise.
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