On Earth Peace will be holding a four-week webinar series on how to raise race-conscious kids. Topics will include how parents and teachers can teach kids about race, the role of racial scripts, and the future of racial justice. The book Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children In A Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey will be used to guide the discussions, however, reading the book is not required. We will be meeting every Thursday at 8 PM ET starting on July 23rd through August 13th.

If you are interested in attending, please click here to complete the registration form.

Albert works as our Development Support Intern at OEP! “I help build and redesign the OEP donation page website. I also help build the Impact Leaders Project, which displays any leader who has impacted OEP in the past (interns, anyone else).” Albert has been spending most of his time at OEP creating a new donation page that should be launching soon! “Right now, we are getting closer to the soft launch for the OEP Leaders Impact and Donation page, so I am really excited to see how it all holds up. It should be an exciting thing to see.” With his work in the backend of OEP, Albert finds joy in using the skills he has been honing for years. “The best part about working with OEP is being able to use some of the skills I have and some of the skills I have learned and to be able to apply those skills into day to day life. Like for example, using my communication skills to talk to people, or my computer science skills to create pictures for Facebook.” Albert’s work with OEP is intensive and exciting for him, making his projects a place of pride in his life. “Outside of OEP, I just take breaks and do some exercise, probably look at my school website and look around to see what I can read about; anything interesting like news or academics. I guess you could say playing video games is a hobby of mine too.” 

With all the support behind-the-scenes that Albert provides to OEP, we can without a doubt say that Albert has made OEP a better and stronger community through his dedication and support. Thank you Albert for keeping OEP running proud and strong! 

Song and Story Fest has been moved online this year! Though we won't have our usual campfires and sing-a-longs in person, webinars and ZOOM gatherings will span between July 3rd and 10th to give everyone the sense of community they have been missing. To kick off everything we’ll gather, do a little visiting, tell some jokes, explore and embody a scripture for the evening, and then let some of our leaders offer songs and stories in an intergenerational worship program. The whole evening will last about 90 minutes on July 3rd, from 8:00 PM Eastern time until about 9:30.

The following days will have workshops/sharing/discussion offerings! On Sunday, rewriting the history of the Church of the Brethren, and on Monday, white people for racial justice.  In addition, on Thursday we will have sharing circles for women and men (separate ZOOM links).

Contact Ken Kline Smeltzer at [email protected] to identify yourself and obtain the ZOOM links for these events.

Scheduled Events for 2020 Song & Story Fest

Friday, July 3, 8:00 PM Eastern time: “Song & Story Fest – Built for Such a Time as This” 

• Discussions of Scripture: Amos 5:22-24 and Esther 4:12-14
• Leaders: Mike Stern, Jim Lehman, Bill Jolliff

Sunday, July 5, Workshop, 8:00 PM  Eastern time: "A People's History of the Church of the Brethren: an exercise in collective memory and narrative construction.”

• Together we will "re-member" the social/cultural history of our church to "dis-cover" how we became complicit in our own acculturation and demise.”
• Debbie Eisenbise

Monday, July 6, Workshop, 8:00 PM  Eastern time: “If black lives matter to white people, what should white people be doing?”

• Jonathan Hunter and Bonnie Kline Smeltzer will convene this sharing and discussion time, focusing on racial inequality, justice, and what we can do about it. 

Tuesday, July 7, 8:00PM Eastern Time: “Christmas in July – Another Way of Living?” 

• Discussions of Scripture: Mark 5:38-48
• Leaders: Jonathan Hunter, Rhonda and Greg Baker, Others?

Thursday, July 9, 8:00 PM Eastern Time: “Men’s Sharing Circle”, “Women’s Sharing Circle” – separate ZOOM links 

• Conveners: Jim Lehman, Ken Kline Smeltzer for Men; Carrie and Kathy Fry-Miller for Women

Friday, July 10, 8:00 PM Eastern Time: “Envisioning and Acting for Social Change” 

• Discussions of Scripture: Joel 2:28-29, and Jeremiah 29:11-14
• Leaders: Jim Lehman, Peg Lehman, Louise Brodie, Debbie Eisenbise, more…

Written by our Racial Justice Organizing Interns, Tamera Shaw and Grace Cook-Huffman

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill. Since then, parts of the United States and other places in the world have erupted in protests. While police brutality, systemic racism and inequity are constantly being challenged, there seems to be a new wave of positive, forward-moving change.  More people in the United States are finally starting to listen and take action. The public is pushing governments to pass laws directly addressing police reform and the defunding of police departments. Subsequently, police officers are being held accountable and responsible for their abusive and bigoted actions. Leading with God’s love and empathy, our collective voices must sing together in a call for action. Now is the time to continue urgently demanding reform, justice, and equity in ourselves, our families, our communities, our churches and spiritual practices, our schools and our institutions. It is pertinent that we use our Beloved Communities to learn, grow, and act together. 

Movements for uplifting and bringing equity to our society are not uniquely a Black challenge. It is a challenge that every person must rise to in order to effectively create structural change. As we recognize and demand justice for Black lives that have been brutally taken, we must also recognize the countless number of people that are being killed with no media coverage.  This includes Latinx lives, Indigenous lives, and all other people of color that have fallen victim to this system. 

The Read Aloud Project was created by Priscilla Weddle and Marie Benner-Rhoades to provide homeschooling resources in peace and justice during the pandemic. June was Pride Month, so the project highlighted books about the LGBTQ community. The project has been extended through July. July’s theme is own voices. If you are interested in recording a video for the project, please email Priscilla at [email protected]. Here are the books that were read for the project in June:

This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman

Summary: In a wildly whimsical, validating, and exuberant reflection of the LGBT community, This Day in June welcomes readers to experience a pride celebration and share in a day when we are all united.
Reflective Question: What does Pride Month mean to you?