See it in your time zone

What is the crisis where you are-- and what might being a nonviolent Christian lead you to do about it? Are you hungry to get involved in dynamic and creative ways in the concerns and conflicts of your community?  Join us to explore nonviolence as an active force based in agape love.  Kingian Nonviolence is a philosophy and methodology based in the work of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. and the leaders of the Civil Rights era. Curriculum co-author David Jehnsen (Living Peace CoB, Columbus OH) played an important role in codifying the lessons of the movement for future generations. Join us to consider the call of nonviolence on our lives as disciples of Jesus and its relevance to relationship-based neighborhood engagement.  

By the end of the session, participants will…

• Come to see the rich Kingian theological legacy as a resource for radical transformation, holistic peace, and relationship-based neighborhood engagement 
• Consider the will and skill needed to put faith into action as you work with "Jesus in the Neighborhood."
• Make connections between Kingian Nonviolence and your own faith journey and faithful actions.
• Share your passions and community concerns and learn possible next steps 

“Together, as the Church of the Brethren, we will passionately live and share the radical transformation and holistic peace of Jesus Christ through relationship-based neighborhood engagement. To move us forward, we will develop a culture of calling and equipping disciples who are innovative, adaptable, and fearless.” - Church of the Brethren “Compelling Vision” Statement

See it in your time zone

Join us for an overview of Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation at 2pm ET / 1pm CT / 11am PT on April 28, 2023. Kingian Nonviolence is an approach to conflict and community leadership that offers values and methods useful for anyone who wants to use conflict constructively in your personal life, in group settings, or in community issues and building a reconciled world. 

This 2 Hour webinar covers:

• The 4 pillars of Kingian Nonviolence
  
  
• Initial introduction to the 6 Principles and 6 Steps - the “Will” and the “Skill” of Kingian Nonviolence.
  
  
• The Social Dynamics of Kingian Nonviolence 

This training will be co-facilitated by Mary Quigley and Mark A. Westfall-Klym.

Mary Quigley is a Kingian Nonviolence Level 1 Facilitator who received her KNV Intro from Alive Community Outreach, her KNV Core Training from University of Rhode Island Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, and her KNV Level 1 Certification from On Earth Peace. Mary is a mom, teacher, writer and activist. She also has other interests including music, painting, theology, history and science. Her main ambitions in activism are oriented toward alleviating poverty and homelessness, ensuring food justice and animal welfare, pushing for immigration reform, and providing reparations for BIPOC. She works out of Kekionga/Fort Wayne, Indiana and loves to tell people about Kingian Nonviolence and how it can magnify the positive impact of any good social action.

Mark A. Westfall-Klym, MPA, is certified by the University of Rhode Island, Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies as a Level II Kingian Nonviolence Trainer. He has over 25 years’ experience in violence prevention programs, is on the board of the Culture of Peace Alliance and a co-founder of the Phoenix Peace Builders (PPB).  PPB helps communities heal from generations of trauma through positive change within and without. 

Meet others interested in Kingian Nonviolence, build Beloved Community, and connect with On Earth Peace's Kingian Nonviolence Learning Action Community!

Note: You will be added to our Peacebuilder email list by registering for this event, if you do not wish to be on the list please email [email protected]

Sierra Wildfire Song & Story Fest:

 After the Fire …

July 29 – August 4, 2023

Camp Peaceful Pines, Dardanelle, CA

A Family Camp featuring Brethren musicians and storytellers on the sunny slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains!

Twenty-six years ago, Camp Peaceful Pines hosted the first Song & Story Fest, and twelve years later a second one.  Now we return, to sing amid the ashes under the light of a billion stars and tell stories around the campfire once more.  Just five years ago, the surrounding area was devastated by a raging wildfire, but Camp Peaceful Pines survived due to some prudent thinning of dead trees and the hard work of smoke-jumpers that came to the rescue!  So, this Fest will be one of celebration, but also of contemplation, in a world littered with the scars of many fires.  And it seems like the fire has gone out of our country, our church, even ourselves in a number of ways.  We are left asking, So what’s next?  More fires?  Rest? Renewed hope?  Passion for change, or simply resignation to an ever-warming future?

Psalm 19:1-3 proclaims: “The heavens are telling the glory of God and the universe proclaims God’s handiwork.  Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares understanding…  their voice goes out through all the earth.”

So, What are we hearing?  How is God trying to move us in a time of conflagration, global warming, and the scorched earth policies being pursued by many?  Can you hear God calling you to the mountain to lift up song and spirit in grace and gladness amidst the ashes?  Answer the call! Join us and the moon and stars as we sing together in wonder and praise!

  Storytellers, Musicians, and Workshop Leaders:

Rhonda & Greg Baker    Hannah Button-Harrison  

Matt Guynn     Bill Jolliff      Erin & Cody Flory Robertson   

Kathy Guisewite    Jonathan Hunter  

Jim & Peg Lehman     Mike Stern       Barbara West 

Celebrate the Light of God with us at Peaceful Pines!

An Intergenerational Camp for All Ages -

Single persons and families of any size and shape will enjoy this combination of performance and participation in the mountains of California’s Sierra Nevada.

Mornings - intergenerational gatherings and worship will be followed by workshops for adults, children, and youth to help us:

• Reconnect with the God of all creation and with each other
• Tell the stories that make for peace and rekindle faith
• Sing the words of our hearts in gratitude for the unceasing power of life
• Root and ground ourselves in the Biblical story
• Deepen our connections with each other and the earth
• Celebrate peace, creation, and life
• Dance in circles, lines, and squares
• Learn the skills of peace-making and justice-seeking

Afternoons - will be free for family time, recreation, story swaps, and music-making.

Evenings - campfires, snacks, and concerts or a folk dance. 

Song & Story Fest #27

This is the twenty-seventh summer in a row for these Song and Story Fests and marks our return to the place where we started, Camp Peaceful Pines.  The Fest will begin on Saturday evening July 29 with supper at 5:30 pm, an opening campfire, and some music and dancing.  We’ll close the Fest on Friday morning, August 4, after breakfast, worship, and hugs.  This should give ample travel time both before and after the Fest from and to wherever.

On Earth Peace will again co-sponsor the Fest, providing leadership and administrative support.

Camp Peaceful Pines is located between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, 7 miles off CA Route 108 and west of Sonora Pass (near Dardanelle) in the beautiful Carson-Iceberg Wilderness Area.  The Camp features rustic cabin camping amidst the pines at 6200 feet above sea level.  There will be plenty of sun, hiking, clear skies, a river for fishing and wading.  Except for two close-in handicap accessible cabins, one with kitchen and shower for persons with limited mobility, cabins are not insulated or heated, so a warm sleeping bag or blankets are required, as folks at the first Fest found out (but we will be a month later and warmer this time)!  Hiking, Basketball, Volleyball, Four Square, Horse Shoes, Ping Pong and chipmunk feeding are the local sports.  Additional information about the camp can be found at www.camppeacefulpines.org .   

Cabins with 8-14 plywood bunks with mattresses are scattered in the woods.  You will have to share cabin space with other individuals or families so please indicate anyone that you want to share space with on your registration. There are a couple of cabins with bathrooms inside, so indicate your need for one of these. Please bring your own bedding and towels as the Camp doesn’t have these.  Hot showers are provided in common bathhouses.  RV or tent camping is available on site with some electrical hookups, but the electricity goes off every night at 11:00 pm.  Camping is also available at the Sand Flats Forest Service Campground just across the road ($11/night, no electricity either).  If you live nearby, please bring a lawn chair to sit in.

Please indicate if you want to eat Vegetarian. If you have special dietary, health, or housing needs, please note them on your reservation and we’ll do our best to meet them.

Let us know if you need to be placed in the accessible cabin or have a CPAP machine that you need to plug in to an auxiliary generator.

Campers will be expected to help serve food, wash dishes, and do other clean up.   

Bring a Table Grace to add to our repertoire.

Contact Clara McGilly at [email protected] if you have a craft project to bring and lead.

To receive updates, and to get the registration link when it’s ready, please email [email protected]  

Join On Earth Peace for an intensive, life-changing experience, preparing you to teach Kingian Nonviolence!

This material has helped me to understand the problems we are facing in the world as well as how to address these problems. The level 1 training specifically has empowered me to train thousands in nonviolence as well as made my direct action trainings more effective and meaningful. In addition to the broader social problems the Kingian material has helped me to better understand the dynamics within organizations and how they can help or hurt our causes. 

--Cristobal Van Breen, KNV Level 1 Teaching Team 

Beginning September 15, 2022, On Earth Peace is offering an online Level 1 Training of Trainers in Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation.

Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation is an approach to conflict and community leadership that offers principles and methods useful for anyone who wants to use conflict constructively in your personal life, in group settings, or in community issues and building a reconciled world.

Kingian Nonviolence workshops are transformational experiences that have helped thousands of people around the world understand the depth of the philosophy of nonviolence and learn to begin to bring the practices into their lives and their work. Whether you are an organizer working for social change, a teacher trying to change the culture of your school or simply an individual trying to deal with the conflicts in your personal life, each person will walk away from our workshops with new skills and a new perspective.

Kingian Nonviolence is rooted in the philosophy and leadership of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the leadership of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. The curriculum was codified by Rev. Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr., and David Jehnsen, both of whom served on Dr. King’s staff in the 1960s, and who sought to make lessons and tools from the Kingian legacy and the Civil Rights Movement period available for people to address today’s conflicts, concerns and conditions.

Logistics 

The classwork section of the course is 4 hours a week, from September 15-December 15, 2022.  The class meets on Thursdays from 11am-3pm Eastern time. Click here for the start time in your time zone.  Those who successfully complete the classwork section (September-December 2022) are eligible for Practice Teaching (January-April 2023), where participants work in small teams supported by a senior trainer, to co-facilitate a public 16-hour core workshop in Kingian Nonviolence. Click here for the start time in your time zone.

Coursework and practice teaching for this course take place completely online, using the Zoom platform. 

Cost 

Our group will handle the overall cost of the entire program collectively using an approach called Gift Economics. There will not be a specific price that you must pay: Organizers will clearly describe the financial outlay necessary to undergird the program. The group will work together to cover those costs as completely as possible through donations, raising funds in their own networks, etc.  Donations will remain anonymous with no specific pressure put on anyone to contribute a specific amount. On Earth Peace is learning this practice from our partners at East Point Peace Academy. You can learn about the approach on their website here: https://www.eastpointpeace.org/gifteconomics. 

Details are still firming up, but there will likely be a basic materials/resources fee of approximately US$100 for key program resources you will receive. If this is a hardship, accommodations can be made. If you are in a position to cover another participant’s materials fee, let us know. 

Course Completion

Participants who successfully complete both the classwork section and practice teaching, demonstrating competence in teaching Kingian Nonviolence material and facilitating a group will receive “Level One Certification in Kingian Nonviolence.”  Level One Certification recognizes your skill and authority to lead a two-day KNV core workshop or its equivalent.

Detailed course information: https://bit.ly/2022-KNVLevel1-CourseInfo

To apply for this course, fill out this application form: https://bit.ly/2022-KNVLevel1-Application

The organizing team will meet the week of August 29 to review applications in light of the work you're doing (community leadership) and the ethnic/cultural diversity of the cohort. 

Please email [email protected] with questions.

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