Resources for Living in Power and Love
These resources are curated to support the Church of the Brethren’s Inter-Agency Forum (IAF) statement, “A Spirit of Power and Love,” and intended to help the church live into prayerful attentiveness, practical preparation, and action.
Deportation Defense Response (DDR) Toolkit
The Deportation Defense Response (DDR) Team was initiated by four Church of the Brethren Districts (Atlantic Northeast, Atlantic Southeast, Virlina, and Pacific Southwest), working in partnership with On Earth Peace and the Church of the Brethren Office of Intercultural Ministries. The work of the DDR Team is to exhort the church to care for our siblings and neighbors under threat of immigration-related detention and deportation. We exist to serve congregations in all Church of the Brethren districts, and we invite you to join our efforts to learn, support, and advocate for immigrants! We have crafted a Toolkit of Resources for Individuals and Congregations.
Prayer Gatherings for Immigrant Justice and Pastoral Gatherings in Haitian Creole and Spanish
Regular gatherings take place to encourage ministry, in English, Spanish, and Creole. Contact the Church of the Brethren Deportation Defense Response Team at [email protected] (English) or [email protected] (Spanish, Creole) for more information.
DDR Legal and Mutual Aid Fund
A project of On Earth Peace in partnership with the Church of the Brethren Deportation Defense Response Steering Committee to raise and distribute funds for immigrants in Church of the Brethren congregations in need of assistance. Intended uses of the fund are to facilitate mutual aid to cover personal and legal expenses related to costs incurred for immigration, asylum, and related application fees (“papers”), immigration-related travel, airline fees, family support when a deportation has occurred, and more. Legal Fund donations sent to On Earth Peace or the Atlantic Southeast District Church of the Brethren are designated funds and do not contribute to those organizations’ annual budget needs.
CoB DDR Rapid Response Networking
Brethren members and congregations who are actively leading and engaged in efforts to keep their neighbors safe and provide mutual aid. These members are involved in various types of training, preparation, and organizing to respond to immigration enforcement locally. Contact [email protected] for more information.
Faith in Motion Series
On Earth Peace’s new Faith in Motion Blog Series is where we bring you stories of action taken by our Christian brothers and sisters as part of their discipleship commitment in our times. We hope these stories will inspire our On Earth Peace community and the larger Church of the Brethren denomination to live their faith in public ways that respond to the needs of the world.
Central Education Race Team with Jennie Waering and Eric Anspaugh
Faith-Motivated Support of Immigrants with Pastor Julie Wheeler of Pomona Fellowship and Phil Hofer of La Verne Church of the Brethren
Christian Nationalism with Daniel W. Ulrich, a professor of New Testament Studies at the Bethany Theological Seminary and at Earlham School of Religion
Church Workers' Assistance Plan
Funds for immigrants in need of assistance who are serving as a pastor or employee of a Church of the Brethren congregation, district or camp. Intended uses of the fund are to facilitate mutual aid to cover personal and legal expenses related to costs incurred for immigration, asylum, and related application fees (“papers”), immigration-related travel, airline fees, family support when a deportation has occurred, and more. For further information on this initiative, visit Church Workers' Assistance Plan.
Build your community capacity to respond: Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence (HOPE-PV)
Through On Earth Peace, connect with a national network of trainers and resource people who can help your congregation and community build capacity to respond to threats and realities of political violence with the skills of nonviolence, nonviolent action, strategic communications, and more. Learn how to make political violence more costly for those who threaten it by building community connection and power. Contact OEP at [email protected].
Signs of the Times Faith Formation Series
On Earth Peace's monthly/periodic events focused on faith formation for followers of Jesus in times of authoritarian threat and violence. How can we be spiritually ready and vital? What might we need to hear or do? How can we prepare ourselves to resist or become resilient? You are invited to join these “movement church” sessions, which will include music, teaching, Bible study, conversation, small group interaction, or other forms of engagement or spiritual disciplines. Sessions are 75 minutes in length. Each session features one primary leader who has been working on this issue/thinking about this topic, who is invited to share. Contact [email protected] for more information.
Agape Magazine from On Earth Peace
Agape: A Peacemaking Guide for Kids is a magazine crafted for children in our constituency age 8-12 who are eager to learn more about peacemaking. Please share these editions with any and all peacemakers in your community – no matter their age. With 2025 issues featuring Connecting With Neighbors, Agape Love in Action, Finding Hope, Gun Violence, and and upcoming issue (March 2026) on Grief.