Circle of Peacemakers Festival

If we are anything as a network at Circle of Hope, we are doers of what Jesus commands of us. How do we do these commandments, though? And, how we can be proactive peacemakers at the micro and macro levels? We've been asking questions like these as the newly formed Circle of Peacemakers team, a group that came out of the now-defunct Shalom House. We tried to answer some of these questions at our first annual Circle of Peacemakers Festival that happened on Friday, September 19th.

In preparation for the festival, Circle of Peacemakers asked questions of those who were connected to us via social media. Then, while we ate soup and desserts, we split into groups to discuss the church’s response to issues of peacemaking. One of those questions was, “A well-known journalist, James Foley, was beheaded by ISIS in Iraq. What do you think is the right response from the government? From the church?” One respondent succinctly and poignantly responded that the government should apologize for proliferating the war that Foley was covering and that the Church ought to pray and find ways to be at risk with people like him.

The task of peacemaking is humbling and sobering. It was necessary to have the five music acts from around our network to provide inspiration and soul healing as we thought through the many burdens of the world in our festival. The music acts featured everything from soulful harmonies to singer-songwriter styles and a hip hop performance by Jared Selby who got the whole crowd to be his “producer” by asking them to provide the beat by clapping rhythmically and singing backing vocals for him.

Finally, Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach, director of the Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington told us about the often thankless job of working to influence lawmakers inside the beltway to make policies reflect a holistic Christian worldview. She reminded us that we need Sabbaths to continue working toward bringing the Kingdom to earth and not be too disappointed when it seems that our efforts are not effective enough. To quote Dr. King, as the Church we are neither masters nor servants of the State but rather the conscience of it and we must act accordingly. 

Our next quarterly meeting is Friday December 5 at 1125 S Broad Street. Bring yourself and your enthusiasm. See you there!

(By the way, Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, and read our blog at www.circleofpeacemakers.com).

Reporting: Jerome Stafford

Around Our Network / September 17, 2014

What’s been happening among us? September 17, 2014

A few things happening in our community over the past week. Interested in anything you see here? Come join us for a public meeting or check out a cell, groups of ten that meet throughout the week.

Rod taught us about forgiveness and containment at the monthly training.
It was the best-attended training of the year. Our people take the main job of the Christian, learning to forgive, seriously. 

The Teen Mission Team made a deal with Molly McCormick.
She is a staff person that the team has been raising money to hire for quite some time. They are excited!

Vanessa and the Church Planting Core Team led us in an Imaginarium considering our mission to children.
Our Leadership Team also met as a whole for a time of mutual encouragement and reporting, as well as the Coordinators, and Capacity, Compassion, and Church Planting Core Teams.

The Marlton & Crescent Rental Team lined up their first full time renter!
An immigration attorney is ready to move into one of the vacant offices and is down with our Jesus centered mission. Keep praying for more connections (artist studio spaces are available!).

The pastors’ answered the question “Aren’t all disciplines spiritual disciplines?” in our weekly videocast. Link here. Can you help share it?

Our blogs were great places for thinking and encouragement
How can we follow Jesus at work? Rod answers. Joshua gave us Four Things for Christians to Never Forget on September 11 on his re-booted blog. Jonny got us thinking about the Development without Displacement team and Adrian Peterson and being transformed.

We hosted a benefit concert for Franny Lou’s Porch
As Blew gathers support for a new direct trade, organic coffee house five blocks from our FN site, we were there to celebrate and help the effort along. She raised over $500 at the door alone!

Around Our Network / September 10, 2014

Some things that happened this past week around our network! If you're interested in anything you see here, contact us via our website or come meet us in person at a public meeting or at one of our numerous cells around town.

• The pastors started leading us to consider our five year goals. Where are we going? Who will we become? cohdailyprayer2014.wordpress.com.
• The pastors answered the question “Can I make a faith comeback?” in our weekly videocast (Link here) Can you help share it?
• Frankford and Norris hosted the new works of Kristen Moore at their First Friday.
• A crew of people at MC freshened up the whole building in preparation for the next season and the next person.
• For the Love of Childs Compassion Team showed up with Newbold Neighborhood Association to clean up the playground at GW Childs elementary just in time for the school year to begin.
• Our blogs were great places for thinking and encouragement: Rod wrote about feeling better about our ruined places and Jonny on going deep with God and Ray Rice and consumerism.

Around Our Network / September 3, 2014

What’s been happening among us? September 3, 2014

We started praying in relation to our conviction: “Generating justice and hope in our neighborhood must be at the heart of us.”cohdailyprayer2014.wordpress.com.

A talented group from Broad & Dauphin led us in a variety show at BW.

Our community had numerous opportunities for Labor Day fun including a BBQ at the Frankford Ave. garden, BW’s Family Potluck, and drumming while giving out schools supplies with The Simple Way.

We deepened connections with caregivers and little ones at our weekly Baby & Toddler Playgroups.

Lauren got FN cells to get school supplies together for a friend who teaches kindergarten at H.A. Brown Elementary in the neighborhood.

The pastors’ answered the question “What’s the point of prayer?” in our weekly videocast
Link here. Would you help share it?

Circle of Peacemakers kept us engaged and learning about the plight of the Palestinians at the screening and discussion of With God on Our Side.

Our blogs were great places for thinking and encouragement

Rod wrote about our desire for ecstasy and Jonny on Jesus staying in community and how He might respond to the trouble in Ferguson, too.

We worshiped God, told the truth and made new friends at our PMs

At the Broad & Washington meetings -- Kirby and his fifth Sunday crew were getting us to go “wild.” The AMA brought up all sorts of good things we are still talking about. There were a whole bunch of people we met for the first time on Sunday.

At the Frankford & Norris meetings -- Our regular teams had the week off on the “5th Sunday” of the month, so Tiffany and Mariko brought together a talented group of women to lead us to worship and get into Psalm 139. Jess Mints finished our dialogue-heavy series exploring the Convictions That Drive Us and Sarah Holt got us praying for women (mostly Yazidi) being abducted and abused/sold by ISIS.

At the Marlton & Crescent meeting -- We celebrated last night in style! Our little BBQ was a great way to end the summer and launch into the next season (even when we had to run inside before the torrential rain)!

At the Broad & Dauphin meetings -- We had a brand new team up! Jonny, Bradford, Jenny, and Jen brought us as we discerned, shared, and confronted where God needs to move in us. We had a rich discussion about reading the Bible too.

Around Our Network / August 28, 2014

What’s been happening among us? August 28, 2014

 

We trained Network PM Leaders @ MC

The new PM Plan 2014 was unveiled. Even more important, the living “plan” known as the PM Teams got together to think and share. Every quarter this year we have become a more cohesive and loving team across the network.

Broad and Washington got a “spruce up”

Some creative and hardworking people got the BW space ready for newcomers.

Broad & Dauphin got cleaned and a facelift

It can be hard to have an HQ in a temporary rental, but we are committed to making it work. We had an organization day and new lighting to welcome all the new people showing up!

Artists finally started contacting MC after a lot of prayer

We were wondering when people would begin discover our artist studios. Maybe our interesting rental space idea will catch on! Everyone is encouraged to “like” the Facebook page and spread the word.

We started praying in relation to this conviction: 

“Jesus is best revealed incarnationally.” cohdailyprayer2014.wordpress.com.

The Children’s Team leaders from across the Network met!

They are doing their part to fulfill our Map. That’s the third meeting this year. They meet for development, encouragement, and community.

Our blogs were great places for thinking and encouragement

Did you see Rod’s post of Michiko’s revelation? Ben wrote all about puppies and togetherness. Jonny offered his reactions to Christian rock.

Another new video:

Someone Asked: "How can the body serve and be served by somebody who is sick?"

We worshiped God, told the truth and made new friends at our PMs

At the Broad & Washington meetings -- Togetherness. Boundaries. A new prayer corner in the middle of Circle Thrift stuff.

At the Frankford & Norris meetings -- Dawn Smelser & Jonny Szczesniak centered us on Psalm 46, praying about young black kids on bicycles and getting us to worship using a new song and open hands. We had a lively discussion around the Circle of Hope conviction “We must be doers of the Word.”

At the Marlton & Crescent meeting -- It was Monopoly money and the economics of God’s Kingdom in focus. Scott Sorrentino helped us invest in each other by “putting money” on the fertile soil we see in other people. Nate and the team helped us explore God’s abundance as we let go of our shame and received God’s peace. Rob Lairmore, Britani Nestel, Adam Nicely, and Donna Schmidt formed a panel that talked about sharing and spending and how to keep Jesus at the center. They talked about debt, sharing money with the church, radical trust, and having a plan. We were convinced that there’s more than enough to go around and to give out of the place of plenty. They were inspiring!

At the Broad & Dauphin meetings -- Movement. God is moving among us. We wondered if we could cause him to move through prayer too. We agreed we could and we might have through our discipline and prayer. We had a fun time “moving” with blown straws too.

Around Our Network / August 20, 2014

What’s been happening among us? August 20, 2014

Our PMs were times of worship, inclusion, and love.

At Broad & Washington -- It was a wonderful new night beginning our new season focused on “togetherness.” Many people said that it seemed like the Holy Spirit was moving many of us -- maybe it reached a peak with the shouts of “the Lord is my light and my salvation!” There were puppies here and there too. After the 7pm, quite a few men joined together for their BW men’s PM.

At Frankford & Norris -- Vanessa & Greg’s team used Psalm 42 to set the tone for the evening - including a brand new song! We considered our thirst for renewal, righteousness, and justice - and turned to Jesus at communion stations in response. Considering one of our Convictions That Drive US, Joshua got a lively discussion through We are meant to go deep with God. We prayed with our hands up about Michael Brown and racialized violence against black men.

At Marlton & Crescent -- The PM was engaging and expansive. New friends connected and the folks who were there made the meeting meaningful. We journeyed together as we worshiped and pondered the plight of migrant children and people who are being trafficked (specifically in the sex trade). Kat Bursky drew on her wealth of education and experience to give us the facts about sex trafficking in NJ and we all talked together about how to get Jesus into the mix. Rob Lairmore was particularly brilliant as he helped us pray for wholeness as we sang “Make Us Whole.”

At Broad & Dauphin -- The Body of Christ: diverse across the world and across time. We concluded our season being with the transnational body. Sarah led us as we observed a variety of liquids mixed together to create a beautiful harmon. For the first time ever, we had an Ask Me Anything panel discussion! Jonny, Tricia, and Sara were up. We are gearing up for something new, and I think our new folks really felt loved and included. 

The pastors kept experimenting with the videocast, this time: “Does God have a perfect match for me?”

Episode 6 is out! We’re trying to answer the questions that are out there. How are we doing? Do you have a question that you’d like us to answer? This week’s question is: “Does God have a perfect match for me?” See what you think, add to the conversation. Find it on our YouTube channel, here.

We met to imagine peace-making.

The topic of the Imaginarium this week was the “Ironic ‘Coercion of Being a Peace Church.” Strong stances about peace can seem coercive. What do we do? We went on to hone our peacemaking skills on the sizzling topics of the day: Ferguson, Gaza, Shalom House’s closing, and Iraq. We came away with practical ideas of what to do in Iraq and new thoughts and relationships.  

We used our "rolling Council" to approve a building purchase to expand Circle Thrift

Circle Thrift had a surprising opportunity to purchase a small building right next to their building on Frankford Ave. The owners wanted quick work and there was competition for the parcel. Martha Grace rushed us through the process and succeeded in getting the deal. We are in the “due diligence” period now before the process is officially concluded. We are weighing loan possibilities between the Brethren in Christ Foundation and Everence. This decision lept through our process: idea--team--Core Team/pastors--Leadership Team/Council. But we’re all catching up and agreed that the building will bring in even more money and opportunity to our already successful enterprise.

A new compassion team formed, the Development Without Displacement team

On the heels of the success of Take Back Vacant Land is a new interfaith and inter-organizational coalition that is forming around the complicated question of gentrification. Can development happen without displacing people? Or are we doomed to develop our neighborhoods with appropriate amenities and force long-term residents out? The Development Without Displacement team plans to advocate for positive legislation that allows for honest development.

We continued to journey with Robert Mulholland

The newest "voice" at Circle of Hope Daily Prayer is working with Mulholland’s book Invitation to a Journey. You can join in at cohdailyprayer2014.wordpress.com. On our blog celebrating the transhistorical body, we celebrated Nicholas Black Elk.

Joe Hunter is a recent addition to the Church Planting Core Team

Jeremy Avellino’s Cell is multiplying

We will have the Jeremy/Lauren Snow Cell and the Kent Ellingson/Mike Master Cell!

Our blogs were great places of sharing and thinking...

Rod wrote about the power of peacemaking; favorite line: “I think we can risk walking in love with people whether we agree with them or even understand them.” Jonny followed up on the Theology of Influence, the U.S.’s bombing of Iraq, and how deeply he was affected by Robin Williams’ death.

Around Our Network / August 13, 2014

 

What’s been happening among us? August 13, 2014

WIND took over our Network as we asked “Why PMs?”

At Broad & Washington -- Candace led us through stories of hope! Quadruplets in war-torn Gaza was a highlight. Forrest and Kirby led us through a set that brought our Audio Art records to life! Jonny offered his take on the Wind Day topic: public meetings--their purpose is celebration, evangelism, exhortation, encouragement, and maybe most of all, transcendence.

At Frankford & Norris -- Julius & Dan got us to consider the dangerous journey many people-- especially minors--take across the US Southern border into el Norte in both a journey around the space during worship and a prayer for their safety, as well as sane & humane immigration reform. We had the treat of Nate Hulfish with us to inspire us around how the public meetings help us rely on prayer, engage us in God’s reconciliation project, and give Holy Spirit opportunity to grow us in fruitful ways. Listen to FN’s public meeting here.

At Marlton & Crescent -- Our team of art directors connected us to the Living Water as they helped us explore reconciliation with God (and the gifts we receive when our spiritual waters seem murky), reconciliation with each other (and Detroit’s public water shutoffs and its effect on the poor), and reconciliation with the environment (and Toledo’s toxic water problem, not to mention fracking in our own backyard). We were led in communion as we connected to the River of Life. Joshua got us to consider how Jesus touches us at the Public Meetings, making a well of living water that others are looking for.

At Broad & Dauphin -- Ubuntu was the spirit of the evening. We are still wearing our gifts. The discussion was lively, as “wind day” encouraged us to look at the basics of why we have PMs. Even though our format was a bit different, and Rod is not there too much, the newcomers who were with us fit in pretty well. Listen to BD’s public meeting here.

Want to get in on the metaphor and where it might take you? Check out “Wind” on The Way of Jesus website.

The pastors kept experimenting with the videocast, this time: Someone Asked: "Why are we so Jesus-y?”

Episode #5 is out! We’re trying to answer the questions that are out there. How are we doing? Do you have a question that you’d like us to answer? This week’s question is: “Why are we so Jesus-y?” See what you think, add to the conversation. Find it on our YouTube channel, here.

We considered the theology of influence: are you worthy of influence?

In a direct response to our map, we hosted the third Doing Theology time. This time BW was filled with people discussing New Thought and how we might influence someone antagonistic toward Christian mission. Key phrases people were pondering: "be all things to all people", "people are experiencing a lot of isolation", "we already have places (like the BGX, recovery groups and Game Night) where unconnected people gather" -- if you have a contact deficit, try Philly Jesus in the Metro.


The cell leaders and friends got trained on testing the age of their cells.

Is your cell too old? Jonny led us to answer this question, in what ended up being a fruitful and practical time for teaching. Joshua offered a book review of Confessions of a Beginning Theologian by Elaine Fraser.

We were invited into a journey with Robert Mulholland.

The newest "voice" at Circle of Hope Daily Prayer is working with Mulholland’s book Invitation to a Journey. You can join in at cohdailyprayer2014.wordpress.com. On our blog celebrating the Transhistorical body, we celebrated Clare of Assisi.

Our blogs were great places of sharing and thinking...

Rod elaborated on PDA as publish worship. Jonny wrote about being the church, how technology manages to connect without community, and isolate without solitude, and also how Wes Anderson has mastered the power of aesthetic. Ben offered his thoughts on his Facebookless summer.