Okay, I admit, I’m using a bad pun there. There will be a March for Peace, but this whole month is full of peace events–it is a March for Peace.

If you check out our events listing online, you’ll see what I mean.

You’ll also see why I’m going to need a lot of help to make this event a success! So here’s your chance to get involved.  Here are some ways you can help make our March for Peace a success:

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You don’t need to wait for the printers and the post office to read the March 2007 ICPJ Newsletter, you can read it online today.

In this issue:

• Respond, Focus, Cultivate: Three results of the Listening Project
• Final totals for the 2006 CROP Hunger Walk
• Info on ICPJ events like Voices on the Wall, Better World Breakfasts, and more!

Effective peace and justice organizers know how to organize. Creating wonderful publicity, lobbying congressional representatives, and even public speaking are all skills that can help us share our passion for peace and justice with others. Do you want to be a more effective peace and justice organizer?

ICPJ wants to know what skills you want to learn to be more effective at organizing. Please click on the link below to take the survey. It takes less than 5 minutes. What a great investment in the peace movement!
Click here to take survey

Peacemaking is a deeply spiritual issue, and to help understand how different people of faith understand the connection between their spirituality and peacemaking, ICPJ is organizing, “Religious Perspectives on Peacemaking: An Interfaith Panel“

At this panel, speakers from four faith traditions will address two questions, with plenty of time afterward for discussion:

1. What does your faith tradition teach you about peacemaking?
2. How do you see the connection between your faith and peacemaking in regards to current events, particularly the war in Iraq?

This event is scheduled for Thursday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m., at the University of Michigan Hillel, Upper Lecture Hall, 1429 Hill St., Ann Arbor.

It’s free and open to the public, for more information call 734-663-1870, or email chuck@icpj.net.

We have four excellent speakers for this panel:

Dr. Soraya Orady is currently the president and co-founder of the Islamic Education and Resources Network “ILearn”. She has been giving numerous presentations and public speeches about Islam and Muslim culture to a wide range of audiences during the last 15 years. Dr. Orady also has a long record of volunteer work and has held important community development and outreach positions within the Muslim Community of Ann Arbor, Michigan. She holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She has held several faculty teaching, research, and consulting positions in four countries and is currently the owner and manager of an international business. Dr. Orady is married and has a son who is an engineer and a daughter who is a physician.

Rabbi Nathan Martin is Assistant Direcotor of the University of Michigan Hillel and a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, PA.

Jeanne Adwani describes herself as an ‘Elementalist.’ She explains, “I honor and extend my spiritual practice to the interactions, symbology,and stories of earth, fire, air and water. Nature based, steeped in the metaphysical arts/sciences, I stir that pot with my understanding of ’spirit.’ I observe the wonder of nature, the cosmos, Gods n’ goddesses, and the incredible ’stories’ that the elements weave in my life.”

Jim Balmer is the President of Dawn, Inc., which operates the Dawn Farm treatment and support facilities for individuals with drug and alcohol problems. Jim has has been in the human services field for 34 years and has consulted extensively in the United States, as well as Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines the former Soviet nation of Kazakhstan. Jim is a Roman Catholic convert and is a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Ann Arbor. He continues to maintain his involvement in the national Seamless Garment Movement, a coalition of Christians who oppose violence in all forms.

When: Thursday, March 22, 6:30 p.m.,

Where: Memorial Christian Church Social Hall, 730 Tappan, Ann Arbor.

As the War in Iraq enters its fourth year, it’s time for a wider discussion of the costs and consequences of the war in Iraq.

Patricia Foulkrod’s documentary The Ground Truth tells the stories of 10 soldiers as they meet recruiters, join the military, train, serve in Iraq, and return home. Foulkrod documents their experiences dispassionately, trying hard to actually hear those Americans most directly affected by warfare. The film details the psychological, physical, and social fallout of combat; it depicts soldiers’ new needs for support and their struggles to communicate about war with those who know it only through television.

Dinner begins at 6:30, movie at 7:00, followed by a community discussion.

Join Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice for a discussion of how we move forward to work more effectively for peace and justice. This participatory event will engage attendees in exploring where we are and where we go from here as individuals and as a movement. It will also include election of new members of the ICPJ Board of Directors.

When: Sunday, March 25. Potluck Dinner at 6:00, program begins at 6:30.

Where: First Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, 4001 Ann Arbor-Saline Road

Details: Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, 734-663-1870, info@icpj.net

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Yesterday the Ann Arbor News printed an editorial calling on the state to move forward in promoting diversity, and as part of their effort they cite a recent “Other Voices” piece written by ICPJ Program Coordinator Jason Crosby and Board Member Dr. Irvin Green. 

 Read the article, what do you think? Read the rest of this entry »

What: Benefit Concert for ICPJ featuring Charlie King and Karen Brandow

When: Saturday, March 31. Doors open at 7:30, Concert begins at 8:00

Where: The Ark, 316 South Main in downtown Ann Arbor

How Much: $15 regular admission, $50 benefactor.

Ad Sales: In addition to buying a ticket, we hope you will consider taking out an ad in the concert program booklet. Or consider asking your congregation, a friendly business or a friend to take out an ad. Ad prices are $45 for a business card-size ad, $60 for a 1⁄2-page ad (5”x 4”), and $75 for a full-page ad (5”x 8”). All ads will also be included in the program booklet for ICPJ’s March 25 annual meeting – what a deal: two ads for the price of one!

“Exactly what a folk music recording should be: songs that make you think, laugh, weep and dance.” Matt Watroba, Folk DJ WDET, Detroit MI.

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On Thursday, March 29th, at 7:30p.m. at Bethlehem UCC, 423 S. 4th Ave, Ann Arbor, the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice will be sponsoring a “Voices on the Wall.”

The purpose of the event is to facilitate more understanding of the wall that Israel is constructing in the West Bank and the needs and perspectives of those on either side of the wall.

The government of Israel asserts that the barrier is necessary to help prevent terrorist attacks, and that it has been successful at that.

Critics assert that the wall violates international law, and former President Jimmy Carter contends that it is one of the most significant political obstacles to any future peace.

At this event we have asked people, representing a wide variety of perspectives, to talk about their own experiences and perspectives on the wall. Our hope is that this dialogue will help us to create bridges of understanding which will allow us to come together across our differences and find the common ground which will allow us to work for a peace that will benefit all.

Join ICPJ’s Disarmament Working Group on Wednesday, February 14 for the next installment of our “Dinner and a Movie” series featuring Helen’s War.

Alarmed at the USA’s revitalization of its missile defense and nuclear weapons design programs, famous anti-nuclear campaigner Dr. Helen Caldicott sets out to “end the nuclear age in five years.” Taking place over the volatile twelve months in which the United States invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq, Helen’s War is the portrait of an optimist trying to end nuclear proliferation.

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Place: First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor, 120 S. State St.

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