In this Issue:

Become a Peace Practitioner
Peace Training: Wage Peace - Peace Practitioner Event
Maya Angelou: Tickets For Sale for Voices of Peace
NEW from H4PJ: Liberating Word
“The Real Antichrist” Audiobook Available for Download
Inside the H4PJ Blog: Today begins A Season of Nonviolence
H4PJ Online Action Center: Make a Difference Today!

Peace Practitioners

One of the programs that we hope will be a hallmark of Hope for Peace & Justice is the Peace Practitioners program. Our goal is to recruit, train and support a Peace Practitioner for every church, synagogue and mosque. This person will have a passion for peace and will work to mobilize her/his own community to create a more peaceful world. They will be the resident peacemaker.

Frankly, this program has taken much longer to launch than seems reasonable. We worked on developing our own curriculum and have some material of which we can be proud, thanks largely to Rev. Shelley Hamilton. However, in this process, we realized two things. First, we lack the resources to be experts in all the various aspects of peacemaking: conflict resolution, advocacy, internal peace, peace education, reconciliation, etc. The other insight we had is that “one size fits some.” Peace Practitioners come with a variety of gifts, experiences, passions and education. We could never hope to customize a single program to certify a person according to a specific criterion called “Peace Practitioner.”

So, after a couple of false starts, we decided that the world didn’t need us to decide what kind of person should be practicing peacemaking. Our job is to utilize the expertise of those who have long been about the task of training and education. We will bring people together to be taught by experts in various fields, and then we will seek to sustain those people with information, training and support. Some of this information will be original from H4PJ, but much of it will be shared from the multitude of other organizations doing this work.

The unique focus of our program is identifying and empowering progressive people of faith to see themselves as Peace Practitioners. Hopefully, in some cases, these individuals will be trained to do conflict resolution. In other situations they will be activists mobilizing the community to a more prophetic peacemaking ministry. Some will be teachers, small group leaders or facilitators. A few actually will do the therapeutic work of helping people find inner peace. In other words, we will not determine how a person fulfills their role as a Peace Practitioner. Our job will be to empower and support an “army of peacemakers” with a variety of gifts.

Our first training is coming soon. In conjunction with the March 1 “Voices of Peace” event with keynote speaker Dr. Maya Angelou, we have recruited an amazing lineup of experts who will lead a weekend-long training called “Wage Peace.” MORE information on Wage Peace!

If you know others whose passion is to help the world be a more peaceful place, please forward this email and encourage them to attend. At the very least, I covet your prayers as we seek partners in making peace.

Won’t you become a Peace Practitioner?

Most everyone is for peace, but few know what to do about it, how to create it or how to overcome conflict in their own lives. This program not only will give you insights on why we seem to turn to violence as a first recourse for conflict resolution, it also will give you tools that you can use immediately in your life, community, church, temple or mosque to be a Peace Practitioner™.

Who Should Attend?
This training program is designed for spiritual leaders, teachers, members of faith communities and anyone with a passion for creating peace in our world.

Keynote Speaker
Dr. Maya Angelou, the keynote speaker for this event, is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary literature and as a remarkable Renaissance woman. Being a poet, educator, historian, bestselling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, Dr. Angelou continues to travel the world making appearances, spreading her legendary wisdom. Dr. Angelou captivates her audiences lyrically with vigor, fire and perception. She has the unique ability to shatter the opaque prisms of race and class between reader and subject throughout her books of poetry and her autobiographies.

Voices of Peace
In observance of the fifth anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Iraq
Hope for Peace & Justice will honor one of the greatest peacemakers of our time, Dr. Maya Angelou. H4PJ will present Dr. Angelou with the first “Voice of Peace” award in recognition of a life lived in the pursuit of peace and justice.
In addition, the Meyerson will be filled with music. The Voices of Peace Chorus, under the direction of Dr. Timothy Seelig, will include singers from The Women’s Chorus of Dallas, the Turtle Creek Chorale, One Achord, the Cathedral of Hope Sanctuary Choir and MosaicSong. The chorus will be accompanied by the New Texas Symphony Orchestra, and the Meyerson Symphony Center’s spectacular Lay Family Organ. The male chorus from First Baptist Church, Hamilton Park also will be featured. The afternoon will culminate with all in attendance raising their voices for peace.

<--back to top-->

"Voices of Peace" Celebration
honoring Maya Angelou

Saturday, March 1, 2008
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

with the
Voices of Peace Chorus
Dr. Timothy Seelig, Conductor

New Texas Symphony Orchestra
Kathryn Brown, Conductor

Male Chorus, First Baptist Church, Hamilton Park
John Tatum, Conductor

** Click HERE to get YOUR tickets Online Today! **
Tickets are also available at CoH THIS Sunday!

Few voices in history have made a greater impact for peace and justice in our world than that of the incredible Dr. Maya Angelou.  H4PJ is thrilled to honor her as our very first “Voice of Peace.”  In addition to an inspiring speech by Dr. Angelou, Art for Peace & Justice Director, Tim Seelig, will conduct the chorus, orchestra, Meyerson organ and 2,000 voices in singing “Dona Nobis Pacem”  (Give Us Peace) as we hope and pray for peace in our world and in our lifetime. MORE...

<--back to top-->

NEW from H4PJ
Liberating Word

Changing the world is a daily struggle. In part, it is a struggle to keep the world and the dominant culture from changing us. While they do not reflect the faith of the majority of Americans, fundamentalists have succeeded in commandeering the public discourse. The result is that they have become the ones to define orthodoxy and, to a large extent, faith itself.

“Liberating Word” is designed to be daily nourishment to strengthen progressive people of faith. For the world to be transformed into a place of peace and justice, WE must enter the fray. It is tempting to duck our heads and just let things pass. It is easy to become so overwhelmed by life itself that we simply don’t have the energy to challenge what is said and done. However, if we do not, then who will?

These are not devotions, but are designed to evoke our devotion to the principles of justice and peace rooted in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. If you don’t find at least one a week with which you disagree then this project has failed. Its purpose is not to answer your questions but to strengthen your questioning. My hope is not that you will agree, but that you will consider your faith in a whole new way.

A liberating word will be sent to you every day (Monday-Friday) as a support service from Hope for Peace & Justice. Please forward them to your family and friends and encourage them to subscribe. We must be as deliberate and devoted as any fundamentalist.

Read TODAY'S Liberating Word NOW!

<--back to top-->

“The Real Antichrist” Audiobook
Available for Download

You can now download “The Real Antichist” directly from the shopping cart on the home page of the H4PJ website. Not only will you be able to listen to the prophetic words of Rev. Michael Piazza, you will be able to hear it read with the colloquial, and at times, subtly sarcastic inflection of the iconic Dr. Tim Seelig. 

For short snippets of “The Real Antichrist” audiobook, check out our free weekly selections. We will post a new one each week and you can download them to your PC or MP3 players. Open your iTunes software and click HERE to subscribe today.

<--back to top-->

Inside the H4PJ Blog

Today begins A Season of Nonviolence Today is the anniversary of the assassination of Gandhi. The Season of Nonviolence begins today and ends on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4th. During these 64 days, study nonviolence and begin practicing nonviolence in your life. MORE...

<--back to top-->

H4PJ Online Action Center
Make a Difference Today!

To better equip our supporters to work for peace and justice in their communities, Hope for Peace & Justice launched the H4PJ Online Action Center to help you and thousands of others to contact your elected officials and the media about important issues and legislation.

With the H4PJ Online Action Center you can:

• stay up-to-date on current legislation and votes
• find who represents you at the Local, State and Federal level
• know how your representatives are voting
• email your representatives
• contact local, state and national media organizations
• Sign up for updates on important legislation

The Online Action Center gives you the ability to quickly and effectively cause change. You can easily find out information about important legislation and send alerts to your friends and family. You have been faithful in taking action with the H4PJ Action Alerts and we know you'll continue to help now as well via the Online Action Center.

<--back to top-->