Leader's Handbook! Here You Will Find Detailed Information About the Purpose, Goals and Theme of Peace Month, As Well Resources You Might Find Helpful As You Plan

Table of Contents

Introduction to Peace Month...... 3 Sermon Suggestions...... 4 Activities with Children...... 9 Slippery Slope coloring sheet...... 13 5 A’s of Confession door hanger...... 14 4 Expressions (4-up)...... 15 Daniel Refuses the King’s Food coloring sheet...... 16 Zacchaeus coloring sheet...... 17 Joseph Reveals His Identity coloring sheet...... 18 Daniel coloring sheet...... 19 Cain & Abel coloring sheet...... 20 Suggestions for Youthworkers...... 21 NWYM Music on the Testimonies...... 26 Available Speakers, Trainers & Discussion Leaders...... 27 Peace Education Curricula: a few recommendations...... 29 SPICE: The Friends Testimonies...... 33

2 Annual NWYM Peace Month January 2012 “SPICE: The Friends Testimonies” Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality

Welcome to the Peace Month 2012 Leader's Handbook! Here you will find detailed information about the purpose, goals and theme of Peace Month, as well resources you might find helpful as you plan. All these resources are also available online at www.nwfriends.org/ peacemonth.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions at [email protected]. The theme for Peace Month 2012 is SPICE: the Friends Testimonies (Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality). At the end of this document please find a brief explanation of these testimonies. It is our hope that this year's theme will situate the Friends peace testimony in the context of the Friends' distinct, biblical view of the gospel of Christ. We hope, also, that this year's Peace Month will help spur you to educate your congregations about Friends history and traditions in order to begin a dialogue in your meeting about ways you as a congregation feel led to live out the Friends understanding of the gospel in our twenty-first century context. Each meeting is encouraged to host at least one event each week during January related to the SPICE testimonies. This can be in the form of an emphasis on peace in a regularly scheduled gathering (e.g., Sunday morning worship), or a special event such as showing and discussing a movie or inviting a guest speaker. Your whole congregation could be involved in these, or you could emphasize these testimonies with each age level on different weeks. We suggest using these weekly themes to form sermons, discussions, guest lectures, Sunday school classes and events.

• January 1-7 – Simplicity • January 8-14 – Peace • January 15-21 – Integrity • January 22-28 – Community • January 29-February 4 – Equality

By the end of Peace Month, it is our hope that individuals:

• will be better educated about the Friends testimonies, • will sense deeper bonds with others in their meeting through opportunities to discuss our denominational history more openly • and feel challenged and equipped to follow Christ’s call more faithfully as Friends with a history as well as a future. We don’t want to create extra work for those in leadership at your meeting, so we hope the resources provided will give you a variety of options that will fit your congregation’s needs while helping you incorporate education about these important aspects of what it means to be Friends into your annual curriculum.

3 Sermon Suggestions by Ty Olson

Here you will find a starting place for thinking about the direction to go for preaching about each of the Friends testimonies. The goal is that you will include your own sense of calling and struggle with each of these topics, invite members of your congregation to share their experiences and give ample space for listening to Christ together during open worship. For a more complete explanation of the Friends testimonies, read the essay at the end of this document (also available online) entitled “SPICE: The Friends Testimonies” by Cherice Bock.

January 1 – Simplicity

“Simplicity sets us free to receive the provision of God as a gift that is not ours to keep and can be freely shared with others.” ~ Richard Foster

Scripture: • 2 Corinthians 12:8 – ours is a testimony of “simplicity and godly sincerity” • Luke 9:58 – Jesus lived a life of simplicity (using this metaphor)

Exploring simplicity as Friends: • The testimony regarding simplicity has deep roots in the Quaker tradition. Simplicity for the Friends has traditionally included myriad components, from placing less focus on material objects and more value on the spirit, to abstaining from becoming overly involved in contemporary trends and popular culture. Not busying our lives in a way that detracts from our spiritual life is also important, and Friends also emphasize simplicity when striving to live in harmony with others and the earth. • Share from your own experience: in what ways have you felt called to greater simplicity in possessions, time management, relationships or other ways? How do you see this calling connecting with your faith and your understanding of the Bible? • This would be a good time to have someone in your community share from his/her own experience on what the call to simplicity looks like in his/her life, as well as in your meeting.

Queries for open worship: Community • What does the testimony of simplicity signify for our Friends meeting? • How is our community practicing and living out this call to simplicity?

Personal • What does simplicity look like in my life? In my family’s life? • Am I (are we) allowing myself (ourselves) to become distracted by the material world?

4 January 8 – Peace

“There is no time left for anything but to make peacework a dimension of our every waking activity.” ~ Elise Boulding

Scripture: • Matthew 5:9 – blessed are the peacemakers • Romans 12:17-21 – respond to evil thoughtfully from a position of peace and love • James 3:18 – righteousness comes about by those who sow peace

The Friends peace testimony: • The very first Friends were peacemakers: they refused to use violence to resolve conflicts or fight back when violence was used against them, and they also worked to create peace in their communities by rejecting unjust laws, such as laws that continued a strict division of social classes and, therefore, human worth. (See the Declaration to Charles II, “We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons....” Full text here: http://www.quaker.org/peaceweb/ pdecla07.html, quote here: http://www.kimopress.com/early.htm) • Throughout the centuries since, Friends have continued to be involved in peace work, both in our local communities and in the international arena, from engaging in restorative justice work in prisons to standing in solidarity with marginalized people in oppressive regimes. • You could refer to the individuals we studied during last year's Peace Month: George Fox, Margaret Fell and the Valiant 60; John Woolman; Lucretia Mott and Elise Boulding (their bios are still online here: http://nwfriends.org/ministries/ active-peacemaking/peace-month-2011/. • Invite a peacemaker from your community or a member of another Friends meeting doing peace work to come and share about their involvement in peace work, specifically speaking to the role of their faith in their work. (Peace work is not limited to working against violence or war, but can include social action such as ministries to the homeless or aged, conflict resolution and mediation, work against sex trafcking, human rights work of all kinds, etc.)

Queries for open worship: Community • How are we engaged in peace work? • Are we doing a good job to support those in our community directly involved in vocations of peace-building? If so, how can we improve? If not, how can we begin?

Personal • What does peace look like in my personal life, both in daily practice with others and in spiritual practice?

5 January 15 – Integrity

“I want my inner truth to be the plumb line for the choices I make about my life - about the work that I do and how I do it, about the relationships I enter into and how I conduct them.” ~ Parker Palmer

Scripture: • Matthew 5:33-37 – Let your 'yes' be 'yes' and your 'no,' 'no.' • Luke 16:10 – those faithful in little are also faithful in much • 1 Peter 3:10-12 – speak truth, seek peace, and be attuned to the Spirit through prayer

Living with integrity: • Friends are committed to living truthfully, which is grounded in the notion that the Spirit is in us and guides us in the truth of God. Integral to this is living attuned to how the Spirit moves us, both in the spiritual and religious realm as well as in our daily social and vocational interactions. • Early Friends were very intentional about following Jesus' instruction in Matthew 5:33-37, sometimes to the point of going to jail for refusal to take an oath. Do we live with this kind of integrity today? Is that much “integrity” necessary? Did early Friends go overboard with integrity, or are we too careless with our words today? • Open up a conversation about this, or tell some of your own stories about struggling to speak truth and stand up for what is right in difcult situations. How did this connect to your faith? • Invite a meeting member to share struggles and successes in living with integrity and truthfulness, especially highlighting the importance of trust and faith with regard to following the leading of the Spirit in his/her life.

Open worship queries: Community • How do we as a community of Friends realize this notion of living truthfully and with integrity? • How do we as Friends realize and follow the Spirit’s guidance for our community?

Personal • Do I trust the Spirit’s directing in my own life? Am I following this direction? • Where and to whom might I go in my community to ask for help and support with regard to knowing and following the Spirit’s direction?

6 January 22 – Community

Scripture: • Acts 4:35-44 – the community comes together to support one another • Luke 14:7-23 – the call of Jesus to expand our community (as opposed to being insular)

The power of community: • Jesus was always expanding his community, though he did have a smaller, intimate group who supported him. He pushed out the boundaries of many people's understanding of who was “in” and who was “out” of God's grace and, therefore, of the religious community. • Jesus calls us to expand our community. As Friends, in our best moments, we have reached out to include others beyond our immediate meeting members into our community. No one is excluded from the love of God: God wants all people to be God's beloved children, to experience a loving “family” where positive spiritual growth can occur. • In expanding our community we are called to support one another. This often requires us to go outside of our comfort zones and our favorite routines, to notice the needs of others and do something about them. • Is anyone in your community engaged in community-expanding work? Invite him/ her to speak to this work as well as highlight how his/her more intimate community—their church or meeting—is a support in that work.

Open worship queries: Community • How are we engaged in community-expanding work? • How are we supporting the members of our more intimate community (ﬁnancially, socially, emotionally, etc.)? • What is holding us back from working to expand our community?

Personal • What am I doing to support my community? • Is there anyone in my community that has a need that I have the capacity to support? If so, how can I thoughtfully do this? • What fears do I have about expanding my idea of who's “in” my community this way?

7 January 29 – Equality

“Quakers hope to hold up worthy ideals and spiritual practices that can lead the way to those ideals. With grace, may we continue to be open to conversation with all, aspiring to practice a genuine hospitality that has characterized Christianity at its best.” ~ Michael Birkel

Scripture: • Galatians 3:28 – all are one in Christ

Realizing equality: • If we are indeed one in Christ, how do we live that way? • How many of us spend our lives trying to “get ahead,” trying to be acceptable to others, have as much stuf or respect or as many friends as others? • This says, ﬁrst of all, that we may not believe we ourselves are equal to others. • Secondly, it says we think that if we can only have this one thing--be it a physical object or an intangible thing like respect--we will be “more equal” than others, we will be better than others. • Belief in the equality of all people is what holds the testimonies together (see the “SPICE: The Friends Testimonies” document at the end of this packet). • Tell a story from your own life, either of a way you were treated unequally, a way you noticed someone else not being treated equally, or a way you treated someone else less-than-equally. Another alternative would be to invite someone from your congregation to share such a story. • What did that sense of inequality feel like? • When did you notice that is what was happening? • Did you try to change the power dynamic between you and the other person/ people? What reaction did you get from the other person/people? from onlookers? • As we love others, we love Christ (Matthew 25:34-40)

Open worship queries: Community • In what ways are we intentionally welcoming those into our community who may be diferent from “us”? • How are we called to stand up against inequities in our society and world?

Personal • Do I treat all people as equally-beloved children of God? • How is Christ prompting me to accept my status as “equal to others,” and to shower others with God’s equalizing, abundant love? • Who is it hardest for me to treat with equal respect and love? (myself? a particular other? a certain group?)

8 Activities for Children by Deborah Climer Adapted from “The Young Peacemaker”

The activities suggested here are ones Silverton Friends used for Vaction Bible School. Your meeting is welcome to use these suggestions during Sunday school or as a VBS curriculum. Learn more information about “The Young Peacemaker” or order it here: http://www.peacemaker.net/site/c.aqKFLTOBIpH/b.958199/k.AFBE/ Young_Peacemaker.htm. The full curriculum is available in the NWYM office, for those close enough to come make copies.

Note also that the NWYM website has a number of MP3s of songs on each of the SPICE Friends testimonies (Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality). Many of the ones by Bill Jolliff are particularly kid-friendly. You could weave them in to your lessons or play them at the beginning or end of class in the background. See the list of NWYM Music on the Testimonies in this document, or go online to listen to and download songs: www.nwfriends.org/peacemonth.

Optional ideas to go along with the following activities:

• Print out each week's verse on mailing labels and have notebooks or bookmark-size sheets for the students to put them on each week. • Put the “5 A’s of Confession” (see Week 3) and the “Promises of Forgiveness” (see Week 5) on larger mailing labels or stick-on name badges for kids to stick onto their craft projects. This works well for students with special needs or younger children who cannot yet write. • Provide a folder for each child to keep their papers in for the month. They decorate the folder the first week and take it home the last week. • Use the coloring sheets found at the end of this section that depict the Bible story for the week.

Week 1: Conflict starts in the heart

• Activity: Have the kids make puppets out of lunch sacks and put wiggly eyes and yarn hair on them. The children then use the puppets to act out the drama scenarios. • Read the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-12, from the Bible or a book). • Questions: How was Cain’s heart toward his brother? What did God say to him about his attitude/heart? What did Cain do? How did he feel after he killed Abel? • Application: Have the kids think about times they have been angry, like Cain, for a not very good reason. Talk about what that felt like. Ask, “What can we do about it?” Think together about how God responded to Cain, granting him acceptance.

9 Week 2: Conflict is a slippery slope

• Activity: Have the children color the Slippery Slope picture as you talk. o Find a picture for older children here: http://www.peacemaker.net/site/ c.aqKFLTOBIpH/b.932129/k.9C63/YP_Sample__Page_3.htm o Use the picture at the end of this section for younger children, but use the information on the web page. o It’s a slippery slope from the top of the “mountain,” which is “Work it Out.” It’s a dangerous fall either in the direction of “Escape” and “Attack.” . Escaping entails running away, playing the blame game or denial. . Attacking includes put-downs, gossip or fighting. . Working it out can include overlooking the conflict, talking it out or getting help. • Read the story of Daniel and his friends who refused to eat the king's food (Daniel 1:1-21). Eat healthy snacks to go along with the story and discussed how Daniel dealt with the conflict as we looked at the slippery slope picture. • Questions: Did Daniel Escape? Did Daniel attack? How did he resolve the conflict? What was the outcome? • Application: Ask the kids for conflict situations they might encounter at school, at home, etc. Use the puppets you made last week (kept in folders) to act out different ways to resolve conflicts.

Week 3: 5 A’s of Confession • Activity: Talk about what it means to confess something, then introduce the 5 A’s of Confession. Have the children decorate door hangers with stickers, including a sticker with the “5 A’s of Confession.” o The 5 A’s of Confession: . Admit what you did wrong. . Apologize for how your choice affected the other person. . Accept the consequences. . Ask for forgiveness. . Alter your choice in the future. • Read about Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). • Questions: Did Zacchaeus use the “5 A’s”? How did he use them as he confessed to Jesus? • Application: Discuss when we need to confess something. Ask for a scenario where someone might have to confess something, and have the kids role play or use their puppets to act out using the “5 A’s of Confession.”

10 Week 4: Respectful Communication • Activity: Have the students make pictures or write out words on a sheet (see included sheet) expressing how they might act in four different ways to being asked to do a chore their parents asked them to do. o If the children are young, have them draw pictures to show being cheerful, mad, etc. about doing the chore. o Older children can write words in conversation bubbles next to the faces. • Read about Abigail, Nabal and David (I Samuel 25). • Questions: How did Nabal communicate to David? Was he respectful? How did Abigail communicate? Was she respectful? How did David respond to each of these people? • Application: Discuss the different ways one might feel when asked to do something one doesn’t want to do. Talk about the validity of each of these feelings, and discuss ways to act respectfully even when feeling a negative emotion. Have the kids discuss why respect is important, and how respect and disrespect make others feel. o If the group is enjoying the puppets, utilize the puppets again and have them act out scenes where they respond respectfully and disrespectfully in the same situation.

Week 5: The Freedom of Forgiveness • Activity: Talk about the “4 Promises of Forgiveness,” and have the kids make a magnet out of a foam heart. They can use glitter glue, sequins, beads or foam stickers to decorate the heart. o 4 Promises of Forgiveness: . Good thought: “I promise I will think good thoughts about you and do good for you.” . Hurt you not: “I promise I will not bring up this situation and use it against you.” . Gossip never: “I promise I will not talk to others about what you did.” . Friends forever: “I promise I will be friends with you again.” • Read the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers (summarize the story, then read Genesis 45:1-15). • Questions: How did Joseph show that he forgave his brothers? What did Joseph learn from his life? • Application: Talk about times when the children have been asked to forgive someone. Did they feel like forgiving the other person? Talk about times when they’ve had to ask forgiveness. How did they ask forgiveness? How did they feel when they asked forgiveness? Have them practice using the “4 Promises of Forgiveness” with each other. (They can use their puppets if they want.)

11 (If you would like to continue this curriculum for an extra week you can wrap it up with a final week to review and reflect. See below.) Week 6: Reflect • Review what you’ve learned together over the last month. o Have the children look through their folders and talk about each item, and help them remember the main point of each lesson. • Read a children’s book on peacemaking or conflict resolution. A good one is “What does Peace Feel Like?” by V. Radunsky and children from around the world. • Application: Talk about what peace feels like. The children can draw or write what they think peace feels like. Share these pages with the class.

12 ·

Slippery Slope!

13 5 A’s of Confession: 5 A’s of Confession:

Admit Admit Apologize Apologize Accept Accept Ask Ask Alter Alter

14 15 16 Zacchaeus

17 Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers 18 David

19 Cain & Abel

20 Suggestions for Youthworkers by Cherice & Joel Bock

Many youth are searching for a faith that is real, that has some feet to it rather than just words. Friends throughout history have exemplified living out their faith in ways that are world-changing, and that show real moral gumption. Sharing stories of historical and contemporary Friends (and others) who grapple with living out Christian convictions can be powerful for youth as they think about their place within our denomination and within the world community. You are welcome to share your own stories, share stories of historical or contemporary Christians you know well, or invite a guest speaker to come share about each of the SPICE topics (Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality). Make sure to utilize the essay at the end of this document that gives more information about each of the Friends testimonies. Also, to spice up your lessons (pun intended!), go to the NWYM website (www.nwfriends.org/peacemonth) and check out the music by Nate Macy and Bill Jolliff. You could play a song or two at the beginning of your lesson, or during the lesson to illustrate a point. You could also invite one of them to come share with your youth group about why they wrote these particular songs.

Week 1: Simplicity

• Explain the topic for Peace Month this year: Peace is one of the Friends testimonies--a way that Friends have traditionally felt called by God to live as they read the Bible and as they listen to God in their own lives. But peace is not the only Friends testimony. In order to understand our denomination and our faith better, this month we’ll be focusing on each of the Friends testimonies for a week. To make it easier to remember, we use the acornym SPICE: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality. These are not things that Friends have just decided they like so they live them out, but they are expressions of their intentional focus on God’s call on their lives individually and as a community, gleaned through reading scripture and attending to their own experiences. • Today, we’ll focus on simplicity. What does “simplicity” mean? • Dictionary definition: 1. the state, quality, or an instance of being simple. 2. freedom from complexity, intricacy, or division into parts:an organism of great simplicity. 3. absence of luxury, pretentiousness, ornament, etc.; plainness: a life of simplicity. 4. freedom from deceit or guile; sincerity; artlessness; naturalness: a simplicity of manner. 5. lack of mental acuteness or shrewdness: Politics is not a field for simplicity about human nature. • Discuss whether they think simplicity is or is not important for Christians. • Read Luke 12:22-34 or Matthew 6:25-34 about not worrying about material possessions because God will provide for us. • What does this say to us about simplicity? • Is anything about this passage difficult for you? • Tell a story from your own experience about a way you try to live simply, or a struggle you have regarding simplicity. • Open it up for the youth to share their own thoughts, attempts at living simply or struggles with this concept.

21 Week 2: Peace

• What are some different types of “peace” you can think of? • If you’ve done Peace Month for the last few years, you could refer back to the different levels of peace discussed in 2010--internal peace between yourself and God, peace in your community, peace in your nation and world--or to the individuals we talked about last year from Friends history who exemplified different ways of living out the peace testimony. • Look online for a refresher: http://nwfriends.org/ministries/active-peacemaking/peacemonth-2010/; http://nwfriends.org/ministries/active-peacemaking/peace-month-2011/. • Guide them toward thinking about peace as more than just the absence of violence, but creating a situation in which all people can live at peace. • Choose an individual to highlight. Discuss that person’s work for peace, especially focusing on how they started working for peace on that issue. This could be a historic Friend, a contemporary person in your meeting, or a famous person you know about who did something important to work toward peace and social justice. • Many Friends who we know now as great proponents of peace or justice simply looked around at things in their lives and recognized an injustice was going on, and spoke out against it. • Friends saw the deplorable conditions of the prisons because they were sent to jail, and they started working to change laws. They had friends and relatives in mental asylums and realized those had horrible conditions as well, so they began to open up mental institutions that were healthy spaces. • Regarding war, Friends noticed scriptural rejection of Christian participation in war, but they also noticed that no one was taking care of those hurt by war, so many Friends have helped in rebuilding countries after war, served as medics, or done other things to help those who are injured due to war. The American Friends Service Committee won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 for its efforts to rebuild Europe and feed those who were starving after World War II. • You can use these examples or one (some) of your own choosing. • Peace isn’t about being against something, or about being passive. It’s about actively listening to God and noticing the places where people are hurting, and doing something, as led by God, to help heal that hurt. • Read Amos 5:21-24 and discuss what it truly means to be a follower of Christ. (You can also read Micah 6:8 and/or read and discuss what Jesus says when he’s asked about the greatest commandment, Matthew 22:34-40.) • Give an example of a place in your life where you feel called to work for peace and justice. How did you decide which issue to focus on? What are you doing to make peace? • Have the youth think about places in their life where they notice injustice or lack of peace. Have they felt a nudge from God about this issue? Invite them to start brainstorming ways they could start standing against that injustice. • Talk about whether there is one of these issues the youth group feels called by God to focus on together. • Could they start working together to stand for peace? What would be the first step?

22 Week 3: Integrity

• What is integrity? • Integrity has to do with moral character and honesty. • Integrity of an object: it is whole or sound. • Integrity in math: can be expressed as an integer (same root), or whole number. • Adjective “integral”: something that is necessary in order for completeness to occur, “an integral part.” • Integration has to do with bringing different parts together to make a more complete whole. • Antonym: dishonesty. • So, integrity has to do with living in a way that is moral and honest, that leads to wholeness. • After thinking about integrity in all these different ways, ask the youth what it means to them to live with integrity. What would it look like? What are areas in their lives or in the lives of most American teenagers where it is difficult to live with integrity? • Read Matthew 5:33-37 (let your “yes” be “yes”). • You can tie this in to your last lesson on peace: living with integrity means paying attention to the ways you notice injustice and lack of peace, and refusing to cooperate with situations and systems that uphold injustice. • When is it easy to let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no,” “no”? When is it difficult? • Give an example from your own life of a way you’re trying to live with more integrity, or a struggle you’ve had at living with integrity. • Ask the youth to think of places in their lives where they feel drawn to live with more integrity. • As a lead-in to next week, think about whether one can live with integrity alone. Is it possible? Is it harder or easier to do so in community? • Harder: peer pressure. • Easier: when more people are refusing to cooperate with injustice, it is easier to have the courage to take a stand for your principles. It is also more effective.

23 Week 4: Community

• Ask the youth to share ways they see community in the Bible. Some examples might be: • The nation of Israel • Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego sticking together and giving each other courage to continue living out their faith while in exile in Babylon • Jesus chose an immediate community and welcomed an extended community that he taught, ate with and traveled with • The Body of Christ analogy • The church in Jerusalem in Acts: everyone shared all they had, they worked to feed everyone together • What was important about these communities? • Friends are a communal people, believing that we hear and follow God best when we listen and act together. • Open worship is an example of this, as well as consensus-based business meetings. • Friends formed a tight community early on, but it was not an exclusive community: the intent was to invite others in. • Friends also took care of each other. When someone felt called to be a traveling minister, others would help take care of the traveling minister’s children and crops. When Friends ended up in jail for speaking out about their faith and against injustice, other Friends likewise helped with children and crops, as well as taking meals to those in jail. • Give an example from your own life of what it’s like to be part of a true community, and how this strengthened your faith. • Invite the youth to share about their experiences of community. • Do you feel like you’re part of a true faith community? Why or why not? • When have you experienced true community? • What does it take, from you and from others, to form a true community?

24 Week 5: Equality

• This is really the testimony on which all of the Friends testimonies hinge. Because we as Friends believe God values all people equally and desires us to do the same, we seek to live out true community that invites all to participate. This means we strive to live peaceably with everyone, to be honest and have the same level of integrity with all, and to “live simply so others can simply live.” • Themes and verses that point to equality of all people: • Jesus died for all people, while we were still sinners (Romans 5:6-8). • God wants us all to be part of God’s family, adopted as God’s children and heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14-17). • In Christ, we are all one--regardless of race or ethnicity (“Jew or Greek”), position in society (“slave or free”) gender or, by extension, other qualifications (“male or female”) (Galatians 3:28). • We’re invited to love others as ourselves, the second-greatest commandment (Matthew 22:34-40). • Ask the youth what ways they see inequality lived out in the world around them. • What ways do you contribute to these inequities? • What ways do you suffer from others treating you as less-than or more-than-equal? • Tell a story of inequality in your life and how you dealt with it. This could be a positive or a negative example. If it’s a negative example, perhaps give a suggestion of how you would deal with it now. • Brainstorm ways the youth can break down systems of inequality they see around them. • How can they refuse to cooperate with social hierarchies at school, for example? • How might they be able to give a voice to those who do not have a voice in our society? • How might they suffer for this refusal to cooperate with “the system”? • What benefits might come as they try to treat everyone equally? • Wrap up the series by reflecting on the ways they have noticed injustice and inequality, and their sense of calling to building peace and community through living simply and with integrity. • What have you learned during Peace Month? • How have you been challenged? • How do you plan to start living out these new challenges from God?

25 NWYM Music on the Testimonies

We are blessed to have a number of very talented musicians in NWYM, many of whom have written songs that relate to the Friends testimonies. Below is a list of the songs available on the website at www.nwfriends.org/peacemonth. We encourage you to play these songs before, during or after a Peace Month activity, or have one of your worship leaders learn the song to play during Sunday morning worship. To learn more or to have these musicians come lead music or a special event at your meeting, contact us at: [email protected].

Simplicity Motion of Love (Bill Jolliff) Holy Old Fool ( Bill Jolliff)

Peace Jesus Way (Bill Jolliff) In These Times (Bill Jolliff) I John 3:18 (Nate Macy) Psalm 73 (Nate Macy)

Integrity Laughlin Boy (Bill Jolliff) The Ballad of Rachel Corrie (Bill Jolliff) Romans 12 (Nate Macy) Light Right Now (Nate Macy)

Community The Good Neighbor (Bill Jolliff) Onward, We Go (Bill Jolliff) I'm On My Way (Bill Jolliff) Step by Step the Longest March (Nate Macy) Teach Us (Nate Macy)

Equality Love All Around This World (Bill Jolliff) The Good Neighbor (Bill Jolliff) Psalm 150 (Nate Macy)

26 Available Speakers, Trainers & Discussion Leaders

Below are resource people who are willing to come speak Sunday morning or in an evening workshop setting. We ask that meetings cover the travel costs if they invite a speaker to come from a distance. If your meeting is also able to give a small honorarium that is always appreciated, but don't let money limit you from requesting a speaker. Email us at [email protected] for the contact information for these individuals.

Ralph Beebe • Conscientious Objection • Biblical basis for peacemaking • Friends History & Testimonies • History of the peace testimony throughout Christian history • Ralph is an experienced speaker on all topics relating to peace. He is especially adept at speaking and leading discussions regarding Friends history, biblical basis for peacemaking, the USA and the Middle East and conscientious objection.

Cherice Bock • Quaker History & Testimonies • Christian Peacemaker Teams – Israel/Palestine • Conscientious Objection • Cherice is open to preaching, teaching or leading discussions on these topics with adults and/or youth.

Karrie Brothers • Personal Conflict Resolution, Mediation • “I’m willing to act as a resource for training people in biblical responses to conflict. Additionally, I can do facilitator training and mediation.” • Karrie works as a mediator, so has a wealth of practical experience to share.

Mike Huber • Quaker History & Testimonies: Mike is an excellent speaker and teacher, but as the pastor of West Hills Friends, he would need advanced notice if he needed to miss a Sunday morning at his meeting. He’s available other days of the week, however, and can speak on biblical basis for peacemaking or Friends history, and he is also an able discussion leader.

Bill Jolliff • Friends History & Testimonies • Bill Jolliff is a professor of literature and also an accomplished bluegrass musician and performer. He uses his excellent writing skills to write witty and thought-provoking lyrics, often about topics of interest to Friends. A number of his songs are available on the NWYM website for your use during Peace Month (www.nwfriends.org/peacemonth), and he is also open to visiting your meeting in person to play his songs, lead worship through song and/or preach or teach on the Friends testimonies.

27 John Lamoreau • Non-Violence & Pacifism: “I am very available if anyone would like to invite me to their church. Most of my outreach has been to conservative evangelicals and discussing the Biblical basis of Christian non-violence. I have taught Sunday school classes, led workshops and also worship services on the subject. I have worked with youth and older adults on the subject.”

Nate Macy • Nate is an able preacher, discussion leader and teacher, as well as an excellent worship leader. He utilizes music to create a space where the community can listen to God together. He is available to speak, lead worship or perform a concert at your meeting, weaving the themes of the Friends testimonies into his presentation. As the pastor of a non-traditional church, he is available on Sunday mornings.

Lisa McMinn • Lisa recently published a book entitled Walking Gently on the Earth (co-authored by Megan Anna Neff, 2010, InterVarsity Press). In addition to teaching at George Fox University, Lisa and her husband, Mark, also run a community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm. She is passionate about living in a way that reflects simplicity in order to encourage individual health in a holistic sense, as well as communal health that takes into account the many people with whom we share the planet, and the planet itself--God’s creation. • Adults in your meeting could do a book study to read Lisa’s book and then invite her to come discuss it with you, or you could just invite her to come share and recommend people read her book before or after the conversation.

Ty Olson • Ty is in a master’s program focusing on conflict resolution and international justice, and is available to come speak about these topics. He is also knowledgeable about the Friends testimonies and would enjoy sharing about them. • Ty is open to leading classes, discussions or workshops on the above topics with adults and/or youth.

28 Curriculum Suggestions

Children & Youth

Young Peacemakers Project Book by Kathleen Fry-Miller and Judith Myers-Walls. The children’s activities mailed to your churches were taken from this book. You can order it from www.brethrenpress.org or at www.peacemaker.net.

Young Peacemaker (Available from the YM Lending Library)

Provides detailed plans for teaching biblical peacemaking to 3rd-7th grade children in families, Christian schools, home schools, Sunday schools, VBS, and youth groups. The Young Peacemaker is a powerful system that parents and teachers can use to teach children how to prevent and resolve conflict in a constructive and biblically faithful manner. The system emphasizes principles of confession, forgiveness, communication, and character development, and uses realistic stories, practical applications, role plays, and stimulating activities. Although the material is designed for 3rd through 7th grades, it has been successfully used with preschool and high school students. View it online at www.peacemaker.net.

Learning the Skills of Peacemaking: A K-6 Activity Guide to Resolving Conflicts, Communicating, & Cooperating (Paperback) by Naomi Drew View it online at www.amazon.com.

Kids and Conflict: Resolving Problems the Jesus Way – by Eleanor Snyder, MennoLink Books

This exciting new VBS program uses stories from the New Testament to teach children how Jesus handled conflict. Modern skits wrap around the daily Bible story. Children are given choices, offering experience in making good choices toward conflict resolution. The program is designed for early childhood through junior high youth. This dynamic program will inspire your entire congregation! Age 4-Grade 8. View it online at www.mennolinks.org/books

Sensing Peace – by Suzane E. Yoder, MennoLink Books

What does peace smell like? What does it taste like? Feel, sound or look like? Through Sensing Peace, children ages 4 to 7 are encouraged to see what peace looks, sounds, feels, tastes and smells like through their everyday moments-things like laughing, cooking, gardening, singing or sharing ice cream. Through this encouraging and delightful story, children will realize that peace isn't something big and mysterious out there that only adults know about or can do-they already experience and create peace in meaningful ways each day. View it online at www.mennolink.org/books.

29 Living Without Violence – by Jody Miller Shearer, MennoLink Books

This five-session Bible study encourages youth students to live nonviolently. Through storytelling, activities, and scriptural reflection, students discover creative ways to deal with anger. They will become familiar with nonviolent responses, discover the importance of honesty in times of conflict, and form a new perspective on their relations hips with “the enemy.” View it at www.mennolink.org/books.

Peace Heroes by Christine Neufeld, MennoLink Books (Available from the YM Lending Library)

Your junior-high youth challenge the violence that increasingly surrounds them by promoting “heroes” that obey Christ’s call to be peacemakers. This newest release in the Fast Lane Bible Studies series for junior-high groups examines the lives of real people who worked for peace. Five active sessions combine biblical material with the stories of Jesus, Mother Teresa, Francis of Assisi, John Perkins, and Muriel Lester to challenge youth to become peacemakers in their communities. View it at www.mennolink.org/books.

The Jesus Factor in Justice and Peacemaking by C. Norman Kraus, MennoLink Books

This concise book addresses the impact of Jesus on the practice of conflict resolution interventions, such as restorative justice, peacebuilding. mediation, and trauma healing. Those who claim to be Christ's followers must ask, What is the Jesus Factor in justice and peacebuilding? View it at www.mennolink.org/books.

Peace, Just Live It! by Christine Neufeld, MennoLink Books (Available from the YM Lending Library)

“Peace in our time”–this quest and prayer of Christians for centuries is perhaps more valid today than ever before. In an increasingly angry and abusive world, the Christian spiritual heritage of peace is being lost to a culture of violence and retaliation. Peace–Just Live It! addresses the challenges facing youth in the 21st century and develops the skills young people need to live as God’s peacemakers. The curriculum’s 10 sessions include such topics as peace in the Bible, family violence, racism, criminal justice and reconciliation, conscientious objection, and more. Each lesson follows a step-by-step teaching plan and includes user-friendly, reproducible student sheets. Through active sessions, youth are led to examine their world, look to the Bible, and apply the truths they find to their everyday lives. The material poses tough questions–requiring youth and leaders to explore Scripture together and struggle with issues of violence in their own settings to find God’s direction. View it at www.mennolink.org/books.

Conflict – how do YOUth respond?

An online questionnaire that is a tool for youth to begin to explore the many ways to deal with conflicts in light of Christianity. Questionnaire takes about 30 minutes. A leader’s guide is available with the outline of an hour long session. Created and published by the Mennonite

30 Church, USA. Leader’s Guide: http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/conflictyouth/leader.html; Questionnaires: http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/conflictyouth/download.html.

Adults

Second Mile: A 'peace journey for congregations' – by Leo Hartshorn

Second Mile is a peace curriculum that invites congregations and small groups to enter a journey of worship, study, action and reflection that will help them become active signs of Christ’s peace in a broken world. Second Mile is sponsored by Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Church, USA, Mennonite Church Canada, Mennonite Central Committee U.S. and Mennonite Central Committee Canada. View it at www.mennolink.org.

Adult Personal Conflict Style Inventory

This free online survey will calculate your preferred method of dealing with conflict The survey is free individual use only. Take the survey it at http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/ conflictstyle/index.html.

The Peacemaking Church Resource Set – Personal Peacemaking

The Peacemaking Church Resource Set is designed to change the way your people think about conflict and help your church on its journey toward a Culture of Peace. A full curriculum, including an eight-week small group study to enable your entire church to learn the basic principles of personal peacemaking as well as Model sermons and foundational teaching to help the pastor gain leadership support and cast a vision for a culture of peace in your church. The Peacemaking Church Resource Set is designed to change the way your people think about conflict and help your church on its journey toward a Culture of Peace. The Peacemaking Church Resource Set contains three key components: the Pastor’s Box, the Small Group Box, and the Peacemaking Team Box. Combine the sermons and small groups in an eight-week teaching season for your church. View it at www.peacemaker.net.

The Peacemaker (Updated Version): A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict (Baker Books, Updated ed. 2003) (Available from the YM Lending Library)

Ken Sande describes powerful biblical principles you can use to resolve everything from simple personal offenses to family and marital conflicts, church divisions, business and employment disputes, and complicated lawsuits. Includes practical illustrations and detailed application questions. View it at www.peacemaker.net.

Peace in Isaiah – by David A. Leiter, Brethren Press

This study explores eight visions and two songs of peace from the book of Isaiah, which were written to encourage the Jewish community living in exile and persecution. Isaiah employs

31 messages of peace to move the community forward from despair to hope, from desolation to restoration, from ruin to rebuilding. By taking these same messages seriously, perhaps we can be moved to do those things that will bring a larger sense of peace into our lives and our world. View it at www.brethrenpress.com.

Jesus and Nonviolence; A Third Way – By Walter Wink

More than ever, Walter Wink believes, the Christian tradition of nonviolence is needed as an alternative to the dominant and death-dealing "powers" of our consumerist culture and fractured world. In this small book Wink offers a precis of his whole thinking about this issue, including the relation of Jesus and his message to politics and nonviolence, the history of nonviolent efforts, and how nonviolence can win the day when others don't hesitate to resort to violence or terror to achieve their aims. View it at www.amazon.com.

32 SPICE: The Friends Testimonies by Cherice Bock

Friends do not have a creed or a specific list of right or wrong beliefs and actions. But there are general themes among Friends which over the years are found repeatedly in Friends' lives and writings.

Many Friends refer to these by the acronym SPICE or SPICES: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity,

Community, Equality, and sometimes included is Stewardship. These testimonies are not an explication of the Quaker faith, but are rather values that express the way Friends attempt to live. They do not tell an individual exactly what choice to make in any given situation; instead they offer a framework for living. This framework gives the Friend guidance, not hard and fast rules, regarding ways Friends across time felt led by God to enact God's love in the world.

I will not deal with the testimonies in the S-P-I-C-E order because some of them build on one another. The most basic testimony is that of equality, and the others find their roots in this testimony.

Equality

There is no longer male nor female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. ~Galatians 3:28

Quakerism began at about the same time as the philosophical shift toward the Enlightenment, during which time philosophers and others began to more fully explore the role and import of the individual than they ever had before. (Descartes' major work came on the scene in 1637, and although I am sure most early Friends did not have access to Descartes when the movement began in full force in

1652, it yet denotes a shift in the ways people were thinking compared to previous centuries.) Friends influenced and were influenced by the Enlightenment, and are probably the Christian denomination that has taken the Enlightenment understanding of democracy to the furthest extreme in the spiritual realm.

33 Friends did not, however, base their beliefs on Enlightenment philosophy, although they of course were products of the time and culture in which they lived. They found the theme of equality of all people in the Bible. In our present day and age, many Christian denominations emphasize the biblical theme of equality, and many small groups of Christians across the centuries have uncovered and rediscovered it. In fact, at their beginnings, a large number of denominations are based on such a reading of scripture. (To highlight just a few examples, the Franciscans are based around the thirteenth century wealthy-man-turned-pauper, Francis of Assisi, and his counterpart Clare of Assisi, who emphasized living in poverty and giving all they had to the poor, equalling out the economic and social hierarchy. The Huguenots were a small sect with beliefs very similar to Quakers who began in sixteenth century France. Evangelicalism in the United States began with a belief in the ability of each individual to hear and respond to a call from God, and that God's call would include care for those less fortunate.)

None of these, however, had ever (or have ever since) abolished the clergy. A Reformed professor I had in seminary once said, somewhat derisively, “All Protestants believe in the priesthood of all believers, but Quakers took it one step further and encouraged the preacherhood of all believers.”

Friends believe that not only can each person connect with God, but God can and does work and speak through each person, as individuals listen and respond to God.

For Friends, this has everything to do with “that of God in everyone.” For Catholics, the real presence of God resides in the bread and wine blessed by a priest and served at communion. For

Protestants, God is present in the Word―that is, the Bible. All believers are “priests” in that all can connect with the Word through reading scripture, but not all are called to preach the Word: there is a hierarchy that gives one permission to speak the Word to others in a formal setting. (Of course, it is not a problem for any Protestant to share his or her beliefs with others for the purpose of edification or conversion.) Friends, however, see the presence of God residing in each individual who learns to notice

34 and live by it. “The Word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12). It is not only written or present in the person of Jesus. We are all inheritors of the promise of God's Spirit that came to the first Christ- followers on Pentecost (Acts 1-2). Because we all have the ability to hear God, we can also be chosen by God to speak God's Word in a given moment.

Therefore, equality as a testimony of Friends is based less on an “inalienable right,” although this also follows as part of Friends belief. But it is based on the ability of all people to hear and respond to God, to be moved by God, to speak and enact God's Word in the world. As Friends are informed by the Light Within, they recognize the humanity of others and the presence of God shining forth through each one.

Community

Although Friends are radically independent regarding many areas of faith and emphasize the ability of all to connect with God personally, there is also a great emphasis on community. All people can hear God and respond, but it is much easier and more accurate to hear God within the context of community. Part of this community is the living people that form one's faith community, while part of this community is much larger, extending across time and space, including the “Church universal”: all people who have connected with God's Spirit throughout all time. Friends believe that we discern God's direction more accurately when we listen together.

Among Friends, this testimony is worked out in several ways. First, meetings for worship and business are―ideally―spaces in which God's voice may be heard through anyone present. Friends must come to consensus before a decision can be made. God may speak through a minority voice, but others can hear and respond, making a different decision than most individuals expected.

Many Friends also practice something called a “Meeting for Clearness,” also called a

“Clearness Committee,” in which an individual or couple asks for a group to listen with them around a

35 decision the focus person(s) finds difficult. It is common to hold a meeting for clearness regarding important life decisions like marriage, choice of schools, vocational change or other major life decisions. In this way, Friends invite others into not only their corporate decisions, but also their personal ones.

Simplicity & Integrity These testimonies have been important for Friends since the beginning of the movement. The testimony of simplicity includes intentional thought about the kinds of clothing we wear, how much we focus on our appearance, the way we speak, our meetinghouses, foods we eat, the way we spend our time, use of titles and the ever-challenging issue of “stuff.”

The testimonies of simplicity and integrity are based largely on the biblical injunction to “let your 'yes' be 'yes' and your 'no' be 'no'” (Matthew 5:37). Friends attempt to live as people of integrity in words, actions and possessions, stating plainly our intentions and our selves.

Part of the reasoning behind this is that we do not wish to spend money frivolously in order to make ourselves, our homes and our meetinghouses look more important. Our worth does not come from our possessions or the way we appear on the outside. It is God who is important, and the work of

God which should occupy our time and money.

Another piece of these testimonies leads us back to the testimony of equality. Although our society celebrates education and training that leads to special titles, Friends traditionally do not use these titles when referring to others or themselves. Currently, Friends do acquire advanced degrees or other training, but generally attempt to avoid using their titles as much as possible. Friends refer to others based on their occupation (e.g. referring to someone who is a medical doctor as “Doctor,” or to a college teacher as “Professor”), because this shows the person's role of service in society. It is a fine line to walk. The point is not giving one person honor over another simply because she or he has had

36 access to formal education or acquired a position of leadership. These roles are meant for the service of others, not for the adulation of oneself.

The testimonies of simplicity and integrity also come to bear regarding our possessions. Money and how we use it is a very personal matter in the present-day United States, and therefore Friends do not often question one another on this topic anymore. Yet, many individuals query themselves, or allow

God to query them, regarding possessions. Friends attempt to live with integrity regarding what is actually needed, versus what is frivolous and self-serving. Historically, Friends refused to buy clothing made through slave labor. The area of possessions is also a very difficult line to discern: how much is too much? What products are alright to purchase? Are there any products in today's first-world market that are made and transported using only principles of integrity and equality? Can we ever buy things that are not necessary to life but that provide enjoyment? How much entertainment is “necessary” to life? Is it permissible to decorate our homes, our meetinghouses, ourselves, for pure aesthetic value?

Did God not create beauty and good-tasting things for us to enjoy? But how can we live lives of comfort and even over-consumption while others starve?

These are questions each contemporary Friend must ask alone―and, I would say, together―in order to try to discern how to live out the testimonies of integrity and simplicity in today's world.

Peace The peace testimony is one of the most well-known testimonies of Friends. It encourages living peaceably at all levels by showing active love to our neighbors, including our enemies. Friends did not intentionally begin a denomination that would be a “peace church.” As early Friends read the Bible and listened to the Light of Christ, they noticed that it would be impossible for them to use violence against other people and follow Christ with integrity. Probably most early Friends did not think of themselves as pacifists, but simply realized that in order to follow Christ's injunction toward love for neighbors and

37 enemies, it was impossible for them to harm others (see especially Matthew 5:3-12, 5:38-48; Luke

10:25-37; Romans 12:17-21, Romans 13:8-10).

A large portion of this testimony for early Friends also had to do with convincement: if one injured or killed another person who was not a “convinced” member of God's family, that person would never have a chance to know God. It was better for the already-convinced to suffer or even die in order to give others that chance. The peace testimony is connected to the testimony on equality because

Friends believe God desires each person have the chance to know God. All people are equally beloved by God and we do not have the right to injure those God loves.

One of the earliest statements of the Friends peace testimony appears in a letter written to

Charles II in 1660. It says:

We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end or under any pretence whatsoever. And this is our testimony to the whole world. The spirit of Christ, by which we are guided, is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil and again to move unto it; and we do certainly know, and so testify to the world, that the spirit of Christ, which leads us into all Truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the kingdom of Christ, nor for the kingdoms of this world.

Most of the time when Friends throughout history have taken a stand on a peace or social justice issue it is not because they looked around for a cause to champion, but because they found themselves in a situation of great injustice, and could not in good conscience allow it to continue without standing up for God's truth through love. This occurred as Friends were jailed for minor offenses and discovered the inhumane situation of the prisons and prison system, and worked to change it. Similarly, Friends noticed the horrible setting of the insane asylums when visiting friends and family and worked to change that system, often by beginning mental institutions themselves where patients were treated with respect and care. Friends became involved in the abolition movement as individuals listened to God

38 speaking to them about the humanity of those they or their fellow Friends and neighbors kept in bondage.

It should be noted that while Friends beliefs are similar on this matter to the other “historic peace churches,” there is basically no proven relationship between the Friends movement of seventeenth century England and the Radical Reformation of Germany and Switzerland in the sixteenth century, besides individuals reading the Bible and listening to the Spirit present with them.

Denominations arising out of the Radical Reformation are now the various branches of Mennonite,

Brethren and Amish traditions. These are called Anabaptists because of their emphasis on adult (rather than infant) baptism. Friends and the descendants of the Anabaptists currently hold some common beliefs and practices, and often work together toward peace and social justice, or at least learn from one another using each other's organizations and materials to teach and act on these topics.

Stewardship

The testimony of stewardship can be traced throughout Quaker history, although different things needed to be “stewarded” at different times. Humanity is currently becoming increasingly aware that we need to intentionally care for our world and its inhabitants. The idea of stewardship of the Earth is in line with Quaker thought across history, although Friends did not necessarily see it as a call to Earth care any earlier than others. Still, this testimony can be thought of as an extension of all the other testimonies. We “live more simply so others can simply live.” Many Friends see connections between our ability to live at peace on a national level and the amount and kind of goods we require, therefore stewardship is part of the peace testimony. Living with integrity means we are truthful with ourselves about what we actually need, recognizing the worldwide community in which we live, which extends to the plants and animals important in the ecosystems that support ourselves. We recognize that if we

39 truly believe that all people are equal, we should not take more resources than we need, so that others can have what they need.