To Our Community of Peace:This has been a whirlwind summer for the Peace Task Force. While many people were vacationing, a group of 10 volunteers energetically worked to present two programs in August, which were well attended. The first was Paul Loeb, who spoke about Hope in Time of Fear and the second was Chris Hedges who spoke about War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. See Reviews of Past Events . As one of the founding members of Interfaith Voices, we have continued to grow the organization to include individuals and groups of diverse religious faiths. The group has effectively become an outreach organization for events. It has broadened our circle of contacts and enriched our thinking as we continue to define the goals and focus of the organization. We participated in many events during the RNC week. We had approximately 100 people march with several hundreds of thousands of people in a public witness of our principles – an exhilarating experience! Many of us wore our bright new yellow shirts, which helped identify us as an interfaith group and helped us stay together for the most part. We participated in the Ring of Hope, a vigil organized by Riverside church in another coalition of religious groups that is affirming our shared commitment to peace and justice. I volunteered at “Eyes Wide Open”, the affecting exhibit representing American soldiers and Iraqis who have been killed. I even got to publicly read some of the names. This summer, we said goodbye to our beloved Assistant Minister and social action leader, Jan Carlsson-Bull, who responded to a call as Minister of the UU Church in Cohasset, MA. We miss you Jan and thank you for all you have done for us and with us. We are pleased to introduce our new Assistant Minister, Alison Miller, a very warm and accessible person, who has already proven herself to be a strong supporter of the Peace Task Force. Alison, welcome to All Souls. We mourn the loss of one of our active members, Christopher Wong, who died suddenly in Connecticut. Christopher was a contributing member of the team and was planning to run the documentaries and discussions for the Peace Task Force on a monthly basis. We are off to a very energetic start this Fall with four interesting educational events already scheduled. See Upcoming Events. Please note that we can publish articles on the web site. Should you be interested in submitting an article on a peace related topic, please contact me. Our volunteer group is building nicely. Again, I encourage you to contact me if you are interested in being part of this committed volunteer group. Depending on your interests, skills and time availability, we can define how you can be of help. Wishing you peace, |