We will have a special guest for Peace with Justice Sunday on June 5
Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. – Romans 5:1 NRSV
SPECIAL GUEST ÉIRINN MCALEESE
Friends Forever International is an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that believes we can help build a better world by empowering our most underutilized asset: youth. FFI works with communities around the globe to develop leadership abilities in youth from diverse backgrounds to tackle local and global issues. For more information visit https://www.ff.international/.
Éirinn McAleese is an FFI’s Alumni who participated in the signature leadership program in 2017. Since then she has done work at home in Northern Ireland leading workshops and helping to lead team building seminars. This is her first trip back out to America to help since she graduated from the program and became an alum. Éirinn is currently 20 years old and studies Law at the University of Ulster in Jordanstown Northern Ireland. She is in her second last year and is hoping to go on to study commercial contracts as well as international alternative dispute resolution. She works part-time while at university and is an avid volunteer at her local food bank which helps people in her surrounding areas who are struggling. She has been volunteering with them since COVID first hit when a lot of families started to struggle. She loves helping out at FFI and is very happy to be here today and is always excited to meet new people!
WHAT IS PEACE WITH JUSTICE SUNDAY?
United Methodists relate to this special Sunday by seeking peaceful solutions, creating and supporting peace-related ministries in their conference, and learning about peaceful, just efforts around the world. Our Social Principles call us to love our enemies, seek justice, and serve as reconcilers of conflict. We insist that the first moral duty of all nations is to work together to resolve by peaceful means every dispute that arises between or among them.
The United Methodist Church, with its historic commitment to peace and justice, can and should provide leadership to this social transformation. The General Board of Church and Society Church holds a non-governmental, consultative status with the United Nations. This status allows us to participate in UN meetings, consultations, and conferences. We recognize and renew our call for social transformation, for the quest to open the doors of opportunity for all, to distribute resources more equitably, and to provide better care for persons in need.
Donations for this special Sunday support programs and ministries to educate, equip and mobilize actions in support of identified Economic, Health, and Gender Justice Priorities. Each Annual Conference has a Peace with Justice Coordinator developing local social justice ministries. Fifty percent of the offering remains in your annual conference to support this ministry.
We achieve peace with justice efforts by working with the World Council of Churches, interfaith and ecumenical bodies, and secular organizations for social-justice policies and programs that seek the wholeness of shalom for all of God’s people. Your gift, joined with the gifts of others makes a significant impact in the lives of individuals and communities.
Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. – Isaiah 56:1 NRSV
If we are to live into our mission of transforming the world, we must prioritize collaboration among nations, work to reduce the use and need for weapons, and foster just, equitable and durable solutions to the root causes of conflict.
These United Methodist focus areas reflect a vision for partnering with God to build Christlike peace with justice:
Multilateralism: Multilateralism is an expression of our shared longing to secure peace and justice, promote human dignity and protect human rights and prosper the world and its resources through just and sustainable development means and methods.
Nonproliferation and Disarmament: The International Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is the cornerstone of international efforts to curb nuclear weapons. It says, “The proliferation of nuclear weapons would seriously enhance the danger of nuclear war.”
Peace Building: From terror to war, the effects of climate change and environmental degradation, famine, and political strife, our communities around the globe are struggling to survive. Peace-building is a process that facilitates the establishment of durable peace to prevent the recurrence of violence by addressing root causes. It is a way for communities to not only survive but thrive.
Gun Violence Prevention: Guns make violence more deadly and more frequent. For example, domestic violence turns more deadly when guns are involved. Firearms are the most common method of suicide in countries where guns are prevalent in private households, according to data collected by the World Health Organization. If we hope to end the scourge of gun violence, we need to have a cultural shift as well as a policy shift.
Addressing Ongoing Conflicts: The church must work for peace in regions of the world experiencing war, violence or terror. Among other places, The United Methodist Church is engaged in conflict resolution in the Korean Peninsula, Israel and Palestine, Syria, the Philippines, South Sudan and Somalia and Nigeria.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/pwjsun
Peace with Justice Sunday links:
