Peace Ministry Team
News from the Peace Ministry Team, a group of FCCB members and friends who look at national and international issues having to do with creating peace in the world. They organize educational and advocacy opportunities and looks for ways for members of the congregation to get involved in these issues.
Noted Scholar to Address Islamophobia
October 2, 2010
On Saturday, October 2, Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, professor at George Washington University, will be speaking on “How to Be a Muslim in America Today” at the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California at 6 pm.
Dr. Nasr will address the roots and causes of Islamophobia, its current impact, and how to reconcile Islamic tradition with an American identity. A question-and-answer session will follow.
The event is presented by the Islamic Cultural Center in co-operation with First Congregational Church of Berkeley, Graduate Theological Union and ILLUME Magazine.
Dr. Nasr is one of the world's leading authorities on science and modernity in relation to Islamic spirituality and philosophy. He is a winner of the Templeton Award in Religion and Science, the first Muslim to deliver the prestigious Gifford Lectures, and the author of over fifty books and five hundred articles.
The Center is located at 1433 Madison Street in downtown Oakland between 14th and 15th Streets. Map and directions. Tickets are $10 general and $5 for students. For more information: www.iccnc.org or call 510/832-7600. All ages and backgrounds are welcome. No special attire is required.
First Congregational Church of Berkeley is proud to have developed a close relationwhip with the Islamic Cultural Center over the past few years.
Axis of Friendship
September 12, 2010
On Sunday, September 12 marked Axis of Friendship Sunday, a celebration of relationships between the US and Iran. In 2009, FCCB and several other UCC churches submitted a resolution to the UCC General Synod, which was passed, that established this special day. FCCB will mark this occasion in several ways.
On Friday morning, September 10, about a dozen FCCB members and friends joined with the members of the Oakland Islamic Cultural Center as theybroke their Ramadan fast at 9:30am. FCCB has been developing a friendship with that community over the last few years.
On Sunday, September 12, Senior Minister Patricia de Jong preached on the controversy surrounding the building of an Islamic center in downtown New York City and Sam Rennebohm preached about having courage in the face of our fears. Both of the morning services including a candlelighting ritual acknowledging that after 9/11 occurred, thousands of Iranians lit candles in their windows in sympathy and solidarity with the US. Amir Soltani, a friend of our congregation and one of the originators of the Axis of Friendship idea read poetry from Hafez in both Farsi and English.
During the Learning Hour (10 am on September 12), our special guest was Hamid Azimi of the Iranian American Community of Northern California which has been advocating for the pro-democracy folks inside Iran and for protecting a group of Iranian exiles in Iraq. Barbara Grady-Ayer has had opportunities to interact with this community and has written about them in the Oakland Tribune.
You may also read an article by FCCB member Rita Nakashima Brock in the Huffington Post called “Remembering the Sacred Acts of 9/12/01.”
Axis of Friendship Day: Celebrating Connections with the People of Iran
September 13, 2009
The day after September 11, 2001, as Americans grieved and struggled to rescue victims from the devastation, people half way around the world in Iran grieved with us by lighting candles of friendship and placing them in their windows.
Now, in 2009, as Iranians struggle to have their voices heard in a fragile attempt at democracy, it is our turn as Americans to express friendship.
September 13 will be Axis of Friendship Sunday at FCCB and at many United Church of Christ churches. During FCCB’s worship service, Senior Minister Patricia de Jong and theologian and activist Rita Nakashima Brock will reflect on their connections to Iran and the desire to have peaceful relationships with its people. Congregants are also invited to place candles (safely!) in their windows on Sept. 12 or 13. The FCCB Peace Ministry will hand out LED candles on Sept 6 and 13 in the Large Assembly.
This summer a resolution calling for an “Axis of Friendship with the People of Iran” co-sponsored by FCCB and other UCC churches was presented to the United Church of Christ General Synod. The Synod resoundingly approved a resolution calling for Solidarity and Friendship with Iran.
Iranians’ outpouring of friendship during September of 2001 was beyond expectations. The U.S. government had severed diplomatic relations with Iran 22 years earlier and then aided Iran’s enemy, Iraq, during the long war between the two countries. But the Iranian people looked beyond government actions to express friendship and condolences to American people. For the sake of peace, let us do the same.
General Synod Passes Iran Resolution
July 1, 2009
The General Synod of the United Church of Christ overwhelmingly passed a resolution at it’s recent meeting in Grand Rapids entitled “Solidarity and Friendship with Iran.” The resolution calls for peaceful relationships with the country and people of Iran.
First Congregational Church had advanced a resolution creating an “Axis of Friendship Day” each year on September 12 to acknowledge the sympathetic response of the people of Iran to the events of September 11. Several other churches signed on the resolution. At General Synod, our resolution was forwarded on to a Synod committee for consideration along with two other resolutions concerning Iran. The committee made up of Synod delegates from across the country was charged with considering the resolutions and bringing a recommendation to the floor. They chose to combine the three resolutions to create a substitute resolution.
The new resolution included the language about the Axis of Friendship Day, but lacked some of the specifics that were included in our resolution. The passage of the resolution will mean that the national church will have a basis on which to respond to some of the issues concerning Iran, including promoting the Axis of Friendship Day.
Read the resolution passed by General Synod here.
Read our original Axis of Friendship resolution.
Second Hour Presentation on “Axis of Friendship” Synod Resolution
December 14, 2008
On Sunday, December 14, a “Second Hour” presentation by Senior Minister Patricia de Jong, Sam Keen and Ali Sheikholeslami, director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, discussed the “Axis of Friendship” General Synod Resolution and answered questions from the congregation. Read Barbara Grady-Ayer’s report of this meeting.
Synod Resolution Promotes “Axis of Friendship” with Iran
November 24, 2008
Senior Minister Patricia de Jong along with members of the Peace Ministry Team at First Congregational Church of Berkeley have been preparing a resolution promoting peace with Iran that they hope to present to General Synod 27, the national meeting of the United Church Church of Christ, to be held in late June in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The General Synod resolution promotes an “Axis of Friendship” building on connections of friendship and faith with the people of Iran. It counters the confrontational language that has been used in political and media discourse, especially President George Bush’s designation of Iran as part of the “Axis of Evil.” It also recommends September 12 as an “Axis of Friendship Day,” suggesting that the events of September 11, 2001, have been used to generate misplaced fear in the US population against Iran.
Patricia, her husband Sam Keen and FCCB member Katharine Kunst traveled to Iran last April with a delegation from Fellowship for Reconciliation. “I know,” Pat said, “that the people of Iran want to reach out a hand of friendship to the people of the US. They seek peace and connection as passionately as we do.” FCCB member Rita Nakashima Brock, who was key in organizing an Axis of Friendship Festival last September 12 in San Francisco says, “The day after the events of 9/11, Iranians lit candles in compassion for those who were suffering in the United States. We want to encourage direct connections and cross-cultural sharing between the people of the United States and Iran, and in particular with the many Iranian-Americans who are living in our communities across the U.S. They, most of all, seek peace between our nations.”
The resolution has been presented and endorsed by the Church Council and The Ministry of Outreach, Mission and Service. On Sunday, December 14, there will be a special “Second Hour” on the resolution with a vote by the congregation to come on Sunday, December 21. The resolution will also need to be supported by five other churches in our denomination before it can be submitted to General Synod.