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Join IPWG

IPWG is a membership organization. We invite you to become a member by sending a membership contribution in an amount of your own choosing, but no less than $10.00. Checks should be made out to the Interfaith Peace Working Group and sent to Dennis Collier, 1516 Wheeler Road, Unit C, Madison, WI 53704. Your membership contribution will be used to support our work for peace and nonviolence.

Newsletter

IPWG publishes a quarterly newsletter containing:

  • reflections on the role of nonviolence in the life and teaching of the world’s major faith communities

  • reviews of educational and liturgical resources on nonviolence appropriate for use in local faith communities

  • information about local, regional, and national nonviolence events and actions

  • articles about policy issues and actions related to international peace and nonviolent action

  • information about U.S. military expenditures and efforts to reduce it

IPWG’s newsletter is free, but donations to help cover the cost of producing it are welcome. Subscribe now!

See past issues of the newsletter on the Resources page.

 

Speakers & Presentations

IPWG can arrange speakers for local congregations who can speak about subjects, such as the role of nonviolence in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or other faiths, the power of nonviolence as a tool in struggles for peace and justice, the military budget of the U.S. and its effects on our society, and the efforts to reduce U.S. military spending and transfer funds to civil projects.

There is no charge for these presentations, although donations to the IPWG are encouraged.

DUANE BEACHEY: JESUS’ UNREALISTIC CALL TO LOVE

DUANE BEACHEY: JESUS’ UNREALISTIC CALL TO LOVE

Duane Beachey is a retired Mennonite pastor, who most recently pastored two Presbyterian churches in the Appalachian region of Kentucky. He is author of two books: Faith in a Nuclear Age, Herald Press, 1983 and Reading the Bible As If Jesus Mattered, Cascadia Publishing, 2014. His theme in both books is that while Christians claim to follow Jesus, to a large degree they ignore Jesus’ nonviolent teachings like “Love your enemy!”

This presentation will look at the ways the church gets around this teaching of Jesus by pointing to the wars of Israel or quoting and misinterpreting Paul’s words in Romans 13, thereby canceling out Jesus’ teaching “love your enemy.” It will also look at how Jesus’ call to love and nonviolence relates to the nature of God.

If you would like to have Duane speak to your group, contact him here or use the contact form on the Contact Us page.

 

JERRY FOLK: NONVIOLENCE, A FORCE MORE POWERFUL

JERRY FOLK: NONVIOLENCE, A FORCE MORE POWERFUL

At each session of this study of Nonviolent Action, participants will view and discuss episodes from the special series A Force More Powerful, shown on PBS in 2000. These episodes weave together dramatic footage of nonviolent campaigns in India, Poland, South Africa, USA, Chile and Denmark and interviews with participants and leaders of these campaigns. These riveting videos reveal the power of nonviolent direct action, which scholars Maria Stephan and Erica Chenoweth in their definitive book Why Civil Resistance Works have shown to be twice as effective as violence in effecting social change. This study can be offered in various lengths and formats, depending on the needs of the group.

Dr. Jerry Folk is a retired ELCA pastor. Jerry served as pastor in an inner-city congregation in Ohio in the 1970s, taught religious studies and peace studies at Bethany College in Bethany West Virginia, and was founding director of The Shalom Center for Continuing Theological Education in Sioux Falls South Dakota. He also served as Executive Director of the ELCA's Commission for Church in Society, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Madison, and Executive Director of the Wisconsin Council of Church. Jerry is the author or co-author of three Fortress Press books and numerous articles.

Any person or group interested in offering this study, contact Jerry Folk. 

 

DENNY WEAVER: THE BIBLICAL BASIS OF NONVIOLENCE & NONVIOLENT ACTION

DENNY WEAVER: THE BIBLICAL BASIS OF NONVIOLENCE & NONVIOLENT ACTION

DENNY WEAVER: ON VIOLENCE & NONVIOLENCE IN THEOLOGY

The biblical basis of nonviolence and nonviolent activism. This presentation begins with Jesus’ life and teaching and then a discussion of the theory of nonviolence and its applications.

DENNY WEAVER: ON VIOLENCE & NONVIOLENCE IN THEOLOGY

This presentation begins with a focus on atonement theology and a critique of Anselm, an 11th-century archbishop and theologian, who developed the classic atonement theory of the Western Church. A second focus is on the character of God and the question of violence in the Old Testament and the Doctrine of Discovery. The presentation will offer alternatives to the violence inherent in both atonement theology and the Old Testament. In each case, I have alternatives to the violence accommodating standard formulas. A second focus is Christology. This focus also includes a discussion of the character of God and the questions of violence in the Old Testament and the Doctrine of Discovery.

Dr. Denny Weaver is a Mennonite biblical scholar and theologian who taught in the Religion Department of Bluffton University for 31 years. Denny also served seven years on the Peace and Justice Commission of the Wisconsin Council of Churches. Denny is the author of four books about these topics: The Nonviolent Atonement, The Nonviolent God, God Without Violence and New Moves: A Theological Odyssey.

Any person or group interested in setting up one of these presentations, please contact Denny Weaver.

 

IPWG Recommends

  • “In the two decades since, that 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force has been formally invoked to justify counterterrorism (CT) operations — including ground combat, airstrikes, detention, and the support of partner militaries — in 22 countries, according to a new report by Stephanie Savell of Brown University’s Costs of War Project. During that same time, the number of terrorist groups threatening Americans and American interests has, according to the U.S. State Department, more than doubled.”

  • “You don’t have to be a pacifist to wonder if this imbalance between military and nonmilitary spending makes sense. When we face so many other major challenges—from climate disasters to political instability and insurrection—shouldn’t we ask whether it remains wise to keep handing the military what is effectively a blank check?”

  • “‘Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone?’ (Mt 7:9)

    Who would give a stone to a child asking for bread? And yet, too many people—especially children—do not have access to the resources they need to develop to their fullest human potential...The military budget continues to grow while our hungry children go unfed. The need for nonviolent solutions remains more urgent than ever.”