Among the many newsletters that come across my desk each month is one from "The Center for Progressive Christianity".Their mission is:

To reach out to those for whom organized religion has proved ineffectual, irrelevant, or repressive, as well as to those who have given up on or are unacquainted with it.
To uphold evangelism as an agent of justice and peace.
To give a strong voice both in the churches and the public arena to the advocates of progressive Christianity.
To support those who embrace the search, not certainty.
By using the term "progressive" they mean that they are Christians who:

1. Proclaim Jesus Christ as our Gate to the realm of God
2. Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the gateway to God's realm.
3. Understand our sharing of bread and wine in Jesus's name to be a representation of God's feast for all peoples.
4. Invite all sorts and conditions of people to join in our worship and in our common life as full partners, including (but not limited to):
•  believers and agnostics,
•  conventional Christians and questioning skeptics, •  homosexuals and heterosexuals,
•  females and males,
•  the despairing and the hopeful,
•  those of all races and cultures, and
•  those of all classes and abilities, 
without imposing on them the necessity of becoming like us;

5. Think that the way we treat one another and other people is more important than the way we express our beliefs;
6. Find more grace in the search for meaning than in absolute certainty, in the questions than in the answers;
7. See ourselves as a spiritual community in which we discover the resources required for our work in the world: striving for justice and peace among all people; bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and brothers;
8. Recognize that our faith entails costly discipleship, renunciation of privilege, and conscientious resistance to evil--as has always been the tradition of the church.

These points sound like we at Plymouth Church could have written them. It’s good to know that an inclusive vision of Christianity is finding a public voice. Does it have your voice, Too? Celebrate and share new life — Easter continues!
Easter blessings,
Lois

A paper developed by the Center for the Advancement of Nonviolence.
Since the 9-11 attack on the U.S. and the initiation of the “War on Terrorism,” many  Americans wrestle with difficult questions. “ What is our most effective defense against terrorism?” “What is the most effective course of action to create a lasting peace?”  “Is massive military action the only means available to us to counter the threat of violence that confronts us?”

As a nation, we are so literate about the ways of violence that problem-solving turns almost exclusively to solutions based on violence. Yet, there is ample evidence that violent solutions lock us into ever escalating cycles of violence and revenge. 

 We believe that actions based on nonviolence are the most effective way to create a safer nation and a safer world. Just as the cure for a disease must resolve the cause of the disease and not just the symptoms, strategies for peace must address the causes of violence as well as acts of violence.  Lasting peace must ultimately be based on actions that honor the dignity and the needs of all parties concerned.  Lasting peace must be based on justice and provide structures that support justice-making, peace-making, healing and reconciliation. 

 What kinds of solutions are these?  As a response to those people asking, “What alternative do we have to war?,” The Center for the Advancement of Nonviolence offers the following “Keys to a Safer Nation” as a catalyst for informed dialogue.  This document focuses primarily on U.S. foreign policy.

1.    Strengthen International Institutions and Commit to International Cooperation
Take appropriate international police action rather than war in response to 9-11.

Support and live by international human rights agreements such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Convention Against Torture, The Geneva Conventions etc.
Sign, ratify and abide by International Treaties. (See list).

2.    Stop International Money-Laundering
Changing U.S. bank secrecy laws to pierce the global money-laundering system is as essential to stopping terrorism as military force and diplomatic moves. This structure is allowed to exist by agreement of the world's banks and financial powers that benefit from it.  Support immediate passage of legislation sponsored by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), which addresses tax havens, and get behind efforts by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to crack down on enclaves of bank and corporate secrecy.

3.    Enforce Restrictions on Arms Trade 
The U.S. is the world’s number one arms exporter in arms deals to both the developed and developing world.  ($18.6 billion in the year 2000).  The U.S. has supplied arms or military technology to 39 of the 42 active conflicts worldwide (more than 92%).   U. S. gun industry sold at least twenty-five of the dangerous 50 caliber sniper rifles to the Al Qaeda organization.  Promote efforts to create a “Code of Conduct” governing countries eligible to receive U.S. weapons based on criteria such as 
human rights & democracy. (Center for Defense Information & the Violence Policy Center)

4.    Cease Covert Operation & Close Military Training Schools 
Cease covert operations that undermine the sovereignty of nations, including the overthrow of democratically elected governments (i.e., Chile, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Iran, etc.).
Close the US Army School of the Americas (SOA), now called Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC).  Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. 

5.    Eliminate Weapons of Mass Destruction
The current explosive power of America's nuclear warheads is 100,000 times greater than the single Hiroshima bomb. 

Deny funding for any program, project or activity that is inconsistent with the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
• Support the Space Preservation Act of 2001 (HR2977 – banning space based weapons), introduced by 
Congressman Dennis Kucinch.
• Increase, rather than cut, funding programs to safeguard nuclear materials in the former USSR.
• Scale down U.S. arsenal to reduce the nuclear danger and begin a phase-out of the 103 nuclear power plants currently operating in the U.S. 

6.    Address Root Causes of Violence—Poverty, Inequity & Hopelessness 
Reform the policies and practices of the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund. Incorporate core international worker rights into the international trading system, adopt existing legal mechanism for implementing accountability, forgive loans in proportion to the institution responsibility for their failure and place corporate behavior on the agenda. 
The U.S. currently contributes less foreign aid per capita than any other developed nation. Use U.S. power, resources and technology to design and implement a development plan in Latin America, Asia & Africa that will achieve sustainability and improve quality of life.

End the economic embargo on Iraq. Targeting civilians with the intention of pressuring their governments does not make us safe. According to the United Nations, the decade-long food and drug embargo on Iraq directly contributed to the death of 500,000 children while having no impact on Saddam Hussein.

7. .   Decrease our dependency on oil.
Improve the fuel efficiency of cars, trucks and SUVs.  According to NRDC, by raising the average gas mileage of all new cars to 40 mpg, our country would save more than 50 billion barrels of oil over the next 50 years. By the year 2020, this would mean a savings of more than 3 million barrels every day -- which is more than the amount of oil we now import from the Persian Gulf.
Make development of renewable energy alternatives a national priority. Expand public transportation systems. 

Congratulations:  to Jamie Davis on his latest CD, now available. I hear it is a beautiful CD! Mark Little Produced and arranged the CD. "it's All About Love" Check out his website: www.jamiedavisvocalistsite.com

First Friday Night Out
Friday, April 5th, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Come and have a relaxing evening with cards, games, music and food!
Invite your friends, too!
Carol and Bill Dabney are hosts and Greg Jones will provide music.
Intergenerational Bible Study Thursdays, 7-8:30
April 11th – Plymouth Church, Fireside Room.
April 25th – Helen Grant’s, 6182 Ocean View Drive, 653-4452
Worship During April
April 7th – Easter isn’t over. We continue to celebrate in music, word and communion.
Daylight Savings begins! Turn you clocks forward.
April 14th -- Commissioning of Nursing Home Ministry.
April 21st -- Ecojustice Sabbath. We celebrate God’s continuing revelation through our earth.
April 28th -- Piedmont Ave. School Band, under the direction of our own Marlo Green, helps to lead worship.

May 3rd: First Friday Night Out, 7:30-10 p.m.
May 5th: Cinco de Mayo observance during worship.
May 12th: Mothers’ Day Festival of the Christian Home
June 2nd: Oakland Coalition of Congregations will hold a Public Action meeting on Sunday, June 2nd, 3-5 p.m., at Allen Temple Baptist Church.