Peace Circles seminar encourages active peacemaking

PJSN is excited to partner with Jane Roeschly of Normal
Mennonite Church to offer Peace Circles. Peace Circles are a 6-week experience
for groups of 6–10 designed to empower participants for acts of peacemaking in
their hearts, homes, community and the world while being supported with prayer
and spiritual community. This is a new way to help yourself and others get
involved in active peacemaking!

Peace Circles are built around a 3-step process:

1. Awareness


Call to mind and hear an image or feeling that makes you
feel peace.  Focus on what already feels
peaceful to you. Going around the
circle, share aloud saying, “I feel peaceful when…”

2. Vision


This is about vision at any level – personal, community,
world. Call to mind what you experience
or know is NOT peaceful in you, in a setting in which you work or live, in your
community, congregation, world. Consider
what would make that situation more peace for yourself or others. Imagining the peaceful situation you would
like to see come about, share around the circle by saying, “Peace for me would
be…”

3. Action


Consider a very specific, single, realistic action you are
willing to take (or behavior you are willing to change) this week to grow
peace. This is commonly related to Step
2 (though not always).  Complete this
statement, “To grow peace, this week I will…”