Join Us in Reimagining Community Safety

by Gretchen Musicant, Elder, and Alanna Simone Tyler, Associate Pastor for Justice & Mission

As Westminster prepared to receive the Peace and Global Witness Offering on September 24, we welcomed Marna Anderson, United States Director of Nonviolent Peaceforce, one of a growing number of organizations around the world using unarmed and nonviolent approaches to protect civilians and prevent violence. Anderson said, “People are looking for responses to conflict that do not involve force or threat of force, but rather seek to address the systemic causes of conflict and resolve those through dialogue, negotiation, and peaceful means to protect civilians through unarmed accompaniment and presence.”

Peace and safety are both global and local concerns. The Rev. Denise Anderson of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Office of Racial and Intercultural Justice has invited us to examine what safety could look like in our wildest and most just dreams. Westminster’s Social Justice Ministry Team would like to convene a group to reimagine community safety locally. The group will learn through engagement with local community efforts and help create a new Westminster statement on safety.

If you are interested in joining with other Westminster members to discern how God is calling us to new ways of creating safe communities, contact Alanna Simone Tyler or Gretchen Musicant.

A local opportunity to learn about new ways to promote peace and safety will occur on Tuesday, November 14 when the Nonviolent Peaceforce will celebrate the opening of their Hub for Nonviolence and Safety in North Minneapolis. The event will include food, music, art making, and conversation about the Nonviolent Peaceforce’s Community Peacebuilders. Please join us if you are able. Contact Anna Zaros for more information.