Living Stream Church of the Brethren affirms our heritage and calling to be a historic AND living peace church. Which means that peace is a big deal to us!
One of our Living Streamers, Linda K. Williams of San Diego, California, has been making peace her way of living. She wrote a song with words that have captured the hearts of folks across the globe:
When Jesus said, “Love your enemies,” I think he probably meant don’t kill them!
It is a simple statement, but one that speaks volumes about living out the teachings of our Christ, on personal and international levels. (Buy a copy of this bumper sticker or T-shirt online through our friends at Brethren Press here.)
Linda truly wrote the book about peace. She edited a collection of stories for the beloved series Chicken Soup for the Soul, Stories for a Better World. Purchase the book through this link and partial proceeds will go to the ministries of On Earth Peace!
Linda has many songs that tell the message of peace, both for Christians and the secular world. Visit her website to find all her songs, available for download. Hear one of her great peace songs set to images of people around the world praying for International Peace Day (images courtesy of PeaceDayPray.tumblr).
In the interview linked here, Linda interviews college student Estella about what the bumper sticker message means for her faith: that Christians are called to “Love, no matter what.”
More “bumper sticker stories” have been collected for the November 2013 issue of Messenger magazine. Read the article here.
Living Stream got the chance to interview Linda during its worship broadcast from Song & Story Fest at Camp Myrtlewood, Oregon, in July of 2013. Watch the full worship service with Linda’s stories and music, by clicking here and watching the video, called “Worship July 21, 2013 from Song & Story Fest, with Linda K Williams (in full)”
Find a 2010 interview with Linda, on Brethren Community Television (interview from ~11-20)
—– SAYING NO TO DRONE WARFARE —–
The Church of the Brethren took a bold step in 2013 by becoming the first denomination to pass a resolution against drone warfare, written by church leaders and affirmed by the Annual Conference delegates from our congregations.
On International Peace Day, on September 22, 2013, Living Stream joined thousands around the world in praying for peace. We took a particular look at what this resolution means for our personal and congregational peace witness. Part of our calling as an online church is to bear witness to ways technology can be used for healing instead of harming, as Pastor Audrey reminded us:
“Now, there’s a bit of a conundrum for us pacifists when we think about drones, and how we want to respond. Part of the conundrum of this sort of peace witness is something raised in a few of the questions and comments raised on the Annual Conference floor when we were presented with the anti-drone statement: Why, if we are opposed to all warfare, and all violence, why should we make a special statement against one kind of weapon? …
“Especially with drones, the violence question is a technology question. And so what we say with our statement against drones, is that not only is the murder wrong and evil, but the use of technology for evil purposes is also evil….
“When we are called to beat our swords into ploughshares, that is a statement about how we use technology: that we use the same materials for sustainable healing, instead of war…
“There is nothing stopping us from being like a nonviolent sort of David facing the seeming Goliath of militarism in the world: we can be smart and use the technology to gain the advantage, and move for peace, justice, and sharing G*d’s Kin-dom worldwide.”
Watch the worship service from September 22, 2013, as an archived video from Fall 2013.