Rev. William C. Bills
September 4, 2018

Peace Quest was started as a weeklong event a few years ago. The East Lansing Peace Education Center puts on Peace Quest every year to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Peace. September 21 marks the thirty-seventh anniversary of the first International Day of Peace. 2018 is also the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ratified by the UN on December 10, 1948. The Peace Education Center Board of Directors has expanded this year’s Peace Quest to include the entire month of September.

Flyers for Peace Quest events are available in the Sunday bulletin, our website, and at the church. There are many events scheduled throughout September. Governor Snyder, at the request of the Peace Education Center, has officially proclaimed Thursday, September 21, 2018 to be Peace Day in Michigan. On that day a rally will be held at the capitol from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

There are two other Peace Quest events that I hope you will be able to attend on Sunday, September 16 and Thursday, September 27. On September 16 our guest speaker at 11:00 worship will be Imam Sohail Chaudry of the Lansing Area Islamic Center. Imam Chaudry will preach on “The Right to Peace”. I hope that you will welcome Imam Chaudry and other guests from the Muslim community for worship that day. On Thursday, September 27 at Studio C, we will co-sponsor with Okemos Presbyterian Church, a special showing of the documentary film “Trails of Hope and Terror”. This movie about immigration was written by Dr. Miguel De La Torre. De La Torre was the keynote speaker at our Keep Making Peace event, last spring. He is Professor of Christian Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Illiff School of Theology in Denver. Dr. De La Torre is a Fulbright Scholar and past director of The American Academy of Religion. His family was instrumental in helping to film and produce the movie.

I hope that you will be present for worship on September 16 to welcome Imam Chaudry. I hope too that you will find a few other Peace Quest events that will fit into your schedule and stand up for peace.