Ruth Orantes to attend Global Baptist Peace Conference in Rome

We celebrate the good news that Ruth Orantes will be attending the Global Baptist Peace Conference in Rome in February 2009. The invitation for CBC to sponsor Ruth as a delegate for the conference came to us following Ruth's participation in the Alliance of Baptists convocation in New Orleans in 2008.

This global event will inaugurate the 400th anniversary year of the Baptist heritage being recognized in various locations around the world. Like previous conferences in Sweden (1988), Nicaragua (1992), and Australia (2000), this gathering will bring together Baptists who are active in nonviolent struggles for justice and for strengthening the witness of Baptist peacemaking in various global contexts.

The conference will consist of six days including intensive training in conflict transformation, nonviolent prophetic action, and other relevant topics, inspiring speakers, workshops, and worship.

The Global Baptist Peace Conference is sponsored by numerous Baptist organizations from around the world, including the Alliance of Baptists, American Baptist Churches, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Unione Cristiana Evangelica Battista d'Italia, Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia, and the Baptist Union of Great Britain.

Funding for Ruth's travel and registration for the event has been made possible through the generosity of a number of congregations and groups: Central Baptist Church / Wayne, PA; First Baptist Church / Madison, Indiana; Protestant Church of Holland (a sister congregation to Shekina); Alliance of Baptists "Bridges of Hope" 2008 grant; Global Wellness Treaty Fund.

To learn more about the conference, visit www.globalbaptistpeace.org. We look forward to an official report from Ruth upon her return!

Partnership Conversations, Plans for 2009, Prayer Requests, and Politics in El Salvador

Please plan to stay after worship this coming Sunday, Jan 4th, for important conversations about CBC's El Salvador and New Orleans partnerships. The gathering will be facilitated by Marcus and Laurie. The goal will be to put together a document on these two partnerships that can become part of the church profile documents for the pastoral search process. Bring your own sandwich. Drinks, chips, and fruit will be provided.

For those of you who are looking ahead to the coming year and filling in your new calendars, there is a new 2009 Planning Calendar outlining key dates and events relevant to our El Salvador relationships posted at the top of the blog.

A couple of personal prayer requests from Ruth and Alex -- One of their good friends (seminary classmate and a pastor colleague) died in mid-December. They have had a long and special relationship with this friend and his family, and they feel a deep loss. Also, Alex's brother who lives in Los Angeles shared the news that his wife has been diagnosed with cancer. Ruth is very grateful that she will be able to spend a few days in Los Angeles visiting them on her way back from the Global Baptist Peace Conference in Rome.

As El Salvador prepares for their elections in January and in March, there is both great hope and great anxiety. There are a number of good on-line resources to keep informed. SHARE is doing a great job providing analysis of issues and updates about the political situation. Here's a quick list of links to some of the recent headlines from the SHARE website at www.share-elsalvador.org:

• Elections Watch: November Update

• Elections Watch: October Update

• Action Alert - October 2008

• Elections Watch: September Update

• Transparency and the MCC-Financed Transnational Highway

• The Dawn of a New Era? El Salvador's Upcoming Elections

• New US Grassroots Coordinator's Perspective on El Salvador

• Political Violence Increases in El Salvador as Elections Near

Hope to see a good group on Sunday!