Witness Life Commission
Report to the Coordinating Council
March 28, 2008
There is no update on current
agenda items due to cancellation of the March Commission meetings, except that
work continues on the preparation of a resolution for the AM calling upon the
Conference to study toward becoming an O&A Conference.
Karen Nielsen and Jeanne Davis, members of the
Commission, and Sarah Bigney, a member of the national JWM Board, represented
Maine at a justice witness meeting in Lawrence, MA on 2/23/08.
All six NE Conferences were
represented and each reported about the issues they are addressing as well as
the structure within their conference.
Edie Rasell from the national UCC office
reviewed current JWM issues.
It was agreed that the six conferences will work
collaboratively on the issue of opposing torture, basing plans on the National
Religious Campaign Against Torture. It is hoped that conferences, congregations
and individuals will become endorsing members of the Campaign before and during
the planned focus during the month of June. Action toward that goal will begin with a Pastoral Letter from the
Conference Ministers signed at the time of their April meeting, or sooner.
This campaign will be a pilot project with the
hope that other issues can also be addressed cooperatively across the
region.
The next will be in the area of
environmental concern.
A steering committee has been established and
there are plans to meet again on Saturday, September 13, 2008.
