On July 7, during a free afternoon at Charlotte 2005, the joint convention of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, more than 350 people joined in worship and the proclamation of the lordship of Christ, using these themes:

• The truth we proclaim is that our security rests in God's strength and not in military power.

• The healing we proclaim is that we are committed to use our bodies and our money to help our neighbors and enemies, rather than to hurt them with violence.

After an hour of worship, we walked to a local military recruitment center for a public witness.

Throughout the event, our language was Christ-centered. We had a worship gathering rather than a peace rally. We took a prayer walk rather than had a march. Our signs reminded us of Jesus' words (e.g., "Love your enemies means don't kill them"). These purposeful choices were one way to invite people new to public witness to give it a try.

A half-dozen dynamic speakers led us toward the big event, putting in writing how we would continue this proclaiming after we got home. Each participant received a long sheet of paper with 15 ideas for follow-up, including a first resource (see <http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/gathering2005/witness.html>). About 170 people of all ages finished this sentence on the postcard we'll mail back to them in a few months: In response to the love that God showed me when I was God's enemy, I am willing to risk for peace by committing myself to:

Numerous people picked up on the themes of the afternoon by saying they would:

• work on counter-recruitment in local public schools (for more information on the Leave My Child Alone! Campaign, see <http://www.leavemychildalone.org> or <http://www.rcnv.org/counterrecruit/optout>);

• fill out a Christian Peacemaker Registration form (see <http://www.mcc.org/ask-a-vet/peacemaker.html>);

• serve in a place of conflict with Mennonite Central Committee (<http://www.mcc.org/areaserv.html>) or Christian Peacemaker Teams (<http://www.cpt.org>);

• form a relationship with their congressional representative;

• write a letter to the local newspaper about military expenditures;

• reduce taxable income;

• enter into prayerful and respectful dialogue with someone with whom they disagree;

• look further into the idea of tax resistance.

Some people added commitments that were more personal, such as:

• "I will present Christ's message of love and peace humbly to all I encounter."

• "I will speak up when I encounter theology or action that promotes the empire and blesses U.S. policy."

• "I will wear my peace clothing more."

• "I will make a public display of my commitment to peace-I've never been part of a walk before."

• "I will create a presentation on 'Peace works!' and do presentations."

• "I will stop paying the federal excise tax on my phone bill." (For more information on this action, see <http://www.nwtrcc.org/phonetax.htm>.)

• "I will build bridges of reconciliation between bickering employees."

• "I will bring a vanload of youth to the School of the Americas protest in November." (For more information, see <http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=999>.)

• "I will begin the process of forming an Anabaptist Peace Resource Center in my city."

Despite the likelihood that tropical storm Cindy would dump rain on us, we decided we weren't "sunshine peacemakers" and 265 people set off toward the local recruitment center for a public witness. Local news folks called this probably the largest "march" (our language didn't seep out to everyone, apparently) Charlotte had ever seen. We were covered by at least one radio and one TV station and the newspapers.

By the time we reached the recruitment center, the deluge began. Most people had rivulets of water soaking them for about 40 minutes. One person wisely said, "I'm glad it rained. This will fix today's events in the minds of people for whom this witness was a first-time event." Perhaps the person whose digital camera and cell phone were destroyed will remember the sacrifice best.

But who was most affected by this witness? The people along the prayer walk route, who gestured up or down as they passed us by? The people who read the Charlotte or the Mennonite news coverage? Or was our biggest witness to ourselves, encouraging the long-term peacemakers to keep on the path and inviting new ones to join us? How do we measure and improve on faithfulness and effectiveness as we continue to try to share the good news of Christ's call to peace in a world at war?

A final note:
There are a few extra copies of the handouts available on a first-come basis. We'll appreciate a donation toward printing costs and postage and seed money toward the next public witness. There were three handouts:

• the informational brochure (<http://peace.mennolink.org/resources/peaceaction05.pdf>)

• the commitment sheet (with a simple poster on the back)

• a paper plate with these words printed on it: "I needed bread and you sent me a bomb" <http://peace.mennolink.org/mag/images/article/214.plate.gif>

Send your mailing address along with the handouts you want and the number of each to LisaA@MennoniteUSA.org.