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[Back to index of February articles] Local peace fellowship chapter takes wing By Lucy Chumbley When the Iraq War began, two likeminded people in two different parishes - Helma Lanyi of St. Alban's and Peter Hildebrand of St. Columba's - decided it was time to take a stand for peace. They founded the D.C. Chapter of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship in 2003 with just five card-carrying EPF members, and since then the group has been slowly but steadily gathering momentum. For the last several years the grassroots group, which now boasts 15 to 20 active members, has been "finding itself" Lanyi said. But now, following an up tick in membership and an enthusiastic organizing meeting in January, the group is poised to become more visible and more active, she said. "We will be more of a presence because we have more committed people," she said. "It's needed. Episcopalians need to have a voice like us." While the war is not the group's sole focus - and Lanyi stresses that it's not necessary to be a pacifist to join the EPF - she concedes that the worsening situation in Iraq has contributed to the group's growth. "I think we benefit from the general unhappiness people have with the war," she said. "I think two years ago there were people that thought [war] might work." At its January meeting, the group decided to focus on three areas: taking part in protests and demonstrations (direct action); hosting individual events such as lectures and workshops on nonviolence; and forming a book group to study the issues. The group agreed to serve as a cosponsor of the Jan. 31 Religious Vigil Against Torture on Massachusetts Avenue - a silent protest using candles and signs - and plans to take part in more demonstrations like this in the future. "Things like that we will do wherever we feel we will support [the cause]," Lanyi said. The group also plans to carry the EPF's banner in a March protest that will mark the war's third anniversary. The chapter's aim is to spread the message of nonviolent conflict resolution. Lanyi was recently certified as a Nonviolence Training workshop facilitator by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the oldest interfaith peace organization in the United States. She is now condensing the three-day workshop into a three-hour course which she hopes the chapter will be able to offer to people around the diocese. As part of the training, participants are invited to both speak about circumstances in which they have suffered violence and examine ways in which they have been perpetrators of violence. "I think it's important we realize that we are part of that - violence is not just something done by other people," Lanyi said. EPF defines violence as "anything that destroys or diminishes another person, oneself or the environment." The strength of nonviolent movements lies in numbers, Lanyi said, and she hopes that the fledgling chapter will continue to grow. "What I'm hoping for is that we spread into the greater metro area," she said. "That's our aim - to have a few people in each parish who would be the contact for events we have so more people could come." l The next regular meeting of the DC chapter of the Episcopal Peace fellowship is set for 6:30 to 8 p.m. Feb. 8 in the library at St. Alban's, D.C. (Saterlee Hall). For more information about the chapter, contact Lanyi at 202/364-0546 or helmalanyi@starpower.net. [Back to index of February articles]
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