A major Ghost Ranch event this s

Ghost Ranch
July 28 - August 3, 2008
Paths toward Peace and Justice

A friendly reminder for those who like to save money and still have a great time

Register BEFORE May 20^th for the Week for Peace and Justice at Ghost Ranch, and you can save $100!

Scroll down to check out our information on this important event.

Or go to the Ghost Ranch website for more complete information >>

Click here to download registration forms (in PDF format)

Registration on-line is coming SOON

Meanwhile, you have to make a choice which seminar you'll attend - not easy to choose just one !

Jane Hanna, former Witherspoon president and the main organizer of this event, adds this note:

Did I mention that the price for housing goes up $100 the 1st of May? This is an attempt this year to encourage people to register earlier than they have in the past. Also, the full amount for housing needn't be paid all at once at the time of registration. Some can be paid on arrival.

There are two less expensive ways for families to be at the ranch. One is the camping alternative, the other to be housed together where the first two pay full room expense and the rest just for food. I hope there will be many families with teenagers who will sign up as the teenage program promises to be excellent.

Hope this helps. Jane

A major Ghost Ranch event this summer!

July 28 - August 3, 2008

Paths toward Peace and Justice:
Spirituality, Earth-Care, and the Prophetic Word in a time of Violence

[2-7-08]

In partnership with the Witherspoon Society, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Presbyterians for Restoring Creation, and the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.

Jane Hanna, Coordinator

Come to Ghost Ranch for a revival of the old fashioned "cowboy camp-meetings" of its history. Each morning will offer high quality workshops on a wide variety of issues and artistic expressions related to peacemaking, justice and earth-care. Afternoons will include some activities and free time to enjoy Ghost Ranch. Nancy Eng MacNeill and Mark Koenig of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program staff will offer an intergenerational activity each day after lunch. One afternoon, they will also lead a workshop on the work of the Kaleidoscope Institute, founded by Eric H.F. Law, that seeks to help people become effective leaders in a multicultural community and develop skills in building more inclusive communities.

Evenings will center on all-Ranch worship with former PC(USA) Moderator John Fife and Rabbi Lynn Gottleib offering the prophetic word in the beautiful Agape Center, looking out over the valley toward Pedernal. This year there will be a concerted effort to join the "arts" side of the program with the "seminar" side. Rev. Carol Wickersham, founder of No2Torture, will design and coordinate the worship experiences. Eric Choate, graduating senior from The AZ School for the Performing Arts and pianist extraordinaire will return this summer to bless our worship experience.

Families, note that there will be a special "Peace and Justice Track" for high school students this year. Former Young Adult Volunteer Andrea Leonard will team with the College staff to build an experience that integrates the high school students into the broader community and conversation. High school seminars will be highly interactive, activity-based, and a lot of fun.

Rick Ufford-Chase and Gail Brown will reprise the popular "camp culture" begun in 2007, offering a low-cost housing and food option in the campground. Enjoy fellowship over shared meals and late night campfires. Please choose the campground for your housing option, and contact Rick to let him know that you hope to participate in the meals (including prep and cleanup) in the campground. Cost of food will be approximately $60 per person for the meals Tuesday through Saturday. Campers are encouraged to eat in the dining hall (pay as you go) on Monday evening and Sunday morning.

For more information, and to register,
go to the Ghost Ranch website
or to the page for this week.

To join us, register for one of the following courses:

The Covenant Community (Peace and Justice Witness) PJ811a

Join Rick Ufford-Chase for a “focus group” experience on developing a religious order that centers on a vocational commitment to peace and justice work. What kind of community might invite followers of Jesus into a total re-orientation of our lives? How might such a dispersed community offer the opportunity to deepen our spirituality, hallow our life support systems, and invite us into meaningful work in the world? This workshop will be highly participative, and will include daily biblical study and small group sharing.

Rick Ufford-Chase, Tucson, AZ Rick is the Director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Moderator of the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a volunteer with No More Deaths and Christian Peacemaker Teams.

Faith, Workers and Economic Justice PJ811b

Are workers in your congregation or community struggling to make ends meet or be treated with respect and dignity? This workshop will offer an overview of the economic challenges facing workers, concrete strategies for challenging unjust treatment of workers, and hands-on practice in putting our faith into effective action. Participants will share in Bible study, personal reflections on work, group exercises and discussion, and "real-life" experiences supporting Santa Fe workers. Participants will gain organizing tools and resources for engaging people of faith in economic justice campaigns.

Kim Bobo, Chicago, IL Kim is the Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice and co-author of Organizing for Social Change.

Trina Zelle, AZ Trina is a Witherspoon Society co-moderator, Presbyterian Pastor and Director of Arizona Interfaith Worker Justice.

Preaching the Prophetic Word in a Time of Fear PJ811c

This workshop will be team-taught by conference preachers Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb and the Rev. John Fife.

In this seminar, Lynn will focus on women’s ways of speaking truth to power through the lens of the Jewish tradition. Lynn uses the text, story telling, poetry, ceremony and drum to help the participants experience women’s prophetic voices that are woven throughout the Hebrew scriptures. One session will focus on women in spiritual leadership in the Quran. John will draw on biblical themes from both the prophetic tradition and from the stories and teachings of Jesus. Together, Lynn and John will help participants to find their own prophetic voices in the midst of the empire.

Lynn Gottlieb, Ojai, CA Lynn is a well-known peacemaker who has reached across many barriers and divisions to work for peace and justice.
John Fife, Tucson, AZ John spent his ministry calling his congregants at Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson and the surrounding community to live into their calling as children of a God of justice. John is retired and an active volunteer with No More Deaths, doing search and rescue patrol for migrants at risk in the desert.

Singing Songs of Peace in a Turbulent World PJ811d

This morning workshop will look at the rich history of the music of peace from the great hymns of the church to the plaintive folk songs of the Civil War to the rich songs of protest that fueled the Civil Rights movement of the ‘60’s. We will work together to craft music and words that help express the human longings for peace. The workshop group will produce an original piece to share with the entire group at the final celebration of the week. Instruments are welcome but not required.

Tom Zehnder and Tim Gibbs Zehnder, Los Angeles, CA Tom Zehnder and Tim Gibbs Zehnder are twins who currently compose, arrange, perform and record as an independent duo based in Los Angeles. Tim plays bass and doumbek, Tom plays guitar and djembe, and the two raise their voices together in elaborate duets. Mostly self taught on their instruments, Zehnder freely moved between the “ear-playing” folk/rock world and a sight-singing, music-reading realm at school. As their compositional voices grew, they pursued and earned degrees in music composition from UCLA, both graduating summa cum laude. For more information, see www.ztheband.com

Restorative Justice: Building Peace through Relationships PJ811e

Fundamental to peace building is the ability to form mutually respectful relationships. This course will explore and articulate the intersecting principles of a continuum of peace building educational practices that are based on relationship skills. Shared principles and skills from emotional intelligence (EQ), the constructive engagement of conflict (CEC), peacemaking circles (PMC) and restorative justice (RJ) will be discussed and expanded. Faculty and students from the United World College (UWC) whose mission is to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future will be featured in the weeklong discussion.

At the intersection of these educational practices is the assumption that relationships are fundamental to all lasting and meaningful human endeavors. Based in the humanistic movement, these practices share a multitude of beliefs and we will examine, articulate and develop these shared values, principles and beliefs. Intersecting principles include: that all human beings have dignity and worth, that there is an innate quality in humans that leads them to seek accord, belonging and connection, that self-awareness is central to conscious decision making, that there are multiple truths, that relationships are more important than power, that story telling is central to understanding and that the personal is the political.

Central to this seminar is the belief that sincerely promoting justice, inclusion, transparency, honesty and collaborative communication is the most effective way to build peace. We will explore and articulate educational practices that invite and model integrity, innovation, wisdom, compassion, hope, resilience, spiritual presence, accountability, forgiveness and respect for the innate dignity and goodness of all people.

As we strengthen relationships, we strengthen peace. When conflicts arise in our families, our schools, our communities and nations, we have mutually respectful and solid relationships through which we can constructively engage in the conflict in order to problem solve collaboratively.

These practices intend to co-create, through education and practice, a world in which people have the skills, understanding and commitment to make empathic and wise decisions to create peace and prosperity in themselves, with their friends and relations, communities and finally between nations.

Amy McConnell Franklin, Taos, NM Amy is an educator and trainer in emotional intelligence. She works with teachers, parents and students to create more self-aware, intentional, empathetic, creative and resilient individuals, families, schools and communities as a fundamental path to peace. With a background in international public health, Amy is involved with articulating and synthesizing the continuum of peace building educational curricula in order to help raise a generation of citizens schooled in the importance of mutually respectful relationships, international interconnectedness and planetary sustainability.

Prophetic Ministry in an Eco-Justice Frame PJ811f

Throughout this class, practical strategies for transformation will be combined with theological reflection and ethical analysis about the environmental crisis. The hopeful theological vision eco-justice "the well-being of all humankind on a thriving Earth" will inform consideration of issues like global warming and environmental racism. Recent research in "strategic framing" will provide insights and tools for personal and social change that are especially appropriate for congregational programming. Clergy and laity will be empowered for effective leadership in their churches and communities.

Rev. Peter Sawtell, Denver, CO Peter is the Executive Director of Eco-Justice Ministries, an ecumenical agency based in Denver, CO. He is prominent in the faith-based environmental movement for his strong emphasis on the distinctive role of churches, "as church," in providing moral leadership. He taught at Ghost Ranch in 2004, led workshops at the Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women in 2006, and has been a presenter at many other ecumenical and denominational conferences. Peter is widely known for his Eco-Justice Notes commentaries. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, has served as co-pastor of congregations in Iowa, and is a volunteer member of the Environment & Energy Task Force of the national UCC.

Creating a Culture of Peace: Nonviolence Training for Personal and Social Change PJ811g

Strengthen your spirit and your skills for peacemaking! Gain a holistic and practical foundation in the spirituality and practice of active nonviolence --- the peaceful ways of engaging in situations of violence, injustice and conflict. You will explore the nature of violence, analyze the stages and roles of peaceful personal and social change, and learn about building communities of trust and support for the work of justice and peace. You will practice planning concrete peacemaking projects.

In the innovative tradition of popular education which draws upon the wisdom, knowledge and experience of participants, you will tell your own stories and listen to the stories of famous and ordinary peacemakers. This interactive, experiential retreat will relate to many issues in your world, such as war and militarism, domestic violence, environmental destruction, discrimination, poverty, community and school violence, and dealing with controversy. Join us in this CCP training for reflection and skill building, and depart with renewed energy to cultivate change in your world. (NOTE: This is a prerequisite course for CCP).

Janet Chisholm, Bangor, PA Janet coordinates peace and justice programs at Kirkridge Retreat Center and the national CCP training program which she developed. She is an engaging and inspiring trainer. At FOR, Janet served as executive director and training coordinator, and is the past chairperson of the national Episcopal Peace Fellowship. Janet is an activist and popular speaker and writer on active nonviolence with experience in religious education, anti-poverty programs, and teacher education. Her academic degrees are in Religion and Human Development.

Poetry of Protest A811f

In this workshop we will look at poetry as a strategy for speaking out about the ideas and issues which matter most to us. Audre Lorde wrote that poetry is a way to "predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then idea, then into tangible action." Whether it’s the war in Iraq, the crisis in the environment, the proliferation of violence, or what happens in your office, we will open the door to expression and discover how to turn anger into art, perspective into poetry.

This course will be open to those who would like to read and discuss protest poetry, but especially to those who would like to write in this area. We will interpret both the terms "poetry" and "protest" broadly, allowing us to examine parts of letters and essays that use poetic language, prose poetry and song, and we will consider protest to be both political and personal, public and private. Examples and models will be both historical and contemporary.

Anita Skeen, Okemos, MI Anita is the Arts Coordinator for the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State. She is the author of five books of poems and has taught at the Ranch in the Creative Arts Festival and Fall Writing Festival for 29 years.

"Do Not Forsake Us in Our Time of Conflict" S811

NOTE: Participants in this course will not be housed at Casa del Sol.

The Casa del Sol Prayer of Jesus expresses the vision and commitments of the young Community of Casa del Sol and its spirituality center in the high desert of New Mexico. One of the prayer’s phrases, "Do not forsake us in our time of conflict," speaks of the pain of our brokenness as an earth community and our desire for peace and commitment to relationship. This integrated week between Casa del Sol and the Ranch (allowing for up to 50 participants) will consist of meditative prayer at the beginning and end of each day, of teaching and sharing in the Agape Center in the mornings, of rest and silence in the afternoons, and of further reflection and embodiment of our week’s theme in the evenings.

The week will be led by J. Philip Newell (Companion Theologian for the Community of Casa del Sol), Alison Newell (Teacher of Spiritual Direction in Scotland). Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev of Santa Fe, NM, will be joining us, as well as a representative of the Islamic Community of New Mexico.

J. Philip Newell is a poet, a scholar and a teacher. Formerly Warden of Iona Abbey in the Western Isles of Scotland, he is currently Writer Theologian for The Cathedral of The Isles on Cumbrae and Companion Theologian for the Community of Casa del Sol. He is internationally acclaimed for his work in the field of Celtic spirituality, including his best known titles Listening for the Heartbeat of God and his poetic book of prayer Sounds of the Eternal. For more information see www.jphilipnewell.com.

Ali Newell is a Church of Scotland minister who works as a spiritual advisor for the Ignatian Center of Spirituality in Glasgow. She and her husband have four children and live in Edinburgh.

Nahum Ward-Lev, Santa Fe, NM Nahum is a rabbi who has taught scripture at synagogues, churches, and retreat centers across the country, including Ghost Ranch. He is also the Scholar-In-Residence at Temple Beth Shalom, Santa Fe.

Guest leaders

For more information, and to register,
go to the Ghost Ranch website
or to the page for this week.