| Using Mothers Day to promote peace By Martha Ford-Gladden Simpson-Hamline UMC celebrated Mothers Day with Virginia E. Hayes-Williams, the mother of the mayor of Washington, D.C. She brought a formal proclamation from her son declaring Mothers Day a day of nonviolence in the city. Anthony A. Wiliams, mayor of the District of Columbia, proclaimed May 12 as Nonviolence Day in Washington. At the churchs request, other political leaders have also responded. Frank Robey, the county executive of Howard County, has also declared Mothers Day to be a day of nonviolence. This is the third year our church observed a nonviolent Mothers Day. It is an ideal occasion to sharpen peoples awareness of the nature of violence and the damaging effect it has on our families and communities. Violence is an act of spiritual warfare. It can defeat the soul. To be nonviolent, we must be well-grounded in our love of God and one another. In evaluating our Mothers Day program, we discovered that the theme of Love or Perish gives special meaning to our Christian Home Month theme of Families: many forms, common faith Call to love, peace, justice. However, this emphasis on nonviolence can improve any churchs ministry. It is important that these observances be spirit-filled. The pastor and church leadership must call on Gods Holy Spirit to empower them with the desire to resolve conflict that may result in violent acts. During our observance, we shared our joys and concerns at breakfast time on Mothers Day, discussed our experiences of positive and negative forces in our lives and our growth in the fruit of the spirit. My heart was warmed to hear our parishioners express their thoughts about becoming more motivated to resolve conflicts amicably and being more willing to make sacrifices. Our pastor, the Rev. Doug Sands, taught us to believe that as a nonviolent family of faith, we are caring, committed and compelled to demonstrate the power of Gods love in our church and community. The Mothers Day celebration brought us a spirit of renewal and rebirth. Any church that wants to create a nonviolent focus in their congregation might want to use this prayer: Let us free the power of Gods Holy Spirit within us to gbwc_superusere and protect us on this journey. Let us pray for one another in a determined effort to affect a nonviolent peaceful and loving society. Amen. Martha Ford-Gladden is a member of Simpson-Hamline UMC in Washington, D.C. | 
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