This year’s gathering will focus on the theme, “Backyard Peacebuilding – Cultivating Peace in Our Neighborhoods.”

Keynote speaker

Nicholas Stoddard, a 2007 EMU graduat, will give the keynote address

Nicholas Stoddard of Harrisonburg, a 2007 EMU graduate, will give a keynote address 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19, and speak several additional times on the conference theme.

Stoddard received first place in the bi-national C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical contest his senior year. His oration focused on how one’s actions have direct effect on others, even those at a great distance. He is currently is a first-year student in the master of divinity program at Eastern Mennonite Seminary.

Conference details

The program, entirely organized by students in EMU’s Peace Fellowship, will open 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18 and end noon Saturday, Feb. 20. Participating schools include Conrad Grebel College, Ont.; Bluffton (Ohio) University; Goshen (Ind.) College; Hesston (Kan.) College; and Messiah College, Grantham, Pa.

Workshops will be offered on a wide range of topics from “Conflict as a Metaphor for Peacebuilding” and “A Biblical Perspective on Immigration” to “Biking as Peacebuilding” and “Morally Responsible Investment” and others.

Most sessions will be held in Martin Chapel of the seminary building and seminary classrooms.

Full schedule of events

Creating connections

The purpose of the conference is “to gather together fellow students who care about issues of peace and justice,” said EMU senior Jennifer K. (Jenny) Hochstetler, conference co-organizer. “These students are our peers, soon to be colleagues, and this will be a great time to connect and build relationships as well as have meaningful discussions on being active in building peace in our own neighborhoods,” she added.

Participants have been invited to remain on campus until Sunday. Those who do will take part in a service activity Saturday afternoon, making relief kits for Haiti.

For more information on the conference, contact co-organizers Kate Nussbaum, kate.nussbaum@emu.edu, or Jenny Hochstetler, jennifer.hochstetler@emu.edu.

Peace Fellowship is a student organization that organizes campus-wide activities, regular space to share meals and discussions, and special speakers to spark meaningful dialogue.

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A prayer “tent” will be erected on the front campus near Northlawn Residence Hall, and persons are invited to pray in half-hour time blocks from midnight to midnight. Passersby will be invited to offer their own prayers and to tie prayer flags around the vigil site.

Nicholas Stoddard, a Peace Fellowship co-leader, said this Thursday was chosen for its proximity to both the UN’s International Day of Peace and the concurrent International Day of Prayer for Peace on Sept. 21. The event also coincides with a two-week prayer vigil, Sept. 16-30, coordinated by Christian Peace Witness for Iraq (CPWI), an ecumenical organization with ties to the Sojourners community based in Washington, D.C.

“As a faith-based community, we hope to raise our prayers for the Iraqi people and coalition soldiers while also issuing a public plea for a withdrawal of troops and a shift of budget resources to provide for humanitarian assistance,” Stoddard said. “We hope the vigil makes it clear: we oppose this war because of our deep-rooted faith and belief that God