Peace shines on lady, camp &
kids in Chicago ‘Building peace within ourselves and our community’
By Robert Elliott J
ennie English gained the nick- name “Peace Lady” aſter the small Chicago congregation
where she is pastor began a Peace Camp to attract neighborhood kids to vacation Bible school. It was 2013 and Bethlehem
Lutheran Church, with an average worship attendance of 90, was look- ing for a better way to attract the unchurched. Tat first year “we were hoping for
20 children, but we ended up with 45,” English said. Te following year, 75 kids attended. And about half of the boys and girls in last year’s camp came from nonmember families. Many of those families have since attended services more than once. Te program has been so success-
ful that as English walks and jogs around the Beverly neighborhood on the city’s South Side, children point her out as “the Peace Lady.” Peace Village is a 20-year-old
nonprofit based in Eugene, Ore., (
www.peacevillageinc.org). Its goal is to “create and strengthen peace- ful communities with children and families worldwide.” Its curriculum (for ages 5 to 13) includes non- violent conflict resolution, care of creation, yoga and meditation, and media literacy. Bethlehem added music, field trips and a Christian
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www.thelutheran.org
element to the program. As part of teaching ecology
and care of creation, they made field trips to area forest preserves and wildlife and bird sanctuaries. Last year the children held a video conference with an ELCA mission- ary in Argentina and wrote letters to children there. And for music, they learned Brazilian drumming.
It comes down to peace But the overarching theme of it all, English said, is “building peace within ourselves and our community.” “I think the whole idea of peace
camp really speaks to people, and at the end of the week the children have learned Christ-centered peace- making skills,” she added. But a five-day, all-day program
for 75 kids doesn’t just happen. Planning begins in January. Bethlehem’s Peace Camp takes
place in mid-June in what English calls “the gap week” between the end of the public school year and the start of summer programs at parks and nonprofits. English said Bethlehem uses the
Peace Village curriculum as its start- ing point, but other resources are available, including online at PBS
Sheila Maloney discusses keys to peace with children attending Peace Camp at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Chicago.
Solving a problem with the “keys to peace” are Alec Tobias (clockwise from left), Amelia McCready, Brendan Ehlers and Michia Kendrik.
Kids (
www.pbskids.org). “Tere are other congregations
that have gone into peace educa- tion and training in a much bigger way than we have,” she said, “but we’ve already done more than we ever thought possible a couple years back. I think as more children go through the program and learn these skills it will have an impact on our community.” Bethlehem serves a community
GRETCHEN MCDOWELL
GRETCHEN MCDOWELL
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