Phil comes to us from the Kent First Presbyterian Church, Seattle Presbytery. He is a retired teacher and long time member of Veterans for Peace and active with People for Iraq. Phil knows all too well the consequences of war and has made his protest against it week after week standing on a corner in Des Moines, willing to take the verbal abuse of passing drivers as the Iraq War began. Now, four years later, the “yells” have changed to support instead of division.

Phil has also been the source of procuring many speakers for the Fellowship Quarterly Breakfast, held at Overlake Park Presbyterian Church for many years. Notable speakers include Ben Saehs, who has made repeated trips to Iraq to see for himself the consequences of the sanctions imposed on that nation with the suffering, particularly of the children.

After hearing GA Moderator Rick Ufford Chase at our 2004 Peacemaking Conference, Phil and his wife Marie drove to the Arizona border to see for themselves what is happening there.

Phil was formerly on our Synod’s Peacemaking Committee.

Judith Maier is a member of the Northern Lights church in Juneau, Alaska. She is an educator, activist, and community organizer. She accepted her award at the Annual Synod meeting in Wrangell, and spoke about her work with children in Tanzania and Paraguay. Judith has been dedicated to peacemaking throughout her career as a teacher in the Juneau School District. A co-worker had these words to share about her lifelong devotion to peacemaking: “It’s who she is and what she does. It’s her whole demeanor when working with kids.”

You can read about her remarkable career, told in her own lyrical words, by clicking here.

Peacemaking Offering Bulletin Inserts
One of the bulletin inserts offered on the PC USA website features one of our Synod’s churches, Bethany Presbyterian Church in Tacoma. Bethany gave their Peacemaking offering local portion to the Pierce County L’Arche Community garden project. Click here to order free Peacemaking Offering bulletins. from the PC USA website.