Introduction

This weekend I am taking part in a leadership conference for young adults through the church regarding the Middle East peace process. It is a pilot program called the Episcopal Leadership Institute for Young adults. They will be giving us policy advocacy training and we will be listening to policy makers and activists speak at the Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) conference on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and then on Tuesday we will be lobbying our senators and representatives on the issue. I am hoping very much to gain skills but also make contacts in the field, in case I decide to go into liaison work or advocacy work.

Why might I go into that line of work? I am a graduate student at the American University in Washington, DC studying US Foreign Policy. My area of focus is Latin America, but my interests are diverse. They include democracy and human rights, intergovernmental organizations, and conflict resolution and reconciliation. As a person of faith, my beliefs inform my education and my career goals. As an Episcopalian, I value seeking the “via media” or middle way, pursuing social justice and listening with my heart. The peace process is an emotional issue that marries my passion for policy and my grounding in faith in a unique and incredibly challenging manner. I am both terrified and thrilled to be engaging in the discussion, learning from those who know more than I do and educating those who formulate US policy.

As part of my responsibilities as a member of this pilot group, I will be blogging about the event throughout the institute, hopefully including pictures. I will also give a presentation to various young adult and peace-process oriented groups the next time I'm in my home diocese of Spokane, most likely in December. Those of you in the Diocese of Spokane should keep an eye out in the coming weeks for articles from me in the Inland Episcopal and on the diocesan and cathedral websites!

In the days preceding the conference, I will be reading narratives and histories and viewing documentaries to get a feeling for what the situation is like on the ground. This is something about which I will certainly be informing myself. But I will also be praying about it. My background is not in the Middle East peace process. I know it is a deeply emotional issue with ancient roots so I have much to learn.

The title of this blog references a lecture I attended at the 2010 National Vergers Conference. Vergers have many responsibilities. With respect to the church service, they help plan and execute the liturgy by preparing communion before the service, leading processions, escorting lectors to and from the lectern, assisting with traffic flow and anything else required to conduct a worship service. The motto of the Vergers Guild is “service in worship, worship through service.” They carry a characteristic staff called a verge, which now is symbolic but once served to beat the peasants away from the bishop when he celebrated mass. President Teddy Roosevelt subscribed to a foreign policy ideology known as the “big stick theory,” which came from the phrase “walk (or speak) softly but carry a big stick.” It effectively meant that the US should engage in diplomacy but should always be prepared to utilize force to achieve foreign policy goals. Vergers carry big sticks, but that doesn’t mean force should be part of the equation. We should carry big sticks because the “stick”, the verge, is the symbol of our role, but we must do so with love. Through love we can get to know the “other” and obtain a solution that benefits both parties… right? Hopefully this experience will help answer this question, and others.

Please feel free to spread the blog link around to young adults, members of the Diocese of Spokane, or anyone interested in the peace process. I hope I find this to be a rewarding experience and that I can bring what I learn back to the diocese so that others with a passion for the peace process or policy advocacy can benefit from what I learn!