By Christine Sheller
The 20th annual Palm Sunday Procession for Peace and Service for Peace proved to continue to be a powerful peace movement in Des Moines this year, and the weather was good- the sun shone the whole walk and throughout the service. Approximately 50 persons gathered at the Union Park United Methodist Church parking lot at 2305 E 12th St.
People held banners saying “Iowans for Peace,” “Palm Sunday Procession for Peace,” among others. Leading the procession and stopping traffic were law enforcement officers, as those gathered started their trek with some twists and turns, to Community of Christ Church (Des Moines Central) at 1645 Pennsylvania Ave., just about a mile away. The walk began at 3:00 pm.
Leading the way were two donkeys, Jill and Junior, provided by and led by Jeremy and Corissa Arndt. Children and adults alike were drawn to the donkeys in the Union Park UMC and Community of Christ church parking lots while they waited. KCCI was also present with video camera, joining walkers in the procession and capturing some of the prayer service as well.
The Community of Christ church greeted walkers with cookies and water. As persons gathered, they were welcomed with gathering music by SJ Munch. Pastor Emiley Hickock of the Community of Christ church gave the Welcome and also read a Land Acknowledgement. It read, ”This land on which we are gathered this afternoon is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded land of the Ioway Nation- whose ancestors are today the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma- and the Meskwaki Nation. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations.”
Pastor Emiley also led the Call to Worship, projected on the screen as well as printed in the bulletin. The first hymn was “For the Healing of the Nations.” Pastor Emiley also led us in the Opening Prayer, from the Book of Common Prayer, also projected and printed in the bulletin. Part of that read, “O God, You… sent Your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near..”
Next, Rev. Caesar David, pastor of the Union Park United Methodist Church led those gathered in a Prayer of Confession and Words of Assurance. Portions of that read, “Forgive us for seeking ourselves, instead of seeking Your peace,” and “God has promised us that the Spirit’s peace will be with us always. Yet we have never known peace.”
Next in the program , Lee Roorda Schott introduced the speaker, Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham Tsai, Iowa United Methodist Church. Bishop Kennetha read Matthew 21:1-11, then gave a message. Her message was based on the “Message of the Donkey.” She spoke about the humble donkey, and Jesus choosing that for his ride into Jerusalem.
Lee Roorda Schott led the Prayers of the People. Rev. Vern Naffier gave an Introduction to the
Offering, sharing with us that this was the 20th year that the Des
Moines Faith Committee for Peace held a Palm Sunday Procession; in 2003 they
were coming off the start of the invasion of Iraq. They began because of that, and have
continued since then, also now annually holding the International Day of Peace
program in September, and the Feast of the Holy Innocents in December. He offered a prayer, and the closing hymn was
“When Our Song Says Peace.” Bishop
Kennetha led the benediction.
The second
opportunity was a chance to tell the State Department: No F16’s to Turkey. A Des Moines Catholic Worker, Julie Brown is
currently serving in Community Peacemaker Teams in Iraqi Kurdistan, and on
staff with (CPT) as Outreach Coordinator.
Iraqi Kurdistan has been a target of Turkey for several years. To read more about that, go to http://www.cpt.org.
The petition is https://governmenty.com/antony-blinken.
Christine Sheller is editor and coordinator at Iowa Peace
Network, based in Des Moines and remotely in rural Eldora. She is an M. Div. graduate of Bethany Theological
Seminary.
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