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WPMF has been involved in various ways in reaching out to the West Philadelphia community, through friendships, and through various projects. These include intentional outreach to international students, supporting Habitat for Humanity, sponsoring a Meals on Wheels program, providing leadership and financial resources to the Philadelphia Mennonite High School, being involved in Philadelphia Interfaith Action on city-wide lobbying efforts and projects, participating in a basketball league for kids, and other initiatives. Those currently in place are: The Beaumont Initiative WPMF Peace Group

THE BEAUMONT INITIATIVE
The Beaumont Initiative (TBI) is a not-for-profit organization founded by members of West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship, Calvary United Methodist Church, and residents of the 5000 block of Beaumont Avenue in West Philadelphia. This block of Beaumont Avenue, two west from the Calvary Center where WPMF meets, was found to have the highest concentration of abandoned housing in the nearby area. The object of TBI is to acquire vacant properties on this block, restore them, and sell them at no profit to qualified low-income buyers. By doing so, it is hoped that the distressed block will be transformed into a stable, safe, and desirable place to live for both the people who will own the rehabbed homes and the long-time residents of the block. In 2006, TBI secured a promise from the City of Philadelphia to transfer ownership of two properties on the block to TBI; in 2007, TBI reached a purchase agreement for a third property that stands in the middle of the two other vacant acquisitions. Having three properties in a row will make for better and more efficient construction.

At this time, The Beaumont Initiative is a board-driven organization with no paid staff. TBI invites tax deductible contributions to help preserve some affordable housing for middle and low income working families. They are working toward a goal of $21,000! Any contributions will be be matched by an increase in the City HRP subsidy.

Send your gift to:
The Beaumont Initiative
4740 Baltimore Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19143
ATTN: Treasurer


WPMF PEACE GROUP
Planting and Watering the Seeds of Peace
The WPMF Peace Group was started in April 2006 by church members who wanted there to be an action group in the congregation for intentional and faithful peace witness in the community, as a way to see the shalom of the city (part of the WPMF Vision Prayer). We have banded together to speak out and act for peace and nonviolence, and against militarism and war. The WPMF Peace Group meets five to six times a year to discuss issues related to our purpose and the kinds of action/s we would like to carry out as a group, as well as to encourage each other to be peacemakers in our own homes, work situations, and other settings of our lives. In this way, we hope to plant and water the seeds of peace.

Projects in 2006-2007 have included developing a booklet of alternatives to the military for youth of Philadelphia [click here for more information], hosting speakers from the Military Counseling Network, and giving out peace literature, including a coloring book for children, at neighborhood fairs.

Click here to view brochure from "Forum on Gun Violence and Our City" held at Woodland Presbyterian Church on April 26, 2008. Featured speakers were: Dorothy Johnson-Speight (Mothers in Charge), Bryan Miller (CeaseFireNJ), and Fred Kauffman (Mennonite Central Committee East Coast).

The WPMF Peace Group welcomes collaboration with other peace groups and organizations in West Philadelphia.

To find out more information about peace efforts supported by Mennonite Church USA, click on the logo below.



Historical Roots
The Mennonite Church grew out of the religious Reformation in Europe, when the Anabaptists radically imitated the first century Christian church, by stating their allegiance to Jesus Christ, their adherence to the Scriptures as their guide, and their beliefs in baptism upon confession of faith (instead of being born into the church), discipleship, the priesthood of all believers, and nonresistance. They held to these beliefs in spite of severe persecution and even martyrdom.
About nonresistance, an early Swiss leader, Conrad Grebel, stated in 1524: “True Christians use neither worldly sword nor engage in war, since among them taking human life has ceased entirely, for we are no longer under the Old Covenant.... The Gospel and those who accept it are not to be protected with the sword, neither should they thus protect themselves.” The Dutchman, Menno Simons (upon whose name the denomination is based) wrote in 1550: “The regenerated do not go to war, nor engage in strife.... They are the children of peace who have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and know of no war.... Spears and swords of iron we leave to those who, alas, consider human blood and swine's blood of well-nigh equal value.”
This principle of nonresistance, or biblical pacifism, has been practiced resolutely by the faith descendants of the Anabaptists, particularly in a steadfast stance of conscientious objection to war, and in working toward conflict resolution in troubled areas around the world. It is this principle that Mennonites continue to uphold in their current settings as they “seek peace and pursue it.”