MILWAUKEE — The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship (PPF) hosted a gathering at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee to present the 2025 Peaceseekers Awards, provide overture updates, and hear a keynote address.
After fellowship, dinner, and a song led by musician Matthew Black – “No One is Getting Left Behind” – overture updates were provided by multiple justice-focused organizations. Palestine Justice Network, Presbyterians for Earth Care (PEC)/Creation Network of Presbyterian Young Adults (CANOPY), and Covenant Network of Presbyterians all shared the overtures they are particularly invested in, and all were pleased to report that they support the actions recommended by the committees working on those overtures.
The 2025 Peaceseeker Award was presented to PEC for their 30 years of leadership, support of young advocates forming CANOPY, and commitment to promoting fossil fuel divestment. PEC members Lucy Youngblood and Drew Hill accepted this award on behalf of PEC.
The 2026 Peaceseeker Award was presented to Westminster Presbyterian Church, which responded with faithful and loving action to support immigrants and resist ICE’s presence during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis. Westminster is only one of three congregations to ever receive this award, and it was accepted by their clerk of session, Vince Thomas, who recognized the other congregations they worked alongside in this effort.
Related reading: “Minnesota Presbyterians mobilize after ICE shooting in Minneapolis” by Harriet Riley, Outlook reporting
Ben Daniel, who’s on the executive committee for PPF, a pastor in Oakland, California, co-moderator of the Presbytery of San Francisco and an author, gave a brief message prior to the PPF offering.
“We don’t have a peacemaking program in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It’s up to us. At a time when international cooperation is needed more than ever, we no longer have mission coworkers. … If, like me, you believe that Palestinians deserve a shot at a good life, that’s up to us. If, like me, you think gun violence is out of control, that’s up to us … We have some people in Louisville doing really good work, but Presbyterian Peacemaking starts here…it’s up to us together to make peace happen, to make a ministry of prophetic proclamation of peace happen in the Presbyterian Church.”
Related reading: “Beyond thoughts and prayers: A walk against gun violence” by Caroline Garcia, Outlook reporting
Dr. Osamah Khalil, professor of history at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, delivered a keynote titled “From Minneapolis to Gaza: Confronting America’s Forever Wars.”
He recounted deeply impactful narratives of those who have died or lost loved ones in Gaza and shared statistics about the magnitude of loss that has occurred there.
He also spoke to the role of the United States in funding the war and how that’s affected the lives of Americans. “This is an American war, make no mistake of it…So what have we gotten for that funding? Has peace been realized in the holy land? Is America more safe and secure? Instead, the genocide in Gaza has created yet another fault line that divides Americans from each other.”
About Khalil’s message, Teaching Elder Commissioner Eric Adamcik from The Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse said, “It was hard to listen to in the best way, in the way that makes you want to get up and do something.”
