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Lauren Pond
With their faces illuminated by police car lights, Ohio University students and Athens residents participate in the Interfaith Peace Walk through the city at sunset on Sept. 11, 2014.
On Wednesday, Sept. 11, United Campus Ministry will hold the ninth annual 9/11 Interfaith Peace Walk. This annual observance of the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks has become an Athens tradition, bringing people of all faiths and origins together to embody a vision of a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive worldwide human community.
UCM is pleased to be able again to welcome Ohio University’s president, Dr. Duane Nellis, to offer opening remarks and to participate in the walk. Rev. Evan Young, Executive Director of United Campus Ministry, will also speak. And the Athens Justice Choir, led by Debra Spangler, will sing and lead the group in singing at the conclusion of the walk.
Rev. Young says this year’s Peace Walk “is about embodying a vision we share of what our community, nation, and world can be—welcoming, inclusive, mutually supportive, all of us focused on our deep and abiding belief that our collective well-being is promoted by, and depends on, our attention to every person’s well-being. In times like these participation in the Peace Walk may feel political, but it actually goes much deeper than that—it’s about behaving as if we’re the people we’re meant to be.”
The walk will begin at 7pm on Wednesday, Sept. 11, in front of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd on University Terrace. Participants will proceed through College Green, up Court Street, and right at State Street to pause for a reading at Hillel. The walk will then continue down Mill Street to Stewart Street, then down Stewart to end with a candlelight vigil and song at the Islamic Center of Athens. As in past years, co-sponsoring faith communities and organizations are bringing some candles to share at the end of the walk, but participants are encouraged to bring candles to the vigil if they have them.
The Peace Walk is a centerpiece of UCM’s interfaith work, which seeks to build resilience in our communities by fostering relationships of understanding and respect across religious, secular, and spiritual difference.
Faith community co-sponsors of this year's Peace Walk include: Athens First Presbyterian Church, Athens Friends Meeting, Christ Lutheran Church, the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, First United Methodist Church, Hillel at Ohio University, the Islamic Center of Athens/Muslim Students Association, and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens. Institutional supporters from Ohio University include: the Office of the President, the Department of Classics and World Religions, the International Student Union, the LGBT Center, the Multicultural Center, the Women’s Center. Community co-sponsors include the Appalachian Peace & Justice Network and Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) SE Ohio.
For more information on the Peace Walk and other upcoming interfaith events, email Rev. Evan Young, Executive Director of United Campus Ministry, at evan@ucmathens.org .
UCM’s mission is to engage the Ohio University and Athens Communities in spiritual growth, work for social justice and community service guided by socially progressive and interfaith values.