Nonviolence Training Day

A trainer with Pace e Bene came to Owensboro, Ky., on Jan. 20, 2018, to introduce a group to the vision and tools of creating social change through nonviolence. Twenty-three participants attended the workshop at the Zion United Church of Christ community room. Josie Setzler of Toledo, Ohio, led the training which explored the dynamics of violence and nonviolence; practices for nonviolent living, and tools for communicating more nonviolently. The workshop hours were 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., with a lunch break for Subway sandwiches, chips and cookies. The day included viewing a video about the Nashville sit-ins in the 1960s that led to racial desegregation at lunch counters and downtown businesses. The event was organized by Nonviolent Owensboro, a local chapter of the international Campaign Nonviolence.

The Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph sponsored the workshop, along with the Owensboro Daviess County Ministerial Association. Three Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph and three Ursuline Associates were in attendance, along with two teachers from Brescia University and other church and community activists. An attendee from Evansville, Ind. (Tom Wannemuehler) is hoping to start a Nonviolent Evansville group.

Pace e Bene (“peace and all good”), was founded in 1989 by the Franciscan Friars in California and has a vision rooted in the spiritually grounded practice of active nonviolence. It has offices and associates in several states as well as Canada and Australia.

Here are some pictures from the training day in Owensboro: