Frequent Questions

• How are regional groups organized?
• How do they relate to the Chicago office?
• What are effective methods for starting a regional group?
• What makes for a strong regional group?

 

How are regional groups organized?  How do they relate to the Chicago office?

Regional groups tend to be fairly autonomous (both financially and in decision-making) from the CPT offices . Regional groups decide for themselves: how often to meet, what issue or issues to focus on, how to structure themselves, whether or not to join coalitions, etc. Some regional groups fundraise money specifically for their regional group. The most successful regional groups have found that meeting on a regular basis is important to keep the group together and active.Each regional group is asked to designate one person to be the liaison with the CPT coordinator responsible for linking regional groups in their part of the world with CPT as a whole . These coordinators can provide support like: regular communication with the group to find out what the group is doing, regular communication with the rest of CPT to highlight the work of regional groups (e.g., writing updates for the newsletter), being available to brainstorm ideas for actions or the direction of the group's work, etc.

If you are in Canada and you are interested in forming a regional group in your area, please contact Rebecca Johnson at 416-423-5525, rebeccaj [at] cpt [dot] org. If you are anywhere else, contact Carol Rose at: 773-277-0253, carolr [at] cpt [dot] org

What are effective methods for starting a regional group?

1. Become a CPTer. If you are interested in organizing a regional group and you, yourself are not a CPTer, CPT strongly encourages you to participate in its 4-week intensive nonviolence peacemaker training held twice a year in Chicago. It is important to have a local CPTer who has experienced the training firsthand to help with scheduling, content, and local logistics that are involved in a regional training.
2. Contact, contact, contact. Form a list of people you know and contact them to see if they have or know of someone who might have interest in forming a CPT regional group. CPT can send you a list of people in your region who are interested in CPT. One man sent a letter to over 100 people and then followed up with a phone call! Other's have put announcements in church bulletins and contacted various peace and justice committees.
3. Focus on forming an active group. When you contact people about a regional group, it is important to focus on recruiting people for a regional group instead of recruiting people for a nonviolence training. Past experience has taught us that people tend to get excited about being trained in nonviolence and don't really understand that this is training people to become CPT Reservists and part of a regional group.
4. Foster interest in CPT. Invite CPTers to come talk about their experiences ‘in the field'. It's a great way for people to learn how peace is made ‘on the ground.' One group set up a series of speaking engagements in their area (at local churches and schools) and, as a result, a few people signed up for CPT delegations. Go to the Speakers Bureau page to find CPT speakers.
5. Encourage people to go on CPT delegations. This is a great way to get to know CPT. Plus, it's a mandatory step in the application process for becoming a CPT reservist, which also includes filling out a corps application and having a telephone interview with our personnel coordinator. Once five people from the group have completed the application process (and another five are in process), then tentative dates for a regional training can be set.
6. Start meeting. The most successful regional groups have found it helpful to begin meeting regularly as a group (e.g., once a month) before the actual training. This is helpful because it allows the group to begin forming a vision of what issues it wants to focus on, plus folks can start getting to know each other better. Some groups began by reflecting on what it means to be peacemakers. Other groups began by organizing prayer vigils to address local violence.
   
   After the group has begun meeting, the regional group development coordinator can come to your area to talk further about CPT and begin the process of planning the training.

What Makes for a Strong Regional Group?

• sharing life stories
• meeting in different venues and staying in each other's homes
• having regular, face-to-face meetings
• having full-day meetings, which makes the meeting more like a retreat day
• including a significant 20-30 minute worship time in the meetings
• commissioning each other for CPT service (delegations, Reserve duty, etc)
• having a staff person to support, energize, be available
• having "refresher training" sessions
• fairly flexible agenda and time frame for meetings
• the group is a "home" for those with common interests and world-view, understands us and our CPT experiences
• chance to meet full-timers personally
• news of group's activities circulated frequently by e-mail between meetings
• staying in touch with other social justice organizations to make common cause and future recruits
• support field teams with actions at home like the Colombia vigil in Toronto in August
• support and participate in CPT Urgent Action requests etc.
• organize local fun(d)raising events
• monitor and respond to local press reports
• maintain contact with local politician

Cleveland

In November 2000, a CPT regional group began to take shape in the Lee Heights neighborhood of Cleveland OH. Many members of the group attend Lee Heights Community Church (Mennonite) and asked CPT to assist them is addressing the violence in their city. The group completed CPT Reservists training in May 2001. A large part of CPT-Cleveland's focus in 2001 was responding to local gun violence. The team organized and attended public vigils to pray for justice and the realization of Christ's peace in troubled inner-city neighborhoods. Small groups of team members conducted neighborhood walks each month to examine street activity during evening hours.

In 2003, CPT Cleveland helped host and gave significant leadership to the Christian Peacemaker Congress held in Youngstown, Ohio in September; participated in local anti-war rallies; and organized a van-load of Christians to travel to Warren, Ohio to support a prayer vigil against police brutality.  Contact:  Wanda Ngolo, mhngolo [at] wmconnect [dot] com, 216-291-4077.

Colorado

Christian Peacemaker Team, Colorado (CPT-CO), holds monthly meetings, which include updates on CPT activities, prayer and spiritual reflection, planning for future peacemaking activities, refreshments, and fellowship.  Members serve on CPT teams in Asubpeeschoseewagong, Colombia, Iraq, and Palestine. Activities on the local scene include:

• demonstrations ranging from violent toys to anti-war rallies to Citizen's Weapons Inspections
• surveying area toy stores with results being shared with the managers,
• interpreting CPT to area churches and meetings and to the larger community and the media, CPT fund-raising activities,
• joining community peace watch efforts during times of expected student violence,
• assisting with training of students and neighborhood residents in being a violence-reduction presence in times of potential violence.
• training for being part of CPT Reserve Corps in 1997 was led by various CPT staff who traveled to Boulder, Colorado, for weekend sessions.

For more information, contact Marilyn Miller at 303-499-5229; e-mail: marilynfmiller [at] comcast [dot] net

Manitoba

Based in Winnipeg, MB, this group focuses on supporting CPT projects in Asubpeeschoseewagong (Canada) and Colombia.  Such support can range from hosting delegation participants in members' homes to organizing public peace vigils highlighting Colombian human rights violations.  The group also hosts CPT fundraisers, helps set up speaking engagements for CPTers returning from serving on CPT projects, and supports local peacemaking efforts. Contact Korey Dyck, k.dyck [at] uwinnipeg [dot] ca 204-772-1069.

Northern Indiana

CPT Northern Indiana (CPTNI) is a small community of Christian peacemakers gathered from the northern Indiana and southern Michigan area. The group of about twenty people, ranges in age from 18 to 70+. They meet monthly to eat, refresh their spirits, and plan the nonviolent revolution. They have done work on peace issues in their area ranging from immigrant rights to war taxes to militarism. If you're interested in joining them, call 574-642-3963 or email cptcsd [at] npcc [dot] net for directions and the next scheduled meeting.

CPTNI is a sponsor of a nonviolent campaign to End the Production of DU Weapons that works through education, creative nonviolent action, legislation, and media. The campaign has a direct focus to end production of DU weapons at major facilities in the US - Alliant Ballistic Laboratory in Rocket City, WV, and AeroJet in Jonesbough, TN. CPT delegations to Virginia and Tennesee meet with people impacted by these weapons, including veterans, hospital administrators and plant employees, and organize and carry out a nonviolent public witness challenging the production of DU munitions. Visit the campaign website for more information.

Ontario

In order to keep their peacemaking skills sharp, the CPT Ontario group spends part of each quarterly meeting doing roleplays in order to practice nonviolent responses to incidents that CPTers have encountered in "the field."  Meetings are also a time for group members, returning from CPT projects, to share and debrief their experiences with supportive friends.  In addition to serving on CPT's international projects, members of CPT Ontario work together to support local peace initiatives.

In 2003, CPT Ontario hosted or joined a variety of local peace witnesses, including actions to stop the war inIraq, a prayer walk in Hamilton's Red Hill Creek Valley to stop a planned expressway, a "community conversation" in Kitchner about the danger of violent toys, and two public witness events highlighting the current situation in Iraq at the Mennonite Church Canada Annual Assembly in St. Catharines.

Since forming in 1997, CPT Ontario has hosted two CPT regional trainings that trained 26 people to become CPT reservists.  CPT Ontario is currently preparing for a third training.  If you are interested in the training or finding out more about CPT Ontario, please contact Doug Pritchard, 416-423-5525, canada [at] cpt [dot] org

United Kingdom

CPT launched its first regional group outside of North America in May 2004 [CPT UK web site]. CPT United Kingdom (CPT UK) has come together with the goal of building a presence in the region and eventually holding a CPT training. The group also hopes to provide a community for Christians and activists who want to be involved with peacemaking work, but aren't currently able to join CPT in an official capacity. CPT UK often meets for meals and discussion, or to listen to a speaker.

If you know of people in the UK or elsewhere in Europe who might be interested in joining a regional training in the United Kingdom, please contact Carol Rose at 773-277-0253, carolr [at] cpt [dot] org.