Minutes were recorded by The Rev. Susan H. Miller, St. Mathias, Seaside

Dear Ones,
The first meeting of the revived Peace & Justice Commission on Dec. 2 got us off to a good start.

We are seeking a lay person to serve as convener. Howard and Jan Hill are heading the search. In the meantime, Vicar Susan Miller of St. Matthias' and Rev. Mary Blessing of St. Jude's will serve as interim co-chairs.

Carl Hansen will share with us a copy of the original mission statement, which we may adapt as needed.   We agreed we want to encourage each congregation in the diocese to consider taking action or making witness on local/community issues.  Howard & Jan will draft a  resolution on Peace in general and Iraq in particular that will be submitted to convention. (It won't be ready in time for the convention packets but, we hope it can be posted on the diocese Web site prior to convention).

We also plan to have a booth at convention, which will include copies of points to ponder on two issues:
(1) Matters of particular interest to the Latino community.
(2) Matters of particular interest to the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered) community, especially equal treatment under state and federal laws.

Susan Miller is seeking input from everyone, especially members of the Latino community, for the points to ponder on Latino issues.

Steve Taylor and Carl Hansen are working on the GLBT points to ponder, and welcome input from everyone.

It looks  like the next meeting of our P&J Commission will be Jan. 18 at 11 a.m. at Mission House. All are welcome to attend, or e-mail comments and suggestions to either Susan or Mary.