CW Midwest Faith & Resistance Gathering

March 24 – 27, 2023

The focus of the weekend is preparing for a resistance direct action that we will do on Monday, March 27.  If you can be with us Monday, please rsvp here and try to be with us on Saturday and Sunday afternoon especially.  During those times, we’ll listen to speakers, do nonviolence training, and form affinity groups to plan and act together.

Locations:  Our location for Friday and Saturday is Madison Christian Community, 7118 Old Sauk Road.  On Sunday we’ll be at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Parish from 8 am – 4 pm, then back at Madison Christian Community after 4 pm.  On Monday we will be at Truax Air National Guard base, and at the State Capitol, doing nonviolent resistance actions and doing a war abolition walk between Truax and downtown.  Our home base site on Monday will be St John’s Lutheran Church, 322 E Washington Ave.

Schedule, of Course Tentative

FRIDAY

5:00 Dinner, visiting and talking through the evening

6:00 Musicians Circle – Gather and choose a few songs to learn together.  Plan for musical offerings during the weekend.  Downstairs.

7:00 Madison Veterans for Peace present the new documentary Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA took Hollywood (1 hr 28 min).  Brad Geyer will facilitate a discussion at intermission and following the film.

SATURDAY

8:00 Breakfast

9:30 Opening Circle / Introductions – Eric Anglada

11:30 Lunch – song and blessing, Mary Kay McDermott

12:15 – 1:15  Blacksmithing Demo – Turning Guns into Garden Tools –  Jeff Wild

1:30 Saturday Panel Discussion  

• Kathy Kelly, Board President, World BEYOND War
• Vicki Berenson, Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin
• Steven Klafka, Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin
• Moderator – Rebecca Kemble, Former Alder, Water Protector, Activist

3:00 Snack time

3:30 NVDA training – Joy First, Malachy Kilbride and Brian Terrell

6:00  Dinner, blessing – Pastor Valerie Showalter, Madison Mennonite Church

6:30 Musicians Circle part two

7:30  Open Mike Variety Show – co-emcees are Theo Kayser and Steve Jacobs

SUNDAY

At St. Thomas Aquinas for breakfast, morning activities, lunch, afternoon panel and affinity group planning until 4:00 pm.  602 Everglade Drive, Door #3.  Return to MCC for late afternoon and evening.

8:00 Sunday war abolition walk with signs and banners, from Madison Christian Community to St Thomas Aquinas. (13 min walk, 0.6 mile)  

8:15  Breakfast provided by St Thomas Aquinas. Blessing by Jenny Leudtke

10:00 Mass at STA, we are invited to take up the gifts and sit together

11:15 Wild Church, with Eric Anglada, St Isadore Catholic Worker Farm and Sister Maureen McDonnell, Sinsinawa Dominican.  Location: Owen Conservation Park, 6021 Old Sauk Rd.   We’ll have some chairs, bring one if you’d like.

Other faith services nearby include Lutheran and UCC, our hosts at MCC; Holy Wisdom Monastery, who are providing our Saturday supper, and Madison Friends Meeting.

11:30 Lunch provided by STA  (available until 1:15)

1:30 Sunday Panel Discussion: (at St Thomas Aquinas)

• Danaka Katovich, Ground the F-35 Program Coordinator & National Co-Director, CODEPINK Women for Peace
• Brian Terrell, Strangers & Guests Catholic Worker & Nevada Desert Experience
• Moderator – Marsha Rummel, Former alder

2:30 Meeting and planning in affinity groups, at STA

4:00 Walk or drive back to MCC, more time to reflect and plan with your affinity group

4:15 Snack at MCC

4:30 Legal discussion at MCC, words from a lawyer, affinity groups consult on legal matters as needed.

6:00 Supper 

7:00 Learn some songs for the action

7:30 Affinity groups share with each other what they will be doing in the morning.

Later evening – More affinity group planning time, Musicians Circle, Art / Street Theater Circles

MONDAY Nonviolent Resistance Actions to Ground the F-35 Fighter Jets & Abolish War

Monday, March 27, 2023

Madison, Wisconsin

Several nonviolent direct actions will happen Monday morning.  Affinity groups will prepare and plan the details during the weekend of March 24 – 26.  Please show up to any or all of these listed times and places, and we’ll share the direct action specifics with you then.  If you can commit to nonviolence, please come support and be a witness.  Our home base site for the day is St John’s Lutheran church downtown, 322 E Washington Ave.  Before, during and after, people can meet, eat, warm up, debrief there.  

5:30 am Gather at Truax – Wisconsin Air National Guard Base, 3200 Pierstorff St.

6:00 am   Nonviolent resistance action begins.  Sunrise is at 6:49 am.

7:15 am       Gather at Truax – 3200 Pierstorff St.

7:30 am The war abolition walk begins.  We will walk at a moderate pace to downtown Madison (4.8 miles).   When we arrive at 10:30 am, we will join nonviolent resistance actions downtown.

9:00 am Gather at OM Village, 304 N Third St.  The war abolition walk will make a rest stop and people can also join the walk here.  OM Village is an intentional community of activists living in tiny houses, the first of now three sites managed by the collective Occupy Madison, Inc.

10:30 am     Gather at St John’s Lutheran Church,  322 E Washington Ave.  Choose between several nonviolent resistance actions downtown including vigils with music, visits to elected officials, and bannering.  CodePink: Women for Peace will bring this banner.

12:00 – 2:00 pm Lunch at St John’s Lutheran.