Peaceful Ventures
A newsletter from Shalom House -- a community of proactive Christian peacemakers started by Circle of Hope
In July a rather peculiar thing happened. Four people who
did not know each other, moved into a house in the Germantown
neighborhood of Philadelphia, committed to live together for 2
years, and set about forming a community of proactive, Christian
Peacemakers.
No one really needs to explain why we need to make peace,
but how do we go about making it? Shalom House, which is the
name of our new community, is one practical idea on how to
make peace that has been forming in the Circle of Hope network
of Brethren in Christ congregations for a long time now. It came
to life this summer. Here’s a little more on what Shalom House is
all about.
The Vision - what it is
Shalom House is a tool for proactive peacemakers to use to grow
in their faith, to express the gospel of peace, to provide the option
of reconciliation for people in Philadelphia, and to secure a place
for Circle of Hope among God’s worldwide peace movement. It
is directed by a Shalom House Guidance Team of Randy Nyce,
Rod & Gwen White, Missy Stoner, Jane Clinton and Sarah White.
The team is overseen by Circle Venture, Circle of Hope’s arm of
compassionate service.
The Mission - what it does
Shalom House provides community for committed peacemakers
to spend at least two-years deepening and applying their calling
in Philadelphia and learning about and connecting to God’s
worldwide community of peacebuilders. The house lives in
peace, works in the community for peace daily, creates a network
of peacemakers and includes Circle of Hope in it.
The Distictives that drive Shalom House:
• We gain life and give it out of our relationship with
Jesus. We are the new humanity.
• The community operates with the rhythm of the age-old
disciplines of work and prayer, balancing contemplation
and action.
• All ages and status are welcome. Circle of Hope has a
vision to equip the next generation; likewise, Shalom
House focuses on recruiting young adult peacemakers
to make a long-lasting impact in Philadelphia and
among God’s world-wide peacemaking network.
• The house operates according to a general “strategic
plan” set by the team but reflecting the gifts and desires
of the residents.
• The members of the household act as part of the Circle
of Hope network. Their training and opportunity is not
only for personal growth, but is designed to build up the
Church, primarily Circle of Hope, in Philadelphia.
Issue 1, Spring 2008
So who are the four individuals who signed up for this
undertaking? Let us introduce ourselves.
Brian Baughan. Like many others, I
have faced two big wake-up calls in
recent years: the devastation wreaked
by U.S.-led wars and our society’s
desensitization to violence. What are
compassionate and effective responses
to these present crises? We can pray,
process the facts, protest negative
policies, support positive ones. . . . These are good things, but
more seems necessary. I want to be renewed, transformed by the
Gospel of Peace. I don’t think I’m alone.
It is a struggle for us to live in a world that seems so inured
to violence, destruction, and death. That’s why I look toward
community. I’ve picked one integrated with the church to which I
belong, Circle of Hope. As a searcher and a convert to
nonviolence, Shalom House seems like the right fit.
I have never done anything like this, and so I regularly find
myself asking, “What are we doing, exactly?” Uncovering the
answers on how to live nonviolently is an ongoing—often
frustrating—process. It’s great we have a loyal guidance team, a
responsive church community, and dedicated partners.
I wish many things for Philadelphia: fewer handguns, prison
cells, abandoned buildings, and casino plans; more green-
powered buildings, urban farms, mediation centers, and pretzel
factories.
Mimi Copp. Over the last decade I've
lived in a Catholic Worker House in
Chicago; spent 3 years living life in
Nigeria; found my way closer to God
through my church Circle of Hope; and
studied Peace and Development
Studies in Spain. All of this has led me
to Shalom House.
The watershed moment for me was in 2001, two weeks after
returning home from Nigeria, when a group of people used
airplanes as weapons and killed thousands of people in the U.S.
Decrying this violence, my government reigned down more
violence. In these times, I discovered the depths of my belief in
nonviolent Christian peacemaking – in Jesus’ call to find a third
way; different from violence and different from passivity. I was
compelled to make my vocation nonviolent peacemaking.
My passion is addressing root causes of violence like foreign
policies, trade agreements, spending packages. But making
peace doesn’t only happen through legislation or changing
foreign policy. It also happens by how we live our lives. This is
exemplified in the story of how Jesus lived his life and how he
died. This is why I am a part of Shalom House. I am looking for
a conscious way of living a life of peacemaking.
 Adam Malliet.
In the lead up to
the Iraq War
things stopped
making sense. I
grew up in an
evangelical
conservative church, and while I
appreciate the foundation of faith I
received, some important teachings of
Jesus were left unaddressed. I asked
myself how we could participate in war if
Jesus asked us to love our enemies and
to do good to those who harm us.
Without a community to encourage
me in this direction and with little
understanding of the rich history of non-
violent peacemaking that exists in the
church, I decided that if my enemies
wanted to kill me, my faith required me to
let them. I felt very alone. I believe now
that this was the Holy Spirit leading me;
which isn't easy for me to say because
the mystery of the Holy Spirit is so
overwhelming to me that I am often
uncomfortable invoking that language.
I began to fill in the "blanks" with the
help of a few friends and by studying the
prophetic theology of Richard Hays and
Stanley Hauerwas. I also started
attending (quite accidentally?) Circle of
Hope where I was surrounded by a
community of believers who connected
me to the Anabaptist tradition of
nonviolent peacemaking and created a
safe place for me to explore and deepen
my faith. Shalom House presented itself
as a very incarnational way to begin living
out what I had learned, and so I put one
foot in front of the other, trusting God's
promises. Blessed are the peacemakers.
Brian Shingledecker.
I spent my childhood
in Nairobi, Kenya.
Later, during high
school, my family
moved to Michigan.
Since, I've attended
college in Indiana,
worked with foster
kids in Guatemala, and assisted in
Katrina recovery in Mississippi. A year
and a half ago, I moved to Philadelphia
and, soon after, I found Circle of Hope
and first heard about the vision of Shalom
House.
My journey as a peacemaker started
at an early age. I grew up in a family that
followed Jesus and I took his teachings to
heart from the beginning. During my time
in Nairobi, I remember folks dancing in
the streets, celebrating the election of
Nelson Mandela as president of S. Africa
and the triumph over apartheid; my first
exposure to nonviolent resistance. This
early impression is one of several that led
to a conviction to live out the Gospel of
Peace.
When I moved to Philadelphia, I was
already doing some work on my own.
Still, something was missing. I realized
that without the support of others, it would
be difficult to continue deepening this
sense of calling. The opportunity came at
the perfect time and I have enjoyed the
challenges of forming our community and
beginning to discern the practicalities of
our mission.
How does Shalom House work?
If you’re wondering exactly how this all
works, you’re not alone. We ask
ourselves this question all the time. But
over the last few months, we have slowly
started to lay the foundation of our
community and our work.
The original idea laid out by the
guidance team was that each community
member would hold a part-time job to
generate the income needed to keep the
house members fed, clothed and warm.
We’ve already put a twist on this part of
the plan. Adam wanted to keep his full-
time job with Project H.O.M.E., a
organization that works on homelessness
in Philadelphia, and saw his main role in
the house as being a financial one, so he
continues to work 40 hours a week. The
others fluctuate between part-time gigs,
full-time work or no outside jobs at all.
Whatever income each of us brings
in, we put it in our common pot to cover
our expenses and our debt that we’ve
decided to share. What comes out of this
pot is really rather magical & definitely
counter-cultural--four adults living off of
what adds up to about 2 full-time salaries.
This allows us the time (a precious
commodity in modern U.S. life) to do
some proactive, peacemaking work. The
common pot is not entirely magical
though; it does have it’s limit. So a larger
challenge is figuring out how to fund the
work we want to do, like participating in
conflict resolution trainings, working with
partners, organizing actions, hosting
events, traveling to connect with other
peacemakers.
This pooling of our resources also
reveals some of our shared values. We
believe in enough; that there is enough to
go around when we share and when we
rely on God. We are reminded of the
story of the Manna in Exodus where God
lays out an economic system based on
the principle of enough rather than
scarcity.
We value sharing. Adam, who sold
his house when he joined Shalom House,
has decided to loan out all of that money,
interest-free, to his friends who are
suffering from debt so that they can pay it
off. Brian B. and Adam have joined Brian
S. and Mimi in our credit card and student
loan debt by being willing to make
payments out of our common fund each
month to pay down those debts.
We value the wellbeing of each other.
We live in a society that works too much
and puts too much emphasis on “getting
things done;” many times at the expense
of our health. People get sick and
depressed. They suffer nervous
breakdowns or feel isolated. We hope by
collectively working fewer hours on the
job, we can begin the practice of
balancing work, rest, prayer, and
relationships.
What have we been up to these
first few months?
We have started thinking of ourselves as
proactive peacemakers and so together
we are figuring out what it means. We
have etched out a rhythm together that is
anchored by our Wed. night dinner and
meeting time. Grounding our community
and work in God is paramount. We’ve
been carving out time to pray & meditate
both individually and collectively. Each of
us is strengthening Shalom House by
meeting monthly with a spiritual director.
From this spiritual center, we have spent
time building community and striving to
create a culture of peace in our home.
We have also propelled ourselves into
action. We’d like to share with you a few
photos from some of our actions during
these first months, which are on the next
page.
Thank you for letting us introduce
ourselves to you. We will continue to let
you know what is happening at Shalom
House.
Peace be with you,
Mimi, Brian, Adam & Brian

Please keep us in your prayers.
We ask that you pray for us and
our work of proactive, nonviolent
Christian peacemaking.
Please pray for:
✴Our ongoing discernment as we
figure out how to make & live in peace.
✴More people to join Shalom House.
✴Job opportunities directly related to
peacemaking.
How you can help
1. Be a prayer partner.
We are contributing to the
formation of God’s network of
peacemakers around the
globe.
2. Be a local partner.
Sign up at our website --
www.shalomhouse.us --
to be on the Circle of
Peacemakers Listserve and
participate in our dialogue and
actions.
3. Find further partners.
We have a new cohort of
house members who join each
year. We are looking for those
God has prepared for our
community.
4. Be a contributing partner.
We need to raise at least
$30,000 a year for expenses
beyond our mutual sharing.
Walk for Peace in North Philly
In August, Philly hit 250 homicides for
the year. By the end of year we
suffered 392 homicides; 331 from
guns. We walked the streets of North
Philly with other Philadelphians as
part of the City’s “Put it Down”
campaign and local groups and
churches’ call to walk for Peace.
Two months later, we went to a
workshop on “Christians & Handgun
Violence” to learn more about efforts
to reduce the proliferation of illegal
handguns.
Guluwalk
Guluwalk is a movement that
stands in solidarity and raises
awareness about the ongoing
civil war in Northern Uganda.
In the fall, Brian S. was the lead
organizer of the Philadelphia
walk and Brian B. was on the
planning committee. Shalom
House served as Guluwalk
organizing headquarters.
Marching the streets of Philadelphia with 250 people and a
police escort.
Vigil & Nonviolent Direct Action to Close
the School of the Americas
20,000 people, including
Brian S., Mimi, and Brian
B., met in November at the
Gates of Fort Benning,
GA to call for the close of
the School of the Americas
(now called WHINSEC).
We mourned the loss of
1,000s killed by the
graduates of the school
and we took hope in our
numbers & our
commitments toward
nonviolent peacemaking.
Christmas Peace Pilgrimage
Entering the season of
Advent, Shalom House
led a group from Circle
of Hope to participate in
the 48th annual
Christmas Peace
Pilgrimage -- a 10 mile
trek from Nazareth to
Bethlehem, PA.
Hundreds of Christians
walked throughout the
day seeking to reflect the
nonviolent life of Jesus &
his truth of forgiving love.
 Address Change Service Requested

Philadelphia, PA 19147
1125 S. Broad St. 2nd Floor
c/o Circle of Hope
Permit No. 4477 Shalom House

Philadelphia, PA

U.S. Postage PAID

Non-profit Org.

We’d love to hear from you!

Address:
Email:
6117 Germantown Ave.
Brian Baughan
Philadelphia, PA 19144 brian.baughan@shalomhouse.us

Mimi Copp
Phone: mimi.copp@shalomhouse.us
215.844.1990
Adam Malliet
adam.malliet@shalomhouse.us
Website:
Brian Shingledecker
www.shalomhouse.us brian.shingledecker@shalomhouse.us

If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, please email mimi.copp@shalomhouse.us or give us a call.