by Ariel Miller
ACTS Peace Leaders unites caring adults and courageous students to build the skills to resolve conflicts nonviolently. This is a united quest of the ACTS Episcopal Coalition: St. Simon’s, Ascension and Holy Trinity in nearby Wyoming, and Christ Church and the Sisters of the Transfiguration in Glendale. The work unfolds through a summer Peace Leaders Camp, afterschool activities during the school year, and collaboration with Princeton Middle School.
The Peace Leaders ministry arose from the national crisis following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020. In Lincoln Heights, the trauma was intensified because students studying at home during the pandemic were forced to listen for hours every day to the sounds of gunfire and police loudspeakers from the Cincinnati Police Firing Range only yards away from their homes. Teachers could hear gunfire over Zoom calls. One Lincoln Heights child told his mother: “I think they are practicing to shoot at me.”
St. Simon’s and the three other Episcopal congregations of the Mill Creek Valley resolved to foster the leadership of young teens in creating peace in their community. Starting in 2021, the ACTS coalition teamed up with the Center for Social-Emotional Learning (CSEL) on two successful grant proposals. Start-up funding from the Diocese of Southern Ohio enabled us to launch Peace Leaders Camp at Christ Church in 2022. CSEL and ACTS next won a two-year Greater Cincinnati Foundation grant to train and support students in peer mediation at Princeton Middle School, whose diverse student body comes together from Glendale, Lincoln Heights, and other Valley communities.
Peace Leaders’ home base is right next to St. Simon’s, at the Sisters’ St. Monica Recreation Center, whose director is Mike Pearl (affectionally called “Mr. Mike” by the kids). He and his staff provide a haven of fun, safety, and guidance for Lincoln Heights children and teens year-round.
ACTS congregations are sustaining Peace Leaders with their own funds and in-kind support. Each summer we welcome 20-30 rising 6th-8th graders to three days of Peace Leaders Camp. Students experience daily yoga classes to learn how to release their bodies from trauma. They discuss conflict and practice the steps of resolving it in plenary sessions. Choosing among workshops in art, writing, theater, and drumming led by nationally-known Black artists – most with deep roots in Lincoln Heights – students explore their feelings and hopes. St. Monica’s staff reinforce students’ conflict resolution skills year-round in the afterschool program and special outings.
We’re also overjoyed to report that the hard work of citizens and elected officials throughout Hamilton County have finally led to a breakthrough. The County Commissioners committed $20 million dollars to move the firing range, which then led the City of Cincinnati, the State of Ohio, and the federal government to pitch in additional funding. Cincinnati Police and federal law enforcement will move gun practice to a regional training center now under construction in Colerain Township.
Pastor Mary Laymon led the service, which blessed a 15.4 kW system consisting of 41 Silfab photovoltaic panels on the church’s south-facing roof. Installed by Solar Power & Light of Miamisburg, the system has been generating approximately 60 percent of the congregation’s electrical power since it went online on July 30, said Ken Wright, a member of the congregation who serves on the Creation Care and Environmental Justice Commission.