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About a year after vowing to be more welcoming to diverse groups of worshippers, a San Luis Obispo church has continued its mission of promoting unity by placing a new monument on its grounds.
The United Church of Christ (Congregational) of San Luis Obispo celebrated its 50th anniversary and continued mission of being an Open and Affirming church with the installation of a peace pole outside its sanctuary.
The central tenet of an Open and Affirming congregation is that people of all sexual orientations are welcome in the church and ministry, according to the Web site.
In late February, the San Luis Obispo church of about 160 members decided to erect the pole as a way also to honor the church’s ONA status and celebrate diversity.
The 8-foot tall Redwood pole is inscribed with the phrase “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in 12 languages.
“No matter where you are on the political level, do you think God would quibble with you on that one?” said the Rev. Curt Miner, the church’s pastor.
There are at least two other poles in the county, Miner said. Peace Poles have been built on Cal Poly’s campus and the San Luis Obispo United Methodist Church.
While choosing 12 languages seemed like a tough task at first, Miner said it turned out to be an “interesting process” for church members.
“We put Hebrew and Arabic next to each other since that’s where peace seems to be a problem,” Miner said.
Japanese and German were represented because of major wars. And ongoing tensions in Korea, Russia and Africa prompted the church to represent languages of those areas.
The pole also bears writing in Navajo, Greek (the language of the New Testament), Spanish, French and English.
“One of the best ways to bring out acceptance of everything and everyone is for peace to prevail on earth,” Miner said.
Peace Pole History
A peace pole is a hand-crafted monument that displays the message and prayer “May Peace Prevail on Earth” on each of its four or six sides.
There are more than 200,000 Peace Poles in 180 countries all over the world dedicated as monuments to peace.
Peace Poles have been planted on sites that include the tomb of Confucius in China, the pyramids of Giza and the magnetic North Pole in Canada.