Associated Press: Rev. Wayne Lavender, pastor of the New Milford, Conn., United Methodist Church, plans to launch a four-month peace mission on Jan. 1 that he hopes will include visiting Iraq and meeting President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, who are both fellow Methodists.
Lavender, 47, has always included a plea for world peace in his daily prayers and has opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning. He joins other leading clergy of the United Methodist Church, which has 9,000 churches nationwide, who have spoken out against the war.
Lavender is calling his campaign 'Passing the Peace' and will start in his own denomination. His plans call for creating a Web site, forming a support group and promoting his efforts.
Lavender believes his campaign has the potential to eventually spread beyond his own church and become an interfaith movement.
