By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

Joan Gillis of Manchester, whose son is in the Army and spent a year in Afghanistan, holds a sign during the nonviolence rally held every Wednesday on the Goffstown Common. Gillis wants the public to realize that those who die in war are not just statistics, but they leave behind family and loved ones. (The Goffstown News/Bruce Preston)

Local peace activist group Neighbors Advancing Nonviolence counted a nationally known figure among its ranks on Wednesday, Sept. 27.

Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire Eugene Robinson joined the group in their weekly peace vigil on the town common.

“This is a great forum for the cause of peace,” said Robinson, eagerly embracing and swapping greetings with about two dozen residents who turned out for the event.

“People are driving home from work, thinking about what they’re going to have for dinner,” said Robinson, a Weare resident, as cars passed from North Mast Road onto Main Street during the early twilight. “When they see people out here promoting peace, they can also take a moment to think about peace.”

Neighbors Advancing Nonviolence hold their weekly gathering every Wednesday from 5:30 to 6 p.m. on the town common.

Bill Exner, rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, formed the group with friend and fellow Goffstown resident Thomas Lee in December 2004.

The idea of a weekly peace gathering arose during a discussion about the war in Iraq, Exner said.

“Tom and I were talking about the war and what could be done to promote peace, and we decided not just to have a private conversation between ourselves inside,” Exner said. “Why not take it outside, and let other people join?”

When forming the group, Lee and Exner knew they wanted to have the words “Neighbors” and “Nonviolence” in the title, but they didn’t know how to connect those two ideas, Exner said.

Lee’s daughter Becky, who is now in the Peace Corps, contributed the verb “advancing,” Exner said.

Lee, a 30-year resident of Goffstown and former biology professor at St. Anselm College, said promotion of nonviolent causes is especially important given the pending elections in November.

“There’s a special emphasis on the peace movement now, and with the approaching election season we’re trying to put an emphasis on nonviolent solutions versus violent solutions,” Lee said.

The crowd at the gathering Sept. 28 was slightly larger than usual, with some who attended saying they had heard about the gathering through the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.

The event came during the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s “Peace Week of Action,” spanning Sept. 21 to 28, in which activists around the country pledged to bring the troops home, establish a comprehensive plan to end the war in Iraq and oppose future U.S. military invasions.

There was also a peace march and rally scheduled for Concord on Sept. 30, which many on the common said they planned to attend.

“There’s not enough happening in the peace movement right now,” said Judy Haigh of Canterbury. “I think more of us should be out demonstrating.”

Joan Gillis of Manchester attended with a sign declaring herself a “Military Mom for Peace,” with writing on the back declaring, “Peace is Pro-life, Moral and Patriotic.”

Gillis said she found out about the Neighbors Advancing Nonviolence gatherings late last summer while searching for ways to support Cindy Sheehan.

Sheehan, the mother of an Army soldier who died in Iraq in 2004, has become one of the most visible members of the antiwar movement. Gillis said she shares some of Sheehan’s concerns because Gillis herself has a son serving in Afghanistan.

“My son is an Army officer, and he’s had a very tough time,” said Gillis of her son Erik, 40, a 17-year Army veteran. “We don’t talk about the war often. He was very pro-Bush when he went in, but I think he feels we’ve been there too long.”

Some local residents said they came out simply to support the movement for peace.

“I don’t think most kids know about Neighbors Advancing Nonviolence, or if they do they think it’s only for Episcopalians,” said Ashley Gilmore, 13, an eighth-grade student at Mountain View Middle School.

Ashley’s mother, Elisabeth Gilmore, said she became interested after reading about Neighbors Advancing Nonviolence in the St. Matthew’s Church bulletin and seeing the group during one of their weekly gatherings.

Elisabeth Gilmore said she used to protest the Vietnam War in Princeton, N.J., in the ’60s and ’70s, and believes protesting the Iraq War carries that tradition into the present day.

“I’ve always had so many problems with the war in Iraq. That’s why I thought it was so important to come here,” said Elisabeth Gilmore, who added a typical family outing between herself, Ashley and her husband, Greg, involves the New Boston family going to a Borders bookstore.

Robinson said the participation of families like the Gilmores and all the others makes Neighbors Advancing Nonviolence such an important statement.

“This is a very powerful witness for the cause of nonviolence,” Robinson said. “It’s gatherings like this that get the word out and show the community is concerned.”