Mimetic theory pioneer Rene Girard, left, talks with Michael Hardin of Preaching Peace. — Photo provided by Michael Hardin

Among other speakers, Olson had heard retired Bluffton (Ohio) University religion professor J. Denny Weaver.

Weaver

This idea would make a lasting impression on Olson — so deep it would be evoked only days later at the funeral of Olson’s daughter, Katherine, 24, who was murdered while her father was at the conference on Oct. 25.

“Do not say her senseless and violent death was what God wanted,” Lutheran pastor Tom Koelln said at the young woman’s funeral, alluding to one of Weaver’s talks. “God did not want another angel. That would be an insult to God and an insult to the Olson family. We do not believe in a cruel and capricious God. What happened was evil — undisguised, uncensored, unmasked evil.”

Weaver’s talk was part of a conference organized by the Lancaster-based Preaching Peace ministry. Preaching Peace, which has a Web site devoted to spreading the gospel of Christian nonviolence, is led by a group of theologians and lecturers that includes Michael Hardin, who attends Akron Mennonite Church.

Hardin said the seminars and conferences that Preaching Peace hosts each year build not only on Christ’s message of peace but also on interpretations of mimetic theory, an approach to discourse outlined by retired Stanford University professor Rene Girard.

Mimetic theory, Hardin said, holds that people learn by imitation, or mimicry. People often imitate rivalries, leading to the scapegoating of those deemed threatening. According to Girard, Christ is the ultimate nonviolent scapegoat — carrying the burden of human sins, redeeming mankind without using force and providing a peaceful example to imitate.

“It’s something that really is part and parcel of who we are as human beings,” Hardin said of the theory’s tenets.

Preaching Peace, which draws on speakers from a variety of Christian backgrounds, offers several nonviolent atonement seminars each year on topics ranging from “Perceptions of God That Lead to Violence” to “Restorative Justice as Forgiveness.” The first such gathering in 2008 will be held Jan. 12-15 at Parkersburg, W.Va.

In 2008, prominent speakers such as author Brian McLaren, theologian Jurgen Moltmann and Girard will take part in some of the ministry’s other offerings.

“We have all these great scholars, we need to take them out on the road as teams,” Hardin said.

Because teams are always different, the content of each seminar is always fresh, Hardin said, and appeals to as broad an audience as possible.

Though most Anabaptist churches are familiar with the gospel of peace already, Hardin said there is a need for renewal among Mennonites who have been swayed by mainstream or fundamentalist ideas about politics, warfare and faith.

With growing opposition to the war in Iraq, Hardin said, has come an increasing awareness among some evangelical Christians that “maybe God’s not exactly happy” with the shape of current events.

“It’s the people in the pews who are the hungriest for this,” Hardin said. “We are out there really looking to inspire . . . new ways of thinking and being the church.”

Of Anabaptists who have lost touch with traditional teachings about nonresistance, Hardin said: “I just remind them of their roots. I think the church can actually follow Jesus if we wanted. . . . We do theology where lay people can understand it. [Preaching Peace] is our way of saying this whole nonviolence thing is not just about theology.”

Among the conferences planned for 2008 is “On Being a Peace Church in a Constantinian World,” to be held Aug. 11-15 at Messiah College in Grantham and featuring McLaren among the speakers. Hardin said a call for papers for this conference will continue through Feb. 15.

Another conference, on “compassionate eschatology,” will be held Sept. 26-27 at San Francisco Theological Seminary, featuring Girard, Moltmann and Eastern Mennonite University Bible and religion professor Ted Grimsrud among the speakers.

“Making Peace” conferences will be held June 8-13 in Boston and Aug. 17-22 in Youngstown, Ohio.

More information about these conferences and others offered by Preaching Peace are online at www.preachingpeace.org.