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Veradale UCC welcomes 2026 Peace Runners

Veradale UCC in Spokane Valley will welcome about 10 participants in the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run, for a dinner at 6 p.m., Saturday, June 27, at 611 N. Progress Rd.

Torch bearer and runners join in the Oneness-Home Peace Run in Minneapolis. Photo courtesy of peacerun.org

The runners will share their stories and tell about the global torch relay that offers everyday people a chance to express their longing for peace.

Shari McEvoy, a participant in Faith Leaders and Leaders of Conscience (FLLC) and in the Eastside Gladiators, had met Salil Wilson, who has been participating in the Peace Run for 30 years, while both were biking on the Coeur d’Alene Trail near Harrison.

He was biking for peace and told her about the run.

Shari, a nurse and runner, contacted Gen Heywood, convener of FLLC and pastor of Veradale UCC, to see if there was a place to host them locally while they were passing through on their route from Seattle on June 23 to Sandpoint on June 28.

The Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run is a relay torch run done around the world. This year, participants left New York City on April 17 and plan to run through all 40 states as part of celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

Gen contacted Salil and they arranged for the dinner. The runners will be staying with friends and family in the area.

“If people want to run with them, leaving at 6:30 a.m., Sunday, they are welcome to join them,” said Gen.

For June, Veradale UCC will be flying rainbow, multi-message, Black Lives Matter and 250th anniviersary banners when it welcomes the 2026 United States Peace Runners in June 27 for a dinner.      Photo courtesy of Gen Heywood

The church will welcome the runners with the banners hanging outside the entry for June.

Those banners celebrate 250 years of religious freedom in the U.S., and a multi-message banner saying “Love is love,” “Science is real,” “No human is illegal” and “Women’s rights are human rights.

For June, Veradale UCC is celebrating June with a rainbow banner for Pride Month and a Black Lives Matter banner for Juneteenth.

In 2023, three banners were torn down and taken.

“As a church, we are a welcoming and diverse place and value promoting peace,” said Gen, who took the proposal of hosting the Peace Run to the church council, which approved.

Since its founding in 1987, the Peace Run has visited almost every—more than over nations and territories—around the world and touched the lives of millions of people.

More than 700,000 participants from school children to heads of state have run 395,000 miles run in 155 countries.

The 2026, the United States Peace Run is a five-month journey through all 50 states, celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.

According to its website, “All those who hold aloft the Peace Torch and pass it on to friends and neighbors will spread the message of all that is good and beautiful in our country.

The climbing flame in the torch symbolizes the ever-rising spirit of America, embodying a brightness and enduring hope that traces back to our nation’s origins. The Peace Run celebrates the shining promise of America’s dream of a oneness-world.”

The Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run is a global torch relay that offers everyone in the world a chance to express their longing for peace.

The Peace Run is a worldwide relay run. Runners carry a torch—the Peace Torch. The torch is passed from hand to hand, from person to person, as runners travel from nation to nation.

Running with the Peace Torch is designed to awaken the experience of peace as a tangible reality that is dynamic, fulfilling and achievable.

Gen said that the dinner will be a vegetarian meal prepared by Feast World Kitchen. She needs those who wish to come to rsvp, because she has to make an order to Feast.

For information and to make a reservation, call 509-926-7173 or visit peacerun.org.

 

Pacific Northwest United Church of Christ Conference News © June 2026

 

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