BY ANGELA ZUMWALT

Special to The Pilot

On Sunday, Sept. 9, Brownson Memorial Presbyterian Church, of Southern Pines, and Community Presbyterian Church, of Pinehurst, will jointly host speaker, musician, writer and Rotary World Peace Fellow David LaMotte.

In the past, the youth at both churches have been inspired by LaMotte at conferences held at the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat. Although extremely popular with youth, LaMotte's appeal is multi-generational. He has led workshops, keynoted and performed well over 2000 concerts on four continents and has released 10 CDs.

The engagement begins at the Brownson campus on May Street in Southern Pines. During the worship services at 8:45 and 11:10 a.m., LaMotte will present a sermon on "Hope for Peace," drawn from Jeremiah 1:4-9 and Matthew 13:31-33.

Between services, at 10 a.m. he will present "Worldchanging 101," which explores some of the themes of a book he is currently working on.

The engagement resumes with a concert appearance at 6:30 p.m. at Community Presbyterian Church on Everett Road in Pinehurst.

The Washington Times wrote of LaMotte, an award-winning songwriter, "His lyrics range from insightful image-driven stories to equally insightful humor." BBC Radio Belfast described his appearance as complete with "charm, stories, humor insightful songs, sweet voice and dazzling guitar ability".

"Brownson Memorial and Community Presbyterian churches chose to jointly underwrite this event as an opportunity to bring David LaMotte to the Sandhills area," says a spokesman. "We extend an invitation to all to attend."

On Brownson's part, LaMotte's appearance is sponsored by the Bill Jones Lecture Series endowment, which supports special events to inform, educate and enrich the spiritual life of the community.

The Rev. Karen Allen, of Brownson Memorial, says, "David LaMotte has been a personal friend since his beginning days as a singer-songwriter in the early 1990s. I have followed the growth of his career as a folk artist and, more recently, as an advocate for peace and reconciliation with keen interest."

LaMotte is a Rotary World Peace Fellow with a master's degree in international studies, peace and conflict resolution. Rotary World Peace Fellows are selected every year in a globally competitive process that begins when they apply through their local Rotary clubs that number 34,000 worldwide.

LaMotte is also the clerk (chair) of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Nobel Peace Prize Nomination Committee. The AFSC is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. The AFSC chooses a Nobel Peace Prize nominee each year on behalf of Quakers who, as Nobel laureates, have the privilege of nominating.

His peacemaking >work has taken him from Bosnia to Belfast and from Berlin to Bethlehem. He developed and taught writing >workshops for survivors of the Columbine >and Jonesboro school shootings, and was called on to lead a remembrance in New York City on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, as well as celebrating healing in Joplin, Mo., after the devastating tornadoes there.

"We share a similar vision - that you cannot be in the world and not change it," says Allen. "Intentional or not, everything we do changes the world, and the small changes often add up to big ones. The opportunity then, is to decide whether or not you want to be intentional about that change. As a person of faith, I look forward to the good word David will bring about hope for a better world - one small change at a time."

LaMotte currently resides in Chapel Hill with his wife and son, and is a consultant on peace issues for the North Carolina Council of Churches.

Additional information can be found at brownson church.org and community pres.com.