Author Archive

Why forgive? Christians forgive (when we do actually forgive) because Jesus taught us to, and showed us how. Perhaps at some deep level we all know forgiveness is the right thing, the thing that might pull our world out of the cesspool of wars, torture and racial/religious hatred.

Huffington Post: We live in a universe marked by diversity as the law of its being and our being. We are made to exist in a life that should be marked by cooperation, interdependence, sharing, caring, compassion and complementarity.

During the summer months of Schools of Christian Mission until International Day of Peace on September 21, you are invited to participate in Prayers and Actions for Peace as an expression of reconciliation.

Women involved in peacebuilding tend to gravitate to efforts that entail sustained interfaith and intrafaith relationship building, approaching peace work from a holistic perspective that highlights the community.

The United Methodist Church, in particular, was instrumental in the reconciliation process and through its Child Rescue Center in Bo continues to lead a campaign to care for children left destitute after the war. United Methodist Bishop Joseph Humper, now retired, served as chair of the post-conflict Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The agenda for the Florida Annual Conference at the Tampa Convention Center June 1-4 was designed to support Bishop Timothy Whitaker’s 2011 theme, “Transforming the World by Living as Peacemakers.”

We have just launched a new section of the JustPeace website dedicated to our latest resource – The Journey: Forgiveness, Restorative Justice and Reconciliation (the 2011 School of Christian Mission book). This section of the website includes additional supplemental video resources to assist in group study of the book.

By Tom Porter: “When Blood and Bones Cry Out” by John Paul Lederach and Angela Jill Lederach contains one of the best explanations of why the circle process has become so important in conflict transformation. The circle is a container for ritual, covenant and conversation.

Rather, the opposite seems to be true, as, throughout history the church has found itself pointing the sharper rather than the blunt edge of the sword, many times using violence in the name of God. Following closely behind has been mission and theology – either justifying it or keeping silent.

“I remember when the Sierra Leonean community in Kenya was threatened by division with squabbles here and there,” said Edgar Momoh, a Sierra Leonean United Methodist living in Kenya. “Because of his natural peacemaking prowess, the community held together until they relocated to Uganda.