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at John Abbott College
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada
July 14-19, 2008
You are invited to gather this summer for a focus on what each of us can do in our own personal lives to create peace — starting with peace within ourselves and circling out to our ways of being in our families, churches, neighborhoods . . . and the world.
All people who long for peace are welcome. Come to add your own insight and to enrich your own journey!
We will begin Monday night, July 14, with a keynote address by Jim Loney. Loney is a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams who, along with three others, was held hostage in Iraq for months in 2005-06. His peaceful witness before, during, and after his capture has received worldwide attention and opened many hearts to the idea of living life in a peace-filled way, even in the midst of immense violence.
Our mornings (Tuesday through Friday) will include music, morning prayer, Bible Study and workshops.
Lawrence Martin will begin our day with prayer. Wapistan (Lawrence) is a member of the Cree First Nation from Moose Factory Reserve, located on James Bay in Ontario. Wapistan is a story-teller, an environmentalist, a vocalist and drummer and a Juno award-winning musician — he won the very first Canadian Aboriginal Juno Award. (The Juno is the Canadian cousin to the US Grammy Award.) He plays many instruments and in a style that is a blend of indigenous, country and folk music. He and his wife Betty, an aboriginal artist, own and curate Ehkwateh Art Gallery in Cochrane, where he is also the mayor. Martin is currently the Interim Executive Director of the Misiway Milopemahtesewin Community Health Centre in Timmins, Ontario. He will help us to begin each day communing with the Spirit who is the source of all Peace.
We'll be led in Bible study by Glen Stassen, an award-winning teacher and author who serves currently as the Lewis Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. He is the author of Living the Sermon on the Mount; Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, with David Gushee; and Just Peacemaking: Transforming Initiatives for Justice and Peace. Kingdom Ethics won the Christianity Today Award for Best Book of 2004 in Theology or Ethics. Focusing on the practices of peace outlined in his book Just Peacemaking: Ten Practices for Abolishing War, Stassen will explore both international and personal implications for his practical research into the actions that truly move us toward peace.
Workshops covering a wide variety of topics will complete the mornings. We'll have the opportunity to explore everything from creating peace within marriage to supporting the just recovery of New Orleans or addressing lasting issues of injustice toward First Nations people and communities. Workshops leaders who are artists, dramatists, human rights workers, environmentalists, social justice trainers, parents, teachers, pastors, and more will share their wisdom and gather ours.
Children and youth will spend the mornings in their own programs designed to join them into a transformative community and offer them real-life skills for creating peace.
Youth work veterans Mary Meadows and Julie Reiswig will coordinate the youth morning sessions. Hector Aristizábal — artist, human rights worker, therapist, and actor — will serve as a special resource leader with the youth program, using innovative theatrical techniques to teach conflict transcendence and life affirming group processes.
Long-time children's leader Elaine Pennington will once again coordinate the morning program for children, drawing on Hector Aristizá bal, Lawrence Martin, and various other conference leaders to share their skills of art, drama, story-telling, music, conflict transformation and more to help our children develop as peacemakers.
A special afternoon workshop series called "Transforming Conflict: Transformed by Conflict" will be offered for adult participants desiring intensive training. The workshop will be led by Dwight Lundgren, Coordinator of Intercultural Ministries and Reconciliation with ABC-USA National Ministries.
Other afternoon offerings will include family-friendly field trips in the Montré al area, intergenerational peacemaking activities, and a peace and justice film series.
All afternoon sessions are optional so that we'll also have the chance to simply enjoy our free time in this lovely area. Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is a charming small town on a beautiful lake with numerous recreational opportunities within easy walking distance. The city of Montré al is less than a half-hour away and offers more adventures than we could begin to mention.
After a relaxing afternoon alone, with our families, or in community, we'll worship together each evening. Our preachers will include Mary Hammond of Oberlin, Ohio and Lee McKenna of Toronto, Ontario. Nightly worship will include music, dance, drama and sermons examining the life of peace from the inside out.
After-hours events will include plays, concerts and open mic events in which all attendees are invited to share their talents. Hector Aristizá bal will present two one-man plays: "Nightwind" and "IN-TE-A-RRO-R-GATOR." Lawrence Martin will be in concert.
A wide variety of additional leaders will help us to encounter and live the way that leads to peace.
Through music, worship, art, workshops, speakers, programming for children and youth and young adults, we as ordinary people will be empowered to live our ordinary lives in an extraordinary way.
Plan now to enrich your life and your personal journey toward peace by joining us July 14-19, 2008!
Check this page for updates on conference leaders, as available.
contact conference coordinator LeDayne McLeese Polaski for details
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