Fernando Enns (right) speaks with Brethren and Quaker representatives to the peace convocation. Shown above, Robert C. Johansen and Ruthann Knechel Johansen (from left) discuss how the final message from the IEPC will be formulated. Enns serves as moderator of the planning committee for the IEPC and is a consultant to the message committee, as
Mennonite Ecumenical Leader Speaks About Peace Church Contribution to Decade to Overcome Violence
One of the results of the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) has been the full inclusion of peace churches in the ecumenical family of the World Council of Churches, asserts Fernando Enns. Interviewed in the Peace Convocation meeting tent after opening worship this morning, Enns reviewed the role of the Historic Peace Churches (Church of the Brethren, Mennonites, and Quakers) in the Decade, and commented on what he sees as a major shift in attitude toward the Gospel of Peace by many other churches.
Daily Themes Highlight Peace in the Community, Peace with the Earth
Participants received colorful ribbons as they entered the plenary session on Thursday morning. The ribbons were printed with different commitments to peace and justice. At the close of the plenary, the moderator invited people to exchange ribbons with their neighbors. Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford The four themes of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation each are
Journal from Jamaica – May 20, 2011
A Peace Concert in Kingston’s Emancipation Park wowed the ecumenical crowd along with locals who turned out despite a rainy start to the evening. Group after group of singers and dancers, drummers and violinists, bands and choirs filled the stage…
Journal from Jamaica – May 19, 2011
This evening there was an informal meeting of people from the “living peace churches”–a better name than Historic Peace Churches! Close to 30 people met at the outdoor café at Rex Nettleford residence hall…
Journal from Jamaica – Thursday, May 19
Church of the Brethren director of news services, Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, is reporting from the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Jamaica through May 25, the culminating event of the Decade to Overcome Violence. She hopes to post a journal entry each day as a personal reflection on the event. Here is the journal entry for Thursday,
Report from IEPC: Opening Worship and Plenary Features Strong Speakers on Peace
A dancer symbolically acts out the suffering of the world, as a lament is read listing the many ways humanity experiences violence. The dancer lifted a wet cloth from a basin of water and wrung it out high over her head, letting the water flow down like tears over her face and body. Photos by
Journal from Jamaica: Reflections on the Peace Convocation
Church of the Brethren director of news services, Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, is reporting from the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Jamaica through May 25, the culminating event of the Decade to Overcome Violence. She hopes to post a journal entry each day as a personal reflection on the event. Here is the journal entry for Wednesday, May
Opening Worship and Plenary Features Strong Speakers on Peace
The International Ecumenical Peace Convocation opened the afternoon of May 18 with worship and a first plenary session. Highlights included the attendance of Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding and the keynote address by Paul Oestreicher.
Journal from Jamaica – May 18, 2011
I realized I’d been feeling like that little lizard all afternoon. During the pomp and circumstance of the opening worship and plenary session of this meeting, like a little gecko on the wall, observing with staring eyes, transfixed by a being–the worldwide ecumenical Christian church–that’s so much larger than me and quite unpredictable.