Peacemaking Archives

Minute for Mission: A Season of Peace

Posted August 24th, 2020

Congregations of many denominations extend the peace of Christ with a blessing during their service. “The peace of Christ be with you (and also with you).” It is a blessing offered and a blessing returned in kind. The peace of Christ is part of what our faith offers to us. Extending the peace of Christ is part of an active, engaged faith — a witness to what it means for us to be building the household of God.

Presbyterian group participates in worship at the Border Church

Posted March 4th, 2020

This past Sunday, the first Sunday of Lent, participants in the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program’s southern border travel study seminar helped with the service and lunch.

Presbyterian group explores the experiences of migration in Central American journey

Posted March 3rd, 2020

A group of 24 Presbyterians and guests traveled to Central America in the past two weeks with the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program to learn more about the conditions in Latin American countries that make people choose to travel, usually on foot, to the United States border for the faint hope of a better life in the U.S. They also heard from migrants who had been returned to their home countries and the perils they faced after they returned.

Creating calm in anxious times

Posted October 20th, 2019

“The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.” On Sunday mornings in congregations across the country, hands are shaken, and the words of Christ’s peace are exchanged with one another. Yet what does it mean to pass the peace of Christ into a world that is often anxious?

Golden Rule 2020: a call for dignity and respect in politics

Posted October 15th, 2019

Do you find yourself wishing political leaders would speak more respectfully to one another as they share their perspectives on important issues?

The Anglophone crisis in Cameroon

Posted August 29th, 2019

Cameroon has been in turmoil since 2016, as a result of the Anglophone crisis. This discord followed complaints by English-speaking Cameroonians of their marginalization within the Republic of Cameroon.

Join the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program in a journey to Southeast Asia

Posted August 28th, 2019

A travel study seminar to the Philippines and Hong Kong — May 1–15, 2020 — will focus on the root causes and current challenges of forced migration and labor trafficking. The trip includes two days of travel, seven days in the Philippines and five days in Hong Kong.

Matthew 25 is basis for Peacemaker’s work in the Dominican Republic

Posted August 16th, 2019

The Rev. María Bock Barett has a concise answer when asked what she wants to share as one of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program’s 14 International Peacemakers, coming to the United States in September and October.

‘Four for Four’ churches feel connected

Posted August 1st, 2019

For nearly 15 years, a certificate has hung on a sparsely occupied bulletin board on the back wall in the sanctuary of Laguna United Presbyterian Church in Casa Blanca, New Mexico. For the only Native American congregation in Santa Fe Presbytery, this now-faded certificate represented much more than a tradition or achievement. Every time they walked by it, it was a reminder of their congregation’s commitment to participate in the life of the church — a church that spans beyond their Casa Blanca community.

Tread the ancient stones, be transformed by the ‘living stones’ of the land called holy

Posted July 2nd, 2019

Many people say a trip to the Holy Land is definitely on their “bucket list.” It’s something they want to do, plan to do, hope to do — one of these days. The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and World Mission have collaborated to lead a spiritual pilgrimage to the Holy Land every other year since 2014. The 2020 Mosaic of Peace Conference: Witnessing for Peace and Wholeness in a Land Called Holy is scheduled for March 15–28. Applications are being accepted online through Oct. 15, or after that should space allow.