Bridgefolk co-sponsors ecumenical peace conference

Peace Among the Peoples is a gathering of ecumenically minded Christian peacemakers. This conference will be an opportunity to reflect on the future of ecumenical peacemaking in North America, and beyond. Bridgefolk is a co-sponsor of this conference.

In May 2011, the World Council of Churches will hold the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Kingston, Jamaica, culminating the 2001-2010 Decade to Overcome Violence program. The immediate objective of Peace Among the Peoples is to critically appropriate the agenda of the 2011 Convocation.

The meeting will include panel presentations from leading thinkers and activists, such as Stanley Hauerwas, Rita Nakashima Brock and Brian McLaren.

For more information, click here.

Conference registration now open

Registration is now open for the 2010 conference. The conference will be held July 22-25 at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN. Visit the conference page for more information or click here to access the registration form directly. Online registration will be available soon.

Bridgefolk 2010 Conference schedule updated

To see the updated schedule for this summer’s conference, please click here. For registration information, please click here.

Gene Stoltzfus, long-time CPT director & friend of Bridgefolk, dead at 70

Gene Stoltzfus, founding director of Christian Peacemaker Teams, died March 10 at age 70. Stoltzfus was a friend of Bridgefolk and attended our conference at Saint John’s Abbey in 2008. To read more, visit http://www.cpt.org/speakers/gene_stoltzfus.

Bridgefolk Board member returns to Rutba, Iraq

Weldon Nisly, pastor of Seattle Mennonite Church and Bridgefolk Board member, returned to Rutba, Iraq in January as part of a Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). As part of a CPT delegation that visited Iraq in 2003 during the US invasion, Nisly was injured in an automobile accident and treated at a clinic in Rutba. He and other members of the delegation returned this year in order to express their gratitude to their Iraqi hosts and medical personnel. For CPT news releases on the recent trip, click here.

Italian Catholic bishops call for nonviolence

War Is Irrational, Italian Bishop Affirms

Conference Considers Priority of Disarmament

ROME, FEB. 8, 2010 (Zenit.org).- War is irrational and inhuman, and non-violence needs to become a language, reconciliation a style of life.

These were some of the conclusions at the Italian episcopal conference’s convention last month on “For a World of Peace: the Dream of Isaiah and the Proclamation of Christ.”

Caritas-Italy and Pax Christi co-sponsored the event.

An official from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Tommaso Di Ruzza, told the conference participants that disarmament is an ethical question that involves everyone, not just governments. Continue reading “Italian Catholic bishops call for nonviolence” →

Mennonite Church Canada represented at Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

WINNIPEG, Manitoba —Mennonite Church Canada leaders gathered with those from other denominations on January 24/2010 for the opening service of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Among the other denominations represented were Anglican, Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, United Church of Canada, Evangelical Lutheran, United Church of Christ, Salvation Army, Presbyterian and Ukrainian Orthodox. Continue reading “Mennonite Church Canada represented at Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” →

Pontiff Encourages Work With the Poor

War Is Irrational, Italian Bishop Affirms

Conference Considers Priority of Disarmament