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Peace Training

The Peace Commission of the Diocese of Bethlehem is offering a few substantial scholarships for the peace training to be held at Kirkridge in March. Download the pdf file below.

Download Peace Training.pdf

Creating a Culture of Peace

The Training Energized Clergy and Laity
By Addison Bross   

For three days last fall (November 7-9) a group of Episcopalians from this Diocese came together at Kirkridge Retreat Center near Bangor to take up the challenging work of learning to make peace.  With the help of two trained facilitators they moved beyond the faulty notions about peacemaking that commonly hold us back from embracing Jesus’ promise that peacemakers will get blest (Matthew 5:9).  Over the weekend their experience with a program called “Creating a Culture of Peace” bore out Jesus’ realistic admonition – that to take on this task they must be not just “innocent as doves,” but also “cunning as serpents” (Matthew 10: 16).  They must, that is, stratetgize.

Creating a Culture of Peace: Nonviolence training for personal and social change

[Updated 7/5/08]
The Peace Commission of the Diocese of Bethlehem will host spiritually-grounded peacemaker training at Kirkridge Retreat Center, Bangor, PA, November 7-9 (Friday 9:00 a.m. to Sunday 2:00 p.m.) The interactive process will include exploration of violence and nonviolence, analysis of how change occurs, community building and project planning.

Peace Training Programs at Kirkridge

Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center will offer spiritually-grounded peace training, led by Janet Chisholm and Addison Bross, August 16-19. Creating a Culture of Peace: Nonviolence training for personal and social change is the kind of peacemaking training supported by General Convention, the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and our Diocesan Peace Commission on which both presenters serve. A nationally-recognized leader in peacemaking, Chisholm is the originator of CCP. She is Kirkridge's Coordinator for Peacemaking, and a member of Christ Church, Stroudsburg. Bross, a member of Grace Church, Allentown, is Peace Studies Professor at Lehigh University. Download more information, as a word or pdf file, below.

Download creating_a_culture_of_peace.doc

Download creating_a_culture_of_peace.pdf

Kirkridge has been providing a place for rest and renewal to pilgrims along life’s journey. The Center is located on the beautiful Kittatinny Ridge of eastern Pennsylvania near Bangor, the Delaware Water Gap and the Pocono Mountains region. 

Kirkridge’s emphasis since 1942 has been the integration of contemplation and action for justice, or "Picket and Pray." Those early pilgrims and seekers who came to Kirkridge understood that the life of faith requires not only action to transform the world toward greater shalom, but also the cultivation of a deep spirituality to sustain that compassionate action. The legacy continues today, with a wide variety of programming and a growing constituency of folks from many faith traditions. Visit the Kirkridge website for details of many currently offered programs. Kirkridge draws presenters and retreatants from across the country. You may also download info about peace and justice programs in a table format for your use below.

Download k_weekends_table_w_bios.pdf

Download cc_with_discount.html