Community of Christ International Peace Award
Encyclopedia
The Community of Christ
International Peace Award was established to honor and bring attention to the work of peacemaking
and peacemakers in the world. It has been bestowed on an individual each year since 1993 (except 1996).
, which was dedicated in 1994, the year following the inaugural award. The Community of Christ International Peace Award includes a cash gift for the benefit of the recipient's project or endeavor.
The Community of Christ International Peace Award has been given annually (with the exception of 1996) since 1993 at Community of Christ World Headquarters during significant events, including the annual Peace Colloquy, the biennial World Conference, and the International Youth Forum (held every four years). In terms of cash value, the Community of Christ International Peace Award has been placed among the top 20 international, non-governmental peace awards in the world (in a list topped by the Nobel Peace Prize) and among the top seven in the United States. As of 2006, the award includes $20,000 for the recipient to donate to a charity of his or her choice.
Recipients represent diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, and faith. The Community of Christ International Peace Award honor roll includes Craig Kielburger
, Rev. James Lawson, Jean Vanier
, Ela Gandhi
, Swanee Hunt
, John Paul Lederach
, Jane Goodall
, Marie Fortune, Juan M. Flavier, Marian Wright Edelman
, M. Scott Peck
and Lily Peck, and Jehan Sadat
.
2005 recipient Craig Kielburger, founder of Free the Children, stated in his acceptance address that: "It is an honour to receive this commendation from an organization with such a long and acclaimed history as champions for international peace and justice. The Community of Christ has been a social-justice advocate since its early beginnings among the poor on the USA frontier in the 1830s. Your movement began with young people; Joseph Smith Jr. was only fourteen when he had his first vision, only twenty-four when he began your church. Today an international movement in over fifty nations, Community of Christ carries the torch forward through child advocacy, campaigns to support conscientious objection to war, and in their fight to bring recognition to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan."
Accepting the award in 2004, Rev. James Lawson said: "You can resolve the war in your own life. You can resolve the war in your community, your congregation. You can heal the war in our nation. We can make war a relic of a dead past that need never again threaten the well-being and the security of the human race."
Community of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...
International Peace Award was established to honor and bring attention to the work of peacemaking
Peacemaking
Peacemaking is a form of conflict resolution which focuses on establishing equal power relationships that will be robust enough to forestall future conflict, and establishing some means of agreeing on ethical decisions within a community that has previously had conflict. In order to do so there...
and peacemakers in the world. It has been bestowed on an individual each year since 1993 (except 1996).
Overview
The award was instituted as part of the peace and justice ministries associated with the Independence TempleIndependence Temple
The Temple in Independence, Missouri, is a house of worship and education "dedicated to the pursuit of peace". It dominates the skyline of Independence, Missouri, USA, and has become the focal point of the headquarters of the Community of Christ...
, which was dedicated in 1994, the year following the inaugural award. The Community of Christ International Peace Award includes a cash gift for the benefit of the recipient's project or endeavor.
The Community of Christ International Peace Award has been given annually (with the exception of 1996) since 1993 at Community of Christ World Headquarters during significant events, including the annual Peace Colloquy, the biennial World Conference, and the International Youth Forum (held every four years). In terms of cash value, the Community of Christ International Peace Award has been placed among the top 20 international, non-governmental peace awards in the world (in a list topped by the Nobel Peace Prize) and among the top seven in the United States. As of 2006, the award includes $20,000 for the recipient to donate to a charity of his or her choice.
Recipients represent diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, and faith. The Community of Christ International Peace Award honor roll includes Craig Kielburger
Craig Kielburger
Craig Kielburger, CM, MSM, OMC is a Canadian activist for the rights of children. He is the founder of Free The Children and co-founder of Me to We. On February 20, 2007, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:Kielburger was born in Thornhill,...
, Rev. James Lawson, Jean Vanier
Jean Vanier
Jean Vanier, CC GOQ is a Canadian Catholic philosopher, humanitarian and the founder of L'Arche, an international organization which creates communities where people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them share life together...
, Ela Gandhi
Ela Gandhi
Ela Gandhi , granddaughter of Mohandas Gandhi is a peace activist and was a Member of Parliament in South Africa from 1994-2004, where she aligned with the African National Congress party representing the Phoenix area of Inanda in the KwaZulu Natal province...
, Swanee Hunt
Swanee Hunt
Swanee Grace Hunt , Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, is the founding director of the at the Kennedy School, and former United States Ambassador to Austria....
, John Paul Lederach
John Paul Lederach
John Paul Lederach is Professor of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, and concurrently Distinguished Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University. He has written widely on conflict resolution and mediation. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University...
, Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
, Marie Fortune, Juan M. Flavier, Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman is an American activist for the rights of children. She is president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund.-Early years:...
, M. Scott Peck
M. Scott Peck
Morgan Scott Peck was an American psychiatrist and best-selling author, best known for his first book, The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978.-Biography:...
and Lily Peck, and Jehan Sadat
Jehan Sadat
Jehan Sadat is the widow of Anwar Sadat, and was first lady of Egypt from 1970 until Sadat's assassination in 1981.- Early years :Jehan Sadat, also spelled Jihan, was born Jehan Safwat Raouf in Cairo, Egypt as the first girl and third child of an upper-middle-class family of an Egyptian...
.
2005 recipient Craig Kielburger, founder of Free the Children, stated in his acceptance address that: "It is an honour to receive this commendation from an organization with such a long and acclaimed history as champions for international peace and justice. The Community of Christ has been a social-justice advocate since its early beginnings among the poor on the USA frontier in the 1830s. Your movement began with young people; Joseph Smith Jr. was only fourteen when he had his first vision, only twenty-four when he began your church. Today an international movement in over fifty nations, Community of Christ carries the torch forward through child advocacy, campaigns to support conscientious objection to war, and in their fight to bring recognition to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan."
Accepting the award in 2004, Rev. James Lawson said: "You can resolve the war in your own life. You can resolve the war in your community, your congregation. You can heal the war in our nation. We can make war a relic of a dead past that need never again threaten the well-being and the security of the human race."
Honorees
| Year | Individual(s) |
|---|---|
| 2011 | Terry Tempest Williams Terry Tempest Williams Terry Tempest Williams , is an American author, conservationist and activist.Williams’ writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of her native Utah in which she was raised... |
| 2010 | Greg Mortenson Greg Mortenson Greg Mortenson, SPk is an American humanitarian, professional speaker, writer, and former mountaineer. He is the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute as well as the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace... |
| 2009 | Dr.Halima Bashir Halima Bashir Halima Bashir is the author of Tears of the Desert, a memoir about women's experiences with genocide and war in Darfur.The memoir was co-authored with journalist Damien Lewis.-References:... |
| 2008 | Koinonia Partners Koinonia Partners Koinonia Partners is a Christian farming intentional community in Sumter County, Georgia.-History:The farm was founded in 1942 by two couples, Clarence and Florence Jordan and Martin and Mabel England, as a “demonstration plot for the Kingdom of God.” For them, this meant following the example of... |
| 2007 | Dolores Huerta Dolores Huerta Dolores C. Huerta is the co-founder and First Vice President Emeritus of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO , and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Early life:... and Virgilio Elizondo Virgilio Elizondo Virgilio Elizondo is a Mexican American, Roman Catholic priest who divides his time between his parish in San Antonio, Texas, and teaching at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He is a major theologian in liberation theology and Hispanic theology. He has been named by Time... |
| 2006 | Dr. Howard Zehr Howard Zehr Howard Zehr is Professor of Restorative Justice at Eastern Mennonite University's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Zehr previously served 19 years as director of Mennonite Central Committee’s Office on Crime and Justice... , Professor of Restorative Justice Restorative justice Restorative justice is an approach to justice that focuses on the needs of victims, offenders, as well as the involved community, instead of satisfying abstract legal principles or punishing the offender... , Eastern Mennonite University Eastern Mennonite University Eastern Mennonite University is a private liberal arts university in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, affiliated with one of the historic peace churches, the Mennonite Church USA. Its main campus is on the edge of the small city of Harrisonburg, Virginia, about three miles from state-owned... |
| 2005 | Craig Kielburger Craig Kielburger Craig Kielburger, CM, MSM, OMC is a Canadian activist for the rights of children. He is the founder of Free The Children and co-founder of Me to We. On February 20, 2007, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:Kielburger was born in Thornhill,... |
| 2004 | Rev. James Lawson |
| 2003 | Dr. Jean Vanier Jean Vanier Jean Vanier, CC GOQ is a Canadian Catholic philosopher, humanitarian and the founder of L'Arche, an international organization which creates communities where people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them share life together... |
| 2002 | Ms. Ela Gandhi Ela Gandhi Ela Gandhi , granddaughter of Mohandas Gandhi is a peace activist and was a Member of Parliament in South Africa from 1994-2004, where she aligned with the African National Congress party representing the Phoenix area of Inanda in the KwaZulu Natal province... , MP Member of Parliament A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,... , ANC African National Congress The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a... , South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans... |
| 2001 | Dr. Swanee Hunt Swanee Hunt Swanee Grace Hunt , Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, is the founding director of the at the Kennedy School, and former United States Ambassador to Austria.... |
| 2000 | Dr. John Paul Lederach John Paul Lederach John Paul Lederach is Professor of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, and concurrently Distinguished Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University. He has written widely on conflict resolution and mediation. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University... |
| 1999 | Dr. Jane Goodall Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National... |
| 1998 | Rev. Dr. Marie Fortune, founder of FaithTrust Institute, Seattle, Washington |
| 1997 | Senator Juan M. Flavier of the Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam... |
| 1996 | No award |
| 1995 | Marian Wright Edelman Marian Wright Edelman Marian Wright Edelman is an American activist for the rights of children. She is president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund.-Early years:... |
| 1994 | Dr. M. Scott Peck M. Scott Peck Morgan Scott Peck was an American psychiatrist and best-selling author, best known for his first book, The Road Less Traveled, published in 1978.-Biography:... and Lily Ho Peck |
| 1993 | Dr. Jehan Sadat Jehan Sadat Jehan Sadat is the widow of Anwar Sadat, and was first lady of Egypt from 1970 until Sadat's assassination in 1981.- Early years :Jehan Sadat, also spelled Jihan, was born Jehan Safwat Raouf in Cairo, Egypt as the first girl and third child of an upper-middle-class family of an Egyptian... |
External links
- International Peace Award Additional information about the recipients' work, including video excerpts from their acceptance addresses
- Peace Award nominations