Peace Workshop Will Equip Young Anglicans

Peace loving young Anglicans from around the world are to gather in the UK this summer, to take part in a unique workshop aimed at resourcing and equipping peacemakers.

The young people from conflict riven areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America will get together in Coventry, to look at ways to prevent conflict and build the role of women in peace-building initiatives.

The ten-day workshop will consider how conflict can be a barrier to development, and look at how Anglican communities can overcome the problems it poses.

And the programme will equip the participants to make peace and reconciliation the very heart of their work.

The workshop will be run in conjunction with the Community of the Cross of Nails, a partnership of Christians formed out of the ashes of the Second World War.

Following the destruction of Coventry Cathedral in wartime air raids, the then Cathedral provost, Dick Howard, began looking for ways to overcome hatred with love in the spirit of Christ.

Now the community he founded is to play host to the remarkable gathering of young leaders, as they take part in a programme designed to develop their peace-building skills.

The workshop will not only explore the challenge of conflict as a barrier to development, but also allow participants to share examples of best practice in conflict transformation.

During the ten days they are together, participants will develop their leadership skills, learn about how to build peace in multicultural and interfaith contexts, and consider the special role of the church in building sustainable peace.

They will also examine the role of woman as mediators and sustainers of peace and help take forward plans for an Anglican model of conflict early warning.

A call for participants from Africa will be launched later this week and calls for participants from Asia and Latin America will follow.