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A number of workshops led by the Orthodox were presented at the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC), held 17-25 May in Kingston, Jamaica, leading to deep reflection and robust and honest conversations.

Making peace, as an integral part of the life of church mission and witness, has not been as common as one might think.

As a 10-year-old schoolgirl, on 6 August 1945, at 8:15 a.m., Setsuko Thurlow, then Nakamura, suddenly saw a brilliant bluish light flash outside her schoolroom window. “I remember the sensation of floating in the air. When I regained consciousness, in the total darkness and silence, I found myself in the rubble.”

“As faithful disciples of the Lord of peace, we must constantly pursue and persistently proclaim alternative ways that reject violence and war. Human conflict may well be inevitable in our world; but war and violence are not.”

The story starts with Peter. Not biblical Peter, just a kid named Peter who's a little bit overweight, who has bumps on his face, and, oh, yeah – sometimes, he doesn't smell very good.

Pope Benedict XVI saluted the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) on Sunday, praying that “every act of violence is eliminated.”

More than midway through the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in Kingston, Jamaica, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said he believes the convocation's outcomes will both tangible and significant.

Fourteen-year old Gudiya Putul is not in Kingston, Jamaica attending the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC), but her name and history were brought to the attention of some IEPC participants Saturday during a workshop about economic injustice and human trafficking.

Realizing a peaceful reunification of Korea would not only be a gift for the Korean people but also for the people of Asia and the world as a whole. For the church, both in and outside Korea, realizing a unified Korea will also mean the church being unified in their efforts.

In war-torn or violent communities – and perhaps in so-called peaceful ones – reaching a state of just peace takes strength and courage.

When Archbishop Valentine Mokiwa visited a gold mining operation in Tanzania, he came across something he never expected to see: a world-class runway and sprawling houses with private swimming pools.

Sofía Chipana Quispe is part of the first generation of her family born in the city. Her parents migrated to La Paz, Bolivia, from the Andean mountain rural areas before she was born in 1952.

In an energetic book launch featuring Jamaican drummers and an Indian “Bollywood” dance lesson, the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) released a new publication seeking to break the silence on sexual abuse of women by clergy within the church.

Tuvalu, a Polynesian island nation in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia, is home to more than 11,000 people, whose very existence, which at one time was tied to the ocean and its bounty, is now threatened by rising ocean water levels.

When 15-year-old Lydia* realized she was pregnant, she was forced by Jamaican law to leave her high school in Kingston. Left with no way to continue her education, she was struggling to find a way forward for herself and her baby.

As peace advocates from around the world relayed heartrending stories of violence and oppression, they also expressed their ongoing hope that a movement of peace will prevail during the proceedings of the second day of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) being held in Kingston, Jamaica.

The International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) formally opened on Wednesday in Kingston, Jamaica, as theologians, faith leaders and the prime minister of Jamaica welcomed some 1,000 participants from more than 100 countries.

After losing his father, uncle and grandmother to violent and, in some cases, suspicious causes of death, Martin Luther King III still believes that that there is a higher and more noble way and that is to "dislike the evil act" but "still love the individual."

Jamaican national leaders welcomed a global ecumenical delegation on Monday as the week-long International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) began unfolding in Kingston.