283 | 2020 European Peace Colloquy Project Zion Podcast Josh
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283 | 2020 European Peace Colloquy Project Zion Podcast Josh Mangelson 0:17 Welcome to the Project Zion podcast. This podcast explores the unique spiritual and theological gifts Community of Christ offers for today's world. Robin Linkhart 0:33 Hello, welcome to project Zion podcast. This is your host Robin Linkart and today we are focusing on a topic that connects deeply with the heart of Community of Christ as a movement and as a people of faith. Peace. I am delighted to welcome three guests today. Andrew Bolton who coordinated the work of Community of Christ in 10 countries in Asia. Andrew is an advocate for peace and I prolific writer. Elray Henricksen, a Norwegian holds graduate degrees in peace building and communications, and Joey Williams. Joey serves as the mission center president for Western Europe. Andrew, Elray and Joey Welcome to project Zion podcast. Andrew Bolton 1:28 Thank you for inviting us. Elray Henriksen 1:31 Thank you, Robin. Thank you for having us. Joey Williams 1:33 It's great to be here. Robin Linkhart 1:34 We are happy to have you. We are here today to talk about the 2020 European Peace Colloquy Webinar Series: Peaceful Humanity A New Creation, which launches July eighth and runs through October 2020. But first, let's get to know our guests just feltlittle bit better. Andrew, we'll start with you tell us more about you. Andrew Bolton 2:07 I was born and grew up in the north of England. My dad was a British soldier in World War II. And his experiences through a dark shadow over my early years of my brothers to my three brothers, so the four us World War II didn't actually end till 20 years after the war. Andwhen he began to get help from a medical doctor, who who was a veteran also and understood. So then, the romantic view of war was punctured for me. I grew up Roman Catholic, but was looking for something better in that community of Christ. In of all places, Germany, working in Germany encountering loving church members may be both the European and I found a way through baptism to express my longing for peace. Robin Linkhart 3:04 Thanks, Andrew. Elray? Elray Henriksen 3:07 So yes. So as you said, I'm a Norwegian. I'm currently a full time volunteer for Community of Christ in Belgium. So I live in Brussels with my husband, Anton and my dog Maya. And my role in Community of Christ is to serve as national ministry coordinator for Belgium. And as the team lead for the European peace and justice team, in Community of Christ. So peace projects, which is Ministry of Community of Christ Europe, and headed by this team is in charge of organizing the European peace colloquium, which will be online this year, and that we will be talking more about. Robin Linkhart 3:48 Thanks, Elray. Joey? Joey Williams 3:51 Well, it's a pleasure to be here. I am the person who organizes activities for Community of Christ all throughout Europe. So we have many different countries that represent part of who we are. And one of my responsibilities is to coordinate the different types of ways that we get involved in mission. And so I'm very excited that we have a peace team that is not only the Western Europe mission center, but also has representation from the British Isles mission center. So this is a team that goes over to different jurisdictions as we work together to talk about the context of what is going on in Europe and how we might best respond to the different needs for justice and for peace. Robin Linkhart 4:38 Thanks, Joey. I think it's interesting to note to our listeners that our three guests today are joining us from three different national locations. So we really have an international flavor on our interview today. Okay, let's just kind of jump into the deep end. I want to give a little bit of background on this whole concept on Peace Colloquy. Over the last several decades Community of Christ has established a denominational tradition of holding annual peace colloquia, often held in conjunction with the Community of Christ International Peace Award. In more recent years that focus has been dovetailed to other events such as our international World Conference. And on occasion, we have not held a Peace Colloquy. The first peace colloquy began December it's 319 93 in the newly completed Community of Christ Temple in Independence, Missouri, a temple that is dedicated to the pursuit of peace, reconciliation, and healing of the Spirit. It was also the first day that the daily prayer for peace was held in the town. In 1998, Andrew Bolton was appointed to serve full time as Community of Christ peace and justice minister. And a major focus of that role was providing leadership for everything connected with the annual peace colloquy held in the independence tiempo. To date there have been a total of 26 recipients of the Community of Christ International Peace Award. That number accounts for three years when more than one individual received the award. So here we are, now we are having a European Peace Colloquy shared online, another first titled peaceful humanity, a new creation. What brought you to creating this event? What is it going to look like? And who wants to start Elray Henriksen 7:01 I'd be happy to start here, Robin. So, giving a bit of a historical background for me and why I get engaged in this is to explain first that when I became a new member in the Oslo congregation in Norway, I was I was baptized in 2011. And I was I was given a stipend to travel to my first international peace colloquium in Independence, Missouri that same year from my congregation. And this was just such an amazing and foundational experience for me and, and how I, in terms of also how I came to engage, engage with Community of Christ of the following years. I met a few people at this colloquy including Joey Williams for the first time and made really good friends there. I've always wanted to go back to participate in one of these colloquy but haven't had the chance. Since then, they are normally over a weekend so it kind of is a bit extravagant to travel all the way from Europe to be in Independence for weekend. But the energy and the learning that that used to take place at these events was electrifying. So one of the reasons we we organized the first peace colloquy, the British Isles mission center in 2018, was to recreate the success of these peace colloquium that had been held and this tradition that hadn't been held in Independence, Missouri for so long. And, and, and this year, the European peace colloquy is a follow up of the British Isles mission center, peace colloquy at the time. So we believe that these events and ministries can be recreated in different geographical areas of the church. And we're so excited for the opportunity to be hosting this coming European peace colloquium online over the coming months. Unknown Speaker 8:58 So when I got the job, Andrew Bolton 9:00 coordinating peace and justice ministries and doing Pisco Equus? I had to look up the word colloquy to find out what it meant. Because it's not obvious as if you have a limited education. So colloquy means conversation. So peace colloquy means peace conversations about important justice issues. So, and I helped organize 11 of these things in the peace Temple Independence, the way European peace colloquy Europe has been a peace and justice disaster. Look at European history, colonization, two world wars in the 20th century, Holocaust nuclear weapons threatening us. We British invented the Industrial Revolution and climate changes and then fourth unfortunate consequence, but there's also good news in Europe, out of Europe, came the anabaptist choosing the Mennonites, Quakers, the Church of the Brethren. So the three major piece churches all were both birthed in Europe. In Europe, we have the first welfare states, just imagine free meds just because you need it just because you're human. And then the Council of Europe and its Convention of Human Rights for every European citizen, happened beginning 1949 as a consequence of the why response to the war, to prevent the trust is happening in the future. And the European Union has been a huge and significant and successful peace project. But now there are threats from the far right. Brexit. There's climate change threatening as all those anti semitism and Islamophobia. Britain's renewing its nuclear weapons at a huge cost. And Europeans have never ever really challenged their racism. So that's why there's an urgency for a peace colloquy. Joey Williams 11:03 I think Andrew hits it on the head when he points out some of the things that are going on that really asked the question, why a peace colloquy, and why right now? And I think the theme really points to a place that we are in history where this theme may have more impact than it could have ever had maybe in the past, in my generation, at least, Peaceful Humanity: a New Creation, is the theme that we're going to be treating at this peace colloquy, and there may never have been a better time for such a colloquy as right now, there are so many conversations in the world that are not only beginning, but that people are asking for more than just a discussion.