Our Mission: "Building Peace Together with People of Faith and Conscience"
OUR WORK
What is interfaith peace work? At the Interfaith Center for Peace (ICP), we see a profound need in our society for people of different faiths and spiritual backgrounds to come together to work for peace. There are many fragmented social movements in our country, and we aim to serve as the common space where people involved in the interfaith movement and the peace movement can meet. The peace movement is strengthened by the participation of people of many faiths and conscience. It is invigorated by addressing multifaith facets of conflict and peace. Similarly, the interfaith movement is more specific and tangible when it focuses on the creation of more peaceful and just societies.
Our vision is to support all who are involved in interfaith peace work to be confident and skilled interfaith peacebuilders connected to a larger community here in Central Ohio, in the United States, and around the world. ICP wants to challenge this community to think about interfaith work as part of a larger process of social change.
We are helping members of the community to strengthen their society by working together to find the spiritual and practical resources in our traditions and experiences that help us to build the peaceful world we envision. ICP is helping our community members become stronger neighbors, leaders, intercultural problem-solvers, and teachers who are able to bring their values of a just and peaceful world into reality.
HEAD, HEART, & HANDS: WEAVING TOGETHER ICP'S MISSION & ACTION
In Columbus, as in many areas of the world, interfaith difference are not merely matters of faith - they involve cultural, ethnic, racial, linguistic, and economic differences that are often closely tied to issues of conflict and violence. Being intentional about how we engage with the "others" in our lives helps us to create peace, and makes available more creativity and energy for innovative peacebuilding that includes all parties involved.
ICP has a comprehensive approach to interfaith peace work that engages individuals in our community at several levels: head, heart, and hands. Together, these elements of our humanity represent our intellectual and emotional experiences and the skills we have for transforming our world.
HEAD
The "head" refers to our levels of awareness, our thoughts, and intellectual responses that we experience when we encounter religious (or other) differences, conflicts, and violence. We can approach our differences and conflicts through logical and analytical means in order to better relate with each other and resolve our conflicts.
HEART
The "heart" refers to our feelings, emotional responses to conflict situations, to people different than oneself, and to the prevalence of societal violence. Our emotions often guide us toward or away from empathy, compassion, and recognition of shared humanity across lines of difference and situations of conflict both large and small.
HANDS
The "hands" refer to the skills that help people connect across divisions and build peace among individuals and groups. Intercultural communication skills, conflict resolution models and analysis, mediation, dialogue, peacebuilding, and other skills can help us approach our differences and our conflicts in new ways that lead to safer, more harmonious and vibrant communities in which all members are recognized as being important to the whole.
HISTORY OF ICP
The Center was started in 1982 as a ministry of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio. It was 1981, the era of Cold War politics. For the United States, the Soviet Union was “the enemy.” Missiles and other arms build-ups were occurring around the world. Since then, we've become a more religiously diverse organization trying to tackle questions of peace and interfaith relations.
From the opening “Arts for Peace” event, through the development of our family-oriented Peace Schools education model, to post-9/11 community conversations on the idea of a “just peace,” and our first annual conference titled "Children of Abraham: Building Interfaith Peace and Community" in 2009, the Interfaith Center for Peace has been increasingly actively involved in working for peace in our religious communities, in Central Ohio, and in our country.
BE PART OF OUR FUTURE!
Are you interested in becoming part of this interfaith peace community and supporting the work of the Interfaith Center for Peace?
Sign up for our e-newsletter to learn more about interfaith peace issues, program opportunities, and reflections from our board, staff, and volunteers.
Become a Partner for Peace and join a dedicated group of volunteers, donors, and friends who are working to make this vision a reality.
As a Partner for Peace, you will:
