Lisa Sharon Harper, founder and president of Freedom Road, preaches Sunday in the Amphitheater. Image from The Chautauqua Daily.
Time:
3:00pm Central Europe / Central Africa (4:00pm East Africa Time / Jerusalem, 2:00pm UK, 9:00am USA Eastern, 6:30pm India Time)
Meeting Theme:
In our globalized, hyper-diverse, and polarized world, many Christians have seen the great need for peacebuilding and justice work and are curious or interested to learn more about how peacebuilding is connected to the Christian faith. Even more Christians are already on board, actively building relationships across divisions and working for justice and peace in their communities.
Yet for both of these groups, theological questions and tensions often emerge. Various expressions of Christian theology actively prevent some Christians from fully embracing the work for holistic and just peace (shalom/eirene) as the center of the missio Dei. Even many who are fully committed to the work of peacebuilding are finding that they have inherited theological baggage that must be unlearned in order to bring a sense of spiritual coherence to their lives as Christians and peacebuilders.
During this CPN meeting, Lisa Sharon Harper, founder and president of Freedom Road, will offer insights from her work about primary theological obstacles that she sees preventing Christians from fully embracing the work for peace and justice. She will also share some guidance and encouragement about how we might overcome those obstacles both personally and within our spiritual communities as we remember God as our liberator, healer, and the one first and foremost working for justice and peace in our lives and world.
Discussion questions:
What liberative moments have you personally experienced or seen in your community when people were freed from oppressive theologies that were doing harm personally, interpersonally, or communally?
How are you attentive to theological unlearning and relearning in your peacebuilding formation work with Christians? How have you worked effectively to overcome theological barriers that prevent Christians from engaging in peacebuilding?
Facilitators:
