GHOST RANCH EDUCATION AND RETREAT CENTER
ABIQUIU, NEW MEXICO
A new kind of conference
This conference is different: Peacemakers, we are listening to you and challenged by you! Peacemakers from across the country are invited to the sacred space of Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center in Abiquiu, New Mexico, to explore the Kin-dom of God as expressed in Isaiah 58:12, holding fast to our call to be Restorers of Streets to Live in.
This is a conference about restoring and transforming the streets in which we live and mentoring new and younger peacemakers. You will have the opportunity to form and covenant with new communities to continue the work of peace beyond the conference and learn skills in connecting and communicating the work of peacemaking through the use of social media. This is a conference for peacemakers by peacemakers; conference leaders are giving their time to this conference because of their passion and commitment to peace.
We hope you will make the effort to join us for this conference. It will fuel and energize you to continue the work of peace and justice for the long haul.
Our commitments
With continuing commitment to nurture the peacemaking community in the PC(USA), support the livelihood of Ghost Ranch and New Mexico, strive to lower conference fees and work toward responsible stewardship of God’s creation, the Peacemaking Program and the planning team of the 2012 Peacemaking Conference have made intentional choices to:
- Reserve housing options that reflect an intentional community that chooses to live simply
- Respond to Ghost Ranch’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions by limiting car traffic while at the ranch by providing group transportation* to and from the Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) for participants and leaders
- Reduce, reuse and recycle materials of the conference, and
- Remember that Peacemaking Offering funds subsidize the entire conference, reducing the cost for all participants so that all wanting to attend are able to attend
We will connect, confess, bless and venture out
At the 2012 Peacemaking Conference, the body of Christ gathered will …
CONNECT as we explore our call, while encouraging one another in claiming the ministry of peacemaking through contextual Bible study and small group reflections. We are calling the small groups Neighborhoods.
CONFESS who we are and whose we are, what we believe and what we resolve to do as peacemakers, called and claimed by God through daily prayers and worship.
BLESS one another in the sharing and receiving of God’s gifts as peacemakers by learning how to advocate for peace through nonviolence, respectful dialogue, global discipleship, gun violence prevention, ending human trafficking and building peace through moral imagination. We are calling these activities Taking It to the Streets. In addition, we will experience hands-on laboratories we are calling Expressions to broaden our skills in interpreting and telling the stories of peace through social media, photography/video, writing, choir and visual arts.
VENTURE OUT into the world informed by conversations on peacemaking issues and country situations we are calling Briefings, being inspired by screening a video documentary and listening to the journey and reflections of David LaMotte in concert. We venture out as a people who have been equipped, encouraged and emboldened with imagination, vision, wisdom and hope, to be voices, hands and feet in the ongoing work of peacemaking—to be Restorers of Streets to Live in.