The Community of Christ International Peace Award was established to honor and bring attention to the work of

peacemaking Peacemaking is practical conflict transformation focused upon establishing equitable power relationships robust enough to forestall future conflict, often including the establishment of means of agreeing on ethical decisions within a community, ...

and peacemakers in the world. It has been bestowed on an individual each year since 1993 (except 1996 and 2015).

Overview

The award was instituted as part of the peace and justice ministries associated with the

Independence Temple The Temple in Independence, Missouri, is a house of worship and education "dedicated to the pursuit of peace". It dominates the skyline of Independence and has become the focal point of the headquarters of the Community of Christ (formerly the Re ...

, which was dedicated in 1994, the year following the inaugural award. The Community of Christ International Peace Award includes a cash gift for the benefit of the recipient's project or endeavor. The Community of Christ International Peace Award has been given annually (with the exception of 1996, 2015, 2017, and 2018) since 1993 at Community of Christ World Headquarters during significant events, including the annual Peace Colloquy, the biennial World Conference, and the International Youth Forum (held every four years). The cash value of the Community of Christ International Peace Award ranks among the top 20 international, non-governmental peace awards in the world (in a list topped by the Nobel Peace Prize) and among the top seven in the United States. As of 2006, the award includes $20,000 for the recipient to donate to a charity of his or her choice."Community of Christ International Peace Award," (Visited: 14 October 2006). Recipients represent diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, and faith. The Community of Christ International Peace Award honor roll includes

Craig Kielburger Craig Kielburger (born December 17, 1982) is a Canadian human rights activist and social entrepreneur. He is the co-founder, with his brother Marc Kielburger, of the WE Charity, as well as We Day and the independent, social enterprise Me ...

, Rev. James Lawson,

Jean Vanier Jean Vanier (, September 10, 1928 – May 7, 2019) was a Canadian Catholic philosopher and theologian. In 1964, he founded L'Arche, an international federation of communities spread over 37 countries for people with developmental disabilities a ...

Ela Gandhi Ela Gandhi (born 1 July 1940), is a South African peace activist and former politician. She served as a Member of Parliament in South Africa from 1994 to 2004, where she aligned with the African National Congress (ANC) party representing the Ph ...

, Swanee Hunt,

John Paul Lederach John Paul Lederach is an American Professor of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, and concurrently Distinguished Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University. He has written widely on conflict resolution ...

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best kn ...

, Marie Fortune, Juan M. Flavier,

Marian Wright Edelman Marian Wright Edelman (born June 6, 1939) is an American activist for civil rights and children's rights. She is the founder and president emerita of the Children's Defense Fund. She influenced leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Hillary ...

M. Scott Peck Morgan Scott Peck (1936–2005) was an American psychiatrist and best-selling author who wrote the book ''The Road Less Traveled'', published in 1978. Early life Peck was born on May 22, 1936, in New York City, the son of Zabeth (née Saville) ...

and Lily Peck, and

Jehan Sadat Jehan Sadat ( ar, جيهان السادات ''Jihān as-Sadāt'', ; née Safwat Raouf; 29 August 1933 – 9 July 2021) was an Egyptian human rights activist, the First Lady of Egypt from 1970 until her husband's assassination in 1981. As Egypt ...

. 2005 recipient Craig Kielburger, founder of Free the Children, stated in his acceptance address that: "It is an honour to receive this commendation from an organization with such a long and acclaimed history as champions for international peace and justice. The Community of Christ has been a social-justice advocate since its early beginnings among the poor on the USA frontier in the 1830s. Your movement began with young people; Joseph Smith Jr. was only fourteen when he had his first vision, only twenty-four when he began your church. Today an international movement in over fifty nations, Community of Christ carries the torch forward through child advocacy, campaigns to support

conscientious objection A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objecti ...

to war, and in their fight to bring recognition to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan." Accepting the award in 2004, Rev. James Lawson said: "You can resolve the war in your own life. You can resolve the war in your community, your congregation. You can heal the war in our nation. We can make war a relic of a dead past that need never again threaten the well-being and the security of the human race."

Honorees

Notes

References

*Peter van den Dungen, "Peace Prizes," Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict, Volume 2, 1999, pages 795–808.

External links

Official web pageInternational Peace Award
Additional information about the recipients' work, including video excerpts from their acceptance addresses
Peace Award nominations
{{Community of Christ Peace awards Community of Christ Awards established in 1993 1993 establishments in Missouri