Swords into plowshares
About this blog
Swords into Plowshares is the blog of the Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations of the Presbyterian Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Seeking peace. Striving for justice. Together.
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- Three Prayer Concerns - May 16
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Posts with category: Interfaith
February 14, 2013United for a Culture of Peace through Interfaith Harmony
by Alexander Haines
Rochelle Rawls-Shaw and I attended and participated in “United for a Culture of Peace” today in the United Nations General Assembly hall. Through this event, the UN community observed World Interfaith Harmony Week.
We had the opportunity to enjoy the musical talents of several performers, hear speakers from the UN community, and pray with representatives of all major world religious traditions. H.E. Mr. Vuk Jeremić, the current President of the United Nations General Assembly, offered opening remarks in which he asked us to “re-embrace the calls of our respective faiths” to put our “faith in the ...
January 13, 2013
Rescue during the Holocaust: The Courage to Care
In 2005 the UN General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Through this commemoration, the UN system and member states of the UN honor the victims of the Nazi era and provide and develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.
This year's 2013 observance is built around the theme “Rescue during the Holocaust: The Courage to Care”. Through exhibits, film, educational activities and the annual memorial ceremony, the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme and the global network ...
September 21, 2012
The Culture of Peace
Below is a reflection on the International Day of Peace by Rochelle Rawls-Shaw, intern at the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations.
I read on a card I picked up at the United Nations, “Everything that is needed to build a culture of peace already exists in each of us.” The UN defines a Culture of Peace as a set of values, attitudes, modes of behavior and ways of life that reject violence and prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals, groups, communities and nations.
The Presbyterian Book of Common worship ...
August 5, 2012
Statement of the Secretary General, the Rev. Bud Heckman Religions for Peace USA Concerning Murders at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin
Statement of the Secretary General, the Rev. Bud Heckman
Religions for Peace USA
Concerning the Heinous Murders at Sikh Temple of Wisconsin
August 5, 2012
August 1, 2012
Building bridges
by Johnstuart Winchell
The Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations hosted a seminar on 31 July intended to build bridges of understanding and awareness. Attending were young people from The House of Hope Presbyterian Church of St. Paul, Minnesota as well as young Arab Israelis and Jewish Israelis brought together by Givat Haviva, an Israeli educational center that educates for peace, democracy, coexistence and understanding between Jewish and Arab Israelis. The groups spent the day getting to know each other by sharing life stories, cultural dances, and reflections on what it may take to create peace within individuals and between ...