PEACE WEEK
In 2002, the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church issued statement titled, "Call for Peace." The document highlights the horrors of terrorism and total war, and then it lists four pillars of peace: dialogue, justice, forgiveness and reconciliation. After inviting Adventists to be peacemakers, the statement calls for educational peace weeks (emphasis added):
The Seventh-day Adventist Church operates what may be the second largest worldwide parochial school system. Each of its more than 6,000 schools, colleges, and universities is being asked to set aside one week each school year to emphasize and highlight, through various programs, respect, cultural awareness, nonviolence, peacemaking, conflict resolution, and reconciliation as a way of making a specifically "Adventist" contribution to a culture of social harmony and peace. With this in mind, the Church's Education Department is preparing curricula and other materials to help in implementing this peace program.
The education of the church member in the pew, for nonviolence, peace, and reconciliation, needs to be an ongoing process. Pastors are being asked to use their pulpits to proclaim the gospel of peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation which dissolves barriers created by race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, and religion, and promotes peaceful human relations between individuals, groups, and nations.
In an effort to support schools to fulfill this calling, Chris Blake wrote an article on how to plan a Peace Week: "Build Your Own Peace Week" (Spectrum, 16 September 2013). The same article appeared in the Summer 2013 edition of The Journal of Adventist Education.
Additionally, below are stories of universities that have answered this call. We hope these stories will encourage other schools at all educational levels to also dedicate a week each year to peacemaking and the ministry of reconciliation.
Peace Week Speakers Advocate Non-violence, Forgiveness (Darla Martin Tucker, La Sierra Website, 19 March 2013)
La Sierra’s Peace Week Takes Aim at Violence (Darla Martin Tucker, La Sierra Website, 20 January 2010)
La Sierra University
Oakwood University
Adventists and Peace (Debbonnaire Kovacs, Adventist Today, 14 January 2015)
Peace Activists Convene at Oakwood University for Adventist Peace Education Week (APF Blog, 13 January 2015)
Peace Activists Encourage Alabamians to Join a Protest (Kay Campbell, AL.com, 13 January 2015)
Union College
Adventist Peace Radio, Episode 2: Chris Blake (APF Blog, 3 May 2016)
Lincoln Interfaith Peacemakers Coalition Launches “10,000 Acts of Peace” Campaign (Maura Gillan, Daily Nebraskan, 21 April 2016)
Lincoln Peacemakers Pledge 10,000 Acts of Peace toward Worldwide Effort (Erin Andersen, Lincoln Journal Star, 19 Mar 2016)
Peace Week (Ricky Amimo, Union College Website, 21 April 2014)
Peace Week to Culminate with Shane Claiborne Talk (Joellyn Sheehy, Union College Website, 9 April 2013)
Union College to Hold Annual Peace Week (Tiffany Doss, Union College Website, 15 April 2011)
Adventist Peace Radio, Episode 19: WWU Peace Week 2018
Walla Walla University: Peace Week 2018 (APF Blog, 14 January 2018)
Walla Walla University—Peace Week 2016 (APF Blog, 12 January 2016)
Walla Walla University Focuses On Racial Justice For Adventist Peace Education Week (Emily Muthersbaugh, APF Blog, 28 January 2015)