Giant ‘peace mural’ painted by Greenbelt visitors

A giant mural depicting peacemakers throughout the ages was painted over the bank holiday weekend by visitors to the ‘Peace Zone’ at this year’s Greenbelt Christian Arts Festival. The ‘peace mural’ is 12m in length, stands 2m high and features familiar figures such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Jesus, as well as the faces of ordinary Greenbelt visitors who spread the gospel of peace in their everyday lives.

The Peace Zone is a project of the Network of Christian Peace Organisations (NCPO) where festival-goers are encouraged to incorporate an active commitment to peace and nonviolence into their Christian practice. The 2009 Peace Zone was jam-packed full of resources for campaigning and action with a knowledgeable and energetic volunteer staff team on hand to talk through anything peace-related.

The NCPO brings together almost 30 UK-based Christian peace organisations – including Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, Dominicans, Methodists, Quakers and Unitarians – to explore a commitment to peace from a Christian perspective.

Norman Kember, NCPO member and former Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) representative in Iraq, says: “My commitment to peace and nonviolence is inseparable from my Christian faith and my involvement with the Network of Christian Peace Organisations reflects this. NCPO’s presence at the Greenbelt festival is especially important as the festival goers of today will become the peacemakers of tomorrow.”

Peace and nonviolence were firmly on the agenda at Greenbelt, with speakers such as Alistair McIntosh and Diana Francis talking passionately about ‘The Violence of our Times’ and ‘Living the Gospel of Peace’. And for those really wanting to get stuck in, there was also a lively and interactive forum theatre production of ‘A Play on Peace’ and a moving ‘Just Peace vigil’.

Photo: Oliver Robertson

Ends

Notes to editor:

• Photos of the ‘Peace mural’ and other aspects of the Peace Zone are available on request from annev@quaker.org.uk
• NCPO representatives will be available for interview, contact Chris Cole on 01865 250781 or 07960 811 437
• The Greenbelt Christian Arts Festival takes place over the August Bank Holiday weekend each year at Cheltenham race course. This year’s festival ran from 28 to 31 August.
• The Network of Christian Peace Organisations (NCPO) is an ecumenical network committed to peace as central to the meaning of church community. NCPO consists of a broad group of organisations in the Christian peace tradition committed to furthering peace and encouraging churches to support the peace movement. A full list of member organisations can be found below.

NCPO members include:
Anglican Pacifist Fellowship
Baptist Peace Fellowship
Bruderhof Communities
Campaign Against Arms Trade Christian Network
Christian International Peace Service
Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Christian Ecology Link
Christian Peacemaker Teams (UK)
Church and Peace
Clergy Against Nuclear Arms
Community for Reconciliation
Congregational Peace Fellowship
Dominican Peace Action
Ekklesia
Fellowship of Reconciliation, England
London Mennonite Centre
Methodist Peace Fellowship
Northern Friends Peace Board
Pax Christi
Peace School
Quaker Peace & Social Witness
SPEAK
St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation & Peace
Student Christian Movement
Third Order of St Francis
Unitarian Peace Fellowship
United Reformed Church Peace Fellowship
World Disarmament Campaign – Churches Work

The new-look NCPO website was launched earlier this month and can be found at www.ncpo.org.uk  

Media Information
Chris Cole
01865 250781 or 07960 811 437
ncpo@for.org.uk
www.ncpo.org.uk