Peace and Reconciliation: From the Front Lines
An Evening with Peace Activist Rev. Gary Mason of Belfast, Ireland
Please join us to learn from Rev. Mason about building away from violence, toward peace, among peoples living next to one another who are entrenched in conflict. This promises to be a fascinating and important evening for learning about peacemaking and a reconciliation perspective on the Mideast, based on Rev. Mason’s decades of experience at the center of deeply divisive conflicts.
About Rev. Gary Mason: A peace activist and peacemaker, Rev. Mason served as pastor in the 1990s of Springfield Road Methodist Church in Belfast, Ireland, which sits directly on the “Peace Line” between that city’s Protestant and Catholic communities. Living in this complex and at times very dangerous spot, he led his church to be an agent of healing within a divided sectarian society. Rev. Mason was involved in the behind-the-scenes peace process in Ireland, offering both sides an alternative to violence for softening the enmity between the two groups.
In 1999 Rev. Mason became senior minister of East Belfast Mission, one of Europe’s largest Methodist missions, and led it to be at the forefront of efforts to quell interfaith violence. In 2009 two leading loyalist paramilitary groups made the announcement that they were decommissioning their weapons from the pulpit of Rev. Mason’s church.
He has been recognized widely for his peacemaking and conflict resolution work.
Rev. Mason actively shares his expertise at leading reconciliation with those involved in other conflicts. He has traveled widely to places involved in sectarian conflict, including South Africa and Israel, and has visited Jewish historical sites in Europe in order to develop his understanding of the Holocaust and of Jewry’s European history. He has made a personal and professional commitment to developing a deep understanding of Jewish history and culture.