Jim Forest Institute for Religion, Peace & Justice

09/06/2026

“If your church disappeared tomorrow would the neighborhood notice? Would they care?” - JONATHAN WILSON-HARTGROVE

09/05/2026

St. Stephen’s University & Jim Forest Institute for Religion, Peace & Justice will both be in Atlanta, Nov 5-7 as co-sponsors of the 2026 Church at the Crossroads conference. We encourage all of our students, faculty, alumni and friends to come join us! Early bird registration is open now!

Info at - churchatthecrossroads.com/atlanta 👈🏼

09/04/2026

Another beautiful reflection from Andrew E. Larsen from our recent study trip to South Africa.

One of the things South Africa kept pressing on me is that there is no such thing as reading Scripture from nowhere. We all stand somewhere when we read. Our social location, our history, our race, our experience of power or powerlessness, and the people sitting beside us all affect what we hear and...

09/04/2026

Over the coming weeks we’ll be posting some reflections from Andrew E. Larsen (a peacebuilder with Peace Catalyst International ) who recently returned for our inaugural South Africa Liberation Learning Tour (study-trip) facilitated by Iziko Lamaqabane. We hope that Andy’s reflections can help everyone on this pilgrimage of life.

You can read his first post, “The Wake Follows the Boat: South Africa, Romans 13, and Learning to read Scripture from somewhere” now!

ssu.ca/news-and-events 👈🏼

*Interested in joining SSU in 2027 for one of our travel-study experiences?

Find out more at - ssu.ca/travel-study-experiences

09/01/2026

08/31/2026

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 - May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay “Civil Disobedience” (originally published as “Resistance to Civil Government”), an argument in favor of citizen disobedience against an unjust state.

Thoreau was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the fugitive slave law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending the abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau’s philosophy of civil disobedience later influenced the political thoughts and actions of many peacemakers such as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.

08/27/2026

We have a few extra spots available in our coming “Religion, Peace & Violence” course starting mid-September (all online) facilitated by Fr. Joash P. Thomas & Darnell Barkman … we’ve thus reopened registration for the next two weeks!

You can take it as part of a graduate program, the Certificate in Religion, Peace & Justice, or on its own for personal enrichment (credit or audit options available).

Jump in and join us as we explore the the intersection of religion, peace and violence in our world.

ssu.ca/application 👈🏼

08/26/2026

Reading the Bible in an age of G E N O C I D E 📖

Join us every fall & spring semester for “Peace & Violence in the Old & New Testament” (two courses) facilitated ONLINE by Brad Jersak 🤲🏼

jfi.ssu.ca 👈🏼

08/25/2026

“When I feed the poor, they call me a saint, but when I ask why the poor are hungry, they call me a communist.” - DOM HÉLDER CÂMARA

08/24/2026

On today’s special 20th episode of the Good on Wood Podcast we reboot an interview between Howard Thurman and Landrum Bolling from 1976 thanks to the good folk at the Howard Thurman Digital Archive. This newly edited and freshly remastered conversation follows Howard Thurman from his boyhood in segregated Daytona Beach to his seminary years, teaching career, and mystical theology and praxis. Thurman reflects on the spiritual power of nature, his grandmother’s influence, racial humiliation, prayer, hope, and nonviolence as a love ethic to survive a hostile world.

Listen NOW wherever you podcast.