Association for Global New Thought Holds Conference on Peace and Nonviolence in Italy

June 3, 2004

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20040603-9999-1c3peace1.html

On June 3, 2004 The San Diego Union-Tribune reported, "This week, [Azim] Khamisa, founder of a local youth-violence prevention program, and [the Rev. Wendy] Craig-Purcell, longtime pastor of the Church of Today in San Diego, are at Synthesis Dialogues III, an international conference outside of Rome, exchanging ideas about peace and nonviolence. Inspired by the Dalai Lama's call for a shared set of global ethics, the dialogues were started in 1999 by the Association for Global New Thought in Santa Barbara. The association is the education and social action arm of an affiliation of metaphysical churches known as 'New Thought.' The first gathering was in India; the last one and this one in Italy. Craig-Purcell, who is on the association's leadership council, has been at all three gatherings and is one of eight facilitators at this one (her Church of Today is part of the Unity movement, which is affiliated with New Thought). This is the first dialogue for Khamisa, a Sufi Muslim who is one of 35 community activists, religious representatives and others invited to participate in the gathering that ends Monday. The attendance roster is a blend of East meets West – from a cardinal at the Vatican and a rabbi from Israel to a pediatrician who also directs an ashram in India. And there is the Dalai Lama, the exiled leader of Tibetan Buddhism...The men and women going to this dialogue were picked because they share a commitment to finding peaceful ways to resolve conflict and a willingness to listen."

See also: Interfaith