Churches for Peace

The churches want to create peace in East and Central Africa!

In 2024, Pingst Sweden and Swedish Pentecostal Aid gathered 27 representatives from seven national Pentecostal churches in Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, and Ethiopia to explore whether the churches could become a long-term force for peace in these “forgotten” conflicts.
In Ethiopia alone, a grave conflict is taking place between different ethnic groups and regions, with devastating loss of life. The current ceasefire is extremely fragile, and the risk of spillover into other parts of the country is high. In Sudan, a severe humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the midst of an armed conflict between two factions. And yet, we hear so little about it here at home!

The African Pentecostal leaders gave a resounding YES! They called it a «Kairos moment».

The King Institute was the only non-church participant in Addis Ababa. We were invited by Pingst Sweden because of our expertise in church conflicts, dialogue work within church contexts, and the design and facilitation of long-term peace processes. We will take on the task of bringing together, coordinating, and leading the process over the next 3.5 years.

«The three days in Addis Ababa, together with 26 other participants from Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, were extraordinary. After nearly twenty-five years of conflict work in and outside Norway, and more than fifteen years in conflict and peace studies in academia, I have never witnessed a peace potential like what I experienced in Addis.
The workshop came about after a conversation in which Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege challenged Pingst Sweden to organize a gathering of practitioners and researchers to explore whether the rapidly growing Pentecostal churches in East and Central Africa could become peacebuilders. After three days together, the answer was a unanimous YES! The King Institute will help make it happen.»

Thomas Dorg, Direktor of the King Institute.

GOAL: Facilitate the Pentecostal churches in East and Central Africa to become active peace actors at the local, national, and regional levels by developing a peace mandate, building an operational peace program, and educating and training peaceworkers.

TARGET GROUP: The primary target group is the Pentecostal churches in Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. Together, these churches represent tens of millions of members. They will work with people who have experienced, are experiencing, or are at risk of experiencing conflict and war.

MAIN STRATEGY:   The main strategy is to equip the churches to carry out preventive peace work and facilitate dialogue processes, while also strengthening their role in reconciliation and healing work (e.g., trauma support) during and after conflict and war.