Community Builder Jean Vanier to Receive
Community of Christ International Peace Award

Promoting communities of joy, hope, love, and peace, building Zion, creating diverse communities--these concepts are at the heart of the Community of Christ faith. There are numerous ways to build and promote communities that are signs of the kingdom of God. The 2003 Community of Christ International Peace Award recipient, Jean Vanier, is the founder of an international movement that creates communities based on covenant relationships that promote the worth of all people.

Vanier is a French Canadian who served in the British and Canadian Royal Navies before earning a doctorate in philosophy from a Catholic institute in Paris. Vanier felt called by God to do something about the plight of people who were institutionalized with developmental disabilities. L’Arche was born in 1964 when Vanier invited two men with intellectual disabilities to leave the institution where they resided to live in a home with him in Trosly-Breuil, France.

In his book An Ark for the Poor: The Story of L’Arche (Novalis, 1995) Vanier wrote, “I knew that my welcoming Raphaël and Philippe was a point of no return. I was conscious of a covenant between us. All I wanted was to create a community of which they would be the centre and give them a family, a place of belonging where all aspects of their beings could grow and discover the good news of Jesus.”

The name “L’Arche” refers to the ark of Noah, “remind[ing] us of the first covenant between God and humanity.” These communities are centered on relationships among developmentally challenged people and the assistants who live and work with them-a setting that promotes dignity in a way that is not possible in an institution. There are now approximately 120 L’Arche communities in more than 30 countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, and Central, North, and South America.

Although Vanier is a devout Catholic, L’Arche communities are ecumenical and in some cases interfaith. Vanier describes the two pillars of all L’Arche communities as “the poor, with whom we want to share our lives, and God, who alone can transform and heal our hearts.” He explains that the gospel message, which often speaks of the “poor,” is about more than those in economic poverty. “The poor person is one in need who recognizes the need and cries out for help,” says Vanier.

In Becoming Human (Paulist, 1998) Vanier asserts that “those with intellectual disabilities are among the most oppressed and excluded people in the world.” It is these excluded people whom Vanier considers his teachers. “Community life with men and women who have intellectual disabilities,” he says, “has taught me a great deal about what it means to be human.” Vanier spent years developing himself intellectually, but it was after living with intellectually disabled people whom he describes as “gifted in relationships,” that he learned “how to become more open and vulnerable to others, especially those who are different.”

In the foreword to Vanier’s book From Brokenness to Community (Paulist, 1992), the late Henri J. M. Nouwen described Vanier as someone who “call[s] people to radical discipleship wherever he is invited.” Nouwen was a Catholic priest teaching at Harvard Divinity School when Vanier lectured in one of Nouwen’s classes. “Underneath all his simple and seemingly unthreatening words,” wrote Nouwen, “the question lay hidden: ‘To whom are you called?’” Nouwen eventually left academia and became pastor of the L’Arche Daybreak community in Toronto, Canada.

Jean Vanier is the tenth recipient of the Community of Christ International Peace Award. The award will be presented during a worship service on Wednesday, June 11, at 6:45 p.m. Vanier will address the gathering. This service is part of “Mission 2003: Launch Out!” an intensive discipleship-building event to be held June 9-13 at Community of Christ world headquarters. The service will be broadcast live via satellite across North America and on the Web at www.CofChrist.org/worship. A book signing will follow the service.

During his time in the Kansas City area, Vanier will meet with professionals such as social workers and nurses to lecture on and discuss “Becoming Human: The Deeper Side of Developmental Disabilities.” He will also take the opportunity to dialogue with young adults about “Discerning Your Calling.” For more information on this and other young adult activities during “Mission 2003: Launch Out!” e-mail World Church young adult minister Kelly Phipps at kphipps@CofChrist.org.

Peace and Justice Ministries coordinator Andrew Bolton said, “For Community of Christ-people with a heritage of Zion-to learn about being community, Jean Vanier may be one of the most significant voices to help us find our way.” To learn more about L’Arche communities, visit one of several national Web sites available in French or English, including www.larcheusa.org.

-Kendra Friend reporting

The Community of Christ International Peace Award The Community of Christ International Peace Award is among the top 20 peace awards in the world in a list topped by the Nobel Peace Prize, and among the top seven in the United States. Recipients receive a sculpture created by Wyoming artist Gail Sundell. Each sculpture is made slightly different to honor the unique peacemaking contribution of the individual recipient. It reflects, in the words of Sundell, the idea of adults “handing the world to our children.” The Community of Christ International Peace Award carries with it a $26,500 grant, to be donated to the charitable peace, justice, or environmental organization of the recipient’s choice. This award has been given annually (with the exception of 1996) since 1993 at Community of Christ world headquarters during significant events, including the annual Peace Colloquy, the biennial World Conference, and the International Youth Festival (held every four years). Recipients represent diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, and faith. The Community of Christ International Peace Award honor roll includes Jean Vanier, Ela Gandhi, Swanee G. Hunt, John Paul Lederach, Jane Goodall, Marie Fortune, Juan M. Flavier, Marian Wright Edelman, M. Scott Peck and Lily Peck, and Jehan Sadat. For more information about the Community of Christ International Peace Award and the recipients, visit http://www.cofchrist.org/peaceaward.