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Peace Works at The Mountain
Check out The Mountain's Peace Programs for youth and young adults.
See our Source for Peace Quotes

Fostering hope, responsibility and sustainability, Peace Works dares to envision – and achieve – the creation of a dynamic entity that will draw people together to build energizing, sustainable and activist communities.

Peace Works offers programs with academic components and experiential learning to interfaith, multicultural constituencies. In partnership with educational institutions, peace and justice-making organizations, and congregations of all faiths, Peace Works programs seek to empower individuals and organizations to, in Gandhi’s words, “be the change they wish to see.” Peace Works strives to . . .
  • Further understand the history of violence;
  • Learn about peace and justice activism;
  • Develop resources for non-violent leadership; and
  • Energize citizens to effect change in personal, local and global communities.
Steps to Peace
Click on the year below to see the peace programs we have hosted in recent years:
2005 | 2006 | 2007
Peace Programs Scheduled for 2008
August 1 - 6, 2008 Peace & Privilege — Linking Values & Action
Oct. 26 - Nov. 2, 2008 Cultivating Inner & Outer Peace — Nonviolent Communication — Tools for The Journey

August 1 - 6, 2008
$525
(including program, meals & lodging)
Commuter Rate - $325
(program & meals only)
This challenging and moving week offers time for meaningful conversations, reflection and skill-building in the magnificent setting of The Mountain.

We are delighted to again welcome Dr. Ken Nafziger, Professor of Music at Eastern Mennonite University. For the fourth consecutive year, Ken will offer his gifts of music, humor and extraordinary insight. Anyone who has participated in community singing with Ken talks about how it is an unexpected and unforgettable experience.

Sunset as seen from the top of The Tower.Joining Ken will be two additional distinguished faculty.

The Rev. Marti Keller, Assistant Minister for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, has spent more than 30 years in the social change movement, promoting “Tikkun Olam” (healing the world) and putting the UU faith in action on the community, state and national levels. She is a distinguished educator and spiritual leader whose Jewish background and Unitarian Universalist values are evident in both her wit and wisdom.

The Rev. Glenn Johnson is currently the Administrator for Thomas Jefferson District of the Unitarian Universalist Association. An indication of his commitment to interfaith work is demonstrated by this very position, for Glenn is an ordained Baptist minister. His perspectives on religion and its potential to unite, rather than divide us will bring a thoughtful new dimension to our conversations.

Our facilitators will share their own perspectives on peace, justice, privilege and power, and how each works to transform personal privilege into action for change. Throughout the week, Ken, Marti and Glenn will facilitate in-depth discussions and exercises to help increase our understanding of privilege and the role it plays in our peace work. Challenging questions and reflection will help the group develop possibilities for action they can take back to their community.

Powerful community singing each day with Ken will strengthen your need to explore this challenging issue. Of course, there will be plenty of time for reflection and renewal in the awe-inspiring beauty of The Mountain.

From the heart-wrenching to the hilarious, our conversations and activities are bound to refresh and energize all. This is a week to come prepared to open to new ideas and ways of thinking, then leave feeling inspired and energized to do the work!
Click here to download and print a copy of the flyer. Click here for Registration Form.

Cultivating Inner and Outer Peace

Nonviolent Communication
Tools for The Journey

October 26 - November 2, 2008
Be sure to arrive early on Sunday (Oct. 26 – 1:00 pm) for an Introduction for Newcomers to Nonviolent Communication – "Laying the Groundwork for the Week Together."
ALL PARTICIPANTS WELCOME!!
 
An intensive week-long residential training in the beautiful, serene and secluded environment of
The Mountain Retreat & Learning Center in the Nantahala National Forest near
Highlands, North Carolina.
In companionship with The Mountain, this 7-day life skills and awareness retreat will be facilitated by Jeff Brown, Mark Feinknopf, Cynthia Moe and Myra Walden, four well-known and experienced trainers with combined teaching/coaching/community building/counseling experience of eighty plus years. Participants will have the opportunity to learn tools for self understanding, more peaceful connection with others, and more harmonious living. Safe space will be provided in which to deepen ability to sustain peaceful presence and to "become the change you wish to see in the world.”

Nonviolent Communication is both a concrete set of communication skills and a spiritual practice that helps us to see our common humanity and live more peacefully. NVC is a learnable process for creating emotional freedom, self acceptance, inner peace and fulfilling relationships. It involves honest expression, empathic listening and the development of a more compassionate inner relationship.

People around the world are using NVC skills to transform conflict, create harmony in their relationships and build a world where everyone’s needs are met through compassionate giving without coercion or violence.

The program begins with dinner on October 26 and concludes with lunch on November 2. The standard rate for this program is $1490 if paid by September 9, 2008, and $1590 after September 9. Double-room accommodations, delicious healthy meals and all programs are included. Two people who register together on the same form may deduct $100 from each of their rates. A limited number of private rooms are available for an additional $770.

Contact Myra Walden for Program and Scholarship information.
Click here for Scholarship Application; click here for Application Form.
 For further information, contact The Mountain or call us at 828-526-5838, ext. 0.

Facilitator Biographes
Jeff B rownJeff Brown, MA — (email)
Jeff Brown, MA, is a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication, and offers communication and conflict resolution services to businesses, organizations, couples and individuals throughout the United States and beyond. In the Fall of 2007, he spent five weeks in South Korea and Japan sharing NVC. Jeff has a master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology, and is also trained in community mediation and victim-offender reconciliation. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

Mark Feinknopf — (email)
Mark Feinknopf Mark has a deep passion for facilitating connections — in personal relationships, families, working organizations, neighborhoods and cities. For over 50 years, as an architect, urban planner and community-involved citizen, he has worked in collaborative relationships with people of all ages from diverse backgrounds. Mark’s involvement with Nonviolent Communication, Sociocracy and Appreciative Inquiry has enhanced his understanding of the inter-related consciousness that is necessary to attain and sustain harmonious, trusting human connection. He is committed to and excited about sharing his learning in order to live in a more peaceful and sustainable world. Mark is a Recognized Facilitator of the Georgia Network for Nonviolent Communication, has a Master’s degree in Architecture from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Administration from Yale University.

Cynthia Moe — (email)
Cynthia Moe Cynthia’s skills derived during earlier life while focused on raising two boys, teaching high school, college age and private school students, community outreach, and business consulting and are now blending to enrich her specialization on relationship enhancement — personal and professional. Having witnessed and experienced the relationship and consciousness transformation that can occur through relanguaging the interactions using NVC, she is committed to sharing these tools wherever and whenever possible. Cynthia also loves introducing organizations to the dynamic effectiveness and ease of meetings and decision-making made possible by combining the principles of the Sociocratic and Appreciative Inquiry models with NVC language. She is a Recognized Facilitator of the Georgia Network for Nonviolent Communication, has a Master’s of Art degree from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Education from the University of Florida.

Myra WaldenMyra Walden, MA, LCPC — (email)
Myra Walden, MA, LCPC, is a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication, and was trained and certified by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, founder of NVC. Originally from Mexico, she teaches transformational thinking, listening and speaking skills in schools, human service organizations, corporations and churches in the United States and Mexico. Myra has practiced psychotherapy for 17 years. She lives in West Chicago, Illinois.
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The Mountain Retreat & Learning Center, Inc. • 3872 Dillard Road • P.O. Box 1299 • Highlands, NC 28741
Phone: 828-526-5838 • Fax: 781-846-1295 • Email
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