Woolman Peacemaking Forum
The 2026 Woolman Forum offers an inspiring opportunity to engage with international peacemakers in a thought-provoking conversation on peace and justice through a biblical perspective. These distinguished scholars and practitioners bring their experience from some of the world’s most historically challenging and deeply divided regions, including Israel/Palestine and the American South. Join us to discover practical peacemaking principles that address injustice and foster reconciliation, both globally and in our own communities.
The following events are free and open to the public. Save your seat- spots are limited!
Keynote Lecture: How Can We Respond to Injustice in a Divided World?
Stephan & Belinda Bauman
Tuesday, February 10 at 6 - 8 p.m.
Hoover 105 & Livestream
In this deeply reflective and thought-provoking keynote, Stephan and Belinda Bauman, will invite us to re-examine Isaiah 58—a passage often read as a rebuke of hollow religion—and to consider a more compassionate lens. What if Israel’s cry was not rebellion, but heartbreak? What if their longing for God amid grief and fear mirrored our own struggles to find peace and justice in a fractured world?
Drawing on theology, relational neuroscience, and lived experience, the Baumans will explore how biblical justice is not merely about right action but right relationship—anchored in presence, empathy, and peace. Through their powerful insights and stories, they’ll help us see that true fasting is less about abstaining and more about awakening—to God, to one another, and to the work of restoration that heals both soul and society.
- Lecture followed by Q&A
Peacemakers Panel: Beyond Violence: Where Hope Begins in a Broken World
Tuesday, February 10 at 3 p.m.
Hoover 105 & Livestream
Peacemakers Panel — “Beyond Violence: Where Hope Begins in a Broken World” — brings together leaders and practitioners who are working to transform despair into hope and bridge divides through compassion and faithful action.
Featuring (see below for bios):- Stephan Bauman
- Belinda Bauman
- Todd Deatherage
Peace & Justice Expo
Tuesday, February 10 at 3 - 8 p.m.
Hoover Main Floor
The Woolman Peace & Justice Expo will highlight local and global organizations dedicated to peacemaking, service, and community restoration - an inspiring opportunity to discover ways to get involved and support the work of healing and hope among the vulnerable, both here and throughout the world. Artwork created by George Fox Design students featuring themes of peace and justice will also be on display.
Faith Leaders Luncheon & Seminar
Todd Deatherage
Tuesday, February 10 at 11:30 a.m - 2 p.m
Canyon Commons 101-102
Principles and Practices of Peacemaking.
RSVP required by February 2nd.
Location & Livestream
Location for All Events
Hoover 105 (Building #25 on campus map)
George Fox University: Newberg Campus
414 N. Meridian St
Newberg, OR 97132
Livestream for Both Events
Can't join in person? Watch the livestream.
Speaker Information
Stephan Bauman
Stephan Bauman is a global leader in philanthropy, justice, and development. He served as President and CEO of World Relief, led major philanthropic initiatives at Cornerstone Trust, and co-founded the Justice Conference. A former CPA turned international development executive, Stephan has worked across more than 100 countries and is completing a PhD on migration and theology. He is the author of Possible, Break Open the Sky, and co-author of Seeking Refuge.
Belinda Bauman
Belinda Bauman lives to bring hope to women and children in crisis. She is a specialist in curriculum design utilizing innovative learning and assessment strategies to further organizational and educational impact. She is credentialed as a gender and development professional and is certified in program analysis, indicators, and assessment. Belinda holds degrees from Covenant College and the University of Wisconsin, and is currently pursuing a second masters in counseling psychology at the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. She is an ordained minister and an author.
Todd Deatherage
Todd spent sixteen years in senior positions in the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government before co-founding the Telos Group. From 2005 to 2009, he was Chief of Staff in the Secretary of State’s Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department. He also spent two years as Senior Advisor in the Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, where he specialized in religious freedom in the Middle East. Todd worked for a decade in the U.S. Congress, including six years as Chief of Staff to Senator Tim Hutchinson. He is a native Arkansan and a graduate of the University of Arkansas. He began his career as an educator.
History of the Woolman Peacemaking Forum
The John Woolman Peacemaking Forum was established in 1986 as a way of articulating peacemaking issues to the George Fox University community. Its purpose is threefold: to provide a forum for those involved in peacemaking to offer insights and challenges; to inspire and equip us to invest our energies in the diligent pursuit of peace; and to enrich the ongoing work of the Center for Peace and Justice, both through contact with leading peacemakers and through greater public awareness of our programs.
The forum is named for John Woolman, an 18th-century American Quaker who called attention to the evils of slavery and challenged fellow Quakers to abandon the practice. Woolman also worked for fairer treatment of First Nations Indigenous Americans. In his journal, he recorded his developing opposition to war and other forms of violence and his struggles to purify his lifestyle from anything that might encourage or promote violence. His journal has become a devotional classic for its sensitive expression of the lifelong development of one person’ s conscience toward peace.
John Woolman
(1720-1772)
May we look upon our treasures, and the furniture of our houses, and the garments in which we array ourselves, and try whether the seeds of war have any nourishment in these possessions or not.
Recent Woolman Peacemaking Forum Topics
- 2025 - Bearing Witness: A Christian Palestinian Cry for Justice and Peace
- 2024 - Is there a Balm in Gilead? Prospects for a Palestinian / Israeli Peace
- 2023 - What Makes for Peace? Lessons from the Road to Jericho
- 2022 - Letter from Birmingham Jail, by MLK Jr.; A culmination of discussions
- 2021 - "Learn-Pray-Join: Immigration Justice, Radical Hospitality"
- 2020 - "One Like the Sea: Frederick Douglass' Global Search for Democracy and Equality, 1886-1887"
- 2019 - Promised Land; Film screening and discussion
- 2018 - "Martin Luther King, Jr: The Inner Life & Global Vision"
- 2017 - "Peace: Personal & Global"
- 2016 - "Fostering Peace & Justice Through the Lens of Service"
- 2015 - "Past, Present and Future: Promoting Peace & Justice at George Fox University and Beyond"
- 2014 - "People of Peace: Effective Faith-Rooted Advocacy"
- 2013 - "Shalom – Holistic Peace for a Fragmented World"
- 2012 - "New Neighbor: An Invitation to Join Beloved Community"
- 2011 - "Reconciling All Things"
- 2010 - " Are We Achieving Racial Justice and Reconciliation?”
Previous Woolman Forum Speakers
Previous speakers have included men and women with a wide variety of strengths and experiences. Among the previous speakers are:
- Lamma Mansour
- David Katibah
- Lana Thurston
- Ned Rosch
- Jonathan Kuttab
- Mark Braverman
- Todd Deatherage
- Scott Finnie
- Dina González-Piña
- Verdis Robinson
- Tony Johnson and Vasant & Sarah Saledo
- Clayborne Carson
- Michelle Lloyd-Paige
- Stuart Willcuts
- Jason Fileta
- Alexia Salvatierra
- Lisa Sharon Harper
- Leroy Barber
- Emmanuel Katongole
- John Perkins
- Naim Ateek
- David Augsburger
- Landrum Bolling
- Tony Campolo
- Mark Hatfield
- John Paul Lederach
- Lisa Schirch
- Ron Sider
- Walter Wink
- Tom Getman
- Chip Zimmer
- Elise Boulding
- David Rawson
- Tom & Christine Sine
- Jim Wallis
- Ron Kraybill
The Woolman Peacemaking Award is given annually to someone in the region who exemplifies peacemaking.
Beyond the Woolman Forum, peacemaking is featured at George Fox through multiple means that include: chapels, classes, student groups, various campus media and through special collections of peacemaking books, journals, videos, and other resources kept at the Center for Peace and Justice and in the university library.
Publications by John Woolman
Listed below is a collection of books and other publications by John Woolman, which includes his Journal, the only piece of Colonial American literature continuously in print since publication.
(Originally Published in 1774 by Cruckshank)
John Greenleaf Whittier introduction ed. Published 1871
The Works of John Woolman in Two Parts
(includes the Journal of John Woolman)
Published in 1774 Joseph Cruckshank
Published in 1768
John Woolman
from Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes
There is a principle which is pure, placed in the human mind; which in different places and ages hath had different names. It is, however, pure, and proceeds from God. It is deep and inward, confined to no forms of religion nor excluded from any, where the heart stands in perfect sincerity. In whomsoever this takes root and grows, of what nation soever, they become brethren in the best sense of the expression.