Is it possible for a broken church to act as an agent for healing in a divided society? A gathering of people from peace church denominations in the United States has met to explore the practical and ecclesial issues.

While the food crisis in North Korea continues largely unnoticed in the wider world, due to the country's isolation, a North American Anabaptist peace church is taking quiet steps to provide agricultural assistance.

A delegation from the Church of the Brethren has made a historic visit to North Korea, to make direct contact with four farm enterprises that have received support from the church - an act yet rarely extended to people from the United States.

Supporters of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and On Earth Peace, an agency of the US Church of the Brethren, have visited the West Bank and Israel to explore civil society responses to conflict, security and community.

Representatives of the world's Historic Peace Churches gathered in Solo, Indonesia in December 2007, to ask what "Peace in Our Land" means - through the interrelated topics of injustice, religious pluralism, and poverty.

The US Church of the Bretheren, an Anabaptist denomination, has called for the outlawing of depleted uranium weapons and has backed anti-war initiatives from Christian Peacemaker Teams and the World Council of Churches.

Heavy rains in Jakarta, Indonesia, have caused severe flooding, marooning many people in their homes and work places. Water rose to a height of nearly four metres in some parts of the city, much of which lies below sea level - writes Ferne Burkhardt from Mennonite World Conference (MWC)communications office.

The general secretary of the Church of the Brethren general board, Stanley J. Noffsinger, is among the first US Anabaptist leaders to respond to President Bush's recent speech about the Iraq conflict ‚Ä' with a call to make peace rather than war.