Building peace in our time

In this time where conflict seems to lurk around every corner, both in our daily lives and on the world stage, we are taking action for peace by holding a day-long Peace Camp.

The focus of our lessons and activities for Peace Camp will be the themes of Peacemaking, Connecting with Nature, Cultural Diversity, and Mindful Movement.

  • The 2026 Oregon Coast Peace Camp is modeled on the award-winning Peace Village® summer camp system that originated in Lincoln County in 1996.

  • Out goal is teach lessons that help campers learn how to build peace while we encourage and inspire the broader community to carry those lessons forward by holding a full, week-long Peace Village day camp in the summer of 2027.

    We intend to create a vibrant, inclusive environment for children that balances structured learning with the natural joy of summer in order to help campers discover how to cultivate peace within themselves, among their peers, and throughout the broader global community.

    Rather than a traditional classroom setting, youth participants will engage in interactive lessons, creative play, art, and music.

    Each activity has been thoughtfully constructed to present the topics of mindful movement, cultural diversity, connecting with nature, and peacemaking in a way that is age-appropriate, yet flexible enough to be accessible and interesting for each group

    A special morning session for parents and other interested community members aims to begin the process of re-establishing the full Peace Village week-long day camp in our area in the summer of 2027. Including parents and other interested community members in the afternoon activities is intended to provide ideas and inspiration as the planning for 2027 moves forward.

  • The 2026 Oregon Coast Peace Camp has its roots in the highly successful Peace Village day camps hosted in our community in the past.

    Peace Village was originally founded in Lincoln County in 1996 by Pastor Charles Bush in collaboration with the Native Youth Council of the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Nation and Pacific University.

    Sprouting from the initial 1996 camp in Lincoln County, Peace Village Global is now an international organization based in Portland, Oregon. It provides youth worldwide with immersive, arts-and-nature-based opportunities to explore resilience, anti-bullying, environmental stewardship, and peacemaking.

    Locally, Peace Village had an active presence in our community with week-long summer day camps from its founding in 1996 until the COVID-19 pandemic forced it into a hiatus in 2020.

    In the past, Peace Village Newport, the local chapter, used Peace Village’s licensed curriculum and adapted it to highlight the unique marine heritage, environmental challenges, local indigenous history, and current cultural diversity of the Oregon Coast.

    In the present, local community members are hosting the day-long “Peace Camp” to teach lessons about building a more peaceful world in the spirit of Peace Village’s much-beloved historic presence in our community.

    In the future, we are looking forward to re-establishing the full, week-long Peace Village day camp experience in our community, and are hopeful that our day-long event can be a catalyst that puts the planning for a full Peace Village day camp for summer 2027 in motion.

The Basics:

  • A day-long event in which we learn about building a more peaceful world through lessons and activities focused on the themes of Peacemaking, Connecting with Nature, Cultural Diversity, and Mindful Movement.

    In the morning concurrent lessons on these four themes will be offered for the youth participants. Parents, volunteers and potential sponsors are invited to join us at the same time for a special session about reestablishing a full week-long Peace Village Camp for 2027. After a break for a provided lunch, youth and adults alike will each choose one activity in which to participate. At the conclusion of the day we will all come back together and share what we learned.

  • August 29th, 2026

    9:00am-3:00pm

  • St. Luke by the Sea Episcopal Church, 1353 Highway 101 S, Waldport.

    (While the event is hosted at the church, it is strictly non-denominational and multicultural.)

  • Click the “Register Now!” button on the home page. If you have questions about registering (or anything else) please contact us using the “Contact Us” page of this website.

  • Peace Camp teaches lessons about approaching the world around us with the empathy, curiosity and skills necessary to understand that peace begins within each of us and is built through connecting with others, that differences should be celebrated, and that living in balance with nature is essential to sustaining our world and each other. Each activity is thoughtfully constructed to present the topics of mindful movement, cultural diversity, connecting with nature, and peacemaking in a way that is age-appropriate, yet flexible enough to be accessible and interesting for each group.

Have more questions?

Reach out to us through the contact form, it sends us an email directly, and we will get back to you as soon as we can!