We knew when David LaMotte joined the NC Council of Churches’ staff in July as program associate for peace that we were gaining someone with an international reputation for his thoughtful approach to peace and reconciliation work. We were reminded of that in a truly global way this week when he was appointed to a three-year term on the AFSC (American Friends Service Committee) Nobel Peace Prize Nomination Committee. The AFSC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 and thereby earned the privilege of nominating a potential recipient each year since. AFSC’s nomination committee has twelve members, hailing from several continents. Their nominees have included Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, among a long list of other distinguished peacemakers.
The committee spends a year compiling and winnowing down a list of potential nominees, interviewing several and drafting their nomination letter at the end of each year before beginning again. The international selection committee received 237 nominations in 2010, the largest number in the history of the award. The number is not higher because the qualifications necessary to nominate are fairly restrictive.
David is already doing extraordinary work for the Council as well as being a great spirit to have as a colleague. We congratulate him for the honor of being part of such an important and unique deliberative process.
–George Reed, Executive Director
