Clergy as First Responders: Rethinking Leadership in Religion and Peacebuilding

Drawing on research about Presbyterian experiences of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, we argue that the religion and peacebuilding literature’s emphasis on prophetic leadership has meant that the field has overlooked the significance of the roles of clergy as “first responders” to violence and as providers of long-term pastoral care. These roles can be conceptualized as contributing, albeit indirectly, to everyday peacebuilding by facilitating (in some cases) personal healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation. The wider field of religion and peacebuilding would benefit from including the pastoral role of first responder in its conceptualizations of religious leadership in violent contexts.