# Jim Forest

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**James Hendrickson Forest** (November 2, 1941 – January 13, 2022) was an American writer, [Orthodox](/source/Russian_Orthodox_Church) Christian [lay theologian](/source/Lay_theologian), educator, and [peace activist](/source/Peace_activist).

## Biography

Forest went to high school in Los Angeles, and at age 19 served briefly in the [US Navy](/source/US_Navy),[5] working with a [meteorology](/source/Meteorology) unit at the [US Weather Bureau](/source/United_States_Weather_Bureau) headquarters near Washington, DC. It was during this period that he became a [Catholic](/source/Catholic_Church). His [military service](/source/Military_service) ended with an early discharge in 1961 on grounds of [conscientious objection](/source/Conscientious_objection).[6]

After leaving the navy, Forest joined the [Catholic Worker](/source/Catholic_Worker_Movement) community in [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan), working close with the founder, [Dorothy Day](/source/Dorothy_Day), and for a time served as managing editor of the journal she edited, the [*Catholic Worker*](/source/Catholic_Worker).[7]

In 1964, while working as a journalist for the *[Staten Island Advance](/source/Staten_Island_Advance)*, in his spare time he co-founded the Catholic Peace Fellowship, working closely with [Tom Cornell](/source/Tom_Cornell). This became a full-time job for both of them in 1965, a time that coincided with deepening US military engagement in [Vietnam](/source/Vietnam). The main focus of their work was counseling conscientious objectors.[8]

In 1968, while Forest worked as Vietnam Program Coordinator of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Jim and thirteen others, mainly [Catholic clergy](/source/Catholic_clergy), broke into nine [Milwaukee](/source/Milwaukee) [draft boards](/source/Draft_board), removing and burning some of the files in a nearby park while holding a prayer service. Most members of the "[Milwaukee Fourteen](/source/Milwaukee_Fourteen)" served thirteen months in prison for their action.[9]

In the late sixties and mid-seventies, Forest also worked with the [Fellowship of Reconciliation](/source/Fellowship_of_Reconciliation), first as Vietnam Program coordinator and later as editor of Fellowship magazine. From 1977 through 1988, he was Secretary General of the [International Fellowship of Reconciliation](/source/International_Fellowship_of_Reconciliation), work which brought him to the Netherlands. He received the Peacemaker Award from [Notre Dame University](/source/Notre_Dame_University)'s Institute for International Peace Studies and the St. Marcellus Award from the [Catholic Peace Fellowship](/source/Catholic_Peace_Fellowship).

In 1988, Forest was received into the [Eastern Orthodox Church](/source/Eastern_Orthodox_Church). From 1989, he was international secretary of the [Orthodox Peace Fellowship](/source/Orthodox_Peace_Fellowship) as well as associate editor of its quarterly journal, *In Communion*. In 2017, he was ordained as Reader.

Forest had a long-term friendship with [Thomas Merton](/source/Thomas_Merton), who dedicated a book to him, *Faith and Violence*.[10] Jim also accompanied the famed Vietnamese [Buddhist monk](/source/Buddhist_monk), [Thich Nhat Hanh](/source/Thich_Nhat_Hanh).[11][12]

A journalist and writer, Forest's books include *Praying with Icons*, *Ladder of the Beatitudes*, *The Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life*, *Loving Our Enemies: Reflections on the Hardest Commandment*, *Eyes of Compassion: Learning from Thich Nhat Hanh*, biographies of Thomas Merton (*Living With Wisdom*), Dorothy Day (*All Is Grace*) and Daniel Berrigan (*At Play in the Lions' Den*), and several [children's books](/source/Children's_literature), including *Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins*, *Saint George and the Dragon* and *Silent as a Stone: Mother Maria of Paris and the Trash Can Rescue*. He also wrote a memoir, *Writing Straight With Crooked Lines*.

The Jim Forest Institute for Religion, Peace & Justice at [St. Stephen's University](/source/St._Stephen's_University) in Canada is named for Forest.

Forest and his wife Nancy, a translator and writer, lived in [Alkmaar](/source/Alkmaar), the Netherlands. He died there on January 13, 2022, at the age of 80.[13]

## Publications

- Forest, Jim (1988). *Making Friends of Enemies: Reflections on the Teachings of Jesus*. New York, NY: Crossroad. ISBN 0-8245-0885-8.
- Forest, Jim (1997). *Praying with Icons*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. ISBN 157075112-9.
- Forest, Jim (1999). *The Ladder of the Beatitudes*. Maryknoll, NY: [Orbis Books](/source/Orbis_Books). ISBN 1-57075-245-1.
- Forest, Jim (2002a). *The Resurrection of the Church in Albania*. World Council of Churches. ISBN 282541359-3.
- Forest, Jim (2002b). *Confession: Doorway to Forgiveness*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. ISBN 157075386-5.
- Forest, Jim (2004). [*The Wormwood File: E-Mail from Hell*](https://archive.org/details/wormwoodfileemai0000fore). Maryknoll, NY: [Orbis Books](/source/Orbis_Books). ISBN 1-57075-554-X. [OCLC 54929440](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54929440). – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)
- Forest, Jim (2007). *Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. ISBN 978-157075731-0.
- Forest, Jim (2008). *Living with Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. ISBN 978-157075754-9.
- Forest, Jim (2011). *All Is Grace: A Biography of Dorothy Day*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. ISBN 978-157075921-5.
- Forest, Jim (2014). *Loving Our Enemies: Reflections on the Hardest Commandment*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. ISBN 978-162698090-7.
- Forest, Jim (2017). *At Play in the Lion's Den: A Biography and Memoir of Daniel Berrigan*. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. ISBN 978-162698248-2.

**Contributions to books by other authors**

- Skobtsova, Maria (2003). ["Introduction"](https://archive.org/details/mothermariaskobt0000mari). *Mother Maria Skobtsova: Essential Writings*. Translated by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky. Maryknoll, NY: [Orbis Books](/source/Orbis_Books). ISBN 1-57075-436-5. [OCLC 49610914](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49610914). – via [Internet Archive](/source/Internet_Archive)

## See also

- [List of peace activists](/source/List_of_peace_activists)

## Citations

1. Merton 2011.

1. Pauli 2017, p. 33.

1. Forest & Forest 2012.

1. Hope College 1988, p. 2.

1. Good on Wood (2025). ["Jim Forest (Part 1) - Writing Straight With Crooked Lines w. Robert Ellsberg & Nancy Forest"](https://www.ssu.ca/goodonwoodpodcast/episode/252b41d1/jim-forest-part-1-writing-straight-with-crooked-lines-w-robert-ellsberg-and-nancy-forest)

1. Forest 2004.

1. Di Corpo 2020.

1. Cornell 2008.

1. Forest 2009.

1. Review of *Living with Wisdom* n.d..

1. Zuercher 2004.

1. Brussat & Brussat.

1. Sooy.

## Sources

- Brussat, Frederic & Brussat, Mary Ann. ["Review of *Living with Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton* by Jim Forest"](http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php?id=18726). *Spirituality & Practice*. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- Brussat, Frederic & Brussat, Mary Ann. ["Jim Forest"](http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/teachers/teachers.php?id=253). *Spirituality & Practice*. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- Cornell, Tom (2008). ["The Chaplain's Dilemma: Can Pastors in the Military Serve God and Government?"](http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11215&comments=1). *[America](/source/America_(magazine))*. Vol. 199, no. 16. [ISSN 0002-7049](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0002-7049). Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- Di Corpo, Ryan (April 24, 2020). ["Review: Jim Forest's new memoir delves into his 'unusual conscience'"](https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2020/04/24/jim-forest-daniel-berrigan-237341). *[America](/source/America_(magazine))*. Vol. 222, no. 9. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ["Forest to Deliver Annual Muste Memorial Lecture"](https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/anchor_1988/23). *The Anchor*. Vol. 101, no. 10. Holland, Michigan: Hope College. 1988. p. 2. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- Forest, Jim (October 14, 2004). ["Getting from There to Here"](http://www.incommunion.org/articles/conferences-lectures/getting-from-there-to-here). *In Communion*. Orthodox Peace Fellowship. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090902130347/http://www.incommunion.org/articles/conferences-lectures/getting-from-there-to-here) September 2, 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- Forest, Jim (2009 [First published 2006]). ["Looking Back on the Milwaukee 14"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090805063640/http://incommunion.org/forest-flier/jimsessays/looking-back-on-the-milwaukee-14/). *In Communion: Website of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship*. Orthodox Peace Fellowship. Archived from [the original](http://www.incommunion.org/forest-flier/jimsessays/looking-back-on-the-milwaukee-14/) on August 5, 2009. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
- Forest, Jim & Forest, Nancy (2012). ["Recollections of Thich Nhat Hanh: Being Peace"](http://www.satyagrahafoundation.org/recollections-of-thich-nhat-hanh-being-peace/). Satyagraha Foundation for Nonviolence Studies. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- Merton, Thomas (2011). *The Hidden Ground of Love: Letters*. Shannon, William H. (ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-1-4299-6676-4.
- Pauli, Benjamin J. (2017). "The Catholic Worker, Dorothy Day, and Exemplary Anarchism". *Essays in Anarchism and Religion*. Vol. 1. Stockholm Studies in Comparative Religion. Stockholm University Press. p. 33. [doi:10.16993/bak](https://doi.org/10.16993/bak). ISBN 978-91-7635-040-9.
- Sooy, Nick. ["Remembering Jim Forest"](https://incommunion.org/). *In Communion*. Orthodox Peace Fellowship. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
- Zuercher, Melanie (2004). ["Seeing the Light"](http://www.peace.mennolink.org/cgi-bin/m.pl?a=134). *PeaceSigns*. No. 9. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090902130227/http://www.peace.mennolink.org/cgi-bin/m.pl?a=134) September 2, 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 1, 2018.

## External links

- [Official website](http://jimandnancyforest.com/)
- [A Short Biography of Jim Forest](http://incommunion.org/articles/conferences-lectures/jim-forest-bio)
- [*Getting From There to Here*](http://incommunion.org/forest-flier/jimsessays/getting-from-there-to-here) (autobiographical essay)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jim Forest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Forest) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Forest?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.