Relying on God’s grace, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship imagines a world of peace where all God’s creation can thrive. In local and global communities, we will use every nonviolent means to disrupt and transform the culture of domination that normalizes racism, ecocide, militarization, and war. We build peace through the abolition of structural violence and by living into alternatives to violence with creativity, intelligence, imagination, and love.
Here’s what we see in the world right now: a rise in fascism and right-wing extremism across the globe, fueled in part by Christian Nationalism; climate chaos causing severe weather and loss of homes and livelihoods worldwide; national uprisings in the U.S. in support of Black lives; ongoing global health crises including the COVID-19 pandemic and dangerous war threatening nuclear disaster and exacerbating the energy crises.
We will not stand by while this culture of structural violence escalates.
And: We are more clear than ever that these conditions across “issue lines” are connected to one another.
We strengthen our analysis and move deeper into our commitment to antiracism to understand that war is rooted in structural violence.Therefore we seek an end to war by addressing root causes of structural violence and expressions of that violence outside of war itself. We must work against settler colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy if we hope to begin to embody the things that make for peace
Through its history, PPF has carried out its mission of ceasing to learn the ways of war by providing support to conscientious objectors, protesting against war, working for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and demonstrating and organizing to close the School of the Americas.
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship started in the 1940s as a group that provided support to Conscientious Objectors to World War II, a war in which objection was quite unpopular. Since our birth we have continued to be a prophetic voice in our church, urging the abolition of war and encouraging our sisters and brothers to enact peace in the midst of our broken world. We have helped lead the PC(USA) to take bold stances in the face of violence. Read more about our legacy of nonviolence.
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
… neither shall they learn war any more.
— Micah 4:3
… all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
— Matthew 26:52
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship recommits itself to opposing all war. We maintain that the realism of Jesus is more compelling than the so-called realism that attempts to justify war.
The ever-growing destructive power of war threatens to destroy civilization and many forms of life on earth. To avoid that fate and to build peace requires the repudiation of war. It requires not learning war—not learning to think in warlike ways. Instead, it requires learning and practicing nonviolent methods for resisting aggression and injustice. These requirements flow from the nonviolent life of Jesus Christ and from the scriptural affirmation that God is love.
We condemn military action by any party to a conflict, holding it to be usually counter-productive and always contrary to the Christian gospel. We call upon churches and ethicists to reject “just war” theory. It is a trap that has too long ensnared the consciences of Christians. However admirable its principles may be, no real war can adhere to them.
We believe that God calls us to adopt a “preferential option” for the poor and the powerless. We see nonviolence not merely as having value as an end in itself but also as a strategy of direct action against poverty, racism, degradation of the environment and other forms of “structural violence.”
We call upon all Christian communities, in particular our own Presbyterian Church (USA), to embrace gospel nonviolence as the only stance consistent with Christian discipleship. We invite all persons of good will, and especially followers of Jesus, to work with us in projects aimed at building peace. The making of peace requires no less courage and self-sacrifice than does the making of war.
Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem because it did not know “the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-43). Our calling is to study the things that do make for peace, to put them into action, and to summon others to do the same.
We proclaim this message of hope for a world transformed.
Developed by the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s National Committee – Holy Week 2015
En español – Credo y declaración de pacificadores
We follow Jesus of Nazareth, the Prince of Peace.
We are a people of peace, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
We say “no” to war, for war has no power to save us.
We strive to embody the command to love God and neighbor.
We will not be enemies with anyone
not those who believe they are our enemies
not those whom we have been taught to hate
not even those whose actions make us afraid.
We confess our complicity in a world of violence
by believing the lie that violence can restore balance, offer security or establish peace
by accepting the propaganda that nonviolent approaches are ineffective
by squandering vast resources to uphold military might.
We stand with those who have no power
with those displaced or devastated by war and conflict
with those marginalized by systems that oppress them
with those excluded just because of who they are.
We confront injustice
seeking to understand how our own actions provoke conflict
examining circumstances through the lens of scripture
using nonviolent strategies of direct action.
We embrace a life of peacemaking, even knowing that
peacemaking requires humility of spirit
peacemaking requires sacrifice of privilege and power
peacemaking requires acts of great courage, risking suffering and even death.
We commit to bold witness to our church and to the world
reflecting, praying and acting for peace
honoring those who have devoted their lives to the cause of peace and justice
proclaiming that we are – all of us – God’s beloved children.
For we belong to God
and give our lives to the hope and possibilities of a world transformed.
Developed by the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s National Committee – Holy Week 2015