Peace Church Tradition

What is a peace church?

Peace churches are Christian churches, groups, or communities advocating Christian pacifism or Biblical nonresistance. "Historic peace churches" refers to the three groups of Church of the Brethren, the Religious Society of Friends (or Quakers), and Mennonites.

Peace church agree that Jesus advocated for nonviolence, teaching his followers to love, bless, and pray for those who do us harm.

The first conference of peace churches was held in 1935 in Newton, KS, and the three historic peace church denominations began more intentional cooperative efforts in response to the challenges posed by World Wars I and II, including support and alternative service for conscientious objectors.

Peace churches and their organizations have sought to provide relief from war without favoritism, including providing food and medicine to North Vietnam during the Vietnam War and to US-embargoed Cuba. In the 1980s, the Quakers, Brethren, and Mennonites formed Christian Peacemaker Teams (now called Community Peacemaker Teams), an international organization that works to reduce violence and systemic injustice in regions of conflict.

Dutch Anabaptist martyr Dirk Willems famously turned back after his escape from prison to save his captor, who had fallen through thin ice. Engraving by Jan Luyken.

Joy Menno has a rich history as an alternative service site for conscientious objectors, and we are proud of our origins. We frequently discuss nonviolence and pacifism in our services and connect with community groups and organizations that are dedicated to promoting peace, such as the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and the Mennonite Central Committee.

As a collection of individuals, however, we have different understandings of what "nonviolence" means, especially when practiced by individuals. We routinely wrestle with questions of whether physical force can ever be used in defense of one's self or others, or what nonviolence means in relation to psychic harm and trauma. We incorporate principles of nonviolent communication into our standard practices, such as our group norms and our decision-making process. We acknowledge that nonviolence is complicated, contextual, and personal while also upholding the belief that Jesus called us to oppose domination, oppression, and hatred in all forms.