A Peace Church

The Anabaptist/Mennonite tradition within Christianity has always seen peace as central to the good news that Jesus lived and proclaimed.  Peacemaking and justicedoing are a core part of what we are all about as a congregation.  

Our primary allegiance to what Jesus referred to as the  Kingdom of God gives us an identity extending beyond national boundaries and calls us to recognize all persons as our neighbor.  We believe that the church is called to make present and visible in this life the peaceable and just relationships that heaven is made of. 

Below are our commitments as named in our congregational Peace Statement:

  • We commit ourselves anew to the demanding task of living our historic conviction by following the way of Christ. Discipleship and nonresistance call us to conscientiously oppose conscription of body, mind, and money for war. We instead choose to commit these resources to serving God and others. (Luke 10, Romans 12)
  • We commit ourselves to work more actively for public policies that reduce militarism, war, and political and economic inequities. We must work persistently and faithfully for a more peaceful and equitable world community.
  • We commit ourselves to a continuing Mennonite presence of friendship and fraternity with churches and communities around the world in ministries of healing, reconstruction, and bridge-building. We want to continue to learn from the richness of the Christian faith and the spirituality of other cultures.
  • We commit ourselves to responding to the new victims of violence by being with the suffering people of the world. We want to incarnate our conviction that God forbids us to view another people as an enemy, through extending relief and assistance wherever need exists. 
  • We commit ourselves to sharing our belief that peace is the will of God. We are grateful for the religious leaders who have led in the struggle for peace. It is imperative that we resist the use of religion to sanction war and violence. We encourage our members to reach out to those caught up in the realities of military life.
  • We see community in a world of loneliness, forgiveness in a world of wrong, sharing in a world of need, healing in a world of brokenness, and peace in a world of conflict.

We call our members to a new level of generosity in order to respond to the victims of war and the challenge of peacemaking. We invite contributions for relief and reconstruction for war-affected areas.

We pray for God's mercy and forgiveness for ourselves and all people.

We pray for the healing of the wounds of war and hatred.

We pray for the renewal of our members' energy from God's Holy Spirit.

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace for all people.