Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

We would like to introduce the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship (PPF) to your congregation, and to make you aware of the resources we can provide to support you in your peacemaking witness. The PPF is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to help move the PC(USA) to follow Jesus’ witness and teachings as a peacemaker.

We work cooperatively with the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, which is a program of the Presbyterian Mission Agency—our national agency tasked with carrying out the program goals determined by the General Assembly of the PC(USA). Our work began in 1944 when a small group of Presbyterian Ministers who felt called to be Conscientious Objectors banded together to support one another. More recently, our small organization has helped to organize a human rights accompaniment program with the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, we’ve sent numerous delegations to Israel and Palestine and supported Christians in the region in their call for nonviolent direct action to end the Occupation, and we’ve developed resources for congregations struggling to respond to increasing incidents of mass shootings and rising levels of gun violence in our country.

We are writing to you because of our deep concern about the state of our country and our world. We feel that our church must stand firmly against war and build effective nonviolent strategies of resistance in a world increasingly characterized by violence. We desire to work together as partners with congregations who share this conviction. As the number of Presbyterians continues to decline, we believe that our identity as a reformed Christians committed to peacemaking must become stronger.

There are many resources available to support your congregation on our website. They include a six-part study on the complicated situation in Israel and Palestine, sermons on challenging topics like how to respond to the threat posed by ISIS, stories from Accompaniers in Colombia who have been transformed by the church’s witness there, and resources to help your congregation deal with the challenge of gun violence.

I am stepping out of my part-time position as Co-Director of the Peace Fellowship and will transition to the volunteer role of Co-Moderator of our National Committee. Emily Brewer will begin as a full-time Co-Director in my place on July 13, and she is available to preach and teach across the church. She joins Fritz Gutwein, who will continue as a half-time Co-Director. Both of their biographies are on our website.

Please let us know of your own efforts to respond to structural violence or specific incidents of violence in your own community or around the world. Let us know if you would like our support, or if your congregation would like to partner with us. We’ll send a note like this a couple of times a year to nurture the possibility of a deeper relationship. We are proud to be Presbyterian, and look forward to working with your community and many others to strengthen our historic commitment to peacemaking as followers of Jesus together.

We often talk of the need to be bold in our witness, and to watch for pivotal moments when our actions can leaven the broader movement for peace in the world. We hope you’ll share this letter with your session, your deacons, and your entire congregation—that we might take action together.

If you would like to receive our twice-monthly PresbyPeace E-News with news, events, and analysis of peacemaking from a Presbyterian perspective, I invite you to join [us]...

Peace to you,

Rick Ufford-Chase
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Moderator, 216th General Assembly, PC(USA) – (2004-2006)