EPF Fact Sheet

The Episcopal Peace Fellowship mission is to:  Do Justice,   Dismantle Violence, Strive to be Peace Makers, in our parishes, dioceses, communities, our nation and our world.  EPF has been working on these issues for 69 years.  Our members make a commitment to pray, connect, and act for peace, and to renounce, as far as possible, participation in war, militarism, and all other forms of violence. 

All of our work falls under an umbrella called Creative Peacemaking.  We implement our commitment by living out our baptismal covenant to strive for peace and justice respecting the dignity of everyone (Book of Common Prayer).  We do this by forming local chapters in parishes and dioceses, by creating issue-focused action groups, by providing nonviolence tools and training, by providing liturgical resources and by publicly witnessing to Jesus’ gospel of peace and justice.

EPF Chapters (70+) bring together Church members to discuss the Peace and Justice issues about which they are the most passionate, how they might respond and what tools they need.  Chapters present peace and justice resources to their parishes; they write resolutions for their diocesan conventions; and, they organize ways that members can witness publically, for example they might include a petition in Prayers of the People or attend a prayer vigil.

EPF Action Groups organize and provide public witness to end war and bring peace (currently, we are especially concerned about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan); to bring justice to the Palestinians, safety to Israel and Palestine; and, to prevent a war in Iran.  We also organize to end the death penalty in the U.S. and to end the nuclear proliferation, to promote the Millennium Development Goals or to relate to our sisters and brothers in Cuba.  Our action groups provide information and ways to witness publicly to our members and the Church at large.

EPF Nonviolence Tools & Training:   EPF has begun nonviolence projects with the Diocese of Haiti and the Diocese of Minnesota’s Department of Indian Works.  Each of these projects asks participants to mold and shape the standard nonviolence training to their own needs.  EPF is in the process of developing a nonviolent tool kit that is self-instructive and flexible, allowing for maximum interactive use.  We also provide counsel and guidance to groups and individuals seeking to host nonviolence training -- whether it be an introductory session, a day long session or a 3 day session. 
Our major nonviolence training is called Creating a Culture of Peace: Nonviolence Training for Personal and Social Change (CCP).   CCP is committed to the spirituality and practice of active nonviolence. CCP is intergenerational and community-based, with facilitators located across the U.S. and available to local groups. During the course of the three day training, facilitators guide participants through an exploration of five themes: Violence, Active Nonviolence, Successful Nonviolent Social Movements, Community-Building, and Action-Planning. Every group plans nonviolent projects. The optimum training, a retreat with spiritual dimensions, allows for 20 contact hours, usually over a three-day weekend. Contact Janet Chisholm at www.kirkridge.org.
 

EPF Liturgical Resources are woven into the very fabric of our life together as Episcopalians and Anglicans.  EPF encourages our members to name, in the Prayers of the People, those oppressed by injustice and violence, to lift up in the liturgical context the themes of non-violence and forgiveness, and to organize vigils for both parishes and communities. 

Contact: Jackie Lynn, Executive Director