Who are the Historic Peace Churches (HPC) ?

The Historic Peace Churches — Mennonites, Quakers and Brethren — are Christian communions which from their beginnings in the 16th and 17th centuries refused to engage in warfare or support theological definitions of a "Just War." These small groups, which grew out of the Reformation movements in Europe (the Continental Reformation of the 16th century and the English Reformation of the 17th century), have held as central the Christian calling to follow Jesus’ injunctions to love enemies and not resort to the sword. Because of this stance, they have been known as Historic Peace Churches.

Ever since a meeting in Kansas, USA, in 1935, representatives of the Historic Peace Churches have met occasionally to make their position on peace theology known to the wider ecumenical circle. Following World War II, a series of peace conferences in Europe served as a forum for discussions between peace churches and state churches connected to the World Council of Churches. These are known as the Puidoux Conferences, as the first one took place in the Swiss town of Puidoux. Other structures for engaging discussion include the North American Historic Peace Churches and Fellowship of Reconciliation Consultative Committee, which furthers conversation with the WCC on peace issues.

Today, historic peace churches find themselves in many places and contexts around the world. Some of us live in democratic societies where the desire for cultural and religious pluralism is a high value, and where peace churches may be called to play a role in public life. Some of us live in contexts where ethnic and cultural differences lead to violence and strife, where the issue of reconciliation presents itself in challenging ways.

The question of violence and peace-building can no longer be dominated only by the question of participation in just war, or nonviolent resistance or withdrawal. What does it mean to be a peace church in our day? What is the challenge for peace theology in pluralist societies and a globalized world? How does our emphasis on peace shape our ecclesiology and our stance toward the ordering institutions of our societies? How do issues of personal or corporate identity, such as ethnicity and gender, influence our understanding of and calling to peace theology? How does being a peace church inform our relationships with other Christian churches and with those of other faiths?

 

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	Church of the Brethren General Board 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 tel: (800) 323-8039 (847) 742-6103 email: <cobnews@aol.com>
	Friends United Meeting 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond, IN 47374 tel: (765) 962-7573 fax: (765) 966-1293 email: <info@fum.org>
	Mennonite Central Committee MCC, 21 South 12th Street, PO Box 500 Akron, PA 17501 tel: +1 (717) 859-1151 toll free (888) 563-4676 email: <bh@mcc.org>
	Mennonite World Conference 8, rue du Fossé des Treize, 67000 Strasbourg, FRANCE tel: (33) 3-88-15-27-50 fax: (33) 3-88-15-27-51 email <Strasbourg@mwc-cmm.org>
	American Friends Service Committee 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 tel: (215) 241-7000 fax: (215) 241-7275 email <afscinfo@afsc.org>

 

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