EPF Meeting:

Last Monday of the month (fall, winter, spring) at 5:00 PM

Chapman Room, St John’s Church (use Cayuga St entrance, right & down the stairs)

Print

WHAT IS THE EPISCOPAL PEACE FELLOWSHIP [EPF]?
The Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) is a national organization connecting all who seek a deliberate response to injustice and violence and want to pray, study and take action for justice and peace in our communities, our church, and the world.  This ministry is called to do justice, dismantle violence, and strive to be peacemakers.
EPF began as The Episcopal Pacifist Fellowship on November 11, 1939, Armistice Day. In the early days of World War II, EPF supported Conscientious Objectors, urging the whole church to do so. At that time members were required to sign a commitment: “In loyalty to the Person, Spirit and teachings of Jesus Christ, my conscience commits me to His way of redemptive love and compels me to refuse to participate in or give moral support to any war.”
EPF is a member-supported national organization that brings Episcopalians together to do justice, dismantle violence, and strive to be peacemakers. We pray, study and take action to build peace with justice in our communities, our church and world. The Fellowship is organized into Chapters around the country, as well as welcoming individual members. Members are also organized into Action Networks around special issues: The Palestine/Israel Network, Young Adult /Urban Pilgrimage Network, Care of Creation, Abolition of the Death Penalty, Nuclear Disarmament, Nonviolence Training, and others. A weekly email, Peace on the Go, updates members on the activities of Chapters and Action Networks. Find out more about EPF at the website: www.epfnational.org

OUR LOCAL CHAPTER
The Ithaca Area EPF Chapter has a decades-long history of local activism. Members are drawn from four area parishes, under the leadership of convener, Nancy Siemon. The Chapter meets once a month at St. John’s Church.The Chapter sponsors prayer vigils, anti-war witness, Offerings of Letters to state and national law-makers, as well as other public advocacy/educational actions. We sponsor an informational booth each year at Diocesan Convention. We always welcome new members!

Currently, the focus of our prayer, study and action includes:

  • work with the New York State Prisoner Justice Network advocating for state-wide reforms in parole policies, abolition of solitary confinement, and programs to assist reentry for those released from prison.
  • Care of Creation: advocacy for responsible state and local policies for environmental justice, with a special focus on food security.
  • collaboration with the local chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace on behalf of a just peace in Israel/Palestine and peace with Iran.
  • advocacy for sane gun laws.
EPF Commitment In loyalty to the person, teaching, and Lordship of Jesus Christ, my conscience commits me to God’s way of redemptive love: to pray, study and work for peace and justice, and to renounce, so far as possible, participation in war, militarism, and all other forms of violence.

In fellowship with others of like mind, I will work to discover and create alternatives to violence and to build a culture of Peace. As a member of the Holy Catholic Church, I urge the Episcopal Church in accordance with our baptismal vows, “to renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God,” and to wage peace across all boundaries, calling upon people everywhere to repent, forgive, and to love.

Click/tap image for EPF Prayer Card
Ctrl-click/right-click/long-tap to download