Draft Minutes for Discernment against War

How is thee called to see in the every face – Divine in any Iranian child, every American soldier, an Israeli family? John Woolman says life is about turning “all the treasures we possess into the channel of universal love.” Where in thee heart doth thee feel resistance in a practice of universal love? How can our Meetings and Outward community help each other overcome love’s resistance? How does Truth give us Favor in action or new ministry among F/friends?

Minute on the Illegal and Immoral Preemptive War with Iran

Approved [Month Day], 2026, during the [Spring/Annual] Sessions of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

Friends gathered in the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, on lands where ancestors sought religious freedom and where much of our vital peace testimony was first articulated and tested in what is the USA, we are brought low by a profound sense of grief and moral outrage. We have witnessed our nation, the United States of America, in coordination with Israel, initiate a preemptive military strike against Iran. This act of war, carried out without a clear and present defensive necessity, mirrors the summary executions and destabilizing interventions we have long condemned in the Americas. It is an act of pure aggression, a violation of the most basic tenets of international law, and a fundamental betrayal of the peaceable principles upon which our nation was ostensibly founded.

War is a failure of human spirit and a desecration of God’s creation. Paths of preemptive warfare are hardscrabbled empire, not democracy; language of fear, not of faith. This unilateral action bypasses United Nations charter, Article 2(4), which compels all members to refrain from a threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of any state. To invoke “self-defense” as justification is acts of war is dangerous fiction. To unravel the fragile fabric of a rules-based world order—an order that Quakers have labored to build since the days of our first uprising as we testify to remove all conditions and circumstances can build a peace that “takes away the occasion of all wars.” 

Spiritual and moral cost of aggression is incalculable. It unleashes immediate, horrific human suffering: death of innocents, displacement of families, and a traumatizing of generations. It is a sin against Light Within every Iranian, every Israeli, every American. Furthermore, it endangers our global common home, with potential strikes on nuclear facilities leading to catastrophic environmental contamination that respects no borders. Drumbeats of war drowns out access to Truth and reemergence of prophetic voice; in a silence of Meeting, we must ask: are we, by inaction, complicit in this evil? If so, how?

As a Friends´ Yearly Meeting with unique historical and geographical relationships to the birth of this nation, we feel this betrayal acutely. Philadelphia, cradle of liberty, is now a launching point for war based on aggression. The Liberty Bell, unseamless which rang for justice, is silent in witness to a nation’s abandonment of its own highest ideals. War is Not the Answer at Home or Abroad: We dont stand idly by for government to trade diplomacy as destruction.

Therefore, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends does hereby:

1. Unequivocally condemn the preemptive military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran as illegal, immoral, and a violation of international law.
2. Call for immediate cessation of all hostilities and return to diplomatic, non-violent means of conflict resolution, under the existing auspices of the United Nations.
3. Urge our members and attenders to engage in prophetic witness, including public vigils, letters, calls and visits to elected officials, and ministry through educational forums that expose the true cost of war and the sin of aggression.
4. Direct our Peace and Social Concerns Committees to draft pastoral letters to be read in all Monthly Meetings, providing resources for spiritual reflection and civic action in the face of this crisis.
5. Publicly call upon our government representatives—from the halls of Congress to the executive branch—to reject the path of endless war and to repent of this act of aggression by committing to a just peace. Silence in the face of such a profound moral failure is not neutrality; it is assent. For the sake of all life, and for the survival of our fragile planet, we must say with one voice: No more war!

(Signed)
Presiding Clerk, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

Draft 1: A Minute for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting or any leadership

Context: This minute above hopes to start conversation to press a case for peace. It is written as a DRAFT and OpenSource platform for sharing concerns. We stand – Way Opens – we have peaceful antiviolence leaders. This is written for larger, more diverse yearly meeting body. We know deep historical insight to connect to the founding of this nation. We have been a strong institutional presence for peace. Letter refuses to abdicate any moral authority to any government in this USA; rather, it holds faith as our experience of the ultimate moral authority. It accuses none; nor hesitates in truth overcoming.

It politely emphasizes betrayals of humane principle, advocating to end duplicit silence.

To South Jersey F/friends/Neighbors: Call to Witness Against War with Iran

Approved [Month], 2026, by [Quarterly/Monthly] Meeting of Friends of South Jersey (pending)

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Gathered in our Meeting Houses across provinces of South Jersey—from Salem to Burlington, from Haddonfield to Moorestown—we have been holding in Light for our nation, the people of Iran, and all those affected by a recent, devastating turn of events. We are compelled to speak out against preemptive war and military strikes initiated by United States and Israel against Iran. This act of aggression, lacking any justifiable basis, is a profound wrong. It echoes violent, extrajudicial actions we have witnessed in the Americas. It further represents a fundamental departure from a path of peace and justice in the USA.

Quaker heritage in South Jersey is rooted in beliefs that there is that of God in every person/being. This belief, an Inward Light, is not abstract in concept. It is living truth – that demands we see our face in a Divine incarnation – an Iranian child, American soldier, Israeli family. War is not that. It is a denial of this Light. It is a brutal machinery designed to dehumanize, to control and kill – to destroy. Preemptive war is built not on any defense, but on fear and ambition of empires. It bypasses our United Nations. It shreds every international agreement that exists precisely to prevent such catastrophic failures of diplomacy.

We remember that the land Lenapehoking, we now call South Jersey. This was itself refuge, a place where Friends like John Fenwick came seeking a place to live out their faith in peace. This (#SanctuaryEverywhere) born of Testimony a legacy calls us into refuge of conscience. We are not merely observers; we are participants in a moral universe. These assassinations, military strikes, wars; we now sanction with tax dollars They’re a direct assault on that legacy.

This conflict will bring suffering to our own doorstep, not just across the ocean. It will place an undue burden on our neighbors in uniform and their families. It will divert resources from our schools, our roads, and our communities to fund the machinery of death. And it will leave spiritual scars on our nation’s soul. The environmental consequences of strikes on industrial or nuclear sites could have far-reaching effects, reminding us that the web of life is interconnected and fragile.

As a community of Friends in South Jersey, we are called to a specific, local response. This is not a time for comfortable silence. It is a time for courageous, loving action.

Therefore, we urge every Friend and attender in our South Jersey communities to:

• Hold all those affected in the Light: In your daily worship, hold the people of Iran, the leaders of our nations, and all service members and their families in a spirit of deep, prayerful care.
• Educate yourselves and others: Learn the true history of our engagement with Iran. Challenge the narrative of inevitability that leads to war. Share what you learn with your neighbors.
• Speak truth to power: Contact our congressional representatives—write letters, make phone calls, and request meetings. Tell them clearly that we demand an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to diplomacy.
• Bear witness in our communities: Organize a peace vigil on the Salem County Courthouse steps, place a sign on your front lawn, or initiate a discussion group at your local library. Let our quiet presence be a visible sign of an alternative to violence.
• Support those who resist: Offer pastoral care to military families in our Meetings. Support conscientious objectors and those who speak out from within the service.

Let us remember words George Fox used to urge us into Faith. We are called to live into this day in “the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars.” Our task is to be instruments of a Living Word. A Word that comes with Peace. To remember the Lamb and the Lion of that life and power who lay at peace. By our words, our actions, our steadfast refusal to accept war as normal, we help build beloved community. That United Nation stretches – South Jersey to Iran. Across the globe. For goodnesssake of children, for health of the planet, and for our love of God, we say: No more war!

In peace and fellowship,

(Signed)
Clerk, [Name of Quarterly/Monthly Meeting]South Jersey Quarter

Draft 2: Boilerplate Letter for South Jersey Quaker Communities

Letter written for local, community-oriented groups. Emphasis is shared history of South Jersey as place of refuge, personal nature query, & call to grassroots, neighborly action. Above letter is not written by or from any group. It is a place to start worship, sharing, ministry, faith, practice in peace.