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The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked together by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). Nonviolence (or non-violence) is a set of assumptions about morality, power and conflict that leads its proponents to reject the use of violence in efforts to attain social or political goals. ...
The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is an international faith-based nonviolent movement created during the First World War, in 1914. ...
In the United States, the acronym "FOR" is normally typeset in all capital letters; elsewhere, it is usually typeset with a lower-case "o", as "FoR".
The FoR in the United Kingdom
The first body to use the name "Fellowship of Reconciliation" was formed in August 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War by two Christians, Henry Hodgkin (an English Quaker) and Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze (a German Lutheran), who were participating to a Christian pacifist conference in Konstanz in southern Germany. On the platform of the railway station at Cologne, they pledged to each other that, "We are one in Christ and can never be at war." To take that pledge forward, Hodgkin organised in 1915 a conference in Cambridge at which over a hundred Christians of all denominations agreed to found the FoR. They set out the principles that had led them to do so in a statement which became known as "The Basis". It states: 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...
Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...
This article is about the religous people known as Christians. ...
The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ...
The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ...
Peace churches are Christian churches, groups or communities advocating pacifism. ...
Konstanz in 1925 seen from the lake Schnetztor, a section of the former city wall Another gate from city wall Shops in Konstanz The Konzilgebäude in Konstanz Konstanz (in English formerly known as Constance) is a university town of around 80,000 inhabitants at the western end of Lake...
For other uses, see Cologne (disambiguation). ...
Geography Status City (1951) Region East of England Admin. ...
A denomination, in the Christian sense of the word, is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and/or doctrine. ...
- That love as revealed and interpreted in the life and death of Jesus Christ, involves more than we have yet seen, that is the only power by which evil can be overcome and the only sufficient basis of human society.
- That, in order to establish a world-order based on Love, it is incumbent upon those who believe in this principle to accept it fully, both for themselves and in relation to others and to take the risks involved in doing so in a world which does not yet accept it.
- That therefore, as Christians, we are forbidden to wage war, and that our loyalty to our country, to humanity, to the Church Universal, and to Jesus Christ our Lord and Master, calls us instead to a life-service for the enthronement of Love in personal, commercial and national life.
- That the Power, Wisdom and Love of God stretch far beyond the limits of our present experience, and that He is ever waiting to break forth into human life in new and larger ways.
- That since God manifests Himself in the world through men and women, we offer ourselves to His redemptive purpose to be used by Him in whatever way He may reveal to us.
Because the membership of the FoR included many members of the Society of Friends (Quakers), who reject any form of written creed, it has always been stressed that the Basis is a statement of general agreement rather than a fixed form of words. Nonetheless the Basis has been an important point of reference for many Christian pacifists. The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ...
A creed is a statement or confession of belief — usually religious belief — or faith. ...
The FOR had a prominent role in acting as a support network for Christian pacifists during the war and supporting them in the difficult choice to become conscientious objectors - and in taking its consequences, which in many cases included imprisonment. In the interwar years it grew to be an influential body in United Kingdom Christianity, with federated associations in all the main denominations (the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, the Methodist Peace Fellowship, the Baptist Peace Fellowship, etc) as well as a strong membership among the Society of Friends (Quakers). At one time the Methodist Peace Fellowship claimed a quarter of all Methodist ministers among its members. John T. Neufeld was a WWI conscientious objector sentenced to 15 years hard labour in the military prison at Leavenworth. ...
The Methodist Peace Fellowship is a British Methodist pacifist organization. ...
For other types of minister, see Minister In Christian churches, a minister is a man or woman who serves a congregation or participates in a role in a parachurch ministry; such persons can minister as a Pastor, Preacher, Bishop, Chaplain, Deacon or Elder. ...
The FOR was active in the anti-war movement of the 1930s, and correspondingly lost influence when the Second World War came, was won, and was widely perceived as morally justified, especially as the horrors of Nazism became known in the post-war period. Nonetheless the FOR retained considerable strength in post-second world war British Christianity, and many of its members were active in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the 1950s and 1960s. Prominent members included Donald Soper, a high profile President of the Methodist Conference of the period and later a member of the House of Lords. With the continuing decline of Christianity in Britain, the FoR has lost influence, although active Christians in the UK are now probably further to the left politically, on average, than they were in the 1930s or 1950s. 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ...
Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...
National Socialism redirects here. ...
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo In British politics, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has been at the forefront of the peace movement in the United Kingdom and claims to be Europes largest single-issue peace campaign. ...
1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...
1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ...
Donald Oliver Soper (31st January, 1903 - 22nd December, 1998), later known as Lord Soper, was a prominent Methodist minister, socialist and pacifist. ...
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as the Lords. The Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is the lower house of Parliament and referred to as the Commons), and the Lords together comprise the Parliament. ...
The FoR remains active: Norman Kember, the British peace activist kidnapped in Iraq in December 2005 was a member of the Baptist Peace Fellowship and a Trustee of the FOR. There are Roman Catholic members of FOR, most Catholic pacifists affiliate instead to the specifically Catholic peace organisation, Pax Christi; however FoR and Pax Christi work closely together. Although many members have universalist sympathies and are happy to co-operate with pacifists of other faiths or none, the FoR in the UK has remained a distinctively Christian organization. Norman Kember being held as a hostage. ...
2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...
Pax Christi is an international Catholic peace movement, which nowadays regards itself as ecumenical. ...
Currently, there are separate FoR organizations in England, Scotland and Wales. Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Cha togar mfhearg gun dioladh (Scottish Gaelic)1 Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime...
This article is about the country. ...
FOR USA United States Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR USA) was founded in 1915 by sixty-eight pacifists, including Norman Thomas, A. J. Muste, and Jane Addams, and claims to be the "largest, oldest interfaith peace and justice organization in the United States." [1] Its programs and projects involve domestic as well as international issues, and generally emphasize nonviolent alternatives to conflict and the rights of conscience. Unlike the UK movements, it is an interfaith body, though its historic roots are in Christianity. 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ...
Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes. ...
Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 - December 19, 1968) was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. ...
Abraham Johannes Muste (January 8, 1885 – February 11, 1967) was a socialist active in the pacifist movement, labor movement and the US civil rights movement. ...
Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935) won the Nobel Peace Prize and was a founder of the U.S. Settlement House Movement. ...
Nonviolence (or non-violence) can be both a political strategy or moral philosophy that rejects the use of violence in efforts to attain social or political change. ...
A conscientious objector is an individual whose personal beliefs are incompatible with military service, or sometimes with any role in the armed forces. ...
FOR in the USA was formed initially in opposition to the entry of the United States into World War I. “The Great War †redirects here. ...
The American Civil Liberties Union developed out of FOR's conscientious objectors program and the Emergency Committee for Civil Liberties. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a major American non-profit organization with headquarters in New York City, whose stated mission is to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.[1] It...
John T. Neufeld was a WWI conscientious objector sentenced to 15 years hard labour in the military prison at Leavenworth. ...
In 1918, FOR and the American Federation of Labor formed Brookwood Labor College, which lasted until 1937. 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ...
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was one of the first federations of labor unions in the United States. ...
Brookwood Labor College was the first labor college in the United States. ...
1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
John Nevin Sayre was active in FOR between 1924 and 1967, and was its chairman from 1935 to 1940.
In 1947, FOR and the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE, which had been founded by FOR staffers James Farmer and George Houser, along with Berniece Fisher, sponsored the Journey of Reconciliation, the first Freedom Ride against southern segregation in the wake of the Supreme Court's 1946 Irene Morgan decision. 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE is a U.S. civil rights organization that played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. ...
James Leonard Farmer is the name of two prominient African-Americans. ...
The son of missionaries who spent portions of his early life in the Far East, George Houser served on the staff of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in the 1940s and 50s. ...
Freedom Rider is also a song by Traffic The Freedom Rides were a series of nonviolent, direct demonstrations performed in 1961 as part of the U.S. civil rights movement. ...
The Rex Theatre for Colored People Racial segregation is characterized by separation of different races in daily life when both are doing equal tasks, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or...
The supreme court functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be challenged, in some countries, provinces and states. ...
1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...
Irene Morgan was an important precursor to Rosa Parks in the successful fight to overturn segregationist laws in the United States. ...
In 1954, China was facing famine and the United States was enjoying surplus harvests, so the FOR organized the Surplus Food for China campaign to convince the government to send food to the Chinese, instead of bombing them. 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
In 1955 and 1956, Glen Smiley, a white Methodist minister, was assigned by the FOR to assist the Rev. Martin Luther King in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The two, sitting behind the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, were seatmates on the first interracial bus ride in Montgomery. 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
“Martin Luther King†redirects here. ...
Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. ...
Ralph Abernathy at National Press Club luncheon. ...
Coordinates: Country United States State Alabama County Montgomery Incorporated December 3, 1819 Mayor Bobby Bright Area - City 404. ...
In the 1960s, FOR launched "Shelters for the Shelterless," and built real shelters for homeless people, in response to increasing public demand for fallout shelters. FOR made contact with the Vietnamese Buddhist pacifist movement and sponsored a world tour by Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Thich Nhat Hanh (Press Release Photo) Courtesy of Plum Village Practice Center, France Thich Nhat Hanh (ThÃch Nhất Hạnh; IPA: ; born in 1926, is an expatriate Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist, and prolific author in both Vietnamese and English. ...
In the 1970s, FOR founded Dai Dong, a transnational project linking war, environmental problems, poverty and other social issues, involving thousands of scientists around the world. They sought to reverse the Cold War and the arms race with campaigns, marches, educational projects and civil disobedience, and opposed the death penalty in a concerted campaign with ACLU.
In the 1980s FOR took the lead in initiating the Nuclear Freeze Campaign in cooperation with other groups. They initiated a US-USSR reconciliation program, which included people-to-people exchanges, artistic and educational resources, teach-ins and conferences. They led nonviolence training seminars in the Philippines prior to the nonviolent overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship.
In the 1990s, the organization sent delegations of religious leaders and peace activists to Iraq to try to prevent war and later, to see the massive devastation caused by the economic sanctions imposed upon Iraq. They initiated a "Start the Healing" campaign in response to escalating levels of gun violence in the United States, and FOR is an organizational and founding member of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, which advocates gun control. FOR initiated the "Bosnian Student Project," whic brought students from the former Yugoslavia out of war zones and into US homes and schools, and later started the International Reconciliation Work Camp Project. They also worked to get the US military to withdraw from Panama. The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence or CSGV is a non-partisan group of 45 organizations and 100,000 individual members founded in 1974 that seeks to ban handguns and assault weapons in the United States. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Gun politics. ...
FOR has most recently been active in advocating for the demilitarization of US foreign policy in Colombia, and also in supporting peace initiatives in Colombia. They were active in getting the US Navy to stop using Vieques as a bomb testing ground.
See also War Resisters International or WRI is an international anti-war organization with members and affiliates in over thirty countries. ...
Bibliography - Paul R. Dekar, Creating the Beloved Community: A Journey with the Fellowship of Reconciliation (Telford, PA: Cascadia Publishing House, 2005)
External links
International Fellowship of Reconciliation - International Fellowship of Reconciliation
FoR in the United Kingdom - Fellowship of Reconciliation, England
- Fellowship of Reconciliation in Wales/Cymdeithas y Cymod yng Nghymru
FOR USA and its Local Groups
Other links - An overview of the Surplus Food for China campaign
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