WAR ON IRAQ - Watch, Pray, and Act

The U.S. war on Iraq is a failure of political and moral imagination. Sojourners continues to believe that war is not the answer to the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Our political leaders did not exhaust all diplomatic options. The efforts by U.S. church leaders to provide an alternative to war fell on deaf ears. The tens of millions of people in a new global peace movement were ignored. The world community as represented in the U.N. Security Council was disregarded.

As Christians, our first response to the beginning of war is to pray. We pray for the safety of all people in harm's way - civilians, servicemen and women from all countries, and especially the children of Iraq now living in bomb shelters. We pray that the leaders of the U.S., U.K., and Iraq will even now find a way to peace. We pray for the peacemakers of the world. We encourage Christians and other people of faith to respond pastorally - to open sanctuaries or other locations as places for prayer services, to lead or participate in local candlelight vigils.

We encourage all people to protest the start of war by publically dissenting and disassociating themselves from the Bush administration's doctrine of pre-emptive attack.

We support those who are called to participate in actions of conscientious objection, nonviolent civil disobedience, tax resistance, or other nonviolent acts of refusing consent to this war.

• Sign on to a An Urgent Appeal to the Churches: 'We must resist this war'

We encourage and support every effort to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq. In particular, we urge support for All Our Children, an alliance of relief organizations providing critical health care to vulnerable Iraqi children.

• Give to All Our Children

We continue to urge the administration to clarify its plans for creating a democratic Iraq, to implement the "Roadmap to Peace" in the Middle East, and to sustain international cooperation in the campaign against terrorism.

Sojourners' work continues. Join us as we watch, pray, and act for peace.

• Read the 6-Point Plan to Defeat Saddam Hussein Without War
• Plan a Teach-In About the War with Iraq