One of the most enduring and well-known of the Quaker testimonies, or ways that Friends put their beliefs into action, is Peace. As Quakers on Cape Cod, we understand peace and social justice as daily leadings that shape our lives and the life of our meeting.
For many East Sandwich Quakers, our abiding interest in peace coalesces around the activities of The Peace Abbey Foundation, founded in 1988 by Friend Lewis Randa, who attends our Meeting. The Peace Abbey Foundation is a Quaker-led and -inspired organization that carries the historic peace testimony into public life through art, education, and compassionate action. Grounded in the Quaker witness to nonviolence, simplicity, and the sacred worth of every being, the Foundation creates and cares for spaces and programs where the spirit of peace can be experienced and practiced in daily life.
East Sandwich Friends have joined with The Peace Abbey in two primary ways. First, we participate in many of the actions initiated by The Peace Abbey. For example, in the last few years, we have been active in several Stonewalks advocating for those killed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Peace Chain 13, which protested the outcome of the 2024 national elections (and in which several Friends were arrested, but later released without being charged).
But we have also worked with The Peace Abbey to create new projects, which it then sponsors. For example, from a shared awareness of the devastating impacts of colonization on the Wampanoag people of Cape Cod, the Peace Abbey, together with Gail Melix (a member of the Wampanoag tribe and a member of our Quaker meeting), co-authored the Native Land Reparation Pledge (NLRP). Through this pledge, individuals may commit one percent or more of the future sale price of their home to the Indigenous nation on whose land they live, or to a Native-led organization of their choosing. As this effort takes root in more places and provides reparative support for tribal communities, it joins the Abbey’s other work in deepening our spiritual practice, giving outward form to our testimonies, and helping us carry the concerns of the wider world more faithfully into our meeting, our witness, and our daily lives in the way of nonviolence. Friendship Gardens of Cape Cod is another example of a project originating from our meeting that has been sponsored by The Peace Abbey (see Food Insecurity).
What Can You Do?
If you are interested in peace and social justice, come join us as we continue our collaboration with The Peace Abbey!
Contact: Lewis Randa
