The Belonging Together Ministers Group, responds to the conflict in the Middle East.
11 March 2026
Lamentation, prophecy and prayer from the Belonging Together Ministers Group, a response to the conflict in the Middle East.
The Belonging Together Ministers Group (BTMG) of the Methodist Church in Britain releases this statement with heavy hearts as violence in the Middle East escalates to distressing and painful new levels. Reports of large‑scale attacks, assassinations of political and religious leaders and devastating retaliatory strikes weigh deeply upon us. In this hour of global trembling, the BTMG raises its voice with grief, clarity and unwavering conviction. The escalating violence in the Middle East – including the devastating strikes, assassinations and retaliations reported in recent days – represents a tragic unravelling of our shared humanity, a terrible indictment of our civilisation. We cannot remain silent while God’s children are crushed beneath the machinery of war driven by political decisions and military ambition.
As an ethnically diverse fellowship whose members bear the histories, memories and wounds of many nations, we feel the shock waves of this conflict in our bones; its poison curdles our blood. Our global connectedness gives us painful nerve endings that cannot ignore the cries of widows, the terror of children, the devastation of families and communities, and the desecration of human dignity across the lands of the Middle East. History continues to show that armed conflict does not yield lasting peace, justice or security.
We proclaim with prophetic urgency that war is a lie. It promises security but brings only fear and anxiety. It claims to resolve conflict but multiplies hatred and hostility. It asserts strength but exposes the frailty of our moral imagination and the mutability of our human conscience. We lament the futility of war and reject the illusion that peace can ever be born through fire and steel, through bombs and drones. The shock waves threaten global safety, deepen geopolitical fragility and make the world an increasingly unstable and dangerous place for all people. The blood of innocents testifies against every nation and every leader who believes the world can be healed by weapons.
We condemn the killing of civilians – God’s image-bearers, whoever they are – whose lives are extinguished by decisions made far from their homes, their prayers, their aspirations and their hopes. Each lost life is a divine tragedy; each extinguished flame is a celestial funeral. Each shattered family is an open and gaping wound in the heart of creation.
We decry the carnage and havoc being unleashed, not only for those in this present moment but for the generations who will inherit broken cities, poisoned trust, psychological scars and a world rendered more unstable and more dangerous. Destruction is easy; reconstruction – of cities, of societies, of the human spirit – takes decades, beyond the murky horizon of political expediency.
We speak now not as geopolitical analysts or political commentators but as disciples of Jesus Christ, who commanded us to love our enemies and who wept for a city that chose violence over peace. We call upon all leaders and nations involved, directly or indirectly, to turn away from the reckless path of escalation. We urge a return to diplomacy, restraint, humanitarian action and the sacred priority of human life. We implore the international community to reject the (il)logic of vengeance and to pursue the hard, holy work of peacemaking. As a people belonging together across nations and cultures, the BTMG remains committed to standing with the suffering, amplifying the silenced, and praying without ceasing for a peace rooted in justice, dignity, solidarity, truth and compassion.
May the Spirit of God afflict the powerful, comfort the afflicted and spark the healing of the nations.
For and on behalf of the Belonging Together Ministers Group of the Methodist Church in Britain
The Revd Dr Vincent Jambawo
A Prayer for Peace, Justice and the Healing of the Nations
God of all peoples and generations,
God whose heart breaks with every mother who mourns,
God who watches over every shattered city and every terrified child –
Hear our cry.
In this moment of violence and fear,
stretch your protecting hands over the Middle East,
over every land where missiles fall,
over every border where hatred grows,
over every home where families tremble.
Lord, have mercy.
We pray for the innocent and the vulnerable –
for those who have not chosen this path yet bear its highest costs.
Wrap them in your powerful protection.
Hold their fear in your loving embrace.
Guard their lives with your gentle compassion.
Christ, have mercy.
We pray for leaders and nations –
break the pride that seeks victory through destruction and at all costs,
shatter the arrogance that trusts in weapons more than wisdom,
and stir in every heart the reverence and respect for human life
that cannot be ignored or silenced.
Lord, have mercy.
We pray for peace that does not deny justice,
for justice that does not require revenge,
for reconciliation that is more resilient than the history of wounds.
Let swords be beaten into ploughshares.
Let rhetoric surrender to dialogue.
Let fear be overcome by hope.
Let hatred yield to love.
Spirit of God, move among us.
Make us instruments of your peace, witnesses of your truth,
bearers of your light in a world shadowed by conflict.
We pray for the healing of every nation, the mending of every heart
and the dawning of the peace that passes all understanding.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
the Prince of Peace, the Lover of Sinners, the Pilgrim Neighbour.
Amen.
For and on behalf of the Belonging Together Ministers Group of the Methodist Church in Britain
The Revd Dr Vincent Jambawo