Middle East conflict: Uniting Church President urges peace and protection of human life

The pursuit of security through escalating force risks drawing entire regions – and potentially the world – into deeper suffering. Political leaders carry a profound moral responsibility to choose the hard work of restraint and peacebuilding over more killing and destruction.

The Uniting Church in Australia has long affirmed that peace is at the heart of the gospel. The Assembly has declared that God came in the crucified and risen Christ to make peace and calls Christians to be peacemakers, and that the burden of proof rests – on those who resort to military force as a means of resolving international disputes.

War is never simply a strategy. It is the violation of human dignity, the loss of human life, and the pain of grief that persists for generations. When militarism becomes the language of politics, it is always the innocent who ultimately pay the price.

As a Church shaped by the wisdom of Indigenous and Pacific peoples — communities who know the devastating legacy of militarisation and nuclear testing — we cannot accept a future where the security of powerful nations is built upon the suffering of vulnerable peoples.

The escalation of militarism and retaliatory violence across the region places millions of civilians at risk and threatens to draw the world into an even wider conflict.

A Call to Governments and World Leaders

We therefore call on political leaders in Australia and around the world:

First, to pursue urgent diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation of violence and to prioritise negotiation, dialogue and peaceful resolution over military confrontation.

Second, to uphold international law and ensure the protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, places of worship and essential infrastructure.

Third, to resist the dangerous logic of militarism which assumes security can be achieved through ever-increasing force.

Fourth, we urge the use of every diplomatic avenue available to promote restraint, de-escalation and the protection of human life across the region.

The pursuit of peace requires courage – the courage of leaders willing to step back from the brink of violence and choose dialogue, diplomacy and reconciliation.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we believe that the path of peace is not weakness but moral strength.

The crucified Christ stands not with the powerful but with the vulnerable, the wounded, the displaced and the grieving. In him we see the truth that peace cannot be built on violence, nor justice secured through the destruction of human life.

A Call to the Church

At this time the Uniting Church in Australia invites our congregations and communities to respond in three ways:

• Pray for peace in the Middle East and for all whose lives are threatened by war.
• Support humanitarian assistance for displaced families and churches providing refuge.
• Advocate for peace, encouraging our leaders to pursue diplomatic and peaceful solutions.

In the coming days we will share a humanitarian appeal to support churches and communities providing refuge and care for displaced families.

On Monday 9 March 2026 at 8:30pm AEDT, I will host a National Online Service of Prayer for Peace in the Middle East, bringing together members of our Church and Middle Eastern communities across Australia in prayer and solidarity. (To participate, please register here.)

At this critical moment the world does not need further escalation.

The world needs courage – the courage of leaders willing to choose peace over power, diplomacy over destruction, and the protection of human life over the so-called logic of war.

History will judge our generation not by the wars we were capable of fighting, but by the peace we had the courage to pursue.