…strive to live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars, and come into the covenant of peace which was before wars and strife were. ~ George Fox (1651)

Dr. King described the Beloved Community as a society based on justice, equal opportunity, and love. Larry Apsey designed the Alternatives to Violence Project to create an opportunity to experience peace. On the AVP foundation, we draw on Re-evaluation Counseling, trauma resiliency, developmental play, liberty of conscience, liberation from oppression, and Quaker practices of discernment to heal and rebuild our communities and create cultures of peace.

Let us then try what Love will do: for if men did once see we love them, we should soon find they would not harm us. Force may subdue, but Love gains: and he that forgives first, wins the laurel. ~ William Penn, 1693

We believe there is that of God in all life, that all people are good and capable. Love, conscience and capabilities don’t spring forth fully formed, they grow as we pay attention through daily life, education and training. Faith and capabilities grow through stewardship and integrity: honesty, authenticity, and consistency among belief, reality, word, action and manner. Therefore Quakers give special attention to education, libraries, and gardens.