Peace vigils and fighter jets
Inspired by our faith and God’s loving concern for the world, the Iona Community is passionate about peace and justice. Together, we work towards a more just world, often taking part in action for social and environmental justice and peace.
Some of our Members, took part in the recent Peace Camp at USAF Lakenheath. Margery Toller was among them:
“The contrast between the delight of the dawn chorus with its rich variety of delicate birdsong and the menace of the deafening roar of F-35A fighter jets as they take off and circle over the Suffolk countryside couldn’t be starker.
During Holy Week and over Easter, there has been a constant presence outside the main gate of the largest USAF base in Europe. The base at Lakenheath has 9000 personnel. Shifts of campaigners have held a 24/7 peace vigil to show the strength of their opposition to the proposed re-stationing of US nuclear missiles there.
Over the past fortnight, we have been visited by hundreds of people, including political choirs, climate activists, including some of the mesmerising Red Rebels, the leaders of many Christian peace organisations, the recording clerk of Quakers in Britain, veterans of the Greenham Common Peace Camp and Baroness Natalie Bennett.

Visitors from more than a dozen countries as far flung as Japan, the Canary Islands and the US participated in an international peace conference.
Hundreds of metres of the base fence have been decorated with amazing creativity and by the roadside lie lifesize replicas of the little bloodied white baby shrouds and the larger blue plastic ones we see so often in reports from Gaza.”
Members of many different faith groups held a peace vigil at the gates of Lakenheath airbase on 23 April. The Iona Community led a liturgy in a service co-organised with Pax Christi, Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Christian CND, London Catholic Worker and the Quakers.
You’ll find a full report of the Peace Camp on the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace website.