A local chapter of a national group dedicated to nonviolence is being formed on Whidbey.

A meeting to form a Whidbey chapter of Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, June 25 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation meeting hall north of Freeland.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation is the oldest, largest interfaith peace organization in the United States dedicated to the practice and promotion of nonviolence.

FOR was initiated at the outbreak of World War I as a result of a pact between an American Quaker and a German Lutheran who committed to find a way to work for peace despite the fact their countries were at war.

“Our work on Whidbey will not only connect us with various peace and justice groups on the island, it will also connect us with a well-established, world-wide body committed to nonviolence,” said organizer Tom Ewell.

He said the Whidbey chapter would affiliate with the Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation (www.wwfor.org) based in Seattle, which in turn is affiliated with the national office based in Nyack, New York (www.forusa.org) and an international affiliate, the International FOR (IFOR), based in the Netherlands.

For more information, call Ewell at 341-1457 or e-mail tewell@whidbey.com.