The phone at First Baptist Church in San Antonio started ringing before the pastor finished his morning coffee. By 9 AM Central, seventeen families had called asking the same question: "Is there a prayer service tonight?"
There is now.
Across the United States, faith communities are responding to the eruption of war between America and Iran with the tools they know best — prayer, fellowship, and the quiet ministry of presence. Churches, synagogues, and mosques are opening their doors for emergency prayer vigils. Military chaplains at Gulf bases under fire are conducting services in bunkers. And theologians are grappling, once again, with the ancient question of whether this war meets the criteria for just conflict.
The Churches Respond
The Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission released a statement Saturday afternoon calling on believers to "pray fervently for the safety of our servicemembers, for wisdom for our leaders, and for the protection of innocent civilians on all sides of this conflict."
Catholic bishops in several dioceses have scheduled special Masses for peace. The National Association of Evangelicals issued a prayer guide that acknowledges the moral complexity of military action while affirming the obligation to pray for those in authority. "We do not ask God to choose sides," the guide states. "We ask God to guide all sides toward justice and mercy."
Military Chaplains on the Front Line
Among the 40,000 American military personnel stationed at Gulf bases that Iran has now targeted, several hundred military chaplains serve as the spiritual backbone of units preparing for extended combat operations. Their role — providing counsel, conducting worship, and offering the ministry of presence in conditions of extreme danger — places them directly in harm's way alongside the troops they serve.
"The chaplain doesn't carry a weapon," said retired Army Chaplain (Colonel) Scott McChrystal. "They carry something heavier — the weight of every fear, every prayer, every confession that a soldier needs to unburden before they go into harm's way. When missiles are incoming, that ministry doesn't pause. It intensifies."
The Just War Question
Christian just war theory, developed by Augustine and refined by Aquinas, establishes criteria that a conflict must meet to be considered morally defensible: just cause, legitimate authority, right intention, last resort, proportionality, and reasonable chance of success.
Iran's nuclear ambitions arguably satisfy the just cause criterion. Israeli and American intelligence have documented Tehran's steady march toward weapons-grade uranium enrichment. But the "last resort" requirement presents a harder case — nuclear negotiations were still technically active, even if stalled, when the bombs began falling.
The proportionality question looms largest. The devastation of a sustained bombing campaign against a nation of 88 million people — many of whom have been protesting their own regime — carries moral weight that extends far beyond strategic calculus.
These are not abstract theological questions. They are the questions being asked tonight in church pews across America, by parents whose children wear the uniform, by veterans who know the gap between war's promises and its realities, and by pastors who must find words of comfort when comfort feels impossible.
"Lord, we lift our troops to You tonight," prayed Pastor James Rodriguez at the San Antonio vigil. "We don't claim to understand Your plan. But we trust that even in the fire, You are present. Be with them. Be with us all."
Amen.
