Welcome.

Thinking of registering as a conscientious objector (CO)? If you are a United States citizen, male, over the age of 18, and a baptized member of the Episcopal Church, here’s how:

• Fill out the Selective Service System registration form 1M (UPO) on the following page or go to your local post office to obtain the form. Although it is also possible to register online or at your local high school, in order to document your status as a conscientious objector as soon as possible, you need to fill in the form by hand and mail it in yourself.
  
• Print in legible black ink across the middle of the Selective Service registration form:
  I AM A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR TO WAR IN ANY FORM. (See example on following page.)
  This is not a classification, but it may help you later to document your position as a conscientious objector.
  
• Make two (2) copies of your registration form. Date each copy, fold them, and seal them in two envelopes. The postmark on the envelope once it is mailed will confirm the date in case you need to prove when you decided to become a conscientious objector.
  
• Mail the original to:
  Selective Service System
  PO Box 94638
  Palatine, IL 60094-4638
  
• Mail one copy to:
  The Rev. G. Douglas Fenton
  Registrar for Conscientious Objectors
  SSS FORM 1M(UPO): DO NOT OPEN
  Episcopal Church Center
  815 Second Avenue
  New York, New York 10017-4503
  
• Mail one copy to yourself. When it arrives, keep it on file, unopened.
  
• Next, fill out the attached Conscientious Objector Registration Form.
  
• Make two (2) copies.
  
• Both you and your priest need to sign all three copies together.Send the original to:
  Selective Service System
  PO Box 94739
  Palatine, IL 60094-4638
  
• Send one copy to:
  The Rev. G. Douglas Fenton
  Registrar for Conscientious Objectors
  Episcopal Church Center
  815 Second Avenue
  New York, New York 10017-4503
  
• Keep the remaining copy for your records.

Be assured that any and all contact or correspondence with the Registrar for Conscientious Objectors at the Episcopal Church Center handled confidentially.

Also, please note that your registration as a conscientious objector (CO) does not exempt you from the selective service procedures, nor does it guarantee that you will be exempt from conscription or military service, or some other form of non-combatant service in the event that future legislation is enacted restoring the draft.

It has been our previous experience that many CO claims were denied because the registrant did not identify himself at the beginning. Between 1970 and 1972 only 20% of those who applied to the Selective Service Board for CO status were classified as COs. One of the reasons for this is that a claim for CO status was often filed late in the process, leading to induction into military service. If you have made a decision, it is important to have your statement on file as early as possible.