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Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • Theme and texts

    Theme

    Being a new creation in the midst of external turmoil

    Why this theme was chosen

    How do we maintain resilience in hardship, turmoil and conflict? How do we maintain our hope for something better when times are tough?

    This year’s Peace Sunday resources will explore the ways in which people throughout our communion give expression to God’s new creation during difficult circumstances.

    Biblical texts

    • Matthew 5
    • Mark 7:24-30

    Additional resources in this package

    Additional resources available online

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    Theme:

    Finding hope and healing in crisis

    Why this theme was chosen:

    In these gospel passages, Jesus brings salvation in the midst of crisis. We desire and need this peace, especially after this year! And as followers of Jesus, we follow his example and work to bring peace in the midst of chaos.

    Biblical texts:

    • Matthew 14:22-33
    • Mark 4:35-41

    Additional resources

    Additional resources online

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  • These Peace Sunday photos are provided by the Peace Commission of Mennonite World Conference. We encourage their use by all MWC-related congregations on the designated Peace Sunday (20 September 2020), or another Sunday that fits the schedule of the congregation. We trust that we can all be nurtured by the faithfulness of these brothers and sisters.

    Congregations in Honduras, India and Germany made peace trees following the suggestions in last year’s Peace Sunday worship package. Photo: Barbara Hege-Galle
    Congregations in Honduras, India and Germany made peace trees following the suggestions in last year’s Peace Sunday worship package. Photo: Ashish Kumar Milap
    Paroisse Missionaire Shalom, DR Congo.
    Congregations in Honduras, India and Germany made peace trees following the suggestions in last year. Photo: Marcel Yanes
    “It takes one to have Jesus inside their hearts to understand peace and also be delivered.” BICC Zengeza in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: Duduzile Moyo.
    SangMin Lee today with his wife Shaem Song and their son Seojin. 
    Congregations in Honduras, India and Germany made peace trees following the suggestions in last year. Photo: Vikal Rao
    Congregations in Honduras, India and Germany made peace trees following the suggestions in last year. Photo: Arup Ghose & Margaret Devedasan
    Mitsuru Ishido with a sanshin, a three stringed instrument used in the Okinawa Island region of Japan. 
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  • 19 June 2020

    Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

    Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Prince of Peace!

    We write to invite you and your congregation to observe Peace Sunday together with brothers and sisters in the global Anabaptist church family on 20 September 2020. Accompanying this letter, we send worship and resource material that your churches may use in celebrating Peace Sunday this year.

    The theme for this year’s Peace Sunday is: “When one member suffers, all members suffer: peace as accompaniment and solidarity.“

    The biblical narrative tells us the story of a God who accompanies and walks with those who are disheartened, disenfranchised and those who suffer. It is also an invitation for those who believe in this God and who follow his Son Jesus Christ to see the interconnectedness of humanity and to recognize that when one is not well or is suffering, creation is not how it ought to be. If we are interested in embodying God’s peace and justice in this world, what happens to one affects and should also matter to others.

    If we seek to be a Peace Church, we must, therefore, recognize our interconnectedness; we must accompany – be in solidarity with – those who suffer.

    May these resources help us in this pursuit.

    Rationale for Peace Sunday

    Following the recommendation of the 2003 Peace Council in Bulawayo regarding the establishment of Peace Sunday, the 2006 Peace Commission in Pasadena chose the Sunday nearest to 21 September (International Day of Peace) as a Peace Sunday to be observed by Mennonite World Conference member churches.

    The International Day of Peace was established by the United Nations Resolution on 30 November 1981 to be observed for the first time on the third Tuesday of September 1982 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. Later, the UN General Assembly set 21 September as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

    The resolution states that observing and celebrating the International Day of Peace “strengthen[s] the ideals of peace and alleviat[es] tensions and causes of conflict.” It declares “…the International Day of Peace shall henceforth be observed as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day.” It invites non-governmental organizations and individuals “to commemorate, in an appropriate manner, the International Day of Peace, including through education and public awareness, and to cooperate with the United Nations in the establishment of the global ceasefire.”

    In light of this, the Mennonite World Conference Peace Commission, beginning on 11 March 2006, decided that

    1. The Sunday nearest to 21 September (the International Day of Peace) would be designated as a Peace Sunday to be observed in our churches around the world. For 2020, this will be 20 September.
    2. The MWC Peace Commission staff would prepare suggestions for Scripture readings, prayer concerns, reflections from our global communion and ideas of activities to help churches observe this day.
    3. Churches are invited to report back to the Peace Commission about their activities for this day. Please send stories and pictures to photos@mwc-cmm.org.
    4. Churches who already observe a different Sunday as Peace Sunday are encouraged to continue with their practice, and are invited to include the global church concerns in their prayers on the global Peace Sunday.

    MWC would like to hear how you observed Peace Sunday. If you have stories or reports of activities and worship events in your congregations, please send them to photos@mwc-cmm.org so that we can share them with our global church community.

    God’s blessings to you as you continue your work towards Christ’s peace!

    Yours in Christ’s peace,

    Andrew G. Suderman,

    SecrŽtaire de la Commission Paix

    AndrewSuderman@mwc-cmm.org

     

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  • Theme

    When one member suffers, all members suffer: Peace as accompaniment and solidarity

    If we are interested in embodying God’s peace and justice in this world, what happens to one affects and should also matter to others.

    Biblical text:

    1 Corinthians 12:12–27
    Ruth 1:1–17
    Ephesians 4:1–6
    Galatians 6:1–5

     

    Additional resources in this package

    Additional resources available online:

    Click here to download

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  • Mennonite World Conference

    Declaration of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples

    In the Christian Scriptures, we encounter God who hears the cries of the dispossessed and suffering, feels deep concern for their welfare, and moves to save. In the Gospels, Jesus Christ, the living example for the church, embodies God’s preferred presence with the neighbor who is excluded, oppressed, ignored, rejected or treated as alien. Jesus associated with people on the margins, listened to and respected their experiences, and collaboratively sought justice.

    Mennonite World Conference desires to follow Jesus’ example to respond to the cries of Indigenous Peoples worldwide. This response is not concerned only with caring for people suffering within unjust structures. It also includes efforts to disarm (Colossians2:15) the structures of oppression themselves, in order that all of God’s People and Creation might experience the Psalmist’s hope that truth and mercy will meet, and justice and peace will kiss each other (Psalm 85:10).

    Date Approved: April 2018

    Approved By: MWC General Council

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  • A renewed peace church welcomes the stranger

    • Matthew 25:31—46
    • Deuteronomy 10:12—22
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  • Overcoming hatred, loving enemies(Matthew 5:43—48)

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  • This Peace Sunday worship material is provided by the Peace Commission of Mennonite World Conference. We encourage its use by all MWC-related congregations on the Sunday closest to the International Day of Peace, September 21, 2013.

    INTRODUCTION

    Psalm 23 is a strong image of peace. There we celebrate sitting at the table in the presence of our enemies, and the cup is filled to overflowing. Using this image we respond to God’s call to peace with a ritual of anointing. These peace-worship resources use movement, image, art, and ritual to explore the theme of peace. They begin with the idea that art (construction) is the opposite of war (destruction).

    While it is difficult to do art together in a time of worship, there are ways of making art to interact together.

    Please use these ideas as guidelines to adapt to your congregation’s context. The children’s worship connects with the prayers of the people through a prayer movement. Please feel free to change, adapt, or print material as needed.

    FOCUS STATEMENT

    God fills our cup to overflowing with what is needed to work for peace.

    MAIN SCRIPTURE

    Psalm 23

    Supporting Scriptures: Genesis 1; Matthew 6:9-13; 2 Corinthians 5:18

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