{"id":7767,"date":"2020-09-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/can-preaching-bring-peace-2\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T09:32:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T09:32:20","slug":"can-preaching-bring-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/can-preaching-bring-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Can preaching bring peace?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Menno Simons Sermon Prize was established by Dr. h.c. Annelie K\u00fcmpers-Greve (1946-2017), member of Hamburg-Altona Mennonite congregation in Germany, in 2008 on her conviction about the spoken word. Each year, the Centre for Peace Church Theology at the University of Hamburg, Germany, in cooperation with the Hamburg-Altona congregation awards the \u20ac2\u202f000 prize for an address on peace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Menno Simons Sermon Prize encourages and acknowledges sermons that explore the biblical witness through the lens of the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition; promote the peace church tradition in the larger ecumenical context; and communicate in a manner that is effective, convincing and strengthens the spirituality of the hearer,\u201d says Fernando Enns, endowed professor at the Center. \u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half the prize money is given to the preacher; the remaining half is awarded to the preacher\u2019s congregation to encourage scholarly biblical reflection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Submissions for the next year are welcomed from pastors and lay preachers from around the world in German, English, Dutch, French, Spanish before the date given at the website below.<\/a> The sermon should have been preached elsewhere before submission. \u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Praising the Creator and preserving God\u2019s creation are important parts of our call as Christians to be \u201csalt\u201d in the world, says Andrea Schneider. The broadcasting officer of the Association of Evangelical Free Churches (VEF) in Germany received the 2020 prize for her sermon on Matthew 5:13. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her award-winning sermon will be heard 1 November 2020 at the service of the Mennonite Church in Hamburg-Altona. The public award ceremony will take place immediately after that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPreaching is not [simply] information, but the beginning of a process of transformation,\u201d says pastor Markus Hentschel of the host church. The peace sermons put current social or political conflict in the light of God\u2019s peace and the church\u2019s agency, he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also hear the voice from another congregation which reminds us that peace also means being connected with one another,\u201d says Hentschel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2012 sermon by Lydia Penner, a Canadian living in the Netherlands, continues to inspire him. \u201cThe great dream of peace\u2026is not realized through power politics and violence but grows out of seemingly ineffective acts by individuals.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The selection committee includes Fernando Enns, Hans-Martin Gutmann, Lukas Amstutz, Christina Duhoux, Birgit Foth, Christiane Karrer, Heinrich Wiens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous prize winners<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n