US. Mennonite Brethren congregations are invited to observe Peace Sunday Sept. 22, 2024, together with the global Anabaptist church family. Worship and resource materials prepared by Mennonite World Conference are available online.
The theme for Peace Sunday 2024 is “Kintsukuroi: The broken vessel is often more beautiful than the original.” One of the Scripture texts is 2 Corinthians 4:7, which describes the gospel as a treasure in clay jars.
“These humble vessels bring to mind the Japanese tradition of kintsukuroi that creates (or recreates) pottery from broken pieces,” writes the MWC Peace Commission in its Peace Sunday resource packet. “Damaged vessels are put back together, often with gold binding, to create a useful object once again. The new piece tells a story about the past and is infused with glory that is greater than the former, as in Haggai 2:9.”
In his reflection for Peace Sunday, Neil Blough of France writes, “God, in Christ, is taking the broken aspects of our lives and of the world and working to make things right, to reconcile. To that, we are called to witness, through deed and word and through our common life as a global fellowship.”
The resource packet includes prayer requests for Christians around the world who are dealing with brokenness. Prayer is requested for
- farming families in rural Colombia who fear for their livelihoods and their lives. Pray for the people of the Mennonite Brethren church “La Samaritana,” that they may receive an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so they can act with courage and love to transform violence into justice, truth telling and shalom.
- those in Myanmar for the losses they have experienced in the civil war and the ongoing trauma. Pray for the Spirit of comfort and power to enfold the church members that they may be beacons of light and Christ’s peace to those around.
- Mennonite Church South Korea as they advocate against war in a militarized society. Pray for courage and creativity as they voice opposition along with the local residents to the construction of a factory to produce weapons.
To download the resources: https://mwc-cmm.org/sites/default/files/resource-uploads/peace_sunday_2024_en_rev_4.pdf
Mennonite World Conference is a communion of Anabaptist-related churches linked to one another in a worldwide community of faith for fellowship, worship, service, and witness. USMB is a member conference of this global ministry.
