2010 Peacemaking Offering
Received by most churches on World Communion Sunday, October 3, 2010
2010 is the thirtieth anniversary of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and the Peacemaking Offering, following the adoption by the General Assembly of Peacemaking: The Believers’ Calling, which called for a new emphasis on peacemaking across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This year as your church plans to receive this Offering, remember the peacemakers of years past — in your congregation, presbytery, synod and the denomination as a whole. Make this year a time to renew your commitment to peacemaking as part of your calling as a follower of Christ, who not only taught us the ways of peace but is our peace.
The theme for the 2010 Offering is “Celebrate Christ, Our Peace.” The art is The Last Supper, a serigraph by John August Swanson.
Please see the resources, ideas about promoting the Offering, and suggestions for how to use your congregation’s share of the Offering. Order any resources that will help interpret the Offering by using the order form or calling Presbyterian Distribution Service, 1 (800) 524-2612. We welcome your ideas, so please use the space allowed for that, or call us:
- Nancy Goodhue, (800) 728-7228, x5182
- Denise Dukes McCoy, (800) 728-7228, x5026
About the Peacemaking Offering
The Peacemaking Offering was created in 1980 to support the efforts of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to live out a deeper commitment to peacemaking as part of our faithfulness to God. It is one of four special offerings designated by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s General Assembly.
Most churches receive the Offering on World Communion Sunday, the first Sunday in October, which this year is October 3. We encourage churches to use whatever Sunday works best for them.
Each congregation is encouraged to retain 25 percent of the Offering it receives to use for local ministries of peacemaking within the church and its community. Twenty-five percent is used by presbyteries and synods, and 50 percent is used by the General Assembly ministries through the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.
In accordance with the action of the 217th General Assembly (2006), we encourage congregations to consider directing a portion or all of their 25 percent of the Peacemaking Offering as a faithful Christian response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Find out what the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s International AIDS Ministries is doing.
'Peace Be With You'
Download or order the DVD
Order a copy of this DVD to inspire your congregation. Limit one free copy.
FREE • PDS #1214209290
World Communion Sunday and the Peacemaking Offering
Presbyterians have celebrated World Communion Sunday since the mid-1930s. At that time North Americans were experiencing the economic upheaval of the Great Depression, and many were concerned about the instability in Europe and the possibility of another world war. A group of. Presbyterian ministers met to pray and talk about the church’s role in such a time. Rediscovering the unifying power of Christ in the Lord’s Supper, they reaffirmed that in Christ all Christians are one, regardless of nationality, race, or ethnicity. From their meeting came the first World Communion Sunday in 1936. In the years that followed other denominations began to celebrate this special Sunday.
World Communion
By Lynn Hasselbarth, former Young Adult Volunteer in Peru (read at Hamilton Union Presbyterian Church in Guilderland, New York on World Communion Sunday, 10/4/09)
Last year, on World Communion Sunday, I took communion for the first time in Peru. And while we didn’t formally recognize that it was a special Sunday, I experienced a very real sense of World Communion—to be in one place partaking in a sacred ritual and at the same time imagining our sanctuary here at Hamilton Union and all of you taking the same bread and drinking the same grape juice and meditating on our shared devotion.