About the 2023 Season of Peace
September 3 – October 1, 2023
Welcome to the 2023 Season of Peace. This four-week pilgrimage is designed to deepen the pursuit of peace for congregations, small groups, families, and individuals. Through daily “Path of Peace” reflections, “Peace Cards” for children and families, Bible and book studies for adults, children’s curriculum, a coloring poster, an intergenerational peace fair, and other downloadable resources, Participants are invited to define and deepen their calling as peacemakers. This season is a time of encouragement, challenge, inspiration, and education.
While these resources are designed to culminate in the Peace & Global Witness Offering, they are appropriate for any time of the year. This year’s theme is drawn from Psalm 23: “You are with me.” It is our hope that you will remember God is with you in all your peacemaking and global witness efforts.
Path of Peace Daily Reflections
This new set of daily devotions accompanies the 2023 A Season of Peace. This year’s reflections celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Commitment to Peacemaking. Begun in 1983, the Commitment has offered a tool to Presbyterian congregations and worshiping communities to shape their peacemaking ministries. By affirming the Commitment, congregations and worshiping communities 1) declare that working for peace is an essential mission priority, 2) establish a framework for implementing peacemaking in their corporate life, 3) invite their members and friends to work for peace in their own lives, households, communities and world, and 4) challenge themselves to grow in and pass on peacemaking ministries to future generations.
Over the past 40 years, the contributors to the 2023 Path of Peace reflections have each in their time been involved in the peacemaking ministries of the Presbyterian Church (USA). For each day’s contribution they have been invited to identify a biblical passage, share a reflection based upon the Commitment to Peacemaking, suggest an action and offer a prayer for the journey. In this “Season of Peace,” may we be enriched by the wisdom, experience and “commitment to peacemaking” they share with us.
You have the option of subscribing to these reflections for daily delivery into your inbox or downloading and printing the written portion of the reflections as a devotional resource.
Many thanks to Julie Cox for serving as editor of the 2023 Path of Peace Reflections.
Subscribe to daily reflections that will be delivered directly to your inbox September 3 – October 1.
We hope that you will be encouraged, inspired and challenged during this season of peace to continue and expand your work for peace in a world that needs all it can get.
Peace Fair
The Peace Fair is a hands-on, multisensory, intergenerational event that offers peace and justice learning activities.
Peace Cards
Peace Cards are straightforward and easy to use. Each card offers a question for reflection, an action to be taken and a prayer to be spoken. The cards can be used in a variety of settings and occasions – as a daily or seasonal practice with family members, as a sharing activity for small and large groups, as a table activity at church events, or for conversation while on a trip. There are six areas for peacemaking represented on the cards. Look for the following icons on the cards:
Personal (Yellow icon)
Family (Blue icon)
Church (Red icon)
Community (Orange icon)
Environment (Green icon)
World (Purple icon)
We are all called to be peacemakers: reflecting more deeply on peace, doing things to promote peace, and praying for peace in all parts of life. Let these cards lead you to new perspectives and practices for making peace.
Children’s Curriculum
Lessons from the Table is a five-session curriculum that focus on the communion table. It can be used with a broadly-graded children’s group in a variety of contexts.
Adult Bible Study
The Things that Make for Peace is a five-week adult study focusing on the inner and outer paths to peace as foundational to faithful discipleship. Each session has a “dig deeper” section for study throughout the week.
Adult Book Study
Risking Peace is a five or six session companion to the book Five Risks Presbyterians Must Take for Peace by Christian Iosso, published in 2017 by Westminster John Knox Press. The guide helps participants explore reflect upon and apply the five peacemaking affirmations approved by the 222nd General Assembly in 2016.
Children’s Coloring Poster
This reproducible original artwork is based on Ephesians 2: 14-17 and features the text “Peace to those who are near and those who are far away.” The wings of the dove have the word “peace” in 5 languages – Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, Korean and English. Designed for the 2017 Season of Peace by the folks at Illustrated Children’s Ministry, the artwork can be downloadable in a variety of sizes – 8.5×11, 11×17, 24×36 and 36×48 (in color or black/white). It can be used as individual coloring sheets or enlarged to poster-size for a group coloring project through the weeks of the Season of Peace. You can have a local printer print the file onto poster or foam core board. Then put it up in a community room, narthex or fellowship hall, supply plenty of great coloring pens and invite folks to add color to the poster each week during the Season of Peace.
Intergenerational Peace Fair — The Peace Fair is an inter-generational event that may be held during A Season of Peace, as part of World Communion Sunday, or at another time during the year. Eating together is an important component of the event, so be sure to plan for a meal.
Season of Peace logo— Graphic logo for the Season of Peace for use on websites, newsletters or bulletins.
