About the 2020 Season of Peace
September 6 – October 4, 2020
Welcome to the 2020 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 returns to a text that the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program has used for a number of years to guide its work. It is the concluding hope of the second letter to the Thessalonians: “May the God of peace grant you peace at all times in all ways.” (2 Thessalonians 3:16) It is our hope that you will be enriched, renewed and enlivened in all the times and ways of your peacemaking and global witness.
Resources included in A Season of Peace:
Path of Peace Daily Reflections
This year’s A Season of Peace Resources are designed to help participants explore practices for building peace on every scale. From the personal level to global issues, these reflections and prayers will help grow the faith and witness of the whole church. Throughout the 29 days of this year’s Season of Peace, we are invited to reflect upon ways to practice:
Week 1 September 6-12: Peace Within
Week 2 September 13-19: Peace in Relationships
Week 3 September 20-26: Peace in Community
Week 4 September 27-October 4: Wholistic Peace
You have the option of subscribing to these reflections for daily delivery into your inbox or printing the entire collection as a devotional resource. Many thanks to Henry Stone for serving as editor of the 2020 Path of Peace Reflections and to the outstanding team of contributing writers.
Subscribe to daily reflections that will be delivered directly to your inbox September 6 – October 4.
Download the complete 2020 Path of Peace Reflections
Peace Fair
The Peace Fair is a hands-on, multisensory, intergenerational event that offers peace and justice learning activities.
Peace Cards
There are 3 sets of 30 cards from which to choose. The cards can be placed in a central location such as a kitchen table. Peace cards can be used anywhere and with anyone—at meals or family gatherings, during fellowship at church, as icebreakers for study groups, or for in-depth conversations on long bus rides with youth. Use one card per day during A Season of Peace and let the conversations lead 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.