About the 2021 Season of Peace
September 5 – October 3, 2021
Welcome to the 2021 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 reflections are designed to help participants explore various forms of peacemaking through the arts. Featuring video and written reflections from artists and peacemakers, we will explore how the arts enhance and are expressions of our peacemaking. Throughout the 29 days, Witnessing to Peace through Art and Action invites us to reflect upon ways to practice peacemaking through the following:
Week 1 September 5-11: Spoken and Written Word
Week 2 September 12-18: Song and Music
Week 3 September 19-25: Visual Arts
Week 4 September 26-October 3: Actions/Advocacy/Service
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 Simon Doong for serving as editor of the 2021 Path of Peace Reflections and to the outstanding team of contributing artists and practitioners.
Subscribe to daily reflections that will be delivered directly to your inbox September 5 – October 3.
Peace Fair
The Peace Fair is a hands-on, multisensory, intergenerational event that offers peace and justice learning activities.
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.