July 2023

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

 Greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Prince of Peace!  

We invite you and your congregation to use these materials to observe Peace Sunday. Around the world on 17 September 2023, Anabaptist-Mennonite brothers and sisters gather in worship with this same focus on peace. 

Accompanying this letter, we send worship resources you may use in celebrating Peace Sunday in September or at any time that suits your worship calendar. 

This year’s Peace Sunday theme is: “We are Family! Participating in God’s family.” 

The resources explore what makes a “family” a space in which people can embody just and peaceful relationships with one another, witnessing to God’s shalom.

In Matthew 12:46-50, Jesus challenges and re-draws images of family: not prescribed by a given structure but shaped by the quality of relationships; not characterized by the absence of conflict or tension, but how these are addressed. 

May these resources help us in this pursuit.

Rationale for Peace Sunday 

The UN General Assembly set 21 September as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace in 1981. The resolution states that observing the International Day of Peace “strengthen[s] the ideals of peace and alleviat[es] tensions and causes of conflict.” It declares “...a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Day.”  

We need this now more than ever before! 

The 2006 Peace Commission in Pasadena chose the Sunday nearest to 21 September as a Peace Sunday to be observed by Mennonite World Conference member churches.  

Churches who already observe a different Sunday as MWC would like to hear how you observed Peace Sunday. Tell us how you used these prayers, activities, testimonies or teaching resources in your congregation. Please send photos and reports to photos@mwc-cmm.org so we can share them with our global church community.   are invited to include the global church concerns in their prayers.  

God’s blessings to you as you continue your work toward Christ’s peace!

Yours in Christ’s peace, 

Andrew G. Suderman,
Secretary, Peace Commission
AndrewSuderman@mwc-cmm.org