Peace with Justice Sunday calls for God’s shalom. Peace with Justice Sunday, created by the 1988 General Conference, is one of The United Methodist Church’s six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings. Traditionally, we observe Peace with Justice Sunday on the first Sunday after Pentecost. However, congregations are welcome to celebrate Peace with Justice Sunday on any date that works for them. Your offering allows The United Methodist Church to have a voice in advocating for peace and justice through many programs in the United States and around the world.

Peace with justice means many things. When we talk about peace with justice, we focus on much more than the absence of war. Peace with justice means striving to live and work with people around the world – both those who share our beliefs and those who do not. It means advocating – speaking up – for others to free them from whatever prevents them from living full lives. It means breaking down barriers so God’s children everywhere have access to jobs, housing, education, food, clean water and health care. We must do whatever we can to build a culture that welcomes economic equality, seeks peaceful resolutions, fights oppression and doesn’t pit one culture against another.

Your contribution works in your conference and beyond.

Your Peace with Justice gifts do so much! Children from impoverished families, who often depend on free or low-cost school lunches, receive weekend food supplies. Homeless women benefit from a broad-based ministry that addresses their unique needs. Mentors work with incarcerated youth and adults as well as their families to create a better environment. Summer camps for children and youth provide guidance on living peacefully and justly. Youth learn alternatives to gang involvement and violence. Volunteers prepare the Democratic Republic of the Congo for peaceful elections.

Your offering reaches around the world. Mindy Johnson-Hicks and the Rev. Tina Carter, the interdependent team that heads Redemptive Work, endeavor both to build work experience and professional connections for individuals deemed “traditionally unemployable.” The client receives a job and training, a living wage and a letter of reference when the time comes for him or her to rejoin the workforce.

Your offering reaches around the world. The Pastoral Care and Counseling Services in Mutare, Zimbabwe, started healing and reconciliation interventions in November 2009. The 13-year-old organization offers counseling to communities, individuals and families and training in communications, negotiation and problem solving. “Through redirection of youth energy from destructive activities such as violence to constructive activities such as sports, youth have been empowered with life skills that help them make contributions to society.” - Mazvita Machinga, staff member

How you can help You can give online at www.umcgiving.org/give-now. You can give through your local church. Write a check to your local church and identify it as “Peace with Justice Sunday offering.” Place it in the offering plate or give it to your church treasurer.

Learn more! Visit our website: www.umcgiving.org/pwjs General Board of Church and Society: www.umc-gbcs.org