En español. ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Church USA) — Mennonite Church USA is seeking award nominations for its 2025 Bring the Peace initiative. The denomination grants the award to a Legacy Peacemaker and a Young Peacemaker each year. A Legacy Peacemaker is someone who has devoted their life to peace and justice work, while a Young Peacemaker is a young adult or teenager who has just begun their peacemaking journey and is positively impacting their communities through their contributions. Submit your recommendations for nominees by completing this form by May 23: https://mcusa.formstack.com/forms/btp_award_nomination_form
The MC USA Peace and Justice department receives Bring the Peace award nominations from across the denomination. This year, a selection committee comprised of previous Bring the Peace award recipients will choose the two winners. MC USA’s Bring the Peace initiative calls individuals and congregations to promote peace in their communities. It is also a prayer, inviting God to bring the peace that enhances our capacity for empathy, compassion, and love and actively seeks to dismantle oppression and violence.
“As followers of Jesus, we are called to the sacred work of peace and justice and this award seeks to honor those who work within their communities in courageous ways that speak truth to power,” said Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz, MC USA denominational minister of Peace and Justice. “The nominees demonstrate what it means to work tirelessly to light the path toward a world that is more just, more compassionate and stronger every day,” she added.
The award is sponsored by MC USA’s Church Peace Tax Fund. The Church Peace Tax Fund is an MC USA initiative that reinforces the denomination’s role as a historic peace church by invigorating the collective voice against the destructive powers of militarism in our congregations, communities, and beyond. It provides financial resources for educational programs that address militarism and promote ways of living peacefully:
- The Bring the Peace recognition program, which honors a Legacy Peacemaker and a Young Peacemaker each year.
- Grants for war tax resisters.
- Peaceful Options for Training and Careers (POTC), an independent initiative formed by MC USA and Mennonite Central Committee, helps young adults find non-military career, service, and training opportunities.
Please join us in building peace by supporting MC USA’s Peace & Justice work. Feel free to designate your gifts specifically to the Church Peace Tax Fund or POTC, as you feel led. Give here. Checks can also be mailed to Mennonite Church USA, 718 N. Main Street, Newton, KS 67114. Please note “Executive Board Peace & Justice” in the memo line.
Mennonite Church USA is an Anabaptist Christian denomination, founded in 2002 by the merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Members of this historic peace church seek to follow Jesus by rejecting violence and resisting injustice. MC USA’s Renewed Commitments state the following shared commitments among its diverse body of believers: to follow Jesus, witness to God’s peace and experience the transformation of the Holy Spirit. Mennoniteusa.org
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Written by Christle Hain