World Communion Offering — Free Resources for All Ages

Lesson Plans and Activities for All Ages Looking for ways to involve children or your whole congregation in the World Communion Offering this year? We have some excellent activities and lesson plans to use with your congregation. Intergenerational Lesson Plan Use this lesson plan to help your congregation be in community with each other while learning about the World Communion Offering and its reconciliation ministries. Download Intergenerational Lesson Plan Stand-Alone Activities Pair these activity suggestions with one of the lesson plans, use them as a filler at the end of a Sunday school lesson or fellowship meal, or even include them as part of your Rally Day or program year kickoff. Download Activity Page Young Children Lesson Plan Geared for younger children, this lesson plan focuses on Micah 6:8: “love kindness.” Use this lesson plan as its own special one-time event or use it in a small group setting such as Sunday school. Download Younger Children Lesson Plan Older Children Lesson Plan This curriculum, meant for older children, uses Micah 6:8 to talk about loving kindness. This lesson plan works well as a single event or in a regularly scheduled gathering. Download Older Children Lesson Plan Looking for other World Communion Offering resources? Check out our previous email or view all of our resources on our website. Thank you for generously supporting the World Communion Offering.   If you have any questions, reply to this email or call us at (800) 728-7228, Ext. 5047.

If this email was forwarded to you, sign up for our list.  Copyright © 2026 Special Offerings, All rights reserved.

WCC NEWS: Granddaughter of Hiroshima survivor shares her family’s story

Erin Tsutsui is a 16-year-old rising junior at Henry M. Gunn High School in California. She visited the World Council of Churches on 5 August with a group from the League of Creative Minds. She shared her grandfather’s story of surviving the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Photo: Pauline Tete/WCC 05 August 2026 You have been growing up listening to your grandfather's stories. Could you tell me a little more about your background and his? Tsutsui: My grandfather was born and raised in Hiroshima. He was four-and-a-half years old when he became a survivor of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. He tells me that in the morning, he was playing outside behind a large tree when the bomb hit. Everything around him blew up, and he got glass shards stuck in his hand, which he pulled out. Blood came out of his hand, but his life was saved because he wasn't actually that far from the epicenter. He wasn't close enough to die instantly, so it is a miracle that he survived. His family also happened to be safe; his mom and siblings were inside the house or nearby. His dad was actually very close to the epicenter but was underground, so he was also able to survive. However, I believe maybe a year later, his brother died. I think it was a mixture of radiation sickness, food poisoning, starvation, or something like that. That is what happens in wartime. My grandfather struggled with radiation sickness for a very long time, so he did not attend most of elementary school. He tells me stories about how his teacher told him he should study for a test, and he told his teacher, "I think I'm going to die anyways." The teacher was very shocked and started crying. His mother always told him that, especially because she was so affected by one of his brothers dying, she said she would, no matter what, make sure that he lives. He eventually became a medical student and an oral surgeon. He met my grandma, had my mom, and then my mom moved to the US. I was born in the US in Michigan before moving to California. I am Japanese American and have never lived in Japan, but my favorite memories are from visiting my grandpa in Japan. I visited him this year. I think he is now 85 and lives alone, but I think he is really excited about whatever he sees. He is amazing to talk to, and he is open to telling me his stories. Actually, he didn't talk about his experience too much with my mom while she was growing up. My mom told me that only when I was a little kid and very curious did I ask all these questions, and that is when he started opening up. So I am glad that I was able to be part of why he is able to talk about his experience. How is it for you to be Japanese-American given the history between the two countries? Tsutsui: It is very interesting and complicated, but I really want to pursue something within US-Japan relations in the future. I think that friendship is super important. Obviously, during the war they were enemies, but now I would love to see how the two countries that I call home can be fast-paced and connected. Also, my grandfather doesn't have any hate towards the US. He actually really likes the United States, which is just fun. Does he remember the time when the bomb was dropped, or is it something that he was told? Tsutsui: I think he does remember because he wasn't exactly right next to his family. He just remembers himself being behind this tree and afterwards. I think all the houses except one were completely burned down. So everyone from the neighborhood went to that one house, and he tells me, "All I could think about was when my next meal would be," something like that. I think because it is such a scar, it is seared into his memory, even when he is asleep.  What motivates you to tell this story today? Tsutsui: I have been growing up from a young age hearing all of this, and it has motivated me. I think because I know that nuclear warfare is in my bloodline, right? It is in my family, the impact of nuclear weapons. So I want to do anything I can to prevent that from ever happening and to learn from what my grandpa had to go through so that we never have to experience another nuclear weapon. See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

Minute for Mission: Hiroshima Day (Nuclear Victims’ and Survivors’ Day)

Image

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also known as the Genbaku Dome, is the only building that survived near the center of the first atomic bomb explosion on Aug. 6, 1945. It stands there today, preserved just as it was right after the blast.

I was not alive to bear witness to the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. My understanding of those events was primarily shaped by two sources: history lessons in school and the stories my family recounted of their lives during U.S. involvements in war. My grandparents and elderly family members offered precious glimpses into what it was like to live through and after the tragic events of Aug. 6 and 9, 1945. 

My family wove stories of both tragedy and joy, prosperity and suffering, heartbreak and resilience. It fills me with gratitude to carry the role of messenger of my ancestors’ experiences. Yet, reflecting on the horrific bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki stirs anger, sorrow and conflict within me regarding the rationale of the U.S. behind that decision. 

Nuclear Victims’ and Survivors’ Day commemorates the day that generations of lives, and their stories, were cut short. While I know these souls and stories are safe in the arms of God, I wrestle with the weight of these lives that were taken to justify ending a war. I ponder the histories that were never told, the wisdom that was never passed down, and the art that was never created. Even today, what stories are too daunting or too intense even to begin to articulate from this harrowing time?

The biggest question I wrestle with of all is this: How do we, more than 80 years later, honor those lost stories and wrestle with our place among these complex narratives to move toward reconciliation and a future of peace without fear that our stories will be ended too soon?

When ruminating on these lofty questions, I turned to Psalm 34 for guidance. 

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

    He delivers them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

When we cry out about the horror of war, God will be crying alongside us. I have no fear when these stories are recounted because I have faith that God was suffering alongside those who lost their lives that day. I have faith that God was mourning alongside the hibakusha survivors in Japan and the downwinders in the American Southwest. I have faith that God is singing the songs of the ones who were lost right alongside us as we sing. I know that our loving and merciful God will be right there next to us, guiding our way and holding our hand, as we learn, grow, and fulfill our call for justice and peace.

Psalm 34 continues:

Turn from evil and do good;

    Seek peace and pursue it.

We are taking steps toward peacemaking and reconciliation when we take the time to learn about the histories and lessons of peace instead of letting them be forgotten. When we remember and tell difficult stories for generations to come, we are doing a courageous act of truth-telling to understand our past, so we don’t repeat it. When we share stories and histories, we are carrying out God’s call to seek peace and pursue it, working for a world where peace is guaranteed for all of God’s children. 

Grace Kromke, Peacemaking Fellow, Office of Public Witness

Let us join in prayer for:

V. George Waters, Ministry Relations Officer, Development Office, The Presbyterian Foundation
Donyale White, Accounting Clerk, Accounts Payable Office, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

Holy and Gracious God, we thank you for the stories that endure and your comforting presence in our troubled and aching hearts. Help us to carry out the memory of those who lost their lives and had their stories cut short, not as a burden, but as a sacred promise of truth, trust and peace. Guide us as we seek justice, pursue peace, and work toward reconciliation in a world still longing for unity and harmony. United by love, we lift up your name and the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen. 

Mission Yearbook: Three people and an organization are honored by Presbyterians for Earth Care

Image

Photo by Beth Jnr via Unsplash

Presbyterians for Earth Care (PEC) recognized three individuals and an organization for their exceptional environmental achievements at PEC’s virtual Annual Gathering.

Dr. William P. Brown, the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, received the William Gibson Eco-Justice Award for his long-term dedication to teaching and preaching on environmental issues in the Old Testament.

He is a co-founder of Earth Covenant Ministry, an organization of Presbyterian churches in the Atlanta area that later became part of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light.

Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light (AIPL) was presented with the Restoring Creation Award for working in community gardens and backyard gardens for more than a decade. Many of the garden locations have been on church properties, where congregations have been engaged.

Image

Dr. William P. Brown

Drew Hill and Hudson Davis received PEC’s Emerging Earth Care Leader Award for showing exceptional promise as future leaders. Hill, a young adult from Santa Fe, New Mexico, is passionate about social progress, protecting the environment and serving the public. From an early age, Davis was captivated by prehistoric and modern animals and the sanctity of nature.

Brown has received numerous awards, grants and academic chairs. In addition to teaching and preaching on environmental issues, Brown has written 12 books and was editor of “Engaging Biblical Authority.” He is currently completing a major commentary on the Psalms for the “Old Testament Library Commentary” series for Westminster John Knox Press. Next will be a commentary on Genesis 1–11 in the new Interpretation series, also to be published by WJK Press. He has assisted with writing Creation care overtures for previous General Assemblies.

AIPL’s network of growers had 21 community garden locations, seven new partners, and several small backyard gardens in low-wealth communities. AIPL has involved a total of 74 interns, trainers, and students and has engaged more than 22,000 people each year to learn about growing some of their own food in sustainable ways.

AIPL provides 13,725 pounds of nutritious fresh produce and other food items to food pantries and no-cost markets. A total of 43,300 pounds of organic matter was diverted from landfills over a two-year period. AIPL interns also shared organic waste from the organization’s gardens with chickens at on-site coops and added organic matter to onsite compost bins. AIPL is reaching even more people in more low-wealth communities by awarding 10 $2,000 grants.

Davis is a 24-year-old scientist serving the Mammoth Site, located in Hot Springs, South Dakota. As the assistant science educator, he lives out his childhood dreams of being a paleontologist while getting to pass on the power of curiosity about the natural world to the next generation.

Davis embodies his faith while teaching about the amazing world we live in. He runs classes and tours at the site and leads the summer camp program, a free weeklong program. During the summer, he’s a supervisor for the Mammoth Site’s Internship Program, helping mentor 6–8 college paleontology students. Hudson also helps design exhibits for the museum and dig for fossils of ice-age animals in local caves.

Hill is a young adult from Santa Fe, New Mexico, passionate about social progress, protecting the environment, and serving the public. Raised in the community of First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe, Hill was a youth deacon and ruling elder prior to graduating from high school, working as summer staff at Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center and serving as a PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer in Washington, D.C.

He received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree at the University of New Mexico, graduating in 2024. He was a Young Adult Advisory Delegate during a previous General Assembly. Since completing his degree, he has worked as a district staffer for U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez of Las Cruces.

Hill has worked with the Advocacy Committee on PEC overtures for the 2026 General Assembly and serves on the Advisory Committee of CANOPY, the Creation Action Network of Presbyterian Young Adults.

Presbyterians for Earth Care (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Matthew Warmbier, Administrative Assistant, Trust Services, The Presbyterian Foundation
Renee Warner, Operations Administrator, Operations, The Presbyterian Foundation              

Let us pray:

Merciful God, continue to work through your people to nurture those you are calling to serve your people and work for justice and peace. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Mission Yearbook: Faith leaders honor retiring Lutheran bishop in West Bank

Local and international faith leaders, including a contingent from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) led by the Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of Presbyterian Life & Witness, turned out to Talitha Kumi German Lutheran School  in Beit Jala, West Bank, to celebrate the many years of ministry of Bishop Dr. Sani Ibrahim Azar, who leads the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

Image

Well-wishers fill the chapel at Talitha Kumi school in the West Bank to honor Bishop Dr. Sani Ibrahim Azar. (Photos by Rich Copley)

During a two-hour service of worship and thanksgiving, speaker after speaker rose to praise Azar, who completed his ministry at the school he attended as a youth. Talitha Kumi, which means “Little girl, get up!” is named for what Jesus told Jairus’ daughter according to Mark’s gospel in order to raise her from the dead.

“I started here as a child and I will end — not my life, but my ministry — here in the place where I started,” Azar said. He recalled worshiping alongside his father and a few of his fellow students who had a hard time praying for the forgiveness offered in the Lord’s Prayer.

“He helped me learn to forgive others as God forgives me,” Azar said of his father. Now, “I have to think twice about praying sometimes, because when I pray, God answers.”

He said his hope for the church “is that God is the one with whom we are connected, filling our needs and saving our souls.”

“This is also my school — my home for 12 years,” said Bethlehem Mayor Maher Canawati, who offered remarks and a gift for the retiring bishop. Talitha Kumi has helped “living stones” in the Bethlehem community for many years, Canawati said.

Image

Brass for Peace plays as part of Friday's worship service at Talitha Kumi School.

The Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Christian Kopp, called Azar a bridge-builder and declared him “an honorary Bavarian for life.”

The Bishop of the New England Synod in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Nathan Pipho, said that shortly after his election as bishop, Pipho’s predecessor scheduled a Zoom meeting for him with Azar. “Of all he did to prepare me, putting Bishop Azar on my list was the top of his list,” Pipho said, thanking God that Azar has been “the hands and feet of Christ.”

“Be with him in retirement as you have so clearly been with him in his ministry,” Pipho prayed.

A retired pastor noted that under Azar’s leadership, Muslim and Christian students “have gotten to know about each other’s faith,” she said.

Yehiel Curry, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, gave Azar a Bethlehem star, which “is nothing new here. It represents the light that shone when Jesus was born. It also represents the light in Palestine.”

“From your siblings here, I want you to know there is a pretty good delegation here,” Curry said. “All of us from the ELCA want to say thank you.”

The PC(USA) contingent was in Jordan and Israel-Palestine to meet with partners, renew friendships and learn in partners’ context. 

Talitha Kumi School serves children in grades K through 12 growing up near Bethlehem in a challenging economic and political situation.

The school includes a kindergarten, a community college, a boarding school for girls and a large guest house. It’s currently home to 700 students. About 30% of students are Christians and 70% are Muslims. About 100 students attend the Talitha Kumi Community College.

Empowering girls is one of the school’s core aims. Talitha Kumi is a pioneering co-educational school in Palestine, providing a setting where boys and girls have been able to learn side by side for many years. About 90% of the students live in the West Bank and the remaining 10% live in East Jerusalem and other Palestinian enclaves.

For almost 20 years, the school has been training students as mediators. Talitha Kumi follows Palestinian curriculum in elementary school and adds German as a foreign language in second grade. Learn more here. 

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service (Click here to read original PNS Story)

Let us join in prayer for:

Judy Walton, Vice President, Lending Services, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program
Laura Wampler, Operations & Rights Associate, Operations, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray:

Good and great God, you meet us in everyday life and call us to extraordinary experiences. Help us to hear your call for our lives and to answer in faith, “Here am I; send me.” We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor's Life - Love

Loving People of Other Faiths by Charles Wiley, Ph.D. I enjoyed reading “God is big enough to hold all of our curiosity, doubts, joys, and fears” by Rev. Adriene Thorne (Pastor’s Life, June 2026). I, too, have deeply appreciated dialogue and friendship with people of other faiths, particularly with Muslims and Jews. And my day-to-day life is filled with encounters with Buddhists from Myanmar, who oversee businesses in my city, Muslims who have become friends because of our participation in formal dialogues, and several rabbis whom I count as close friends. I am grateful for these relationships. When I think of how I approach other faiths, I realize I almost always do so in the midst of relationships. Many years ago, I made a comment in a seminar that another student found troubling. She blurted out, “But you’re speaking from a Christian perspective.” To which I replied, “It is the only one I’ve got.” One of the joys of interfaith encounters is that we bring our whole selves into the conversation, and we are pleased when our conversation partners bring their whole selves as well. My commitment to Jesus Christ is at the center of my whole self. I have sometimes found that in formal dialogues some Christians are often consumed with finding common ground before the dialogue begins. I tend to practice a simpler approach: the only requirement for dialogue is a willingness to talk. Common ground, if it emerges, will rise up within the conversation.

Continue Reading...

Charles Wiley, Ph.D. serves as Vice-President of Philanthropy at Day1, having previously served at Columbia Theological Seminary as Director of Leadership Support where he also taught theology and history. In addition to serving in various pastoral roles, for 21 years he served with distinction at the Presbyterian Church USA Office of Theology and Worship. Charles earned his Ph.D. at Princeton Seminary, his M.Div. from Duke Divinity School, and his B.A. from Davidson College.

Featured Resources

Church Financial Leadership Grant Program Grants are available to assist pastors to attend continuing education opportunities which will help them in leading their congregations toward financial and missional vitality. These grants can be used to help with half the cost to attend Stewardship Kaleidoscope or the ECRF program. More Information

Continuing Education Institute in Partnership with NEXT Church Zephyr Point and NEXT Church are partnering to hosting a continuing education institute in October. This education experience helps ministry leaders assess congregational needs, evaluate resources, and develop practical strategies. More Information