Eleven More Thoughts!
As we prepare to celebrate 300 years of Presbyterian mission in America, the Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study embraces a rich heritage and tells our story even as the church faces the challenges and opportunities for this day and age.
In 1892 the Women’s Executive Committee for Home Mission, Organization of Presbyterian Women, prepared a simple calendar of prayer to help women’s societies pray together for mission workers on designated days. Three years later the first mission yearbook appeared. The 1919 edition of the Year Book of Prayer for Missions included for the first time a prayer calendar and featured both international and domestic mission personnel. Over the years the name, design, format, and size have all changed from time to time until, in 1971, it came to be the familiar Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study used today by Presbyterians around the world.
Each year 350 writers representing each presbytery and synod in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) contribute to the Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study. The resource uses a scriptural passage as a guide for unifying daily devotion as well as a resource for learning about mission domestically and around the world. The 114-year-old publication is testimony of the mission work done by presbyteries, synods, and various national programs of the PC(USA). The Children’s Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, of which the third edition is currently in development, is another excellent way for Presbyterians of all ages to learn and share the stories of our life and work.
Last issue we gave you eleven ideas for using the Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study. Below are eleven more thoughts on ways that you might use the Mission Yearbook in your own ministry.
12. Give a gift—On your birthday look in the appendix called “Mission Personnel” and find someone with your first name. Send $10 toward his/her mission work, with a personal note. Pray for those persons listed in the prayer list for your day.
13. Pray as a family—Pray for those persons in the mission stories and use Mission Yearbooks to gather your family together for daily prayer.
14. Turn to the color insert section—When your committee works together, reflect on the color insert section of the Mission Yearbook and learn how it connects to and illuminates the work of your committee.
15. Take a risk—Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase says one aspect of mission is “taking risks.” For your session meeting devotional, read one Mission Yearbook narrative. Ask what risks we are being asked to take as a church.
16. Plan a yearly mission festival—Use the Children’s Mission Yearbook to help get your congregation’s young people involved in the process.
17. Get children involved—Ask children who are familiar with the Bible about a Children’s Mission Yearbook narrative, such as which story in the Bible does the mission project remind them of?
18. Raise awareness—Use a Children’s Mission Yearbook emphasis in camp or conference settings to raise awareness of and participation in the church’s mission in the global village.
19. Create liturgy for children—Have children use prayers and activities from the Children’s Mission Yearbook to write their own liturgy for a Sunday worship.
20. Use learning centers—Focus on seasonal/mission emphases using the Children’s Mission Yearbook. Use the Children’s Mission Yearbook on special Sundays when classes are combined or a “different” sort of lesson is desired.
21. Encourage conversations with children—Ask a child to talk with new members about his or her joys and discoveries in the Children’s Mission Yearbook, what he or she has learned about the mission of the church, and what the church’s mission means to that child.
22. Go around the world in one year—The Children’s Mission Yearbook contains mission stories about many nations of the world, including information on geography, population, language, religion, and other facts. Travel page-by-page and learn as Christians around the globe share their mission stories and partner with us in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Keep These in Mind
Some important features of the Mission Yearbook include Sunday or Lord’s Day pages that contain Minutes for Mission: worship resources that focus on PC(USA) churchwide emphases for a particular day or are tied to the liturgical season. Pastors may find these and the included daily cycle of lectionary readings helpful in preparing sermons. The yearbook also includes four valuable appendices: PC(USA)-related conference centers; educational and theological institutions; active and retired mission personnel;* and PC(USA) synods and presbyteries. You will also find synod and world maps, demographics, and a 16-page color insert that reflects on this year’s theme, “From Age to Age,” which celebrates 300 years of Presbyterian mission.
*Includes those who have served 20 years or more. |
