Uniting for peace, this Christmas
Around the nation, churches will join together from this weekend to celebrate the 76th Christmas Bowl.
A toolkit is available to support churches in a six-week journey of reflection to learn about the challenges the world is facing, how to pray for people whose lives have been uprooted by conflict and disaster and how to act generously to make a real and tangible difference.
Visit the Christmas Bowl website to learn more and sign up your church.
Online Christmas Bowl Launch
Last week, people from across Australia gathered online to explore how we, as the Church, can speak about peace this Christmas.
Rev John Gilmore, President of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA), shared a thoughtful reflection on the meaning of peace. Updates from the field were shared by Act for Peace staff, as well as an exclusive preview of the Christmas Bowl in 2025.Rev Gilmore invited the attendees to reflect on the difference between the peace the world provides, compared with the peace that Jesus gives.
“Shalom is not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of human flourishing,” said Rev Gilmore.
The peace of Jesus, as Rev Gilmore shared, is one of deep personal integrity, marked by forgiveness, healing, reconciliation and hope. That kind of peace is seen in the way Jesus crosses boundaries and welcomes people as they are.
Rev Gilmore reflected on the legacy of the Christmas Bowl as an embodied proclamation of peace.