Resources for churches to help mark December 1914 Christmas Truces
Among the most poignant moments in WW1 were the unofficial truces that spontaneously took place at Christmas 1914, 100 Christmases ago. Soldiers from both sides found themselves singing the same carols which led to them meeting up, exchanging gifts, burying their dead, and playing football. Some stopped for worship together.
Since the truces often began with singing of Christmas carols, it is fitting that this Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, we remember this moment of hope and vision for a different way of relating founded in the ‘gospel of Peace’.
The Northumbria and Newcastle Universities Martin Luther King Peace Committee has worked with schoolteachers and with church leaders across a range of denominations, to resource your church or school in this anniversary year.
They have produced sets of high quality orders of carol and other liturgical worship services, Sunday School activities, lesson and assembly plans, plus PowerPoints and handouts, to enable churches, schools, and civic institutions to mark and teach about the December 1914 Christmas Truces.
The pack for church leaders and the pack for schools are both available as free downloads, from the Martin Luther King Peace Committee website www.mlkpc.org
The resources are designed to be used at any Christmas during the World War 1 centennial commemorations, and could be modified for use at Remembrance or other similar services.