Discussion ideas for Sunday school classes and small groups

for Christian Citizenship Sunday 2003

Life in the Superpower: Then and Now materials
July 6, 2003 (or whenever is convenient for your congregation)
Compiled by Susan Mark Landis, peace advocate, Mennonite Church USA Executive Board

	Read the responses to the question, "How should Christians relate to the United States government, the only super power in the world?" Have each person decide which response best reflects their own answer. Perhaps the group needs to write additional responses so each person has one. Which do people feel least comfortable with, and why?
	Compare Romans 13 with Revelation 13. Use our verse search tool to find references on this website to: Romans 13 and Revelation 13.
	The Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office used two recent newsletters to explore Two Kingdom theology. You'll find several articles worth discussing. - Church and State: One Standard or Two? September-October 2002 - Ambassadors for Christ November-December 2002
	Discuss whether we should take warning from the Mennonite church in Nazi Germany, glad to be able to worship as they desired, and paying for that privilege with silent approval of Nazi policies.
	Write a response to Janna Bowman's friends in Colombia. Janna writes: "These are not rhetorical questions. I really do struggle with how to respond and I would like to know how US Mennonites are answering these questions for themselves right now. Colombians and I would welcome concrete answers. Please send me a note: "
	Is your group interested in discussing peace with military personnel? Andre Gingerich Stoner writes of his experience in forming such friendships while living on a U.S. base in West Germany. Entering Samaria: Peace Ministry among U.S. Military Personnel in West Germany: Experiences of a pacifist on a U.S. Air Force base
	How does our foreign policy affect our mission? Nagasaki, Christians, and War Taxes by Titus Peachey, gives us beginning ideas. What the Imperial Japanese government could not accomplish in 200 years of harsh rule--the elimination of Christianity--American Christendom did in one summer morning by dropping an atomic bomb.
	Myron S. Augsburger gave a chapel at the Pentagon. As a group, plan a worship service to be given at the Pentagon. What, truly, dare you say? Must you say?
	Use the Advocacy resources to help the class answer the question, "Why has God placed Mennonites in the United States, the most powerful country in the world?"