German - British Christmas Eve 2014 War Truce theme and worldwide call for peace

Two Methodist congregations — one in England and one in Germany — are using the 100^th anniversary of the “Christmas Truce” to signal the hope for peace in today’s conflicted world.
The Christmas Eve services of Knutsford Methodist Church in Cheshire, England, and the United Methodist Erlöserkirche (Church of the Redeemer) in Bremen, Germany, will include a mutual order of worship, short getting-to-know-you videos, the singing of “Silent Night” in English and German and a late-night Skype connection from Bremen to Knutsford.
And, in true Methodist fashion, the churches are exchanging Christmas cakes and cookies. 
German and British soldiers left trenches along World War I’s western front during the unofficial Christmas Truce to bury the dead, sing songs and hymns, share food and drink and, famously, hold football (soccer) matches.
Part of the joint Christmas Eve litany will read like this:
“As two congregations — one in Britain and one in Germany — we are saying ‘yes’ to the possibility of peace in  world of conflict by sharing a Christmas Eve connection with those we once called ‘enemy.’”

The congregation at the United Methodist Erlöserkirche (Church of the Redeemer) in Bremen, Germany, sings “Silent Night” in preparation for a Christmas Eve connection with Knutsford Methodist Church in Cheshire, England. By Kathleen LaCamera/UMNS.

World War I never forgotten

The intense attention in Britain on the 100^th anniversary of World War I is evident in Cheshire, where the homes whose family members died in the war are marked with red poppies.
The Knutsford congregation of just more than 300, representing all ages, liked the idea of commemorating the Christmas Truce during a time that churches in Britain and Ireland have designated as a “year of hope.”
On Christmas Eve, both congregations will follow a similar order of worship, but since the Bremen service occurs in the afternoon, the only live component will happen around midnight, during the Knutsford service.
After a video about the Bremen congregation and before the singing of “Silent Night,” Knutsford congregants will watch the two pastors have a brief Skype conversation and exchange the peace. In both services, the pastors will close the worship, via video cooperation, with a final benediction and blessing.
Sharon Mayer — a member of Knutsford Church and, until recently, its pastoral worker — has helped Cotton and the congregation with their German pronunciation for verses of “Silent Night” so it is understandable to the Bremen congregation. “We’ve enjoyed trying to get the singing sounding like it’s vaguely German,” she laughed.
Mayer’s English father had no siblings, but her German mother was one of five, so “the only relatives we had growing up were our German cousins and aunts and uncles.” Those relatives, she said, gave her a different perspective of World War II from people who were caught up in the conflict but did not choose to be at war.
Her own experience of a German Christmas — whether celebrated in England or Germany — was a 4 p.m. service on Christmas Eve, followed by family time around the tree and the opening of presents.

Sharing Christmas treats

Learning of such traditions is a part of the project. Eyewitness accounts of the Christmas Truce mention an exchange of holiday cakes, so the two congregations decided to do the same. “We really want to have the most authentic experience of this connection to the past and to each other,” LaCamera explained.
When LaCamera flew to Bremen on Nov. 29 to film a video segment, she carried a traditional English Christmas cake — dense with dried fruit and covered in “royal icing” — with her.
The return flight involved the transport of what she estimates to be 500 cookies and a German Christmas cake, baked by the Bremen church for the Knutsford congregation, which she has kept in her freezer and in airtight plastic bags on her back porch.
In Britain, Cotton pointed out, Christmas cakes are meant to be cut into pieces and shared together. Being able to “share some tradition and practice” with fellow Methodists in Germany is the significance of the gift, he said.
Niessner-Brose was pleased to receive the cake for her congregation. “We will eat it on the third advent at a big Christmas party at church in the afternoon.”
http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/wwi-truce-spurs-christmas-eve-call-for-peace