Prayers of gratitude and intercession

Bogotá, Colombia – “How will the church respond to the different needs we hear and see around us?” The European Mennonite churches asked this question, especially relating to the refugee crisis, as they prepared the worship materials for Mennonite World Conference’s World Fellowship Sunday (WFS), 22 January 2017.

“My Cry is Heard” is the theme of 2017’s package, redesigned with a more engaging format. It contains prayers for the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) family and liturgies for worship, song suggestions, notes for sermon preparation, stories of European Mennonite churches’ radical welcome to refugees, and recipes.

“World Fellowship Sunday is our opportunity to remind our people that we belong to each other as sisters and brothers in God’s household,” says MWC general secretary César García. “Each local congregation belongs to a global community of faith that transcends language, nationality and culture. We are here to support each other, to uphold those who are suffering and being persecuted and to learn from each other.”

The Sunday closest to 21 January is designated WFS to remember the first Anabaptist baptism in 1525; however, congregations are encouraged to celebrate the global Anabaptist family on a date that suits their schedule. Click here to see the World Fellowship Sunday 2017 Worship Resource.

MWC fosters relationships within the Anabaptist family year round through its communications department and the regional representatives who are part-time volunteers responsible for developing and supporting relationships with MWC member, associate-member and potential-member churches, local congregations and MWC-related agencies and partners.

In September 2016, Pablo Stucky joined the team as regional representative for the Andean Region of Latin America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela). Stucky lives in Bogotá, Colombia, where he serves as director of CEAS (Coordinación Eclesial para la Acción Psicosocial), a ministry of the Mennonite, Mennonite Brethren and Brethren in Christ churches of Colombia. CEAS resources local congregations to minister emotional, social and spiritual support to victims of armed conflict and other expressions of violence in Colombia, and fosters opportunities for transformation and reconciliation among churches and perpetrators.

Coordinator Arli Klassen is grateful for the work of the 10 regional representatives, and hopes to gain representation for the Caribbean and Southeast Asia regions.

Danielle Gonzales became web communications coordinator for MWC, working in Bogotá, Colombia, as a participant in Mennonite Central Committee’s Service and Learning Together program (SALT). Born to binational parents, her mother from Mexico and her father from the USA, Gonzales grew up living between two distinct cultures in Los Angeles, California. She studied theology and focused on human rights and women’s issues. Her passion for justice has given her the opportunity to work with migrants from Mexico and Central America at the USA-Mexico border and in her own city. Through SALT, she is following her dreams of living in South America to acquire Spanish language and broaden her understanding of human rights in the Latin American context.

 Pablo Stucky and Danielle Gonzales

—Mennonite World Conference release

World Fellowship Sunday is a celebration that brings us close to our roots and allows us to get together with our family of faith to give thanks to God and to worship.

This is a date when we encourage Anabaptist related churches around the world to worship around a common theme the closest Sunday to January 21, which generally falls on the fourth Sunday of January. In the last 2015 celebration, numerous churches responded to the call and we joined in one voice to sing, to worship and to fellowship.

Reports from numerous churches from different parts of the world were received telling us how their celebration was and what made that day special. Alissa Bender, from Ontario, Canada, said that “…between songs and a congregational potluck they had a very special Sunday at her church …” Hamilton Mennonite Church, with music from different continents, fabrics from different parts of the world to brighten up our worship space, a preacher, MWC staff member and a lunch offering for MWC.

All together as one body marked this date in our calendars and decided to get together in spirit to remember our common roots and to celebrate our koinonia around the world.  

“We thank God for one more year He allows us to get together again and celebrate His faithfulness. This activity also helps us to affirm our identity and to remember that we are part of a global community,” said Sandra Campos, President of the Asociación de Iglesias Menonitas de Costa Rica (Association of Mennonite Churches in Costa Rica.

Something exciting and significant happened in the Netherlands. Three Mennonite churches got together and celebrated World Fellowship Sunday. They sang and shared the bread together and remembered that as Anabaptists we should give our back to violence. “Symbolically, we have given our back to violence. And in doing so we have given our back to violent people. May be we should yet learn to resist violence from face to face,” said IJke Aalders.

In Colombia that day was celebrated in a different way The MB church Iglesia Torre Fuerte in Bogota, decorated with fabrics from different parts of the world. And with different symbols such as a towel and a washbowl representing service to others and bread and grapes reflecting our responsibility of feeding the needy. “People wore cloth sashes with principles of the Kingdom of God on. We prayed together for our churches in North America and around the world,” said Pastor Sandra Báez.

World Fellowship Sunday gives us the opportunity to meet with God and at the same time with our roots. It reminds us where we come from and where we are heading to. It is a special time to hear about the needs of our brothers and sisters and to walk together.

A series of materials have been made available to the church for enrichment and to give an idea of what this celebration can include. Click here to access the material for 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As part of remembering our peace principles, brothers and sisters of the Iglesia Menonita de Aibonito of Puerto Rico decorated their congregation this way. 

 

Bogotá, Colombia – “Walking with God finds its total meaning in fellowship – in the breaking of bread, serving, and meeting the needs of others,” says César García, general secretary of Mennonite World Conference. “It does not mean the absence of challenges, but recognizing we are assured of victory with and through God.”

World Fellowship Sunday, January 24, 2016, calls world Anabaptists to this journey. For six days at Assembly in Pennsylvania in July 2015, more than 8,000 Anabaptists sojourned together; on this Sunday, though divided by time zones and location, García invites MWC member churches to gather together in spirit in their local congregations.

On World Fellowship Sunday, Mennonite and Brethren in Christ believers remember the first Anabaptist baptism performed in Switzerland in 1525. “That act of obedience and courage continues to shape our understanding of what it means to be disciples today,” says García.

World Fellowship Sunday is a reminder that “we belong to each other as sisters and brothers in God’s household,” says García. “We support each other, uphold those who are suffering and being persecuted, and learn from one another.”

A resource package downloadable from mwc-cmm.org contains preaching texts, music suggestions from the PA 2015 songbook, prayer requests and sermon resources for World Fellowship Sunday. The October issue of Courier/Correo/Courrier is also a tool, containing plenary addresses on “Walking with God,” from Assembly 16 in Pennsylvania.

García also invites churches to take a special offering that Sunday in support of the global Anabaptist communion. This offering will be counted toward the national church body’s Fair Share contribution.

Each member might contribute the cost of one lunch. Congregations may follow the service with a fellowship meal or a time of prayer and fasting.

Local Anabaptist congregations held a joint service in Bogota, Colombia, on World Fellowship Sunday in the last few years. “It was a blessing to see how differences are overcome when we look for the presence of the Lamb as the centre of our gatherings,” says García. “We recognized the work of God in our brothers and sisters and our need of them to reach maturity in our faith together.”

—MWC release

 

Our brothers and sisters of Valleyview Mennonite Church in London, Ontario, Canada, created a PowerPoint presentation of the MWC Shared Convictions for an observance of World Fellowship Sunday in January 2014.

See a PDF of the Shared Convictions Presentation here.

How has your congregation shared the MWC Shared Convictions?