6 June 2021
John D. Roth
13 June 2021
Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld
Renewal 2027, April 2019 in San Heredia, Costa Rica
What a joy to be together!
This issue of Courier features Renewal 2023.
Three years after it was first planned, this special event took place in British Columbia.
Renewal is a series of events to remember the birth of the Anabaptist movement in 1525 and to look forward to who and what the Anabaptist-Mennonite church is becoming around the world today and for the future.
Mennonite World Conference initiated this series of events in 2017, the year Lutherans were commemorating their church’s 500-year anniversary. Each year, alongside the Executive Committee, MWC and local member church hosts organize a local event where MWC’s international guests from each continental region share inspiring stores of God at work through the church today.
“We sang together, we prayed together and we heard testimonies from sisters and brothers from different places and different contexts on how they experience Jesus Christ, our hope. Testimonies that made us realize that even when we are one, our circumstances are very diverse. And that is the beauty of Mennonite World Conference; although our context is very different, we are one in Christ. We are one in our hope that it is Christ that reaches out to us and says, ‘follow me’! He reaches out: it is on us to grab that hand and live in hope.”
Those were president Henk Stenvers’ words to the Anabaptist-Mennonites who gathered in Abbotsford, B.C., Canada in March 2023. He had just returned from visiting Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren churches in Peru and Colombia and he brought greetings from those brothers and sisters to the ones in Canada.
“Mennonite World Conference is the living witness of that hope, bringing people together in one communion, over borders of nationality, colour, language, economic circumstances and culture. Just like God wants to bring people together, Mennonite World Conference wants to break walls down so that we can be a communion that is a gift from God.
“It is important for churches to know that we are part of a bigger communion: that sisters and brothers around the world know about them; share our triumphs and challenges; and pray for each other. My experience in visiting churches in many parts of the world has taught me that being part of a big, global communion gives hope, especially for churches that are isolated, or that experience conflict and persecution. The felt solidarity, the prayers, the visits, sometimes financial help, that all lifts up the hearts of the people in the churches.
“Mennonite World Conference is us all,” Henk Stenvers says. “And I want to encourage you to be part of the daily life of MWC. To stay informed about what is happening with our sisters and brothers in other parts of the world.”
As you read the stories in this Courier, you are taking part in MWC. You are witnessing how our hope in Jesus Christ transcends barriers, uniting us as one body. Please share these stories with one another, and share your stories of following Jesus Christ with us.
—Karla Braun is editor of Courier and writer for Mennonite World Conference. She lives in Winnipeg, Canada.
*For the most up to date information, see the event subsite:*
TourMagination: Historian and former Hesston College professor John Sharp will lead the 15-day Celebrate 500: Classic Anabaptist Heritage Tour, May 19 – June 3, 2025
TourMagination: Dutch Mennonite Ayold Fanoy will lead the 15-day Celebrate 500: Anabaptist Story in Europe Tour, May 19 – June 2, 2025
TourMagination Mennonite Archivist Conrad Stoesz will lead the 13-day 500 Years of Anabaptist Faith, Art & History Tour, May 28 – June 9, 2025
TourMagination: Conrad Grebel University College alumni and friends Ð already fully subscribed.
TourMagination: Eastern Mennonite University
ÒSwiss Mennonites + Swiss AlpsÓ 9-Day Tour hosted by Pastor Weldon Martens, Newton, Kansas (USA). The highlight will be Commemorating 500 Years of Anabaptism in Zurich on May 29, 2025 and several days touring in the scenic Swiss Alps. Information at www.tourwithweldon.com To join the ÒInterested ListÓ contact Weldon Martens at weldon.martens@gmail.com / 402-202-9276.
| Planning a tour? Let us know! Send information to info@mwc-cmm.org |
In 2025, the global Anabaptist movement looks back over 500 years of existence. Mennonite World Conference invites all to a major event on Ascension Day,29 May 2025, in Zurich, Switzerland.
Even as we look back on a long past, the focus of the commemoration is on the current reality of the Anabaptist movement.
When we look back over the 500-year history of our movement, we want to share what we are and what we have. Not just with other churches. Commitment – in this world – to peace, to reconciliation, to unity, in which we get a glimpse of Christ’s coming kingdom of peace: these are key elements of how Anabaptists understand discipleship today.
We have gathered these commitments under the theme “The courage to love”.
It takes courage to stand up for reconciliation in a society torn apart by polarization.
It takes courage to stand between the dividing lines, to listen and try to understand what motivates others.
It takes courage to focus on love rather than influence, power and control.
In a world where people loudly demand to take a stand and distinguish themselves from those with whom they don’t want to be identified, it takes courage to choose love. Love that is ready to lay down its life for enemies, just as Christ laid down his life for enemies.
Love goes beyond non-violence: it is a courageous commitment to live out God’s love in this world.
For example, brothers and sisters in Ethiopia who, in the midst of the violence of a civil war, make public the fact that they carry no weapons.
People seeking to follow Christ in the midst of conflicts in Myanmar or Ukraine, often entering the spaces between the lines as they search for pathways beyond violent confrontation.
What about us here today?
Where is our courageous action in love needed today?
How can we usefully interpose ourselves between the front lines? How can we bear witness to a God who gives of God’s self to reconcile the world?
—Jürg Bräker is general secretary of Conférence Mennonite Suisse, an MWC Executive Committee representative for Europe, and a member of the committee organizing the celebration.
“Anniversaries are a time to stop and reflect: we remember where we have come from, consider who we are today and anticipate where God is calling us to be,” says César García, MWC general secretary.
“The courage to love” is the theme for Mennonite World Conference’s anniversary year in 2025.
For more information on MWC’s one-day commemoration event in Switzerland or information on other commemoration events throughout the year, visit mwc-cmm.org/anabaptism500.
The day’s activities will include choral performances, a panel discussion, historical walking tours in Zurich’s historic city centre, workshops and an interactive “find the secret church” game. A mass worship service with global and ecumenical guests in the Grossmünster church will close the day.
You can travel to Zurich to participate in the day as part of a tour or on your own. The closing worship service will be livestreamed in English, French, Spanish and German.
Throughout the year, events will be held around the world to celebrate and reflect on the Anabaptist movement and what it has become today.
“We are inspired how The Courage to Love moves us to Christ-like actions today just as much as 500 years ago. National churches or local congregations may wish to use this theme for their own events in 2025,” says Liesa Unger, MWC chief international events officer.
Before the event, Mennonite World Conference’s General Council (made up of leaders from each national member church around the world) will gather for decision making and learning. After the event, young people will gather for a Global Youth Summit – the first time the event occurs outside of an Assembly year.
2025 marks two anniversaries for MWC. It is 500 years since Conrad Grebel, Georg Blaurock and Felix Manz took the courageous act of “re-baptizing” each other in Zurich, Switzerland, as an expression of their understanding of faith. This act is taken as the symbolic beginning of the Anabaptist movement, which has grown to around 2.13 million believers in more than 80 countries around the world.
It is also 100 years since Mennonite World Conference began. Its first event was a conference: a gathering of Mennonite church leaders from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the USA. These leaders asked: “How can we improve the spiritual life of our congregations?”
Anabaptist Christians in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood of 137 000 residents in Nairobi practice “The Courage to Love” on a daily basis. “Our modest Anabaptist congregation faces acceptance, evangelism and cultural fusion difficulties,” says George Ochieng, director of Eastleigh Fellowship Centre (EFC) Mennonite Church Choir. “Even so, we have been summoned to exhibit courage through loving in this environment.”
The EFC choir from a Mennonite church in Nairobi is one of five musical ensembles selected to represent music in Anabaptist churches around the world at the 500th anniversary event in Zurich 2025. “Our choir eagerly anticipates leveraging our musical gifts to share the love of Christ through a blend of diverse cultural elements,” he says.
At the one-day event 29 May 2025, each choir will perform two times: one indoor concert at the Predigerkirche or Friedenskirche and an outdoor concert at the Zwingli Platz in front of the Grossmünster without any amplification. The choirs will also participate in the final worship service at the Grossmünster cathedral which will be livestreamed.
The EFC choir calls its style afrofusion “because it invokes various musical cultures drawn from different countries in Africa,” says George Ochieng. The choir members themselves represent different cultures from around Kenya. They travel throughout Kenya to perform in churches and at music festivals.
“Heartfelt prayers ascend that our ensemble obtains the required visas for 2025,” says George Ochieng. Only 7 of their 36 members received visa to travel to the USA to perform at the MWC Assembly in Pennsylvania in 2015. “The privilege [of attending an MWC event] provides us with the opportunity to learn much more about the community of Anabaptist believers,” says George Ochieng.
The five ensembles will perform in a local congregation on Sunday, 1 June 2025.
“Music transcends barriers, serving as a testament to God’s Kingdom and fostering unity across racial, linguistic and national lines,” says George Ochieng. “We pray for peace in the world at a time when the world needs this the most since World War II.”
Ágape Band from Asunción, Paraguay. Varied musical styles mixing pop, rock, Latin, funk and folk. Seven musicians and a sound technician. Several are members of Iglesia Hermanos Menonitas Concordia and graduates of CEMTA (Centro Evangélico Menonita de Teología Asunción).
“Our band name is the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13. Many of our songs talk about this self-giving love of God. We know that real love is for the ones with courage. We can only feel fulfilled when our relationship with our God defines our values and identity,” says Carlos Arce Penner, band leader.
At age 22, he directed a band that led worship at the 2009 Global Youth Summit in Paraguay and played with different delegations during the Assembly.
Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) Chamber Singers from Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA. A mixed voice, mainly acapella choir that mostly sings sacred music from a variety of styles, time periods and cultures. The auditioned 20 members are students from different majors.
“Much of our music also centres on themes that are important to Anabaptism, including peace, justice, discipleship and care for creation and all people,” says director Benjamin Bergey. “One of the most foundational ways to be agents of peace in this world is by loving. We are very excited to connect with this wonderful and timely theme – and with the other music groups from around the world.”
Benjamin Bergey was the music coordinator for the 2022 MWC Assembly in Indonesia. The EMU choir sang at the 1967 MWC Assembly in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Songs of Peace began as new music project at the Bildungszentrum Bienenberg in Liestal, Switzerland. Today, it is an independent association led by married couple Dennis Thielmann and Karin Franz along with musicians from local Mennonite congregations.
“We value natural and reduced sounds combined with electronic elements in our music (mostly sung in German),” says Dennis Thielmann. Musical influences include world music, monastic traditions and sound therapy “We also try to use the musical form and staging to shape kingdom-of-God values such as simplicity, gratitude, authenticity, inclusion, patience, sustainability and global awareness.”
Dennis Thielmann participated in the music team at the MWC Assembly in Paraguay in 2009. “As we share our music with MWC guests in Zurich, we will call our listeners to slow down and look for the resonance of God’s presence in everything that surrounds us,” he says.
TIARA (The Indonesian Anabaptist peRforming Art) is an 8-member band from the GKMI Anugerah church in Jakarta, Indonesia. The members who sing, play traditional instruments (angklung) and dance, come from several locations in Central Java are regularly involved in worship music at their local congregations.
“We want to share God’s love for and mighty works in our country through performances that contain beauty, diversity, and wisdom,” says band coordinator Eliezer Pranawa (Prana) Setiawan. “We hope that every single piece we present in Zurich 2025 could be a gift of love for the global Anabaptist churches and community.”
“It was a privilege to be involved in the MWC Assembly in Indonesia in 2022,” he says. “At that fascinating event, we realized that we have global family and community through Anabaptist church.”
Thursday, 29 May 2025 (Ascension Day)
Zurich, Switzerland
Renewal 2028 |
“Dalam Yesus…” For many Assembly participants, the multilingual, multicultural music of plenary worship sessions is one of the most memorable parts of this global family encounter. Rashard Allen wants to expand on that at “The Courage to Love: Anabaptism@500” in Zurich, 29 May 2025. The Mennonite World Conference event commemorates the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement.
The director of music and worship at Neffsville Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania, USA, has gathered one ensemble from each of the five MWC regions for the day.
“We want to represent all that Anabaptism is now and what will it look like in the future: Two-thirds of Anabaptists are in the Global South. Anabaptism is very diverse,” he says.
“Music is a huge part of expressing our diversity. Although we all speak different languages, music is a language all of us can relate to. And so, it gives us a window into a culture.
“We can espouse Anabaptist theology and values, but music represents our diversity culturally,” Rashard Allen says. “The group from Latin America will sound different from the group from Africa. The way they express Anabaptism is contextualized through their music.”
Consulting with MWC’s regional representatives and his own musical contacts around the world, Rashard Allen booked five ensembles:
In line with event’s theme, “The Courage to Love,” each of the ensembles is committed to the work of reconciliation, says Rashard Allen. “They have a global ecumenical outlook in terms of how they understand their role in being an Anabaptist choir/ensemble.”
Each group will present two concerts and participate in the mass worship gathering at the close of the day. Indoor concerts at the Predigerkirche will be 45 minutes long. The ensembles will also give a 30-minute outdoor concert. Due to local bylaws about amplification, the outdoor concerts will have a modified instrumentation style.
“Each experience will be unique because the groups do things in different ways,” says Rashard Allen.
There’s going to be a lot going on: workshops, a walking tour, a panel discussion and the choirs.
“My hope is that other people will see the ensembles as a centrepiece of the event and take in as much as they can,” he says.
“Treat it like a buffet: see one outdoor concert and one indoor concert. I would encourage people to watch a group that is not from their home continent. Allow yourself to experience something new. Each experience will be unique.”
“I believe each person and each culture gives us a window into an aspect of who God is. I hope people will look for that in the music.”
“I’m looking forward to worship once again with such a diversity in music, so many different expressions of love for God and God’s love,” says Rashard Allen, who was part of the international ensemble for Assembly 17.
“You will get a sense of where the Anabaptist church is now and where it has been. I’m really excited to be a part of it.”
Find information about tours for The Courage to Love: Anabaptism@500.
“Transformation in the Bible is always communal, not individual,” said César García at Renewal 2024* in Curitiba, Brazil. It requires dialogue in the community, where diversity of position enables us to correct mistakes of the past to deepen our relationship with God in the years to come.”
In this spirit of dialogue and unity, members of three Anabaptist-Mennonite national churches worshipped together with international guests at Igreja Evangélica Irmãos Menonitas do Boqueirão – Cruz Verde in Curitiba, Brazil, 6 April 2024 for Mennonite World Conference’s Renewal event.
It occurred at the end of two days of workshops for church leaders and pastors of Mennonite churches in Brazil, where they discerned together how to continue working closer together in the future.
“MWC’s Renewal 2024in Curitiba is timely: Renewal is always timely,” said Paul Dück, representative of MWC member church COBIM (Convenção Brasileira das Igrejas Evangélicas Irmãos Menonitas).
“Most of us think about our local church. Then we think regionally: our national church. Only after that do we think of an international communion. The Renewal 2024 evening showed us different realities of being followers of Jesus: the suffering, the joy, the growth and opened our eyes that God’s work knows no barriers. As our churches become more diverse, we need to work more on jointly discerning God’s will. We are God’s work in progress.”
Throughout the evening, MWC representatives from around the world shared how God is bringing people into communion with each other and with God.
Valentina Kunze (YABs Committee chair) from Uruguay shared that despite secularism in her country, God continues to show how God is real. At a beach summer camp, “I had the privilege of helping one girl say the repentance prayer and came to her baptism several months later.”
Southeast Asia regional representative Agus Mayanto from Indonesia shared a testimony of fostering 120 underprivileged and abused children. “Since we are saved by grace, we have this passion to have others experience this grace,” he said.
From Zimbabwe, regional representative Danisa Ndlovu, shared how a funeral service became a revival meeting when many shared how the deceased woman touched lives. She embodied Romans 14:8 “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.”
Executive Committee member Amos Chin shared about the civil war in Myanmar. “Yet, in the midst of extreme hardship, our members lived the Anabaptist teaching not to engage in armed violence. And God is at work – there’s no slowdown in church growth.”
“MWC brings people into one communion,” said Henk Stenvers, MWC president. “This communion is a gift from our God who wants to bring people together.”
Mennonite World Conference creates opportunities to bring people together in prayer, fellowship and worship together through its publications, networks, worship events and online prayer hour.
“My father and grandfather were involved in building this church,” said Karin Pankratz, who came with her mother that evening. “To see people from all over the world coming together and sharing stories in this church is remarkable.”
“Hearing directly the testimonies from around the world breaks down walls and gives us the opportunity to look beyond our borders. We can read these testimonies in MWC Info and Courier, but when the people are here, connecting directly with us, we remember and we learn more,” said Paul Dück.
* Renewal 2028 is a series of events commemorating the 500th anniversary of the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement. Each year, local churches host the event in a different region of the world.
Renewal 2024 photos |
Following Saturday’s event, 52 MWC guests attended 12 local Mennonite congregations in and around Curitiba. They preached, shared testimonies from their home countries, and responded to questions about MWC or about faith and life in another country.
“Everyone, especially our younger members, were touched by the visit and their testimonies. The vast majority of us did not have an idea of what MWC is, but after the visit everyone felt like they belonged in this global family.”
—Marcos Assis, pastor of Igreja Evangélica Menonita Porto Amazonas
After the service at Igreja Evangélica Menonita Porto Amazonas, many young people spontaneously asked to join the MWC guests for lunch at the pastor’s house. “Meeting people from another place and hearing about their country, their family, their church and how they live their faith caught everyone’s attention.”
—Dietmar Kliewer, AIMB vice-president; interpreter at Igreja Evangélica Menonita de Imbituva
“We really enjoyed hearing what God has done in Mennonite churches around the world. I’d mentioned it other times, but with someone from the outside speaking it, church members are awakened to learn about how MWC works. They want to learn more about Mennonites at global level. The message shared was profound and brings us hope.”
—André Mendes, pastor, Igreja Evangélica Menonita de Imbituva
