“If world Christianity would be a thousand people, then Anabaptist would only be one person,” said Timo Doetsch, MWC General Council member from Germany representing Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mennonitischer Brüdergemeinden in Deutschland (AMBD). “We are just the little toe of the body of Christ… We are tiny, but we have a voice. And hopefully our voice is this little gift of peace for world Christianity – and even beyond: like Joseph, who had problems with his brothers, but in the end he could help the brothers to reconcile.”
Five MWC leaders past and present spoke at the intergenerational panel moderated by Young AnaBaptist (YABs) mentor Ebenezer Mondez during MWC’s 100-year anniversary event in Germany on 25 May 2025, reflecting on how MWC has impacted their lives, their faith and their ministry.
Larry Miller, MWC general secretary emeritus, served MWC during a time of transformation. During his tenure, MWC grew from only meeting occasionally in Assemblies toward living together through the ongoing work of Commissions. He witnessed Anabaptism grow from a Global North-majority to Southern-inspired movement. He also saw the movement shift from nursing the wounds of the martyrs’ history to healing the wounds of church conflicts.
“Mennonite World Conference is one of the very best places we’ve got today in the Anabaptist world to see and participate in the movements that are transforming, extending and renewing the church,” Larry Miller said.
Transforming faith, renewing the church
Valentina Kunze from Uruguay first got involved with MWC as a Young AnaBaptist delegate to the 2022 Global Youth Summit in Indonesia. Now the chair of YABs Committee, she affirmed MWC’s transformative quality, saying: “I have been humbled in seeing that my own way of seeing and doing things is not the only correct way or the right way, but there’s many other ways in which to get to know Christ. And I’ve been able to see the richness of how other cultures live and experience other qualities of Jesus much more emphasized than my own culture.
“Seeing people that are so different loving and worshipping the same God really impacted me in understanding that God is so much bigger and so much greater than I could have imagined,” she said.
Executive Committee member Amos Chin from Myanmar agreed. “Worshipping, learning, and serving alongside believers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and North America has shown me the beautiful diversity of the church. These connections remind me that the church is bigger than any single congregation…it is a worldwide body of believers. Unity in Christ does not erase our differences, differences but transforms them into opportunities for mutual learning and love.”
“[Being part of MWC] has challenged my cultural assumptions and deepened my appreciation for how faith is lived out. Learning from global leaders, many from the Global South, has humbled me,….challenged my complacency and renewed my passion for discipleship,” said Amos Chin, leader of Bible Missionary Church, Mennonite, in Myanmar.
Timo Doetsch also shared an experience of humble learning 10 years earlier in Pennsylvania, USA. During a circle time where participants washed each other’s feet, “Someone came to me and – honestly, before that, I had no sympathy for this person. But exactly this person came to wash my feet. That moment was very changing and humbling,” he said.
When she became involved in the group crafting the Shared Convictions, former MWC vice president Rebecca Osiro from Kenya said: “I started seeing things being challenged – doctrinal issues that I upheld so dearly. It opened my eyes to see that…it is necessary to look at what we have in common rather than what separates us. I think it is biblical and godly to uphold that which bring us together.”
Room for everyone
Rebecca Osiro grew up in a social and cultural setting where women could do a lot of things in the church, but not be ordained or do theology.
Through Mennonite World Conference’s Assembly in Zimbabwe in 2003, she was introduced to the circle of Anabaptist women theologians. When she became a part of the Faith & Life Commission, “I found myself many times to be academically inadequate, but the sharing there built me to be stronger spiritually.
“And I was really encouraged to see that these academic giants around me didn’t look at me as the academic dwarf among them, but as a sister among them,” she said.
Also the Catholics and Lutherans with whom she participated in trilateral dialogue on baptism, “made me feel part and parcel of this quite able body of Christ,” said Rebecca Osiro.
With thanks for the opportunity MWC gives young people, Valentina Kunze from Uruguay affirmed the importance of being truly heard. “That’s a great characteristic and I want to really encourage that to continue.”
“MWC has been a place of abundant life for us, and a place for enduring friendships.” said Larry Miller.