Prayers of gratitude and intercession

Bogotá, Colombia – Mennonite World Conference’s (MWC) 16th Assembly in Pennsylvania, USA, connected Anabaptists from around the world, in person and electronically.

A new statistics poster released by MWC illustrates the final numbers from PA 2015. There are many interesting facts, for example: 75 percent of visa applications were accepted and 4.25 tons of waste were composted.

More people participated electronically than at any previous MWC Assembly: more than 21,700 viewed the live stream and more than 250,000 engaged with MWC’s Facebook page.

MWC invites all our congregations to continue celebrating the theme from PA 2015, “Walking with God,” by joining us for World Fellowship Sunday celebrations on 24 January 2016.

Click here to see the PA 2015 Statistics Poster.

Click here to see the PA 2015 Statistics Map (This could be used in a bulletin)

Click here to see World Fellowship Sunday resources.

—MWC Release

 

 

 

Bogota, Colombia – Assembly PA 2015, the once-every-six-years gathering of Mennonite World Conference, closed financially at break-even, that is, without a deficit.

The MWC operations team continuously made adjustments, maintaining priorities of environmental sustainability and financial stewardship despite unexpected developments.

The net total income of $3,300,000 USD from registrations and donations (adjusted for transfers to Global Youth Summit and General Council Travel Fund) matched the total expenses of $3,300,000. (See pie chart for breakdown.)

“We thank all those who attended as they were able,” says chief operating officer Len Rempel. “We are confident that God’s Spirit moved among us and has continued to do so as we have returned to our homes.”

Registration revenues were 25 percent less than budgeted due in part to a greater number of part-time participants and fewer full-time registrants; however, that also meant some expenses were lower than budgeted.

Strong fundraising efforts surpassed the goal by 15 percent. The offering taken daily at Assembly evening services collected $77,000 for operating funds, for the four commissions and MWC “where needed most.”

“The action of giving transcends economic inequalities to bear fruit as hope,” says general secretary César García. “Through generosity, the idols of consumerism, individualism and materialism are defeated to give way to the possibility of a new beginning for our global community. Generosity is a way of worshiping God.”

“I am very encouraged when I hear individuals, congregations and member churches telling me that they will send what they can, and they wish they could do more,” says Arli Klassen, chief development officer.

A world-wide communion of Anabaptist related churches, Mennonite World Conference supports the global body of Christ and is supported by contributions from member churches and donations from individuals.

-MWC news release

How did you become interested in the life of the church?

Kraybill: Growing up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA, my family was deeply involved in the mission of the church at the local level. Both of my parents gave tirelessly to the congregation, serving in many roles, from Sunday school teachers to janitors.

My uncle Nevin served as a missionary in present-day Tanzania. The stories he told when he came home on furlough were my introduction to the global church. That sparked my interest in the worldwide body of Christ.

Can you describe your call to ministry?

My primary call is to pastoral ministry. But over the years, I have combined pastoral ministry with work in theological education and academia. It has been a rewarding journey!

In what roles have you served over the years?

My studies took me to Goshen College, a Mennonite college in Indiana; Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey; and Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia.

Over the course of my ministry, I taught Bible at Summit Hills Mennonite Academy in San Juan, Puerto Rico, offered conflict mediation seminars while serving at the London (England) Mennonite Centre, and served as president of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana. I also pastored a small congregation in Vermont.

What is your current ministry?

After retiring from the seminary presidency, I returned to full-time pastoral ministry, unexpectedly, with my home church, Prairie Street Mennonite, a multi-racial congregation in the heart of Elkhart.

The experience has been so life giving for me: shepherding, nurturing, and learning from one sustained community. I’m very glad to be serving in this role with these people.

How have you been involved in MWC up to this point?

In 2003, Mennonite Church USA asked me to serve as the North American representative to the MWC committee tasked with producing what became our seven Shared Convictions. I went to Zimbabwe to work with a group of scholars and pastors on reading and analyzing 34 confessional statements from various MWC constituencies. We distilled the core ideas that form our identity as a global faith family.

How did you come to be MWC president?

A few years ago, the search committee tasked with finding a successor for Danisa Ndlovu of Zimbabwe called me to ask if I would allow my name to be considered for the role.

At first, I resisted. As we had done before, my wife Ellen and I called together a group of Christians who knew us and knew our hearts for both the local and global church. We asked them to pray with us and help us to discern. Ultimately, they urged me to let my name stand, sensing that this new direction was God’s will.

Day-to-day, what does the MWC president do?

My role is not management, it’s governance. (We have a very capable chief executive officer in our general secretary, César García.) I’m strictly a volunteer who has the privilege of moderating the MWC Executive Committee and General Council, two groups that help us do the work of the global church.

I’ll meet with the other MWC officers – the vice-president and the treasurer – to do business: monthly (via Skype), face-to-face two or three times per year.

Perhaps the best part of my role is my opportunity to visit MWC member churches around the world! My intention is to spend time visiting local churches in various countries, learning to know the leaders and hear their stories.

Ultimately, I see my role with MWC as pastor, encourager: someone with ears and eyes open to the global church, and someone who helps foster the vision.

And what is your vision for MWC?

The core of our ministry is reconciliation. I want for myself and for the church to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. I want us to know the power of his resurrection, and to know that the energy for our global gatherings emanates from that core reality.

But that reconciliation with God through Christ is only one part of the reconciliation equation. Mission is reconciling work that includes both the dimension of calling individuals to faith – to salvation, repentance, forgiveness, and regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit– and the dimension of nurturing and repairing relationships between people in the church, outside the church and within the global ecology.

The biblical vision of God is to unite all things in Christ. As Anabaptists, we need to hold together individual conversion and peace and justice work. If we lose one aspect or the other, we lose all reason for our existence.

Former Courier editor Devin Manzullo-Thomas asks new Mennonite World Conference president J. Nelson Kraybill about his call to Christian ministry, his roles in his home country and around the globe and his vision for the reconciling work of MWC.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier October 2015

How to be independent together

In the beginning, man was alone. Even though God created all animals and brought them to man to be named, man was alone. And it didn’t suit him at all. God could see that, and so he whispered a deep, deep sleep unto man and while he slept, God took his rib and from it created the other part of man: woman.

From that very early day on, humanity was community.

From the day we are born, we are part of a community. Whether it be a family, tribe, orphanage or school, we are never alone. The community feeds us, cleans us, teaches us right from wrong, raises us.

It makes us stronger than we are, because in it we are more than just one person. We are many. It makes us weaker than we are, because we have to bend our will to the rules of the community, give up our autonomy.

Within a community, we cannot stand alone. The interest of the group will collide with that of the individual. And that will cause friction and pain and frustration. But we have no other way. To be human is to be part of a community. We cannot survive on our own.

Still, we crave autonomy, every one of us. Growing up, we test the rules and boundaries of our communities. You can see it in small toddlers, pushing the “no!” just a bit further to see where it will go. You can see it in rebellious young adults designing their own way in life, making their own choices. And yes, autonomy literally means making your own rules. But the modern interpretation lies more in the way of carving your own path through life, being independent.

We desperately want to have a say in everything that concerns us, we want to make our own decisions, to do and be our best. In these modern times, we take pride in our autonomy, in being able to fend for ourselves, in living by our own rules and standing up for them.

Struggling against community

But autonomy is no party. In fact, it is a constant struggle. And so it has always been, even in Old Testament times, as in the well-known story of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham.

Even before he is born, Jacob is in community. And even as an unborn child he doesn’t take it too well. He and his twin brother fight so fiercely inside the womb that their mother Rebecca wonders why she is still alive. When he is born, he is still grabbing his older brother’s heel.

In Jacob’s book, Jacob comes first. Always. No rules but his own. And he bends community around it.

Easily, with nothing more than a hot meal, he swindles his brother Esau out of his birthright. Next, Jacob deceives his father. Isaac, blind from old age, lies on his deathbed, waiting for Esau to turn up to give him his blessing. Jacob comes in, pretending to be his older brother. He ruthlessly steals the patriarchal blessing.

Jacob now has everything that should rightfully be Esau’s. He has won all, and at the same time, he lost all. For he cannot stay in the community he so despised. He has to flee for his life.

Living by your own set of rules and living in a community do not go well together.

Calling his own shots

In fleeing the scene of the crime, Jacob leaves everything. Or so he thinks. But just before he enters the great unknown, he has a dream. In that dream, God promises to go with Jacob wherever he may go. God will protect him, God will bring him back, God will not leave Jacob until God has fulfilled God’s promise.

Typically, Jacob is not sure. He calls the place Beth-el, the house of God, but he immediately starts negotiating. If God will really be with me, if God really will protect me, if God really will provide for me, well, then, yes, in that case, God will be my God.

Jacob does not give in easily. Oh no. If God wants to stay with him, fine. But Jacob is calling the shots. That’s what autonomy is all about, right?

And the story continues. Jacob’s love for his Rachel is famous. But in trying to marry her before her older sister Leah is married, Jacob once again tries to make community bend to his own rules. Funnily, he is no match for the tricks up Laban’s sleeve and he ends up with four women in all.

After some 20 years of hard labour, God calls Jacob back to Canaan. Jacob takes up his wives, his children (11 sons and a daughter at that time) and the herds he gathered and he sneaks off when Laban is busy shearing sheep.

Again, Jacob is making choices without considering the effect on other people. Living by his own rules, his own fears, his own assumptions. In sneaking off with his wives and children, he overlooks the fact that they are part of Laban’s life too: daughters, grandchildren, future.

Of course, it is his right as an autonomous person. He lives by his own law. No consideration for any kind of community.

Offering it all up

Surprisingly, on the brink of coming home, the leopard changes his spots. Jacob realizes that Esau might not be very happy to welcome him home, considering the way Jacob deceived him before. Jacob tries to secure the peace, by sending messengers ahead. But they return, saying Esau is coming their way with at least 400 men. Jacob (impressed, worried, scared) is now confronted with the consequences of his earlier choices: what if Esau takes it all: wives, children, herds, riches? What if Esau wants retribution, revenge?

What if community pays it all back to autonomy?

And so, Jacob takes a bold decision: he offers it all up to Esau, of his own free will. In doing so, he tries to make amends for what he has done. He acknowledges his wrongdoing, and the consequences his choices had on Esau’s life.

In offering up everything his autonomy has gained him, Jacob in fact offers his autonomy itself to Esau.

And so, we enter that epic scene, where Jacob brings his wives and children, all he owns, to the other side of the river and then returns. Now, he is totally and truly alone. He has nothing left. Not even autonomy.

And then somebody comes and wrestles him. All night long. Somebody. No name. No identification, except the ominous Why do you ask me for my name? (32:29). Is it God himself? One of his messengers? Or do we have to understand this all in a more metaphorical way? Is Jacob in fact wrestling himself?

Maybe. After all, the life of Jacob is one big struggle with the people around him and their rules and expectations, with himself and his own choices, his own way through life. Maybe in the end, he does wrestle God. Or himself. Or another metaphorical person. It does not matter.

What matters is that he comes out winning. With a new blessing. With a new name. No longer Jacob: “heelgrabber,” but Israel: “wrestles with God.”

Jacob no longer seeks to enrich himself by grabbing the heel of others, causing them to fall and fail. Instead, he struggles for the rest of his life, every day anew. With the people around him, with God, and far most…with himself.

And you know what? Most of the time, he comes out winning. Slightly limping, but winning nevertheless. And as he crosses the river, a new dawn rises. A patriarch is born.

What a story.

A lesson in consequences

But the truly amazing thing about the story of Jacob is that it doesn’t explicitly condemn Jacob or his actions. There is not one point where the story, or even God himself explicitly disapproves of what Jacob does.

You can feel it is not all good and beautiful, but the story itself keeps quiet about it. It just shows the consequences, shows you the effect of Jacob’s actions: he has to flee and leave everything behind. He lives in constant fear, of Esau, of Laban, of Esau again. He has to start all over again, many times.

The story tells you all that. But the story never tells you that Jacob did wrong.

You can feel it. You can read it between the lines, but it is all in your imagination, really. The story never says so.

And that’s what makes it such an intriguing story. Jacob is no holy, immanently good or pious wonder of a human being. He makes a great example because he is not exemplary at all. He is just like any of us. And so in our heads and hearts, we easily fill in the blanks. We feel how utterly wrong some of his decisions are as if they are our own. We shiver, thinking of the consequences. We wait, anxiously, for the story to go sour.

And it never does. Despite living by his own rules and never quite recognizing the rights of other people, there is no judgment for Jacob except that which he issues himself. Fundamentally, that is what this story is all about. Autonomy. Living by your own rules. Making your own law.

For autonomy doesn’t just mean you make your own choices and live by your own rules. It means you have to judge yourself too. There is no one else. Not even God, according to this story. You have to figure it out by yourself. God merely walks with you, whatever the outcome. It is Jacob who makes demands and utters conditions, not God.

And that is an Old Testament lesson for all of us modern people, craving autonomy.

Autonomy comes with the acknowledgment that the people around you (your community) limit your freedom to make your own decisions, your own rules. Autonomy in this modern sense is not about making your own rules no matter what, but about realizing, accepting and acknowledging the other people in your life. It is about willingly respecting these, because together you form a community.

So the question is: are we capable, am I capable of sculpting my own life within these boundaries? Can I live my life free and independently (autonomously) within community?

Am I mature enough to acknowledge the fact that I am not totally in charge of my own life? Can I accept that I am bound by the people I love, by the community around me, and by God who walks with me wherever I go?

Or, in a broader sense, will it be possible for various churches to keep their autonomy within the wider Anabaptist community? Are we prepared to wrestle?

The story of Jacob teaches us that it is not wrong to follow your own way through life. It is not wrong to try to test your own strength and to strive for autonomy. It is not about being wrong or being right. It is about making your own choices, and at the same time acknowledging those of the community around you. It is about recognizing the hurt and pain and frustration on both sides. It is about taking responsibility. For your actions, for those of the community. For yourself. And, if necessary, making amends.

That kind of autonomy, the grown-up, modern kind, doesn’t come easily. Growing up is not easy. To keep some sense of autonomy within community is like constantly wrestling with people and God and most of all yourself.

And even if you win, it leaves you slightly limping.

Wieteke van der Molen of the Netherlands spoke on Friday evening, 24 July 2015, at Assembly 16. Wieteke, who pastors a small rural Mennonite congregation north of Amsterdam, loves to read and tell stories.

 

“Walking with God” is the theme of our next global Assembly, to be held 21-26 July 2015. But how can we walk together if we do not believe exactly the same? That was the question that a leader raised some months ago while I was visiting his community. He believed that it is not possible to walk with those who think differently than you.

That seems to be the message that we hear replicated around the world, especially when we think about religious differences. Even in our Anabaptist history we have a long record of fragmentation and divisions emerging because of strong disagreements in our doctrines and ethics. Is it possible – even desirable – to have communion in a global way when there is such diversity of cultures, ethical decisions and theological understandings?

I would say that in MWC we have discovered that diversity is not just possible but even healthy. Such diversity is manifest when we share the same foundation that has been laid: Jesus Christ.

Moreover, when I look at Scripture, I find at least three reasons why we need a global, multicultural and very diverse community.

First, Jesus. There are four gospels that speak about Jesus. Each of them reflects the experience of its author with Jesus Christ. These theological writings do not show Jesus in exactly the same way. There is a lot of diversity among them. Why do we not have just one gospel? Why do we need four different points of view that give different understandings? From its very beginning, the church saw this diversity as something crucial, something that could help us to understand who Jesus is. The primitive church did not try to harmonize the four gospels in order to give us a unique and uniform account about Jesus. We need diversity in order to know Jesus better.

Second, ethics. The text about love that we find in 1 Corinthians 13 is in the context of diversity and deep disagreements. Believers in that context, for example, differed as to what they could eat or not eat. These same believers make different decisions regard this ethical problem, decisions made possible because the Scripture itself does not give a definitive answer. In this context, the Apostle Paul urges love. From this example, it seems that diversity and even disagreements are required in the body of Christ if we want to know the meaning of unity, love, forgiveness, patience and self-denial. It is easy to love others that think the same that you think, but are we able to do so with those that think differently?

Third, vision. On the road to Emmaus, the disciples found out the truth about Jesus’ resurrection only when they sat down and had dinner together – with Jesus at the center – in spite of their differences. During the long walk from Jerusalem, they resisted the tendency of walking away from each other due to their divergent theological understandings of the Messiah. They did not find Jesus through the long hours of theological arguing. Their eyes were open only when they shared a meal. We gain a new vision of other followers of Christ – and about Christ himself – when we see people not as our opposites but as members of our family. With family, it is possible to sit and eat together in spite of our differences.

Why do we need a global community? This question is one of the topics that we address in this issue of Courier/Correo/Courrier. We need a global community and the diversity that it brings in order to know Jesus better; to grow in our experience of unity, forgiveness, love, patience and self-denial; and open our eyes to new realities that can keep us close to each other.

May God help us to walk together and love our very diverse, global church. I am looking forward to living this idea in part during Pennsylvania 2015. Come join us, and let’s walk with God!

César García, MWC general secretary, works out of the head office in Bogotá, Colombia.

 

“Colombian people do not fight for money. You fight for power.” These were the words of a North American missionary after several decades of ministry in Colombia. She was speaking about the ongoing reality of broken relationships among church leaders because of conflicts.

After 22 years of ministry in Colombia I must recognize that this is a sad reality in our churches. During this time I have witnessed too many unhealthy conflicts erupt in our congregations; I have also witnessed too many broken relationships, and seen too many hurt people leave as a result .

However, during the short time that I have served in Mennonite World Conference, I have found that issues of abuse of power and unhealthy conflicts among leaders are not only a Colombian reality. As a matter of fact, I have been discovering that these seem to be transcultural issues that are present in all peoples and nations, and a trans-Anabaptist gene that has affected all our churches. In spite of cultural and theological differences, issues of abuse of power and conflict among leaders have been with us since the time of Cain and Abel.

What are some of the characteristics that I have observed in church leaders around the world that are involved in unhealthy conflicts and abuse of power? I can mention the following so far:

Personal needs that have been notresolved. There are emotional weaknesses that are very evident when leaders face conflicts. For example, some leaders seem to be thirsty for recognition. They expect to receive a special treatment or an expression of gratitude for their service. When this does not happen, they may react aggressively toward others, or spiral downward into passivity and self-pity. How different would our churches be if we learn to pray as Mother Theresa did: “Lord, grant that I may seek rather to love than to be loved.”

Another example has to do with leaders that have learned to fulfill their sense of emptiness with the privileges that some ecclesial positions bring. To lose those privileges is something that these leaders do not want to do. It does not matter if people get hurt. For them to satisfy their emotional needs is more important that the people that they were called to give their lives for.

Extreme perfectionism. It is evident when leaders are not ready to recognize their mistakes or to ask for forgiveness when they have hurt others. To be vulnerable is something that is not easy for some people in positions of leadership. For some reason these leaders think that if they open there hearts and recognize their mistakes they will lose authority. This may be the influence of secular ideas about leadership. The idea of a strong, lonely leader that does not express his/her feelings is supported by cultural understandings that do not accept the idea of leadership as service, which in Christian terms is done from our wounds and vulnerability and not from a position of power.

Enforcing uniformity. A natural outcome for leaders that abuse their power is the attempt of suppress diversity. These kind of leaders do not tolerate those who think differently than they do. Theological differences or diversity in leadership style are criticized and labeled as sinfulness by people that exercise their leadership in an authoritarian way. Because diversity is perceived as a threat, these leaders demand the use of creeds as a tool to measure orthodoxy without recognizing that diversity has been part of the Christian faith right since its beginning.

These characteristics are found in many leaders who know no other way of exercising their responsibility. The need for a new pattern of leadership in our world is immense.
How can our churches respond to such a need? God calls us to offer a new pattern of leadership – one derived from Jesus’ life and highlighted by our Anabaptist values: a leadership style that does not look for our own interests but for the wellbeing of others; a leadership style that recognizes our mistakes and is exercised from a position of vulnerability; a leadership style that celebrates diversity instead of suppressing it or persecuting it. I pray that the October 2014 issue of Courier/Correo/Courrier may help us, as a global family of faith, to move in that direction.

César García, MWC general secretary, works out of the head office in Bogotá, Colombia.

 

When someone asks you to use a few words to describe yourself, what words do you use? Would you change those words to describe yourself when you are with your family? At work? Travelling to some distant place? 

I discovered that the words I use to describe myself change, depending on my cultural context. When we lived in Toronto, the two most basic words I used to describe myself were “Christian” and “woman.” Those were the two parts of my life that made the most difference in how I lived. Imagine my surprise, then, when we moved to southern Africa and those words didn’t really matter as key parts of my identity! Everyone we interacted with defined themselves as Christian, so that was taken for granted; and it was far more important that I was a mother than that I was a woman. By contrast, in southern Africa, the most important thing was that I was white – an aspect of identity I had taken for granted in Canada.

A Christian woman – those were the important parts of my identity in Canada. A white mother – those different parts of my identity became the most important in Lesotho. My self-understanding of my identity changed, even though I had not changed.

This change illustrates the first point I want to make: Culture matters, because culture defines who we are.

The second point I want to make is that language matters. I have learned a little bit of several languages, and I am fascinated by words that exist in one language and have no direct translation into another language. In Sesotho I learned that there is actually a word for a body part that heals badly after a break or a wound – we have no such word in English. And in Spanish and French there is the lovely word animateur or animador, someone who plays a facilitating and encouraging leadership role in a group of people, a concept that just does not make it into English. And in German we have the lovely word gemeinschaft, a word that English speakers have translated into “brotherhood” and “community,” though these translations fail to capture the depth of meaning that word has in German. Each of these examples underscores the fact that language matters, because language gives us the concepts that are important in our culture.

There are some deep differences among all our various languages and cultures around the world, differences that go far deeper than we sometimes realize. Culture, shaped by language, impacts our worldview, our self-understanding and our sense of identity. And this is particular challenge for Christians, whose beliefs and practices are shaped by culture and language even though our faith transcends those categories.

Biblical examples of difference

The Bible gives us some images and stories to explain and understand our differences in language in culture – and to show us how these differences can in fact be part of God’s plan for building the Church.

The first book of the Bible, Genesis, tells the story of the Tower of Babel. This story gives two reasons for all the different language groups. One reason is that unity based on sameness leads to pride, and the other reason is that unity based on sameness is a response to fear. In Genesis 11:4-6, we read that the people wanted to be famous and that they were afraid of being scattered. Both impulses are rooted in dependence in oneself instead of depending on God: “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do.” 

The theologian Walter Brueggeman says this is a story of people who wanted to be great because of their cookie-cutter sameness – same language, same food, same clothes, same culture. There is a lot that can be accomplished in a homogeneous culture. Brueggemann suggests that God scatters the people to show them a better way. The unity God wants for the human race is diverse people drawn together by common faith and values, not drawn together by sameness in language and culture. Brueggemann says that the many languages and the scattering in this story are not a punishment, but are actually an opportunity to live up to the much greater potential God wills for the earth. God gave the people of the Tower of Babel the opportunity to experience difference in order to learn to depend on God and to be drawn together through faith rather than through culture. It takes a global village to be who God wants us to be.

Another biblical image of difference occurs at the other end of the Bible – in the last book, Revelation. In Revelation 7:9-14, we read about an uncountable number of people, from every nation, every tribe and every language, all singing and worshipping God together. This is the opposite image to the Tower of Babel. This is a little glimpse of heaven!

This image comes to us as part of the story in Revelation of the opening of the seven seals – seven events with terrible consequences for the people. This image is actually in between the opening of the sixth seal and the seventh seal, like a little break in the story. Here we have this image of the people of God, from every culture and language, together worshipping God, regardless of the ordeals, persecutions and tribulations that they are experiencing.

In the previous chapter (Revelation 6:17), a question is asked: “Who is able to stand in the midst of all these ordeals?” The answer is given in this image: it is the multicultural people of God who together worship and praise God from every country and every language, and who are able to stand throughout persecution and tribulation. It takes a global village to be the people God wants us to be, and to be able to stay strong through persecution.

Becoming God’s multicultural people

For the Jewish people in Israel who  thought they alone were God’s chosen people, this image of a multicultural people of God is a drastic shift in thinking. In Ephesians 3, Paul very directly states that once the Gentiles were not only foreigners and aliens but uncircumcised, and therefore not part of Israel, not part of God’s people. But now, he concludes, through Christ they belong – fully belong. Paul’s commentary was an immense shift in thinking for Jewish Christians. Only then could they begin to understand that there could be different ways of worshipping God than their own Jewish traditions, particularly the practices that gave them identity, such as circumcision and food laws.

For those of us who think our ways of worshipping and understanding God are the right ways or the best ways or even the only ways, the image of God’s multicultural people in Revelation 7 is also an immense shift in our own thinking. It takes a global village to be the people God wants us to be.

We are cultural people, and our own cultural traditions and languages are the means through which we understand and worship God. There is much to celebrate in many of our ways of worshipping and understanding God, wherever it is that we live and worship. But our own ways are not the only ways! Our ways are comfortable and familiar, and our leaders can even usually give extensive biblical explanations for why we think our practices are the right way.

Like the people at the Tower of Babel, we are too often afraid that differences will create disunity and will scatter us. We are too often ready to depend on language and culture and tradition to hold us together, instead of depending on God’s ways to hold us together across our differences. We need to become like the people in Revelation, a multicultural group praising God together, who are able to withstand all persecution. It takes a global village to be the people God wants us to be.

A glimpse of heaven on earth

Having studied sociology, I know that every group works hard to create its own identity and its own way of doing things, and that those ways of belonging are important. We all want to belong to a group with whom we share identity; that is normal human nature. Belonging is a good thing! However, these stories in Genesis, Revelation and Ephesians help us to see that God intends for us to share our primary identity with other Jesus-followers, rather than with those who share our language, culture or nationality.  We belong to a people whose worldview is shaped by God, the Bible and our faith community. Our primary identity is as Christians. We belong to a local church and a global church. This identity and belonging should be the primary influence on who we are.

Our congregations are places where we belong, where we know each other and where we enjoy similar styles of worship and following Jesus. Belonging to a local congregation where we like to sing the same songs or pray in the same way is a good thing. Many of us also belong to regional or national conferences – another setting in which we share customs and traditions that bind us together in common identity. And yet I know that even within congregations and conferences there is always just enough difference to bring conflict and tension. Those differences are magnified when we put a large number of congregations and conferences together within one country, and then across cultures, languages and countries. 

Mennonite World Conference is different from belonging to a local congregation or conference. MWC is our global Anabaptist church community, where we come together because we share convictions about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the church. It is our place to catch just a little glimpse of heaven on earth – a glimpse of what it is like to worship God together with a multitude of others from different nations, different cultures and different languages. It is a glimpse of being the people God wants us to be – a people bound together by more than language, culture or local customs and traditions. 

MWC is a place for us to learn from our cultural diversity about what it means to follow Jesus. I believe that we can best answer the question, “What does it mean to be an Anabaptist Christian in my cultural context today?” by finding out how people in other cultural contexts answer that question. MWC is the place where we walk this journey of faith with others who are different from us – different cultures, different countries, even different types of Anabaptists in different conferences. MWC is the place where we are bound together by our shared convictions as Anabaptist Christians. Together, we are a bit of heaven here on earth. Together, we are strong enough to resist persecution and temptation.

Together with all the saints

Let us look back again at the passage written by Paul to the Christians in  Ephesus – not to the Jewish Christians, but to Gentile Christians. He reminds them in chapters 2 and 3 that they are fellow citizens of God’s people, full members of God’s household and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus. That was an amazing, new, yet controversial idea way back then, and it continues to transform our understanding of God’s actions in our world today. We are all full members of God’s household, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus, across all the differences that so easily divide us.

Paul offers a prayer for this Gentile church in Ephesians 3:14-21. He prays that they might comprehend the immensity of the love of God – the breadth, length, depth and height of the love of God. And he prays that they might know it “with all the saints.” I love that little phrase in there. I read it to say that we cannot really know the immensity of God’s love without all the saints. It is only in the messiness of difference – cultural and linguistic and political and theological and economic – with all the saints, that we can begin to grasp the love of God. It takes a global village to begin to understand the immensity of God’s love, and to be the people God wants us to be.

Arli Klassen is chief development officer for Mennonite World Conference.

Anabaptists from around the world share in a communion service during the 2012 MWC General Council meeting, held in Basel, Switzerland. Photo by Merle Good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Mennonite women, one from North America and one from Indonesia, converse. For Anabaptists, MWC is the place where such intercultural contact is possible. Photo by Merle Good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Global Communion and Why It Matters: Exploring our shared commitment to being a worldwide family

As Mennonite World Conference, we share a commitment to being a worldwide communion (koinonia) of faith and life. Together, we seek to be a fellowship that transcends boundaries of nationality, race, class, gender and language. Yet because of our diversity, each MWC member church brings a distinct understanding of the importance of global communion to its participation and investment in MWC.

The April 2015 issue of Courier / Correo / Courrier seeks to discern the variety of reasons why Anabaptist communities from around the world come together to form MWC. In the articles that follow, writers reflect on the question: Why does my local or regional fellowship need a global communion?

Jesus with Skin On

“Late one stormy night, a small voice was heard from the bedroom across the hall. “Mommy, I’m scared!” Mom responds sympathetically, “Honey, don’t be afraid, I’m right across the hall.” After a short time, with thunder snapping in the distance, the little voice says again, “I’m still scared!” Mom replies, “You don’t need to be afraid. Close your eyes and pray. And remember that Jesus is always with you.” The next time the pause is longer—but the voice returns along with a little child standing next to her bed: “Mommy, can I get in bed with you and Daddy?” As Mom is just about to lose her patience, her little boy catches her eyes and says, “Mommy, I know that Jesus is always with me, but right now I need Jesus with skin on.”

Every time I hear some version of this little story, I smile at the humorous way that its simple truth is conveyed. There are critical times in life when we need the presence of another person to serve as the physical presence of Jesus—someone to be “Jesus with skin on” for comfort, strength or some other significant need we have in that moment. I imagine many can relate to this child’s desire!

In a similar manner, there are other spiritual truths that need some “skin on,” some concrete embodiment, in order to become real to us. For Brethren in Christ (BIC) congregations in Canada, the Mennonite World Conference provides this embodiment of the important truth that we belong to a church family that spreads around the world. We know that followers of Jesus everywhere are made one through faith in him; however, we can experience this precious truth in a practical way since MWC puts “skin” on it for us. As MWC embodies the reality of our global fellowship in Christ, our BIC Canada congregations are strengthened in important ways.

First, our witness for Christ is strengthened. Canada is one of the most multicultural countries in the world. As you spend time in our cities, walk our streets, visit our shopping malls or go into any number of our schools, you will soon observe a rich mosaic of people groups, languages, faiths and cultures. With hundreds of thousands of new immigrants coming from every region of the globe each year, this diversity only increases. As we lovingly reach out to our neighbours and co-workers with the message of Jesus, our BIC congregations are increasingly reflecting this diversity. The truth that the Gospel bridges all ethnic and cultural divisions is made real and visible through congregations that actually reflect the demographic reality surrounding them.

Our engagement with MWC expresses this same commitment: in Christ we become one global family. MWC provides our congregations a concrete avenue by which to realize and reveal this truth. In turn, this strengthens our witness to the peace possible in Christ. Those coming into our congregations from various backgrounds can see that the reconciling message of Jesus is more than mere words.

Second, as we engage in the programs and activities of MWC, our process of discipleship is also strengthened. In BIC Canada we are convinced that a core way to become more like Jesus is to cultivate mutual, compassionate relationships locally and globally. MWC provides the opportunity to be in proximity with others that otherwise might seem distant. The spiritual formation that comes through being in community with others – hearing their stories, learning of their joys and sufferings and seeing truth from their vantage point – is provided through MWC. The global family is often more seasoned in kingdom truth than those of us who have only lived in Canada. 

One of our congregations recalls the visit of Anabaptist friends from southern Africa that helped them discern aspects of spiritual warfare the congregation was experiencing and then encouraged them through intercessory prayer and worship. Our sisters and brothers who have had to wrestle much more with suffering, with poverty and with persecution have so much to teach us as we share life together. This interaction allows for a course correction, on a personal and congregational level, as we align with realities that are discovered through friendships within our global family.

The way we live our lives, spend our time and money, invest our energies and embrace the suffering that comes into our lives changes as a result of coming close to and being family with those from around the world. The more we engage in global fellowship, the more natural it seems to embrace the deeper change that needs to happen in our lives, and in our churches, in order to be more like Christ.

We are blessed to belong to MWC – “Jesus with skin on” for the congregations of BIC Canada.

Darrell Winger served as bishop/executive director of Brethren in Christ Canada from 1997-2004 and 2009 to 2013, and the general secretary of Brethren in Christ North America from 2004-2006. For several years, he also served in leadership with the International Brethren in Christ Association. Currently, Darrell is pursuing a PhD in political theology at Toronto School of Theology.

 

Economic Inequality: Exploring our shared commitment to pursuing shalom

As a global communion of Anabaptist-related churches, we share a common commitment to pursuing shalom. In this pursuit, we believe in seeking justice and sharing our resources, be they material, financial or spiritual. Yet our tremendous diversity means that we carry out this commitment in very different ways. In the April 2014 issue of Courier/Correo/Courrier, leaders from across our fellowship write about different ways in which Anabaptists approach issues of economic inequality – and the ways we, as shalom-seeking followers of Christ, address the wealth gaps in our communities.

A Mission Modeled on Christ

The encyclopedia at my desk defines “economic inequality” as the difference between individuals and populations in the distribution of their assets, wealth or income. The term typically refers to inequality between individuals and groups within a society. More controversially, one could assert that economic inequality exists in a given society not by accident. In fact, at a certain level, such inequality is the result of human forces like greed and selfishness.

Regardless of its sources, economic inequality is real. In India, such inequality is deeply rooted within society, and effects a major portion of that society. And that portion of society suffers because of it.

There is no easy answer for the question of why the majority of a society often suffers from economic inequality. We have only a few theories in response. Of course, the factors vary from place to place, time to time, society to society. A driving factor in one place and situation may not be the same in another.

Nevertheless, the reality is this: Economic inequality today has left many in dire straits – in situations of homelessness, hunger and poverty, barred from access to adequate education and healthcare. Those who suffer in these situations do not have the same privileges of those in the upper echelons of society. Often, those who suffer are hardly noticed by society’s elites. The rich become richer, the poor become poorer. As a result, the gap between these two groups grows rapidly and alarmingly.

The Bible has much to say about economic inequality and the gap between the rich and poor in society. In the Old Testament, for instance, God creates the world perfectly and tells people to maintain a balanced and just society in that world (Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25). Yet humanity rebels against God and God’s will, and sin enters the world (Genesis 3:13-19). Cain’s attitude in Genesis 4 is a prime example of how sin adds misery and injustice to human history – misery and injustice that has been passed on from generation to generation to this day.

Poverty rears its ugly head in the Old Testament, too. Because the poor will always be a part of human society (Deuteronomy 5:11), God commands his people to be open-handed and generous with them. The Old Testament reminds us of God’s deep concern for the plight of the impoverished. Failing to follow his commands concerning the poor, brings the wrath of God upon us (Ezekiel 16:48-50; Isaiah 1:16-25).

The New Testament focuses God’s concern with inequality and commands to care for the poor and oppressed. For instance, Jesus identified himself as one among the poor when He said, “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). He chose the common people – the poor, the oppressed, the suffering – as the focus of His ministry (Luke 4:18-19). He taught the young man how he could follow him by forsaking earthly treasures and caring for the poor (Matthew 19:21). He drove the moneychangers out of the temple and condemned their greed and hypocrisy (Mark 11:15-17). Other examples abound. Clearly, Christ’s earthly ministry focused in part on challenging society’s norms and exposing its injustices.

In its vision of the early church, the New Testament also provides perhaps the clearest example of the kind of practical, dedicated living that brings justice and equality among people. In Acts 2:42-47, the early church is described as a place where possessions and resources were shared equally, where meals were focused on fellowship and caring, and where spiritual growth was matched by physical sufficiency.

As Brethren in Christ and Mennonites, our Anabaptist heritage also offers insight on our responsibility to help the poor and needy people. In the early Anabaptist movement, believers practiced obedience in financial affairs. Nineteenth-century Brethren in Christ leader H. B. Musser said, “I think it is the duty of the church to mutually aid each other in the losses sustained. . . . I think it is the duty that belongs to us, because the Scripture says, ‘Bear ye one another’s burden.’” Our Anabaptist background clearly teaches us – in keeping with the Scripture – that the church has a vital role to play in bridging the gap between the rich and the poor and working for justice and equality in society.

What is the nature of that role? The Bible tells us that the church should be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). The church must care for widows and orphans (James 1:27; Acts 6:1-7). The church should seek transformation – not only of individual hearts, but of the unjust and oppressive structures within society itself. In fact, as the church nurtures believers in the faith, believers in turn will seek justice in their own lives, in their families and the larger society. Though it may face challenges, the church still must be that voice that reminds society of God’s concern for justice and righteousness.

The Brethren in Christ Church in Odisha, India, attempts to bring justice and equality in two ways. First, we teach the Word of God. Second, we undertake projects in areas such as education, income generation, health and hygiene, agricultural improvement and relief and rehabilitation. Our long-term goal is to improve the socio-economic condition in our local regions.

One specific way we do this is through work among the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the eight districts of the Odisha state. These groups are two of the most impoverished groups within Indian society, and have historically been recognized as disadvantaged people. Many SC and ST people live hand-to-mouth lives. They have low incomes; sometimes, they have only one meal a day. We encourage our community members to share the burdens of these individuals. Of course, it is not an easy task to bring balance, equality and justice – it is a long and ongoing process. Yet we persevere, trusting in the Spirit for strength and empowerment.

We see our mission as reflecting that of our Lord Jesus Christ: the poor may be economically impoverished, but they are rich in spirit, in faith, in work and in deed (James 2:5). This opportunity to seek equality and justice has been provided by Christ himself, who in spite of his riches became poor in order to make us rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Bijoy K. Roul is chairman for the Brethren in Christ Church in Odisha, India.

Some years ago a woman with a foreign accent – a friend of mine – knocked on the door of one of our churches in Bogotá. That church’s pastor – another friend of mine – opened the door. The woman was evangelizing that neighborhood and started to talk with my friend without knowing about his Christian commitment. He invited her to talk, thinking he would give testimony to this foreign missionary that maybe belonged to some strange religion.

They were talking for several minutes before they discovered their common faith. The surprise grew even bigger when they realized they both were members of the same tradition – Anabaptism – and, more than this, that they were members of the same Mennonite denomination. She was shocked to learn that there are around 12 Anabaptist churches in Bogotá. For several years this woman, who had come from a European country, had been serving in this city as a missionary under the auspices of her Mennonite church, without being in touch with Colombian Mennonites of her same church family.

I would like to say that the story of my pastor-friend and his European missionary visitor is just an isolated case. However, similar stories are repeated again and again around the world in places where Anabaptist churches and agencies serve without knowing what other members of our global communion in the same place are doing. Anabaptist presence lacks power and impact when worldwide communication among our members and institutions is not fluid. This is one of the reasons why Mennonite World Conference has revisited and revised its communication strategy. This issue of Courier/Correo/Courrier describes how that new strategy is being implemented by harnessing the power of new media and prudently investing our resources where they’re needed most. The result, we hope, will be better communication among our members around the world.

Communication has the same root as other important words in MWC’s mission and vision: communion and community. It is not possible to have real communion with those with whom we do not communicate. It is impossible to build a global community if we do not talk each other on a regular basis. It is not possible to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15), if we do not know their joys as well as their sufferings.

Good communication makes possible the sharing of resources, experiences, gifts and weaknesses in a way that strengthens our service and testimony. Good communication enables us to network teams for more efficient and effective work in church planting, peacemaking, social development and education. What could happen if this work is done in a multicultural way and as an expression of Christ’s church? What could happen if we see our global family as an organic body that is interconnected and intercommunicated, instead of just a network of institutions? What could happen if we avoid duplication of efforts, while celebrating differences and diversity?

Some weeks ago I went to a meeting of Mennonite pastors in Bogotá. There were my two friends: the pastor and the European missionary. These two leaders have learned to communicate and to work together. As a result, the church has grown in many ways. Can we imitate their example? Can we keep building a global community through better communication? May we be one, so that the world may believe that Jesus was sent by our Father (John 17:21).

César García, MWC General Secretary, works out of the head office in Bogotá, Colombia.