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Prayer for unity
Switzerland In recent years, the Mennonite theological school Bienenberg Training Centre in Switzerland has offered a “Hot Topics” course, which gives voice to opposing perspectives on current hot topics in the churches. As they hear points they agree or disagree with, the attendees are invited to engage with their own sensibilities and convictions: to listen…
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Courier 2023 / 38.4
Inspiration and reflection Perspectives Country Profile Resources General Secretary Word from the editor Making space and time for conflict We don’t like to talk about it. The unity of Christ seems to be easier to maintain separately. Our tradition as Mennonite peacemakers results from a split from the wider church, and our plurality today –…
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“We need one another”
Meet Vikal Rao, Rajnandgaon, India. Member of the Deacons Commission. How do you serve MWC? I am serving officially as a member of the Deacons Commission (2018-2025). My journey with MWC started in 1997: I was a youth steward in the Global Church Village (GCV) during the Assembly in India. Then, I was the first GYS representative…
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Conflict in the church: Lessons from Acts 15
I grew up in a Mennonite congregation in Argentina. I remember the preaching and teaching on forgiveness and reconciliation both within the church family and also in relating with those outside the faith community. I also remember situations involving tension and even the threat of division. Some of the concerns: diverging views on women’s use…
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Eco-theology reconciles the church with nature
You are invited! Join us for Climate Pollinators, a webinar series on creation care. See below! When human beings were created in Genesis, “This was the first mission of the human… to both enjoy but also to protect and take care of creation,” says Danang Kristiawan. Danang Kristiawan is the pastor of the GITJ (Gereja…
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Building resilience in church members
Like many in Zimbabwe, Sukoluhle Ncube splits her time between the city where her family lives and works, and the rural community where they farm, 40 minutes away. “Most of the people have two homes,” Sukoluhle Ncube says. “In the town, you come and work and all that, but in the village that’s where we…
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Serving “the least significant of the brothers and sisters of Jesus”
Established in 1962, the Fellowship of Mennonite Churches in Taiwan (FOMCIT) is a conference of 24 congregations in Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Hualien. It is a branch of Anabaptism, and a member of Asia Mennonite Conference and Mennonite World Conference. Impacted by COVID-19, the total baptized membership in 2022 was 1 935. The ministries of…
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Meet MWC vice-president Lisa Carr-Pries
I am grateful for the global church. For many, it has years broadened my understanding of the world beyond my local context and has helped me raise my children to be globally conscious human beings. It definitely changed the course of my life and deepened my faith and spirituality. I have hope for the relevance…
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The rule of ayni: reciprocal relationship
In Kichwa, there is a word, ayni, that describes the rule and practice of interdependence. “One does not exist unless the community exists,” says Julian Guamán. In the Kichwa worldview, that community includes all of creation, not just humans. Ayni dictates that as members of the community, humans have a responsibility to be in reciprocal…
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Universally appealing core values
Meet Hiro Katano of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan Member of the Faith & Life Commission. How do you serve MWC? I have been a General Council member, representing Nihon Menonaito Kirisuto Kyokai Kyogikai (Japan Mennonite Christian Church Conference), since 2016. I serve MWC by connecting it with my church conference through correspondence, information, translation and…
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Courier 2023 / 38.3
Inspiration and reflection Perspectives Country Profile Resources General Secretary Word from the editor Partake in this global communion 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…
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Renewal: the core of the gospel
Over the past 100 years, the world has changed immensely and at the same time, not so very much, says Henk Stenvers; both then and now, there is nationalism and polarization in church and society, and even war in Ukraine. As we prepare to mark 100 years of MWC and 500 years of Anabaptism in…
