Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • “Believe and Be Baptized”

    The Anabaptist-Mennonite Tradition

    History, theology and pastoral challenges

    6 June 2021

    John D. Roth

    Giving and Receiving within the Body of Christ

    Learning from the Mennonite-Catholic-Lutheran Conversations on Baptism

    13 June 2021

    Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld

  • Mission and Migration
    the volume from Latin America, released in 2010 (also available in Spanish and French).

  • Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church
    Lutheran-Mennonite-Roman Catholic Trilateral Conversations 2012–2017

    Report of the Lutheran-Mennonite-Roman Catholic Trilateral Dialogue Commission

    On behalf of The Lutheran World Federation
    Mennonite World Conference
    Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity

    The Mennonite Quarterly Review

    95 (January 2021)

    In This Issue
    Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church: Lutheran-Mennonite-Roman Catholic Trilateral Conversations, 2012-2017

    “Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church: A Lutheran Reflection” by Timothy Wengert
    “Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church:A Catholic Reflection” by Peter Casarella
    “Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church: A Mennonite Reflection”by Irma Fast Dueck

  • A teaching resource from the Faith and Life Commission

    What does it mean for member churches of Mennonite World Conference to share an Anabaptist identity? What is the value of Anabaptist “tradition” – and what does that word mean in a global context? What are our Anabaptist understandings of mission and fellowship?

    In 2009, the newly appointed Faith and Life Commission was asked to produce three papers that could be used in helping MWC communities reflect on such questions:

    • “A Holistic Understanding of Fellowship, Worship, Service, and Witness from an Anabaptist Perspective” by Alfred Neufeld Friesen of Paraguay;
    • “The ‘Anabaptist Tradition’ – Reclaiming its Gifts, Heeding its Weaknesses” by Hanspeter Jecker of Switzerland; and
    • “Koinonia – The Gift We Hold Together” by Tom Yoder Neufeld of Canada.

    All three papers were approved as a teaching resource by the MWC General Council in May 2012.


    The word koinonia has rightly become a central term and concept for Mennonite World Conference. In addresses, publications and programmatic efforts, leaders have been nudging the global Anabaptist community to a deeper relationship with each other. Even when we don’t use the word koinonia itself, much of the terminology we use depends on it: meeting needs, mutual encouragement, gift giving and receiving, fellowship, interdependence, solidarity, consensus, communion, community, unity, being “together”…

  • A Conversation between Mennonite World Conference and the Seventh-day Adventist Church 2011-2012

    In 2011 and 2012, representatives of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and of the Mennonite World Conference met together for official conversations. In many respects the meetings proved to be a journey of mutual discovery.

    Background

    Mennonites and Adventists have had frequent contacts during the past forty years, particularly through their participation in the annual meetings of the secretaries of Christian World Communions. These periodic encounters, along with other contacts, gradually led to the conviction on both sides that an official conversation might be both instructive and valuable.Adventists and Mennonites have distinct identities that are critically important to them. From the outset of discussions leading to the conversation, it was understood that organic union was not the objective. Rather, the dialogue would provide an opportunity for learning about each other’s history, beliefs and values, clarifying misunderstandings, and removing stereotypes. Out of the discussion, therefore, might emerge areas where Mennonites and Adventists can join forces in selected areas of mutual concern.The two communions, viewed superficially, might appear to have little in common.

  • A teaching resource from the Faith & Life commission

    Mennonite World Conference embarked on the first formal dialogue process with the Baptist World Alliance in 1989. Since then, MWC has entered into conversations with Lutheran World Federation, Seventh Day Adventists, Catholics, and, most recently, a five-year trilateral dialogue with Lutherans and Catholics. Seeing the value of these dialogues, the Faith and Life Commission developed this document to give MWC national churches and local congregations a better understanding of the theological basis for ecumenical hospitality and why we think such conversations are consistent with Anabaptist values.

    The document was approved as an MWC teaching resource by the General Council in Limuru, Kenya, April 2018.

  • Presented to the General Council of Mennonite World Conference Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, July 2015
    By Alfred Neufeldof Paraguay

  • Guide for study and reflection on

    Baptism and Incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church: The Report of the Trilateral Conversations between Lutherans, Mennonites and Catholics 2012-2017

    by Thomas R Yoder Neufeld, on behalf of the Faith and Life Commission

    This study guide is an aid for member churches of the Mennonite World Conference to receive and process the “Report” (The Report of the Trilateral Conversations between Lutherans, Mennonites, and Catholics, 2012-2017) on the trilateral conversations on baptism. It has been prepared on behalf of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Faith and Life Commission (FLC) by Thomas Yoder Neufeld, Chair of the FLC, with the benefit of consultation with numerous persons in MWC, the FLC and participants in the Trilateral Conversations.

    This guide is not a replacement for the rich and carefully worded Report. By distilling the content and adhering to the structure of the Report the guide provides an outline or road map. Readers of the guide are thus directed to the numbered paragraphs in the Report itself (e.g. [§ 120]). Quotation marks identify when specific words or phrases are taken from the Report.

    The guide adheres to the structure of the Report:

    • Chapter One focuses on the relationship of baptism to sin and grace [§§ 7-54]
    • Chapter Two on communicating grace and faith in relation to baptism [§§ 55-83]
    • Chapter Three on baptism and discipleship [§§ 84-112].
    • The Conclusion identifies the convictions, gifts,challenges and considerations [§§ 113-164].

    Throughout the guide readers will find questions for reflection on and testing of the Report. In keeping with the intentions of the participants in the Trilateral Conversations, the questions are intended to lead to a deepening of commitment to baptism and discipleship. Readers are, of course, not limited to these questions.

    We give thanks to and for the MWC delegates to the Trilateral Conversations:

    • †Alfred Neufeld Friesen (Paraguay),
    • co-chair; Larry Miller (France/USA),
    • co-secretary; Fernando Enns (Germany);
    • Rebecca Osiro (Kenya); and
    • John D. Rempel (Canada).

    We give thanks also for the Catholic and Lutheran conversation partners who journeyed the path of unity in Christ together with them.

  • God’s Shalom Project, by Bernhard Ott

  • Biblical Foundations

    1. Throughout the whole Bible, we see God working in history to create a faithful people, a people comprising members “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” (Genesis 15:5; 17:4-7; Revelation 7:9)
    2. When Jesus met with his disciples near the end of his earthly life, Jesus prayed that those who would follow him “might be one.” (John 17:20-23)
    3. In his ministry, the Apostle Paul worked ceaselessly for unit y, even in situations of serious division and among those whose doctrines he saw as misguided and wrong.
      (1 Corinthians 1:12-13; Romans 12:1-15; 13; Philippians 2)
    4. We see Christian unity, therefore, not as an option we might choose or as an outcome we could create, but as an urgent imperative to be obeyed.

    Our Situation

    1. As Mennonites and Brethren in Christ, we give thanks to God for brothers and sisters of other traditions around the globe who accept the claims of Scripture and seek to live as followers of our Lord.
    2. We confess that we have not done all we could have to follow God’s call to relate in love and mutual counsel with other brothers and sisters who confess the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and who seek to follow him.
    3. We have seen peacemaking and reconciliation as callings of all Christian disciples, but we confess that we have not done all we could have to overcome divisions within our circles and to work toward unit y with other brothers and sisters.
    4. We recognize that we find our identity and mission, not in isolation, but in interaction with others with whom God has placed us as fellow inhabitants of God’ s world in this time and place.
    5. As members of the Mennonite World Conference family, we recognize that God has given us some unique faith experiences and insights we can contribute to other Christians.
    6. We recognize that there is much we can learn from Christians of other traditions.
    7. We recognize that our relationships with others will be strengthened as we become more secure and more firmly grounded in our faith.
    8. Confessions of faith have been prepared by many of our conferences; we appreciate the opportunities they provide for sharing our understandings with one another and strengthening each other in our Christian faithfulness.

    Cooperative Efforts

    1. We should not refuse to witness and serve in some ways with others just because we cannot do everything with them. In such cooperative efforts, we should not go beyond the extent of the unity we have found and thereby depreciate the meaning of truth and unity.

    Present and Future Relationships

    1. We give thanks for the relationships many of our members and congregations have with Christian brothers and sisters in their local communities.
    2. We are grateful for the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ groups who actively participate in global, national, and local inter-confessional church fellowships and councils; we encourage consideration of such relationships where it is discerned that these can further unity and common witness.
    3. We seek to be sensitive to the ways our relationships with others are affected by the different contexts in which we find ourselves around the world, with differing memories of past experiences, experiences of present persecution, situations with respect to the relative sizes of conversation partners, power balance factors, etc.
    4. The Mennonite World Conference and national conference groups can help our churches by providing written materials and leadership to guide existing and new conversations and relationships with other traditions and movements, and to deepen our understanding of the faith we confess.
    5. Biblical studies and fresh accounts of our common history of Anabaptists who took the initiative in seeking to relate to others would help ground us for the initiatives we need to take today.

    Prayer for Renewal

    1. With other believers around the world, we pray for the leading and renewal of the Holy Spirit as we seek to be God’s faithful people in our time:

    “Renew your church, O Lord, and make us instruments of your peace! “


    Date Adopted: 22 July 1998
    Adopted By: MWC Executive Committee and MC-GC Interchurch Relations Committee
    Location Adopted: Goshen, Indiana, USA


  • The Global Mennonite History Series consists of five volumes of history, one from each continental region. Writers from each region trace the origins, development and mission of the Anabaptist-related churches there, reflecting the experiences, understandings and perspectives of these churches.

    This fresh offering of history is the first time some of these churches have cooperated in telling their story in their own voice. Themes in one book differ from those in another. This telling of the story of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches is intended “to stimulate the renewal and extension of Anabaptist Christianity worldwide.” This series helps readers to understand what the North American religious magazine Christian Century calls “the shift in church energy, leadership and numbers from North to South, from developed to developing nations.”

    The Global Mennonite History Series was initiated by Mennonite World Conference at its thirteenth global assembly in Calcutta, India in January 1997. The series was guided by an international organizing committee whose members represent all five continental regions. General editors are John A. Lapp and C. Arnold Snyder.

    The series includes the following five volumes:

    (All volumes in English, with translations of some into selected languages)

    Anabaptist Songs in African Hearts

    1. Anabaptist Songs in African Hearts, 
    released in 2003 at the 14th global assembly in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (also available in Spanish and French).

    Testing Faith and Tradition

    2. Testing Faith and Tradition,
    the volume from Europe, released in 2006 (also available in Spanish, French, German and Dutch). 

    Mission and Migration

    3. Mission and Migration,
    the volume from Latin America, released in 2010 (also available in Spanish and French)

    Seeking Places of Peace

    4. Seeking Places of Peace,
    the volume from North America, released in 2012. 

    Churches Engage Asian Traditions

    5. Churches Engage Asian Traditions,
    the volume from Asia, released in 2011.

    English-language books are available at Mennonite Life (formerly Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society) (USA) and Pandora Press (Canada)
    Dutch translation of Volume II, Geloof en Traditie beproefd, available at http://www.mennosimonsshop.nl
    German translation of Volume II, Glaube und Tradition in der Bewährungsprobe, available at http://www.neufeld-verlag.de