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Perspectives
- The power of God at a funeral wake
- Discipleship in the family
- Holding space
- A rich and satisfying life
- The gospel without walls
Resources
- Mennonite World Conference Annual report: 2023
- Peace Sunday 2024 Worship Resources
- The unity of the Spirit
- AMBS-MWC collaboration forms leaders for the global church
- Feast at a buffet of music
- Executive Committee approves theological education and creation care grants
General Secretary
Inspiration and reflection
Sharing the food of life
“Anyone who tasted Jesus is good should tell others what he/she tasted.”
Evangelism is a scary word for many of us, but this simple advice offered by pastors in Ethiopia helps to simplify the task. Although we each bear responsibility to share the gospel, it is the Holy Spirit that changes hearts. Our job is merely to speak up about how we have experienced the goodness of God.
In this issue of Courier, we share stories of churches growing in different ways. Bursting at the seams with growing congregations, the leadership team of Meserete Kristos Church shares their 10 step strategy for church growth.
The local congregation of Anolaima in Colombia is growing trees and grass and birds as they plant seeds of the gospel in the hearts of visitors to their “IgleParque.”
And in secular Netherlands, a Mennonite retreat centre and associated camping network live out transforming lives in community, running toward the questions and letting God fill in the spaces.
You will also find testimonies of the church community fostering the growth of faith from the 2024 Renewal event in Curitiba, Brazil: Transformed, together we live Jesus. In our resource section, there is news to pique your interest in the upcoming 500th anniversary of Anabaptism.
Finally, we need to hear from you!
How have you been moved by the sharing you read in Courier? How have you shared that with your wider church community? We are seeking your opinion about what you find most valuable in Courier. Please scan the QR code here or visit here to fill out the survey.
This survey will only take five minutes of your time, but your response will help MWC keep Courier relevant for you and your church. Thank you for your help.
–Karla Braun is editor, writer and website coordinator for MWC. She lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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Inspiration and reflection
Perspectives
- Not just a tour; a pilgrimage
- Resistance, repentance and a sweet harvest
- Faith, history and actions
- A moment to relentlessly seek peace
Resources
- From our Leaders
- The Officers’ Column
- The Courage to Love: Anabaptism@500
- Becoming part of God’s bigger picture
- Survey
General Secretary
Word from the editor
Confession and much humility
“God is under the rubble in Gaza… He walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. If we want to pray, my prayer is that those who are suffering will feel this healing and comforting presence.”
Pastor, professor and author Munther Isaac preached these words of lament to his congregation in the West Bank in October. Shared on video and in print, they reverberated with challenge around the world in the months after as the piles of rubble grew higher.
This issue of Courier deals with a subject which is controversial at any time. As this issue goes to press, death has been rained down on two peoples in land called Israel, Palestine, the Holy Land, the Middle East, the Levant.
The subject “calls for confession and much humility,” says J. Daryl Byler, former Mennonite Central Committee service worker in Jordan.
Through Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonites have been contributing the education among Palestinian people since the 1940s. In a land steeped with churches, some Mennonite groups have chosen to leave an impression through service rather than church planting.
Mennonites also have a history with Jewish peoples. Early Anabaptists recognized the insights Judaism offers for our understanding of Jesus as a Jewish man and for resisting empire to pursue the reign of God. However, Mennonite and Jewish coexistence in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries were often not harmonious. In Nazi Germany, Mennonites were as likely to support the state as resist it.
“Christians have used the Bible to support both anti-Jewish and Christian Zionist positions. One position suggests that Jewish people are less than fully human and the other suggests that they are specially chosen and favoured,” says J. Daryl Byler. “Neither of these positions is consistent with the core biblical themes:
- God loves the world
- All people are created in God’s image
- God calls us to act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly
- Jesus calls us to love our neighbour as self
- “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
This issue takes a step away from the horror unfolding through our screens every day to consider those biblical themes and to share stories.
In our feature, scholars and practitioners share their readings of the Bible regarding the land and the peoples on it.
Our Perspectives authors share how their sojourn in this land has shaped their faith.
“We have to unlearn myths,” says Jonathan Kuttab, a Palestinian Christian with many points of intersection with Mennonites.
There are myths about Palestinian people to be unlearned and there are myths about Mennonite innocence with Jewish people that require humility and confession.
Holding power over other people, dehumanizing them does not build a world where anyone can flourish. It is certainly not the way of Jesus. Whether experiencing oppression, experiencing wealth, we all face temptations to blame others and destroy others for our own benefit – Israeli, Palestinian, Jewish, Mennonite or any other identity.
But as followers of Jesus, as we read our Bibles, may it call us to speak for those who are suffering, no matter which “side” they identify with. Let us walk through the valley with those in the shadow of death. Let us stand against injustice, no matter who is perpetuating it. And let us repent of how often we fail to discern injustice, speak with courage and act with love.
—Karla Braun is editor, writer and website coordinator for MWC. She lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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Inspiration and reflection
Perspectives
- From division to unification
- Dealing with difference
- Prayer for unity
- A jar of clay in God’s hands
- Desire for renewal leads to split
Country Profile
Resources
- Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday 2024
- From our Leaders
- “We start with what we have”
- Anabaptists on the streets of Zurich
- New tagline reinforces MWC Vision and Mission Statements
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 – with its strengths and weaknesses – was the result in many cases of a disagreement that was not resolved. Our personal histories may also contain memories of ill-managed conflict: relationships broken; leaders ostracized; churches divided.
This issue of Courier attempts to talk about it.
In our feature article, Daniel Schipani enters into the story of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. It’s a multicultural context for a disagreement on matters of spiritual importance. This was more than a question of whether to sing old songs or new!
But they sat down to talk.
Early in the formation of the church, in the face of a crucially important matter, the leaders – and the factions – faced their fears and discerned together. The unity of the church could persist despite diversity because it is a gift of God.
“The unity in Christ that God is creating reaches to the edges of space and time and beyond – and includes us all even when we don’t include each other!” says Larry Miller, former general secretary of MWC.
In his address to MWC’s General Council, Larry Miller offered three practices that could help us approach conflict in the church and come out with unity on the other side, without necessarily being uniform.
- a. Recognize Christ in one another. Even when the other seems wrong on points of theology and practice, can we acknowledge each other’s love for Christ and desire to follow him?
- b. Learning receptively from each other. Just as I think I have something to teach you about what Jesus really meant, so you may have something to teach me about faithfulness.
- c. Coming together as local congregation. In some cases, this is where the conflict lies! But can we remember even in conflict that no one has everything; but everyone has something? Swiss Mennonite theologian Hanspeter Jecker says “This recognition requires that the gifts of the individual contribute to the wellbeing of the whole…. Mutual encouragement and admonition are the foundations for…becoming a forgiving – as well as a forgiven – community.”
It won’t be comfortable, it won’t be quick and it will take courage. But instead of walking away from conflict, could we use these principles to walk toward conflict carrying the gift of unity, so that righteousness and peace may kiss?
—Karla Braun is editor of Courier and writer for Mennonite World Conference. She lives in Winnipeg, Canada.
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Inspiration and reflection
Perspectives
- Living every day is a miracle
- “We are peace-loving Mennonites”
- Hope takes action in despair
- Hope was never lost
- “If we do not give up…”
- Deep faith fills Bowls of Hope
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 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.
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Inspiration and reflection
Perspectives
- Is this climate change?
- Equipping our church to care for creation
- Lessons enter through different doors
- Love in a time of climate change
- Cleanliness is next to godliness
Country profile
Resources
- Resources on creation care
- YABs Fellowship Week 2023
- Annual report: 2022
- A prayer for frugal life
- Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday
General Secretary
Word from the editor
In crisis, a community of hope
More with Less is the title of a Mennonite-famous cookbook. Home economist and former MCC service worker Doris Longacre Janzen crafted this countercultural cookbook in the 1970s. It exemplifies Mennonite ideals of simplicity and takes inspiration from ways of being in parts of the world where time and treasure are valued differently.
“More with less” may seem like a promise destined to be broken. It may seem like a burden: asking for greater effort with reduced output.
Yet is not “more with less” what Jesus urges toward as he calls us to consider the lilies of the field (Luke 12:27)?
When Jesus urges us to love God above all and our neighbours as ourselves (Luke 10:26-28), is that not a call to find more community with less things? And might our neighbours include all living things?
After years of warnings, people in all parts of the world are beginning to see the fruition of climate change. We move from one record breaking season to another.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says: “our world needs action in all fronts – everything, everywhere, all at once.”
This issue of Courier shares some stories of how our “more with less” communities are acting.
We read about a congregation in Colombia calling members to examine their daily habits and choose ways of less waste. We see their efforts to motivate a community.
We read how creativity and beauty can be a motivator for young people in France to choose a simple life of following Jesus.
We read of communities affected by weather events in Indonesia and Zimbabwe – where people pull together to support each other.
We read how creation care, dignity and hope can be intertwined in Africa for flourishing communities where the gospel is shared in words and actions.
In Jesus, we have a model for “more with less.” We also have a framework for both individual and community action. God calls each of us to repentance and change of life – and equips us with the Holy Spirit and with a community of faith to journey together.
As we turn away from consuming, the church community can offer accountability in our choices. Together we can seek to find joy in actions that protect God’s creation – human, vegetable, animal and mineral – both near to us and around the world.
In our faith, we can find also the language of confession and repentance for this challenge to personal change and systemic revolution. As our faith communities, we can raise a collective voice to transform the systems of greed and consumption that make the better choices so hard.
The climate crisis is for many a cause for despair. Living more with less, Jesus Christ shows us a path to walk together with hope and Spirit.
— Karla Braun is editor of Courier and writer for Mennonite World Conference. She lives in Winnipeg, Canada.
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Inspiration and reflection
Perspectives
Worship through and after the pandemic
- Always trust in God
- Journeying into the unknown, tasting goodness now
- A lunch break in the presence of God
- Reading lessons in creation
Country profile
Resources
General Secretary
From the editor
“When the music fades, all is stripped away,” Those opening words to “Heart of Worship,” a popular 1997 worship song by Matt Redman from the UK resonate with pandemic experiences. We experienced a stripping away of rituals, spaces and/or people who seemed key to worship. Due to restrictions, prudence or incapacity, all of us had to examine what is the heart of our worship. What is integral to our meeting with God as a community?
This was a sort of kairos moment: an unplanned, unforeseen disruption; an opportunity to ask new questions and discover unanticipated answers; a time to examine and shift or reaffirm our values; a moment to equip us with fresh perspectives and new ways for new days.
Despite the challenges, as Anabaptist-Mennonites around the world, we did not stop worshipping. “The strength of our relationships is not found in the order of worship, nor in the time spent. The strength that sustains the life of a church and its relationship comes from the blessed presence of the Spirit of God, which has been poured into our hearts,” writes Jos Rafael Escobar Rosal.
We found ways to meet as a community in worship even without physical presence. We affirmed the prophetic nature of worship, speaking to our moment and reminding us of our solidarity with one another. “The force that gives life and depth to the relationships is indeed the grace and love of the Spirit of God, which produces the communion that transcends time, distance and place,” he writes.
In this issue of Courier, in addition to teaching on the nature of worship from “Brother Rafita” (see page 3-5), we hear stories from Guatemala, Canada, France, DR Congo and South Korea. Our churches share how their communities innovated to meet each other and meet God in spite of and/or because of pandemic challenges.
With the crisis of the pandemic mostly behind us, our rhythms of work and of gathering establish themselves again. Yet we find we are not the same as we were before. Our worship has and continues to change along with a rapidly changing world, even as we continue to follow our ageless Lord Jesus.
This issue also marks a shift in the Courier schedule. In the spirit of new ways for new days, we will publish four issues of Courier this year – two in your mailbox as you are accustomed, with two online only, taking advantage of our newfound comfort with virtual spaces, to meet in text across the barriers of time and geography. Please forward this to members of your church family who may not be signed up for the electronic mailing yet.
Karla Braun is editor of Courier and writer for Mennonite World Conference. She lives in Winnipeg, Canada.
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Plenary sermons
- Puppies and goats are welcome at the table
- Learning together to handle diversity
- Learning together to discern the will of God
- Practice before the storm
- We are the hands of God in times of crisis
- Living the good life is good and even necessary
- We do not lose heart
- United in the defence of life: water more precious than gold
- Interethnic and ecumenical work in violent contexts
- Let us mutually care for one another
- Intergenerational solidarity relationships
- How can I celebrate?
- ÒVery goodÓ in troubled times
- God’s love, forgiveness and reconciliation
- Returning home
Assembly overview
Assembly activities
- We speak the same language
- A good kind of infidel
- Assembly tours and service projects
- Assembly satellite locations
- Creative approaches Children’s program
- Youth program
- Global Youth Summit (GYS)
- Global Church Village
Perspectives
MWC leaders
Resources
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Feature
Perspectives
- Zimbabwe: Pentecostalism, Anabaptism and the Africa Christian climate
- India: Together proclaim the “manifold wisdom of God”
- Germany: Worshipping a living and active Spirit
- Brazil: Exuberance for the Spirit
- Canada: The brightest and best
MWC leaders
Assembly Update
Country profile
Resources
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Feature
- Believe and Be Baptized: A Global Conversation on Baptism
- Baptism in a barrel
- Giving and Receiving within the Body of Christ
MWC leaders
Assembly Update
- A Celebration of Cultures
Country profile
Resources
- Love neighbours: share vaccines
- God works in digital ways
- Meet your MWC Officers
- MWC Online Prayer Hour
- #OneLunch: What does lunch look like where you live?
- Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday worship materials
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Feature
Perspectives
- A form of peace, faith, testimony and mission
- God was always there: Mayas and Anabaptists – a spiritual encounter
- The messiness of actual life: interreligious work in Berlin, Germany
- Together for dialogue: testimony of Fab Traor’s relation with Muslims
- God’s wisdom and goodness: religious difference can bring people together
MWC leaders
Assembly Update
Country profile
- Paseduluran: Indonesian churches live out the gospel of peace
Resources
- MWC continues pastoral response to COVID-19
- Renewal 2021
- Meet your Operations Team
- MWC Online Prayer Hour
- Fellowship is stronger than lockdowns
- YABs Fellowship Week: Perseverance – hope in suffering
- Peace Sunday: Finding Hope and Healing in Crisis
