The working group and project “Chant Anabaptiste” (anabaptist singing) began at the MWC Assembly in Asunción, Paraguay, 2009.
The working group has met twice a year or more since then. It offers a calendar with scripture references for worship and music suggestions and arranges for articles on songs for the French monthly “Christ Seul”. The website chantanbaptiste.ch site aims to :
create a link between people interested in community singing or personal approach
encourage reflection on the place of singing in worship planning
Invite reflection on the message a song conveys
allow a judicious choice of songs according to the different moments of the liturgical year, the biblical text meditated on, the community or personal situation experienced
inform on the organization of music writing and composing workshops
participate in the reflection on the creation of a collection of Anabaptist songs in French.
In this perspective, the working group seeks above all to play a facilitating role.
Across the globe, more than 41 million people – around half of them children – are now at risk of starvation in 43 countries. The global hunger crisis is driven by conflict, by climate change; and by the economic impacts of COVID-19. Even in countries where some have an abundance of food, many people are lacking the basics.
Mennonite World Conference is working with a large group of Christian churches and networks to launch a weekend of prayer and action 16-17 October 2021. This will coincide with World Food Day on 16 October.
Global church and network partners include ACT Alliance, Integral Alliance, Lutheran World Federation, Micah Global, Organization of African Instituted Churches, Salvation Army, World Council of Churches, World Evangelical Alliance, World Methodist Council and World Vision International.
It will be a time for us, as followers of Christ, to unite across denominations in solidarity with our sisters and brothers, praying for them and with them, so that they can live their lives without hunger, with dignity, in all life’s fullness, experiencing the grace and love of God.
During the course of the weekend, we invite our members to share a meal with other families and individuals, offer your prayers for those who are hungry, and reflect on the causes and impacts of hunger.
On Sunday, 17 October 2021, we encourage local congregations to focus on this global hunger crisis in their Sunday service.
Across the globe more than 41m people – around half of them children–are at risk of falling into famine in 43 countries. Famine is preventable and has no place in the 21st century. These people are not starving, they are being starved by conflict and violence; by inequality; the impacts of climate change; and by a fight against COVID-19 that has left them even further behind.
Time is running out. Action must be taken now to prevent the needless deaths of tens of thousands of children. If the world stands by and does too little too late, children will starve to death. Hunger will also force children and their families to make dangerous survival choices, such as child marriage or child labour, and this will have lasting harmful consequences for girls and boys.
Up to 811 million people were hungry in 2020, up by 161 million from 2019. This is a 25% increase from 2019, which is greater than the total increase over the past 5 years. Hunger increased in all regions of the world. Asia has the largest total number of hungry people, but Africa has the highest proportion of its population.
In our time of worship, we will focus on the invitation from Jesus to follow him – ‘Feed my sheep.’
We have the assurance that God sees and knows and hears the cry of each person experiencing hunger in the world today and invites us to participate in their redemption, ensuring that the daily needs of all people can be met. Our response, in hope-filled obedience, is to join in God’s redemptive work in the world.
Download worship resource below, a collaboration with ecumenical partners (Micah Global, Integral Alliance, ACT Alliance, World Methodist Community, Lutheran World Federation, The Salvation Army, World Council of Churches, WEA, World Vision) ⬇️
Liturgy: Sharing food with the Hungry Ð Isaiah 58: 6-12
Conflict; an uneven global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; the effects of climate change; high inflation; as well as the rising cost of food, fuel, and fertiliser are driving a polycrisis that is pushing tens of millions of girls, boys, and their families into extreme hunger.
The number of people affected by acute food insecurity has nearly doubled over the past three years, from 135 million people across 55 countries and territories in 2019 to a record 258 million in 58 countries in 2022 Ð even more than last year’s mid-year projection that, without urgent action, 222 million across 53 countries and territories could face Ôcrisis’ (IPC 3) conditions or worse.
In the face of dire statistics, we know that hunger has a nameÉ
Seven-month-old Hamdi weighed only 8.8 pounds in June when she arrived at a nurition clinic in Baidoa, Somalia. Health workers found her to have severe acute malnutrition, exacerbated by acute watery diarrhea and measles. Drought in Somalia is not only impacting access to food.
Ten year old Peter in Kenya, whose family’s food supply has been impacted by drought and climate change.
1-year old Nadia in Afghanistan, displaced and experiencing severe malnutrition.
Nadia, Hamdi and Peter found help and support…but the situation globally remains a significant challenge. And hunger is in every neighbourhood and community.
These realities are true in a world where there is enough to feed everyone….and so we pray for justice, for hearts to act and serve and for systems to change to take steps to end hunger.
for the Weekend of Prayer and Action Against Hunger October 11-13, 2024
For this Weekend of Prayer and Action Against Hunger, Christians from all around the world will gather for prayer and worship around the theme of global hunger and food justice.
We offer this guide to support worship planners to develop a service of prayer or worship that fits your local context. You will find selections of prayers to choose from, which are offered to be used or adapted for your own community’s context.
“Enough to Share”
There are shared meals one will never forget. Years ago, I visited churches in Zimbabwe. It was a difficult time with incredibly high inflation and political turmoil with violence. We passed by a church building under construction in the suburbs of Harare. It was a working day. Spontaneously people came when they saw our cars. We sang and prayed together.
We were about to leave, but someone asked us to stay. Women went to their homes and came back soon with chicken, rice, and salad. We sat down and shared a meal together. What a sign of love and welcome. I was blessed by the gracious gift of food, hospitality, and care. It was like light rising in the darkness. I was reminded that God’s kingdom is not a future dream. It becomes real in the middle of the injustices and hardships we are facing, such as increase of hunger, wars, armed conflicts, climate change, most affecting those who only cause few carbon emissions, etc. God’s kin-dom is real, today, when we share food with one another, explore new ways to grow wheat and vegetables, see Christ in the stranger and become God’s beloved community.
Follow up questions:
Do you remember meals that touched and even changed your life?
With whom could you share food? Perhaps you wish to reach out to people with whom you never met for a meal?
Look at your life and at your community in the light of God’s promises in Isaiah 58,6-12.
Any thoughts on how these promises transform yourself, your community and the world?
On a table at the front, place five candles of different colours for each continent on top of a map of the world (or beside a globe) along with a white candle as the Christ candle in the middle.
At the start of the worship service, name each continent as its candle is lit, acknowledging brothers and sisters in each continent.
Light the Christ candle last (or first) as the source of light for the church everywhere.
Call to worship
Use this call to worship based on Psalm 133 near the start of the service.
Though we may be inclined to brag, let us come together with humility. How good a thing it is when all of God’s people live together in unity.
Though we may be tempted to use harsh words, let us come together with gentleness. How good a thing it is when all of God’s people live together in unity.
Though we may want everything to happen quickly, let us come together with patience. How good a thing it is when all of God’s people live together in unity.
Though the world around often encourages hate, let us come together in love. How good a thing it is when all of God’s people live together in unity.
In humility, gentleness, patience, love, and unity, Let us worship the God who has called us together.
—written by Reverend Joanna Harader, a Mennonite pastor in Kansas, USA
Commission
Use this commission & benediction based on 1 John 4:7-21 at the end of the service.
Go now, to love the world and all who inhabit it, because love is from God.
Proclaim God’s salvation to every people.
Remain in Jesus Christ, and like plants in a garden, draw your life from God.
And may God, the Creator, tend you and make you flourish;
May Christ Jesus abide in you and give you life;
And may the Holy Spirit cast out all fear and fill you with God’s love.
We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
…In the name of Christ. Amen.
—written by Reverend Gerald Hildebrand, a Mennonite pastor in Manitoba, Canada
Benediction
Use this call and response from Africa as a benediction at the end of the service.
Our sense of smell is one of the most interesting senses we have. Smell can bring pleasant memories of a meal you loved as a child, and unpleasant odours can elicit disgust.
Church unity is like your sense of smell: it fills you with hope and strength when you experience it, or it makes you want to disengage and run away when poorly managed conflicts make it evaporate.
This is what Psalm 133 is all about.
Literary context
Psalm 133 is part of a group of 15 psalms referred to as“songs of ascents”.
The first psalm in the collection, Psalm 120, expresses the pain of discord and hostility while Psalm 133, at the end of the collection, responds to the question asked in Psalm 120: How can we speak about peace in the midst of a society that chooses war?
Historical context
It’s possible that the pilgrims who had lived through the exile used the songs of ascent when they would go to Jerusalem to celebrate a major festival. These are brief psalms that, when sung, reinforce beliefs and fundamental values that remind us of oppressive contexts and suffering like that of the Israelites in exile.
A study of the passage
The visible reality of unity
Even though some versions do not translate the first word following the title, hinneh, or “look”, is very significant. The invitation in the text to “look” indicates that the unity of God’s people is not merely something spiritual or something we only enjoy after death. The unity of God’s people is a tangible reality that can be seen and experienced in the here and now.
In the second century, Tertullian said, “Look how they love one another”.
The drawing reality of unity
Unity is a blessing that brings more blessings; it is a lengthy and abundant life; it is the aroma that spreads; it is the dew that soaks.
Just as a pleasant smell draws people, the unity of God’s people is something that everyone longs to experience and becomes irresistible when it is found. It is like when you are very hungry and pass by a restaurant that emits the aroma of your favourite dish.
In the same way, when you find unity in the middle of a sea of discord and conflict, you don’t want to let go of it.
The received reality of unity
The passage speaks of oil and dew that descend. The oil flows to the collar of the priest’s vestments where the precious stones on his chest symbolize the tribes of Israel. The dew brings coolness and fertility from Mount Hermon to Mount Zion.
This is what characterises the unity of the Israelites: It’s given by God and received by God’s people.
True unity is not built or reached through human agreements about doctrine and practice; it is a gift from God.
Application
Psalm 133 describes the reality of unity without explaining how to receive it in practice. Colossians 3:14 affirms that love makes unity possible. 1 John 4:7-21 explains that love is the only evidence that we know God. Divisions in the body of Christ are like a stench that repels others.
Meanwhile, church unity attracts others through the evidence of a supernatural love that unites disciples in harmony despite their differences.
We pray that the next 500 years in the history of the Anabaptist movement are marked with the love, reconciliation, and the gift of unity that draws those who are weary of a destructive world full of division, nationalism, political polarization and interminable wars.
—César García is general secretary of Mennonite World Conference. Originally from Colombia, he lives in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, with his wife Sandra Baez.
Prepared by the YABs Committee for 16-23 June 2024
Theme:
Mosaic: We are God’s handiwork
Why this theme was chosen:
This theme highlights our part in God’s greater purpose. Like pieces of tile, alone, we cannot see our value. Sometimes, we may think we are insignificant, but when God puts us together with the right people and places, we fit: we find our purpose and realize our value.
Biblical text:
Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith Ð and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God Ð not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)
Genesis 1:27 So God created humans in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (NRSV)
During this week, youth and young adult groups from all over the world can encourage each other and celebrate as one young adult Anabaptist community.
How can you participate?
Here are some suggestions!
Use and adapt the materials …
(Scripture, songs, discussion questions, prayer requests, testimonies, media, etc.) for use in your youth/young adult group that week. Watch for these materials on Facebook and our website.
Organize a YABs Fellowship Week event…
with other youth/young adult groups! Use the opportunity to enjoy fellowship with other Anabaptist communities. It doesn’t have to be complicated; just get together to worship, play, discuss, and pray Рin person or online.
Join the discussion…
in a private Facebook group or on Discord and meet other YABs from around the world. Share conversations on your different perspectives.
We want to share your testimony on the impact of participating in the Global Youth Summit, a story of how God is working in your local context, a meaningful worship song or a prayer or prayer request. Please send your song, prayer or story via social media messenger, Discord or email no later than end of July.
To: All Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Anabaptist-related churches in the world
Dear brothers and sisters,
It is with great joy that we share the materials for Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday (AWFS) with all of you. MWC creates worship resource materials three times a year for member churches: Peace Sunday (17 September 2023), YABs (Young AnaBaptists) Fellowship Week (3rd week of June) and for Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday (21 January 2024).
Each year for AWFS, we encourage Anabaptist-related churches across the globe to use a common theme in a worship service to connect with our global Anabaptist family. Many churches choose to celebrate on the Sunday closest to 21 January, although some choose Pentecost Sunday or other alternate dates. On 21 January 1525, the first Anabaptist baptism took place in Zurich, Switzerland.
AWFS is an opportunity to remind our communities of faith that we are all part of one body made up of many tribes, languages and nations (Revelation 7:9).
It is proclamation that there is no discrimination among us on any basis (Galatians 3:28).
It is a demonstration that we are following Jesus as new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) who mutually support one another, walk with those who suffer, serve the world and interdependently learn together.
On this day, we celebrate that by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ has overcome the cultural and national boundaries that separate us.
AWFS makes it possible for every local congregation to join in shared worship, in spirit, in their own time, own place and in their own way.
Each year, a different part of our global communion assembles worship resources for AWFS. The theme for AWFS 2024 is ÒMosaic: becoming a part of God’s bigger pictureÓ, with the worship resources coming from our Latin American sisters and brothers.
The materials contain biblical texts, prayers, song suggestions, sermon ideas, stories and videos and a special poster.
Worship leaders and pastors can select a little or a lot to celebrate AWFS in whatever way they desire. We hope all local congregations will acknowledge belonging to this global faith family in some form in January 2024.
Please note that MWC has a Speakers’ Bureau where you can invite MWC leaders to share virtually in local congregations.
At MWC, we welcome your comments, photos and reflections about AWFS to share with other members of our global faith family.
Send photos and stories via email to photos@mwc-cmm.org.
Offerings received on this day and shared with MWC contribute toward each member church’s Fair Share contributions and help our global community to continue as a foreshadowing of the kingdom of God in the midst of our society.
Grace and peace,
César García, General Secretary Arli Klassen, Regional Representatives Coordinator
Mennonite World Conference has many members, each one different from the others, and yet together the members create a beautiful picture of the body of Christ.
Bethel Mennonite Church in Balodgahan, India celebrates Peace Sunday 2022. Photo: Ashish Milap
Community Mapping
Creating a social “family” tree
Purpose: to highlight the many and broad social connections that we as communities of faith have.
In advance: create, out of construction paper, a tree trunk with a few branches. Tape or attach the tree trunk on to a wall.
Create larger branches that can symbolize members of the faith community.
Create smaller branches for communities church members are connected to (e.g., school, another congregation or church structure, other church ministries, workplaces, etc.)
Out of paper, form leaves of many colours
Invite members to add their name to a branch.
From those branches, each member can then begin to highlight the different social connections that they may have.
Use leaves to highlight specific people to whom one is connected through the different “branches”. Take the time to validate the things that have or can cause chaos.
Hopefully this result in a beautiful, wide, vibrant and colourful tree that expands across the wall, highlighting the many connections the church community has.
With permission, send your story and photo to photo@mwc-cmm.org to share with the global Anabaptist family.
Lacao Mennonite Bible Church in Lumban, Laguna (IMC – Philippines) celebrates Peace Sunday in 2022 by singing international songs and creating the peace garden (suggested activity from the worship resource) where members write on the fruits and vegetables about “how we can make an impact in the community.” Photo: Regina Mondez
