As presented to the Mennonite World Conference General Council, Limuru, Kenya, 24 April 2018

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Part I “All things gathered in Christ”

God is a gatherer
The Old Testament
The New Testament
Ephesians 1:10 – The Secret is Out! God is gathering all things in Christ!
Ephesians 2:11-22 – For He is “our” Peace
The near and the far
Conclusion – Anabaptists and the “gathering of all things”

Part II “Unity of the Spirit – the creation of body and temple”

Spirit (ruach/pneuma) – energy, breath, wind
The unity of the Spirit
- 1. Spirit as energy or power
- 2. Spirit as breath
- 3. Spirit as wind
The body of Christ, the womb in which the new human is being formed
The temple of God – a home from recycled material
Unity and diversity
Anabaptists and Spirit

Part III “Maintaining the Unity of the Spirit – when walking together is hard”

We do not walk alone
How do we walk together?
Humility, patience, suffering each other
Forgiveness
Speaking truth WITH the neighbour
Seeing the face of God in each other
Does the bond ever tear? Does the chain break?

At time of writing, Thomas R Yoder Neufeld is chair of the Faith and Life Commission. He is retired as professor of religious studies (New Testament) and peace and conflict studies at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.