• English

Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • Theme

    The Courage to Love

    Why this theme was chosen

    The first baptisms in the Anabaptist tradition took place in secret in Zurich, Switzerland, on 21 January 1525. A small group of Jesus-followers acted together with courage on their shared understanding of Scripture and the church, different from their political and religious context. Today there are churches all over the world in the Anabaptist tradition, acting together with courage to love each other, different from our political and religious contexts that too often pull us apart.

    Biblical text options

    • Old Testament: Genesis 50:15-21
    • Psalm: Psalm 133
    • Gospel: Luke 7:36-50
    • New Testament: 1 John 4:7-21

    In This Package

    Additional Resource

    Multimedia resources online

    Written resources online in English, Español, Français, Deutsch, हिंदी and Português

    Poster AWFS-02
    AWFS 2025 ENDOWNLOAD
    Poster AWFS-01 1

  • Transmission is the title given to a series of 5 films of 10 minutes which present Anabaptist thought to people around the world to encourage a life of faith created by Affox AG, a multimedia production company. We would like to do this by providing a glimpse at the journeys we experience as disciples of Jesus in different parts of the world. It is our hope however, to strengthen our sense of shared identity and community in the midst of all the diversity present throughout the Anabaptist body. Young people represent one of the important target audiences.

    Find also a study guide for sharing questions about the film in small group or youth groups.

    Transmission 2023 Migration

    Transmission 2023 – English

    “How worldwide migration an displaced persons are being supported by loving and caring people.” This global phenomenon is the subject of 2023’s Transmission video.

    In this video, young Mennonites in Greece, Lebanon, Colombia, USA and DR Congo share about their work of welcoming displaced persons.

    Transmission 2023 Migrations Study Guide ENDownload

    Transmission 2022 Latin America

    Transmission 2022 – English

    The third production in the Transmission series focusing on creation care is ready for viewing. Ophelia, a Swiss woman, after living and working in Costa Rica, wondered what she could learn from her contemporaries in Latin America on the subject. The production includes stories from Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador and Honduras. This production ends with challenge triggered by an enterprise in the Netherlands as a way of inspiring all viewers, young and old to think and act boldly and with vision when it comes to creation care. 

    transmission_creation_care_2022_study_guide-enDownload

    Transmission 2021 Indonesia

    Transmission 2021 – English

    In Transmission, Hani and Adi share amazing faith journeys while they relate as Mennonites (a small minority) and Muslims (a large majority) in Indonesia. Hani reflects on how she sees the face of God in the people (both Muslim and Christian) she encounters in the remote village of Tempur, high in the mountains of Jepara. Adi introduces us to the power of interfaith dialogue and the resulting transformation of Solo from a city of violence to a city of peace. 

    From Indonesia we jump to the Netherlands where the relationship between Anabaptists and Muslims is impacted by a Muslim minority.  

    Canadians, Europeans, and Indonesians worked together to bring this unique production to life. 

    transmission2021_indonesia_study_guideDownload

    Transmission Ethiopia 2020

    Transmission 2020 – English

    Transmission Ethiopia 2020 introduces its audiences to the Meserete Kristos Church through their experience with persecution (and freedom of religion), spiritual maturity, the place of youth in the church, the importance of music and prayer life. In this case, SalomŽ, a French young adult reflects (after her return to France from her visit to Ethiopia), on what she learned from her peers and elders in the church. 

    We hope to gain a young generation of people who will be involved in making the next in the series and the final 90-minute documentary which we hope to expand to a secular audience in 2025. For the moment, we are targeting the Christian world.

    Video in English, Spanish, French, German, Amharic subtitles

    –release by Affox AG

    Transmission2020-Ethiopia study guideDownload
    Transmission 2020 – Amharic

  • Invite the global church into your congregation!

    MWC member congregations are welcome to invite one MWC speaker per year to bring a message from the global Anabaptist-Mennonite family. This may be for Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday, Peace Sunday or any day you wish to give special attention to the global family.

    Please consider giving an honorarium appropriate for your region. Contact contributions@mwc-cmm.org for assistance with money transfer if needed.

    Any MWC speaker may be asked to present via live video link (subject to internet connectivity) or a pre-recorded video. If travel is required from outside the region, the host congregation should cover travel costs.

    NameTopics, specific expertiseLocationLanguages

    Officers

    César García
    		Unity in the church, restorative justice, church and state, Anabaptism; biblical textsCanada (Eastern Time UTC -4)English, Spanish
    Henk Stenvers
    		Global faith community, Body of Christ, Sermon on the MountNetherlands (Central European Time UTC +2)English, (Spanish or French if pre-recorded)
    Lisa Carr-Pries
    		Global faith communityCanada (Eastern Time UTC -4)English
    Sunoko Lin
    		7 churches in Revelation; biblical textsCalifornia (Pacific Time UTC -7)English, Indonesian

    Regional representatives

    Agus Mayanto
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsIndonesia (Western Indonesian Time UTC +7)English, Indonesian
    Janet Plenert
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsCanada (Eastern Time UTC -5)English



    Cynthia DüŸck



    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical texts, Integration of faith and healthcare through education, advocacy, and service, Aging in the community of faith.Paraguay (Paraguay Time UTC/GMT -4)English, Spanish, German
    Cynthia Peacock
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories) Preaching on biblical textsIndia (Indian Standard Time UTC +5:30)English, Bengali
    Danisa Ndlovu
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsZimbabwe (Central Africa Time UTC +2)English, Ndebele



    Freddy Barró—n



    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsBolivia (Bolivia Time UTC -4)Spanish
    Gerald Hildebrand
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsCanada (Central Time UTC -6)English
    Jeremiah Choi
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsHong Kong (Hong Kong Time UTC +8)English, Cantonese
    JosŽ Arrais
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsPortugal (Western Europe Time UTC +1)English, Portuguese, can deliver greetings in Spanish and French
    Jumanne Magiri Mafwiri
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsTanzania (East Africa Time UTC +3)English, Swahili
    Paul Stucky
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsColombia (Colombia Standard Time UTC -5)English, Spanish



    Siaka TraorŽ
    é


    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsBurkina Faso (Burkina Faso Time UTC)French
    Willi Hugo Perez
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsGuatemala (Central Standard Time UTC -6)English, Spanish

    Commissions

    Andi Santoso
    (Deacons)
    		discipleship, family, the Gospel of Peace, Holistic Mission, LeadershipUSA (Eastern Time UTC -4)English, Indonesian
    Vikal Rao
    (Deacons)
    		Sharing about MWC (AWFS, Q&A, stories), Preaching on biblical textsIndia (Indian Standard Time UTC +5:30)English, Hindi
    Neal Blough
    (Peace)
    		Anabaptist history and theology, church unity and ecumenical dialogue, the Francophone network, and multicultural congregations.France (Central European Summer Time UTC +2)English, French

    *pre-recorded; please give one-two months for preparation

    Consult the staff page to book a speaker directly or contact MWC.

    MWC team

    Learn more

    Invite an MWC speaker

    speaker list

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    2020 YABs Fellowship Week resource

  • 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”…

    teaching_resource_tomyn_enDownload
    Faith & Life Commission

  • During the past two years, MWC asked member conferences for accounts of experiences in peacemaking. MWC’s Peace Council considered these stories during two days of meeting in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, in August 2003. The following summary was developed out of that discussion.

    1. Continuum of peacemaking activities:

    All Christians are called to be peacemakers, but this can happen on a variety of levels. The Peace Council discussion identified the following levels, acknowledging that this is not an exhaustive list:

    a. Peace with God: individual con-version creates a new person who can live at peace. This is the base for all the other levels of peacemaking.

    b. Peace within one’s self: self-esteem and integrity are important components of peacemaking.

    c. Peace within the family: churches work with family life and relationships and with issues of domestic violence.

    d. Peacemaking within congregations and conferences: churches have dealt with internal conflicts.

    e. Peacemaking with neighbours: churches have worked at solving conflicts with others and among groups in their communities.

    f. Peacemaking with other Christians: conversation and witness reaches across historical divisions.

    g. Peacemaking with members of other faiths: churches struggle with questions of how to relate with respect and witness with integrity.

    h. Peacemaking within nations and between nations: churches have worked for peace on national and international levels.

    i. Peacemaking with the environment: churches strive to live in ways that care for the earth.

    j. Peacemaking with enemies: at all levels of relationship, this is a spiritual challenge.

    2. Biblical virtues that undergird peacemaking:

    The peacemaking activities of churches grow out of their reading of the Bible. A number of biblical virtues serve as a basis for peacemaking:  

    • liberty
    • self-esteem
    • love
    • repentance
    • corporate-ness
    • suffering (including patience, forbearance, and endurance)
    • reconciliation (which includes restoration)
    • justice and peace held together
    • confrontation of injustice
    • joy
    • courage
    • humility
    • forgiveness
    • witnessing

    3. Practices that form Christians as peacemakers:

    Peace Council participants noted these practices that instill peacemaking as a habitual practice for Christians:

    a. Catechizing and discipling: the Christians’ identity as peacemakers is imparted in the way churches teach and receive new members.

    b. Worship: peacemaking identity and habits are instilled in the way congregations worship God.

    c. Prayer: peacemaking habits are engendered by prayer and the spiritual disciplines. Witness to the powers can also be considered as prayer.

    d. Christian education: this shapes peacemakers; Christian education should include specific training for all ages, including church leadership, in peacemaking skills.

    e. Voluntary service: these activities can help young Christians learn peacemaking as they do it.

    f. Global awareness: this expands understanding of those beyond our boundaries; global awareness should include awareness of inter-ethnic and inter-faith differences.

    g. Non-violent action: advocacy to those in power and actions that confront injustice help Christians develop peacemaking skills.

    4. Recommendations to MWC:

    The Peace Council participants encouraged MWC to continue making peace a central part of conversation between member churches. To help this happen, the council made these recommendations:

    a. MWC should encourage all member churches to find ways to cooperate with other Christian churches and groups in their contexts in peacemaking efforts, with special attention to activities of churches in the United Nations’ Decade to Overcome Violence.

    b. MWC should designate one Sunday each year as a global peace Sunday, encouraging member churches to hold special worship services around, similar to what is now done for the World Fellowship Sunday. Suggested worship materials should be provided for this day.

    c. The next MWC world assembly should have one day or one worship service with a theme of peace. This could include sharing stories from around the world of ways in which churches are working for peace.

    Courier, Volume 19, volume 3, 2004

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    making_peace_a_way_of_life-sp_0Download

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

    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.

    English

    Gathering into one, Part 1Download
    Gathered into one, Part 2Download
    Gathered into One, Part 3Download

    Español

    Gathered into One, Part 1Download
    Gathered into one, Part 2Download
    Gathered into one, Part 3Download

    Français

    Gathered into one, Part 1Download
    Gathered into one, Part 2Download
    Gathered into one, Part 3Download

  • Part 1: MWC & Communion

    Mennonite World Conference is called to be a communion (Koinonia) of Anabaptist-related churches linked to one another in a worldwide community of faith for fellowship, worship, service, and witness.

    Let’s keep in mind that, according to Paul, God’s unity plan is immeasurably bigger than the plan we might have in mind.

    Presenter: Larry Miller

    Read text
    Part 1

    Part 2: Leadership & Communion

    “Leadership that Facilitates Unity” or “Leadership that Builds Communion”

    • What characteristics are important for leaders of national churches in order to build communion?
    • What are leadership weaknesses that effect negatively meetings and even relationships among church leaders?

    In short, the question is what kind of leaders do we need in order to have healthy meetings and especially, beyond meetings, healthy global communion?

    read text

    Presenter: Larry Miller

    Presented to: General Council, December 2022 (Zoom)

    Part 2

  • 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

    rn-2.2-god_calls_us_to-christian_unityDownload

  • Presented to the General Council of Mennonite World Conference

    Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA,

    July 2015

    By Fernando Enns of Germany

    Dear brothers and sisters!

    It is a joy to be here, with you in Harrisburg,the place of our Assembly! And it is a joy to greet you as brothers and sisters! I simply take it for granted that I may address you as brothers and sisters.

    This is the ultimate reason why I decided to come here: to be with my brothers and sisters, from the whole world! To meet you! To celebrate with you! To worship with you! To rejoice with you, and to lament with you! To be inspired by you! To learn from you, and to share my gifts with you! To confess my faith with you and to pray with you – and pray for you, as you will pray for me!

    It goes without saying, that I come to this place, because I am part of this communion, this “community of Anabaptist related Churches”, called Mennonite World Conference.

    This is my home – as much as it is yours. I count on many things we have in common: our faith in Jesus Christ, whom we confess as Lord and Saviour, our common heritage of the Radical Reformation, the Anabaptist movement of the 16th century; our way of being church, which was formed over the centuries by our common “Mennonite story”;; our passion for peace and justice; our common witness and mission in this world.

    Yes, it is indeed a joy and a privilege to be part of this communion. And, I admit, it is also the diversity that attracts me. The different languages you speak, the different ways you look, the different cultures you come from. I feel enriched by the different ways of singing, praying, worshipping. I want to know, how you are church in a totally different political and societal setting.

    I want to listen to your concerns and the challenges you encounter. I want to be informed by the way you read the Bible and how you interpret it, my brothers and sisters, because I know, from experience, how great it feels to be a global family, including all our differences, and yet being one in Christ. To be with you here informs me of how rich, colourful, beautiful and diverse “Walking with God” can be. I could simply stop here, and invite us to a song of joy!

    There will be time for that later. Right now, I want to reflect with you on some challenges.

    5.5_enns_-_communion_and_diversityDownload

  • Indonesia 2022: Workshop

    Songs and resources from around the world, written and translated in different languages, are prominently featured in Voices Together, the new hymnal from Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA. What techniques can song leaders use to effectively lead songs from many places? How can resources from both Voices Together and the Mennonite World Conference song books facilitate intercultural relationships?

    Benjamin Bergey, Anneli Loepp Thiessen, Anneli was a committee member for the Voices Together hymnal and is the co-director of Anabaptist Worship Network. She is a PhD student at the U of Ottawa, where she researches gender representation in the genre of contemporary worship music. She worships with Ottawa Mennonite Church. Benjamin is an active song leader and conductor. He is assistant professor of music at Eastern Mennonite University, where he conducts the choirs and orchestra and teaches music theory and conducting. In addition to serving as music editor for Voices Together, he is director of music at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church and conducts the Rapidan Orchestra.