Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • Kolkata, India—Strengthening Anabaptist identity, learning more about Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and their responsibilities and proposing priorities for the future were the main issues that engaged Asian members of the MWC General Council at a training session for the Asia Caucus November 15-19, 2011 in Kolkata, India.

    The event was attended by 32 persons, including 29 men and three women from 18 national churches in Asia and the Pacific. Only Vietnam and Australia were missing. Also attending was a representative from the Mennonite Brethren Conference in Japan, which is not a member of MWC. Serving as conveners were Cynthia Peacock (India) and Bert Lobe (Canada), with assistance from Shant Kunjam and Manjula Roul (both from India).

    The time together was enlivened by singing, worship and story telling. “When we tired of sitting, we sang!” commented one participant. Song leaders were Agus Setianto of Indonesia and Irene Suderman of Canada. After singing “Jesus Loves Me” in every language in the room, Yoshihiro Inamine from Japan exclaimed: “This is not a joyful noise; it is wonderful!”

    Each of the participants shared what God is doing in their churches and conferences.

    Worship sessions were led by Shemlal Hembrom of Nepal, Amos Chin of Myanmar, Yukari Kaga of Japan and Shant Kunjam of India.

    A desire to learn more about their Anabaptist identity ranked high on the list of interests named by participants. They expressed appreciation for the sessions on Anabaptist perspectives led by Robert J. Suderman and Bert Lobe of Canada, who had been invited for similar teaching sessions a year earlier in both India and Indonesia.

    In discussions on the meaning of the MWC vision of being “a communion of Anabaptist-related churches” many expressed a desire to strengthen their identity as peacemakers in order to contribute to the wider Christian church and society. They said they want be a community of faith through loving and serving those inside and outside of the church, and equipping each other through the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

    One participant commented: “Our vision should be expanded Mennonite churches…. We want to see churches involved in abolishing the caste system, dowry and corruption.” Anti-conversion legislation pending in four Indian states poses challenges for the vision of expanding the church.

    Another highlight named by participants was the opportunity to gain a better understanding of their role as members of the MWC General Council, which meets every three years. “The challenge,” commented Cynthia Peacock, “will be to see whether what was learned will be communicated back to the local congregations, and how that will better bring about an understanding of the connectivity we have as a global church through MWC.”

    Leading the sessions on MWC vision, mission and program priorities were Bert Lobe of Canada, Paulus Widjaja of Indonesia and the two Asia representatives on the MWC Executive Committee—Prem Bagh of India and Adi Walujo of Indonesia.

    In anticipation of the next gathering of the MWC General Council in May 2012 in Switzerland, the Asian Caucus members proposed a number of priorities for the three years leading up to the 2015 global assembly in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

    The proposals include strong encouragement to include inter faith dialogue as an MWC priority since inter faith relations are a reality for many of the congregations. Currently MWC engages in dialogue only with other Christian groups. Other proposals included: work camps for youth, focusing on Anabaptist identity, perhaps in a “mini Assembly” format; workshops on peace as foundational to the gospel, and leadership training; focus on women and their role in the church and its ministries, for example, the formation of a network of Asia women theologians; increased regional exchanges of pastors.

    The participants also finalized a proposal for the merger of Asia Mennonite Conference, started in 1971, with the MWC Asia Caucus.

    Ron Rempel, MWC news editor, from reports by Bert Lobe

    SIDEBAR

    Asia Caucus event framed by church visits

    November 10-13. Cynthia Peacock and Bert Lobe visited with leaders from the Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches in India. Peacock is chair of the MWC Deacons Commission and Lobe serves as secretary.

    November 19-22. Various MWC leaders conducted a leadership training event for persons from 8 MWC member churches in India. These churches all participate in the Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India. The training was attended by 55 persons; 30 percent were women.

    November 23-26. Two teams visited MWC member churches in four states—Orissa, Jarkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. The purpose of the visits was to provide a face for MWC and to share stories of God’s work in congregations. One team included Cynthia Peacock, Sumana Basumata, Irene and Robert J. Suderman. The second team included Prem Bagh, Adi Walujo, Manjula Roul, Jessica Mondal and Bert Lobe.

    November 27-30. A visit to Union Biblical Seminary in Pune (Maharashtra) by Peacock, Sudermans and Lobe capped the three week itinerary by MWC leaders in Asia.

    Photos by Bert Lobe:

    Participants in Asia Caucus training (from left): Prem Prakash Bagh* (India), Shemlal Hembrom (Nepal), Adi Walujo* (Indonesia), Kyong-Jung Kim (South Korea). The two marked with a star (*) are the Asia members of the MWC Executive Committee.

    Irene Suderman (Canada) and Agus Setianto (Indonesia) led the singing at the Asia Caucus training sessions.

    Emmanuel Minj (left), director of the Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India and P. B. Arnold, president of the Mennonite Brethren Church of India.

    During one of the church visits, Bert Lobe (left) of Canada with Shant Kunjam and C. F. Nath, both bishops in the Mennonite Church of India.

    Robert (Jack) Suderman leading a class at Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, India.

    Sculpture by Esther Augsburger at Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, India.

  • Arauca, Colombia—A grassroots peace-building model, initially developed by Ricardo Esquivia, a Mennonite leader in Colombia, is being utilized in a growing number of places. The model, called Citizen Commissions for Reconciliation (CCR), now links 220 organizations on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.

    An international forum held May 4-5, 2012 in Arauca, Colombia, was based on the CCR model. The event was convened by a variety of Protestant, Catholic and other civil society organizations, including the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), an independent, nonpartisan conflict management centre created by the U.S. Congress.

    According to Virginia Bouvier of the USIP, the event, which had been cancelled twice in the last two years because of security risks, drew some 200 people. Organizers created a “mesa de escucha” (listening table), where participants could register concerns not addressed elsewhere in the program. Participants shared testimonies of how the war has affected their communities. Speakers shared reconciliation experiences from other conflict zones such as Rwanda, Ireland and South Africa.

    At the end of the forum participants announced the official launching of CCRs in a number of regions, and they issued a statement with a 10 year plan for advancing peace and reconciliation in Arauca. The plan includes strategies to link various parts of civil society and to establish a working group to dialogue with armed groups, public security forces and private companies.

    “If we can bring peace in Arauca, it can be done anywhere,” said Mennonite pastor Peter Stucky. “Our pain must motivate us to seek a definitive end to this war.”

    Esquivia was director of Justapaz, a ministry of Iglesia Menonita de Colombia (Mennonite Church of Colombia) from 1990 to 2003. He also served as director of the Human Rights and Peace Commission of the Evangelical Council of Colombia from 1990 to 2010. In 2005, he founded the Asociacion Sembrando Semillas De Paz (Sowing Seeds of Peace Association), known as Sembrandopaz (Sowing Peace). Esquivia developed the CCR model with funding from USIP.

    MWC release

  • L’Église mennonite du Congo est l’une de celles qui croissent le plus rapidement dans le monde ; elle a été essentiellement implantée par des missionnaires mennonites anglophones d’Amérique du Nord. Bien que située dans la francophonie au sens large, ses ressources proviennent essentiellement du monde anglophone.

    Pendant les rencontres de la Conférence Mennonite Mondiale (CMM) en 1990, il est apparu que le réseautage entre francophones pourrait être fructueux. Lors d’un séjour d’enseignement au Congo en 1997, Claude Baecher a relevé la pauvreté des bibliothèques universitaires en littérature francophone. En général, ce sont les missionnaires qui ont laissé leurs livres en anglais au moment du départ. 80 % de la bibliothèque se composaient de livres anglais, alors que seuls 20 % des étudiants étaient capables de les lire.

    Quelques francophones ont décidé de se regrouper pour mettre à disposition des Congolais des ressources en français. Le réseau a commencé avec l’envoi de livres pour les bibliothèques d’universités mennonites. En 2001, sous l’impulsion de Neal Blough, les échanges se sont intensifiés et ont débouché sur des réunions en Europe et au Congo entre francophones du Congo, de Suisse, de France, de Belgique, du Québec, et des organismes missionnaires nord-américains travaillant dans la francophonie. L’objectif était d’apprendre à se connaître et à faciliter la communion entre francophones du monde, sans la barrière linguistique habituelle qui les oblige à communiquer en anglais. 

    03 May 2011. Elisabeth Baecher, rédactrice de Perspective, mensuel des Eglises mennonites de Suisse

  • MWC continued a tradition of planting a tree at some loca tion in the country hosting an MWC event; but on Sunday, August 1, it planted 38 trees at the Misrak Meserete Kristos Church, the largest MKC congregation in Ethiopia.

    Pictured, MKC chair Tewodros Beyene (centre) and MWC president Danisa Ndlovu prepare for the planting. At left is Cisca Ibanda, African representative on the Executive Committee.

  • Trees have been important symbols in Anabaptist history. That tradition continued when the Executive Committee met in Strasbourg, France, July 29-August 4, 2004.

    Top: During an excursion to Anabaptist historical sites, MWC Executive Committee members and staff stopped at this oak tree at Le Salm. Oral tradition has it this tree was planted in 1793 in recognition of Jakob Kupferschmitt’s efforts to secure exemption from military service for Anabaptists during the French Revolution.

    Bottom: Each time it meets, the executive plants a tree. In August the group traveled to the Mennonite church in Bourg-Bruche. This site was chosen because the Mennonite church in Strasbourg does not have adequate space for a tree and because Bourg-Bruche was near the “Mennonite tree” at Le Salm (see above).

    Each MWC tree has this plaque at its base: “In honor of God’s creation and the church universal.” The practice began in 1998.

    Photo: Max Wiedmer
    This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier 2004-4

  • Last June, at a reconciliation conference between Anabaptists and the Reformed Church in Zurich, Switzerland, planners asked MWC executive secretary Larry Miller to preach in the Grossmünster. This was a remarkable invitation, since in 1525 Ulrich Zwingli had used this pulpit from which to denounce the Anabaptist movement. This article is excerpted from Larry’s Grossmünster sermon.—Editors  

    What began in this very place nearly five centuries ago—with one group of people gathered around one Bible listening to one man (Zwingli) preaching daily from the Gospel of Matthew—has resulted in at least two communities, two identities, and two traditions. Too often these have been one over against the other.  

    The Reformed tradition of the church can be described as state-church or a peoples’ church, a community open to all citizens without exception while giving allegiance to the Lord. By contrast, the Anabaptist-related traditions of the church are as the community of disciples following Jesus in life daily, separated from the world while witnessing to it.  

    Confessing our sins 

    A biblical basis for Reformed theology can be found in Zechariah 2:1-9. Here Zechariah addresses an appeal to those still living in exile, exhorting them to return to the city whose new conditions he envisions. This city will be an open city, a city for exiles, a city for a great multitude of people and other creatures. It will be a city that needs no walls for security and cohesion because the Lord himself will be present to protect and to provide. “I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it.”  

    From a 16th century Anabaptist point of view, this passage must have seemed more like a “condemnation” of the Reformed Church’s practice of state-church theology than the model for it. For Felix Manz and his siblings in the faith, Zurich or its church was finally not an open city, not a new Jerusalem, not a place of justice and peace to which they or a multitude of others could return from exile.  

    They did not have the impression that Zurich authorities were depending only on the presence of the Lord for the city’s protection, provision and glory. This city must have felt to them like a closed city, one in which they were declared foreign, one from which they were exiled outside the high wall or into dark death in the waters of the Limmat.  

    Anabaptists, on the other hand, ground their understanding of the city in Matthew 5:14-16. In this passage, Jesus addresses an appeal to those who have voluntarily exiled themselves from established society in order to follow him. He sets before them the vision of a new city, a new society, a new community that is not “of the world” yet fully “in the world.” And not only will this city be fully in the world. It will be there as “salt and light.” It will be there in such a way that no one can avoid tasting it or seeing it, how it lives, whom it follows, on whom it depends for protection and provision, whom it glorifies.  

    For some of us who claim the Anabaptist tradition as our own, these words of Jesus resonate more like a “condemnation” of significant parts of our history than their source or inspiration. Several of the earliest radical reformers, including Felix Manz, no doubt envisioned large-scale transformation of society or at least vigorous witness to it through communities of believers living in its midst. But after persistent persecution, many found themselves sooner or later in tightly knit, separatist communities, without significant prophetic or evangelizing fervour. Many of us have voluntarily stayed there, marginalized, little more than a footnote in church history. More recently, many of us have found relief in some form of accommodation to host societies. After lighting the lamp, we hid it under the bushel where it neither illuminates good works nor provokes offerings of glory to God.  

    Sharing our gifts 

    A new capstone at the Limmat
    River marks the death
    of Felix Manz and other
    Anabaptists. The Grossmuänster
    is in the background. Photo: John E. Sharp

    Fortunately, this tale of two cities—the open city inhabited by the Lord and the city set on a hill glorifying God—reminds us not only of our limits. It also points to gifts we have received and can offer one another and to others. The Bible not only calls us to confession. It also calls us to share God-given gifts in the body of Christ and beyond.  

    Today, in the spirit of Zechariah, you—Reformed Christians—open your city and the church in it not only to daughters and sons of those put to death or exiled in the 16th century and later. More importantly, you open yourselves to another look at the convictions those exiles incarnated. Today you take steps toward right remembering, toward right relations, toward fuller communion with former adversaries.  

    Today you demonstrate your openness to depend on God for protection and provision. You manifest your faith that the Lord will be the wall of fire around you and the glorious presence in your midst. This is a precious gift and a clear message to the Anabaptist-related community worldwide, indeed to the whole ecumenical church.  

    As the Reformed Church, you have lifted up Jesus as Lord of all, not only of the church but of the whole world and everything in it. The church is called to shape society as much as possible according to God’s will, they said. If the issue of peace is adequately to be addressed, you add, looking Mennonites straight in the eye, the gospel must be related not only to questions of war and military affairs but also to all that constitutes life in the institutions of civilization that were intended to preserve and enhance human life—families, economic and technological systems, cultural and political patterns. After all, it was a theology of Reformed orientation that was most able to give guidance and language to the resistance of Protestants to Hitler, partly in the form of a “Confessing Church.”  

    Since then, several generations of Mennonites have received much from Reformed teachers and partners: from Karl Barth, André Trocmé, Jacques Ellul, Jürgen Moltmann, Milan Opocensky, Lukas Vischer, to name only a few. Thank you for this gift.  

    As Anabaptists, we may find it simpler to see what others can give us than what we can give them. When other Christians look at today’s descendants of Anabaptists, they typically see several gifts. When they look at Amish, they see the gift of simplicity. When they look at Hutterites, they see the gift of economic sharing. When they look at Mennonites, they see the gift of peacemaking. Each of these gifts does have something to do with living as free church, as a believers church, as a peace church, as a community of disciples living as salt and light in the world.  

    In the book, Body Politics, Five Practices of the Christian Community Before the Watching World, the most influential Mennonite theologian of the 20th century, John Howard Yoder, names five components of life in the city built on a hill which give light if appropriately extended into the world:  

    • “Binding and loosing” (Mt. 18:15ff.), known also as the “Rule of Christ,” a biblical process of reconciliation and moral discernment.  
    • “Breaking bread together,” also called the “Lord’s Supper” and the “Eucharist,” understood as including or implying economic sharing among the members of the community of believers. 
    • “Baptism,” practiced as entry into a community where social, ethnic, and national categories and hierarchies no longer apply or separate.  
    • Living the “fullness of Christ” in which every member of the community—and not only the pastor or preacher—has a distinctly identifiable, divinely validated and communitarian empowered role.  
    • Applying the “Rule of Paul” (I Cor. 14), that is, making decisions through a process in which every church member may be inspired by the Spirit to speak, then validating that word by the consensus of the entire group. 

    Are these gifts that 21st century Anabaptists have to offer to other Christians and the world? Perhaps, sometimes, when we actually practice what we preach. But in any case, I expect that Reformed Christians will be surprised to hear these practices called typically “Anabaptist.”  

    After all, most of them are at least partly rooted also in earliest Reformed convictions. And their rediscovery by 20th-century Anabaptist historians and theologians is rooted in dialogue with 20th-century Reformed historians and theologians. Even the gifts we may have to offer you are in some sense gifts you have already given to us!  

    Making all things new 

    Our traditions are important to us. They are important to us because we believe them to be vehicles of truth and, perhaps even more, because they are places of belonging: they are our traditions, our identities, our places of belonging.  

    Shortly after the Mennonite World Conference began dialogue with the Catholic Church under the theme “Towards a Healing of Memories,” I received an anonymous letter leveling the charge that we were “betraying the blood of the martyrs.” To offer confession, to respond to confession, to take steps toward reconciliation and then beyond reconciliation into fuller unity can feel like betrayal of truth and loss of identity.  

    But these fears assume that identity is something static and its preservation contingent on defending “our” tradition over against “others’” traditions. Yet the Lord is the wall of fire around us and the glory in our midst. We who have confessed our faith belong neither to ourselves nor to our traditions—each of which contain distortions. We belong to Jesus Christ and to the one body of Christ in whom “everything becomes new.”  

    There is, after all an ultimate biblical vision of the new city, one no doubt inspired by and fulfilling the earlier visions of Zechariah and Jesus.  

    “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth ‚Ķ and I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God ‚Ķ I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And this city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations” (Rev. 21:1-2, 22-27). This new city is our common horizon. It is our shared future. 

    —‚ÄØLarry Miller 

    This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier 2004-4