-
The mission for which we are called
Perspectives (Anabaptism@500 activities) Walking tour & Story trails My tour to Zurich first points to my immediate feelings as we approached the bus stop and at a last corner, pointed the river in which Felix Manz was drowned. At once and out of nowhere did I have my emotions rise with little body sweats for…
-
Anabaptist voices in a world on fire
Perspectives (Anabaptism@500 activities) Panel discussion Under the title Standing Between the Lines in a World on Fire, voices from five continents gathered on May 29 at the Friedenskirche. On the occasion of the 500th anniversary, they debated a burning issue: how to remain faithful to the Anabaptist heritage of peace and nonviolence in a world…
-
“Who are my brothers?”
The President’s Corner It was a few years ago that we had a Commissions meeting in the Netherlands. With others I picked up people from the airport. We were at the evening meal when my phone rang. It was someone calling on behalf of a Commission member from Angola whose flight had been delayed. The…
-
Workshops
Perspectives (Anabaptism@500 activities) Activities for the commemoration of 500 years of the Anabaptist movement in Zurich on 29 May 2025 included 18 workshops over two periods. Rooms in several locations throughout the downtown generously provided by the Reformed church were bursting with participants to eager to engage with stories and analysis of Anabaptists living out…
-
International choirs
Perspectives (Anabaptism@500 activities) Among the many highlights of the commemoration day in Zurich was singing. Worship choirs had the privilege of playing a central role in bringing together voices from diverse backgrounds to celebrate faith, reconciliation and unity. The participating choirs included Among these choirs, the Eastleigh Fellowship Centre (EFC) Mennonite Church Choir stood out…
-
A celebration of reconciliation
The bells rang out across the city that full of Anabaptists. An estimated 3 500 or more people filled the streets of old Zurich on Ascension Day 29 May 2025 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Anabaptism. “Today, as Mennonites in Switzerland we are a small community,” said Gladys Geiser and Lukas Amstutz, co-presidents, Konferenz der Mennoniten der Schweiz, opening the worship service. The host city is the location of the first known adult baptisms of…
-
The Courage to Love
She was a young, enslaved girl. We don’t know her name, but we do know that she was a prisoner of war. We can only imagine the vulnerability, loss and trauma she must have endured as a displaced person – an enslaved refugee in a foreign land. The story is told in 2 Kings 5. Naaman, a…
-
The beating heart of MWC
Deacons The responsibilities of the Deacons Commission include overseeing the Global Church Sharing Fund (GCSF), fostering prayer within the Anabaptist communion (sending the Prayer Network email, hosting Online Prayer Hour and collaborating with the president on pastoral letters), and deacon visits. From 2022 to the end of 2024, the Deacons Commission approved 20 GCSF proposals…
-
Rosedale Network of Churches in the USA
Courier: Perspectives North America: USA Anabaptist church beginnings: A snapshot On a cold, Thanksgiving Day in November 1910, a group of five ordained ministers gathered with other guests at the Pigeon River Conservative Amish Mennonite meetinghouse in Huron County, Michigan, USA, for the purpose of working together to further the mission of the church. Out…
-
Convención Evangélica Hermanos Menonitas Nivaclé in Paraguay
Courier: Perspectives Latin America: Paraguay Anabaptist church beginnings: A snapshot At no time did we hear the word leaders, but instead we spoke of the missionaries. The first leaders of the church were Mennonite Brethren: Jakob Franz in the 1930s and later Gerhard Hein. The people left, but they sowed the Word in the community. First…
-
Igreja dos Irmãos Menonitas de Portugal
Courier: Perspectives Europe: Portugal Anabaptist church beginnings: A snapshot A series of North American missionary couples came and went from the MB mission agency through the 1980s and 1990s but the seeds planted in a house church in the Lourés suburb of Lisbon have persisted in the form of a Mennonite Brethren church. The first…
-
Hmong District 20th of the Church of Christ in Thailand
Courier: Perspectives Asia: Thailand Anabaptist church beginnings: A snapshot The Hmong District 20th of the Church of Christ in Thailand began with three congregations: Khek Noi church, Khun Klang Church and Pa Kluai Church. Later, the gospel was announced and spread to the Hmong hill tribe people during the years starting in 1987. There was…
