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Less rain, less shade, more people
January to April is the rainy season in Guayaquil, a port city on the coast of Ecuador. But this past year, says Sara Noemi Viteri Moreno, a member of Iglesia Jesus el Buen Pastor (Jesus the good shepherd, a Mennonite church) in Guayaquil, it hardly rained at all.
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Gathering of world communions focuses on God’s work
The Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions met at the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches at Bossey, Switzerland, from 30 October-3 November 2023. To foster mutual understanding and familiarize participants with each other’s areas of work, each communion presented a report. Morning and evening prayers reflected on ongoing wars and violent…
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Celebrating God’s presence this Christmas
From wars to climate disasters and slower-than-expected economic recovery post-pandemic, 2023 has been a challenging year. As we navigate through these world events and ponder their impact on our lives, Christmas approaches. How do we embrace the impending festivities – the dinners, the church plays, the festive decorations – when the world around us seems…
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In Memoriam: John A. Lapp (1933-2023)
Mennonite World Conference mourns the loss of John A. Lapp, who died on Tuesday, 7 December 2023, at 90 years of age. John A. Lapp was coordinator and co-editor of MWC’s Global Mennonite History Series. From 1997 to 2012, he and C. Arnold Snyder documented the planting and growth of Anabaptist-Mennonite churches in the world.…
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MWC calls for global energy transition
Earth in all its diversity, vitality and abundance is a gift that has been overshadowed by neglect, exploitation and unsustainable consumption. Anabaptist values, by contrast, call for stewardship (thoughtful care-taking), simplicity and the dignity of all persons created in the image of God. On behalf of Mennonite World Conference, the Creation Care Task Force (CCTF)…
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COP 28 blogs by a Dutch Mennonite
Stories in this page: Endgame (13 December 2023) Scandalous (11 December 2023) Human rights (10 December 2023) The Netherlands in the spotlight (9 December 2023) Adaptation (6 December 2023) Time pressure (5 December 2023) Money, money, money (4 December 2023) Balancing act (3 December 2023) High level segment: kings, financiers and residents (1 December 2023)…
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Ambassadors of God’s Kingdom
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). These words of the apostle Paul are part of a letter that addresses a church audience that likely included both Gentiles and Jews. Some were Roman citizens, and others were not. However, Paul…
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How I envy you!
Some years ago, in my local congregation in Colombia, a friend said to me: “Oh! César, how I envy you!” Why? I asked her. “I work in a multinational company. I deal with a lot of stress because of ongoing conflicts and broken relationships with my colleagues and bosses. But you, César, you work with…
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Dealing with difference
Indonesia The churches of GITJ (Gereja Injili di Tanah Jawa – Evangelical Church in the Land of Java), Indonesia, had been in conflict for some 22 years. This was largely because one group (with 24 member churches) was recognized by the Indonesian government while the other (with about 50 member churches) was not. All during…
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Desire for renewal leads to split
Canada The Mennonite Brethren church began in the midst of significant change among Mennonites in what was then South Russia. It was in 1860 that some members in the Gnadenfeld Mennonite congregation in the Molotschna settlement petitioned their leaders to meet separately for communion. These members did not want to celebrate communion with those who…
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One new step each year
You are invited! Join us for Climate Pollinators, a webinar series on creation care. See below! On a map of Green Churches in the Netherlands, there is a green dot for the Mennonite congregation in Aalsmeer. Another dot represents Arboretumkerk (previously Doopsgezinde Gemeente Wageningen), located a province over. “Six years ago, the church (in Aalsmeer)…
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Prayer for unity
Switzerland In recent years, the Mennonite theological school Bienenberg Training Centre in Switzerland has offered a “Hot Topics” course, which gives voice to opposing perspectives on current hot topics in the churches. As they hear points they agree or disagree with, the attendees are invited to engage with their own sensibilities and convictions: to listen…
Stories
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