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From celebration to commemoration
Mennonite World Conference (MWC) concludes its triennial General Council (GC) meeting 26-28 May 2025 in Schwäbisch-Gmünd, Germany, with a clear framework for the future.
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Bigger responsibilities in the global church
At the meetings in May 2025, General Council members will vote on a proposal for every Mennonite World Conference full member to have one Young AnaBaptist (YAB) delegate in the General Council starting 2028.
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Powering the spinning wheel
Join in prayer for the global family “Prayer has been our spinning wheel. Thanks to the global church for the resilience in your prayers. It is encouraging to know that someone somewhere in the globe is reporting your issues to God,” says Okoth Simon Onyango, Mennonite Church Uganda, bishop. The members of Mennonite World Conference…
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General Council leaves a mark
At a prayer meeting, a Mennonite World Conference staff member prayed that the presence of Anabaptists gathered in Germany for General Council meetings would leave a mark. Although the prayer was to leave behind the fragrance of Christ, there will also be a living memento of Mennonite World Conference’s visit. The Executive Committee, Commissions, Creation…
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Anniversaries, fellowship and consensus
Around the world, Anabaptists are marking 500 years of our Jesus-following movement with worship services, historical lectures and regional gatherings. For Mennonite World Conference (MWC), the anniversary year coincides with the triennial meeting of the General Council. Additionally, 2025 is a double anniversary: it also marks 100 years of MWC drawing together Anabaptists into one…
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General Council learns about unity
“The unity on the conference was more important than each position,” says Paul Duck, church leader in MWC member church Convenção das Igrejas Irmãos Menonitas (COBIM) in Brazil. “We agreed to create a path or a highway, not too narrow but also not too wide where both groups could live peacefully.” During online General Council…
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YABs in MWC’s General Council
Decision making in a large group can feel like a game of misunderstood messages, says Matthias Claassen, General Council delegate for Konferenz der Mennonitengemeinden in Uruguay. It’s important to have leaders in the room representing a variety of ages and experience in addition to the various national churches that make up MWC. Claassen was one…
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A supportive space: General Council fosters relationships
“Stand up if you are weary, worn down by the cares of ministry.” From Portuguese-speaking countries on either side of the ocean, a Brazilian pastor crossed to embrace an Angolan pastor who stood in response to the Deacons Commission’s calls to prayer during the evening devotional time at the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) General Council…
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A Spirited gathering: MWC’s General Council meets in Kenya
“It is my wish that [during our gathering], we meet with God in the fullness of his Spirit, in the communion of his people, and the gift of unity in the midst of the theological and cultural diversity of our global church,” says general secretary César García. The triennial Mennonite World Conference meetings of the…
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MWC resources churches: General Council, book
Mennonite World Conference weaves a web of connections within the Anabaptist Mennonite family around the world through website, emails, social media, publishing and relations with other organizations. Here are some new connecting points. Regional Representatives are often the national church’s first point of contact with MWC. Gerald Hildebrand, an experienced pastor and former MB Mission…
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General Council fosters interdependence in global communion
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA – In four days of meetings just prior to the July 21-26 Mennonite World Conference Assembly, the General Council took additional steps in the journey toward interdependence in the global communion. “During my ministry when planting a new church in Bogotá,” commented César García, MWC general secretary, “I dreamt of the day…
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MWC General Council sets stage to deepen global relations and strengthen Anabaptist identity
Bettingen, Switzerland—Swiss Mennonite historian Hanspeter Jecker stood on the bank of the Limmat River in Zurich, Switzerland, near the site where Anabaptist martyr Felix Manz was drowned. He was speaking passionately to a group of international church leaders about the 16th century drowning. Suddenly from the group came an outburst from Joly Birakara Ilowa from…
