{"id":122405,"date":"2025-12-22T22:27:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T22:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/?post_type=mwcresource&#038;p=122405"},"modified":"2026-04-22T20:08:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T20:08:28","slug":"courier-2025-40-4","status":"publish","type":"mwcresource","link":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Courier 2025 \/ 40.4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-column-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-no-line-eyebrow\">In this issue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/reflect-back-reflect-forward\/\">Reflect back to reflect forward<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MWC timeline<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-no-line-eyebrow\">Resources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/tangible-source-support-testimony\/\">Commission news: a tangible source of support and testimony<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/make-mosaic-visible\/\">New officer appointed<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/500-year-witness\/\">The Officers\u2019 Column: The Courage to Love: A 500-year witness<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-no-line-eyebrow\">General Secretary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/living-together-one\/\">Living together as one<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/40.4-EN-FIN-RGB.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of 40.4 EN.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-186063f0-7361-47bc-b7a4-d723690b11d8\" href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/40.4-EN-FIN-RGB.pdf\">40.4 EN<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/40.4-EN-FIN-RGB.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-186063f0-7361-47bc-b7a4-d723690b11d8\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unity is God\u2019s gift<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSo that they may be one, as we are one,\u201d Jesus prayed in John 17:22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This prayer for those who follow Jesus has been acutely relevant since the moment he spoke it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Anabaptist movement whose 500th anniversary we mark this year was a \u201cchurch split\u201d at the time. The many groups within our movement today evidence further splintering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so, it is somewhat of a miracle that Mennonite World Conference \u2013 a communion of Anabaptist-related churches \u2013 has reached its 100th anniversary this year. This miracle has grown broader and more far-reaching than its originators could have imagined when they countered the splitting impulse to gather as family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou start with a mustard seed,\u201d said Nancy Heisey, MWC president from 2003\u20132009. Alongside several other leaders, she reflected on the global communion past, present and future in this issue (see pages 3-6). In response to Jesus\u2019 prayer, the Anabaptist \u201ctree\u201d has grown up over these 100 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God is the one who gathers diversities of race, language, culture, ethnicity, gender, wealth, ethics and theology, and calls it to unity, Thomas R Yoder Neufeld said to the General Council in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, the diversities within MWC have grown, as shown on our timeline (pages 6-11). We have grown from European and North American church leaders gathering every half decade or so, to leaders from 61 countries from 5 continental regions in ongoing relationship over the years. We have grown from a few pastors and scholars to a network of interconnected preachers, teachers, missionaries, activists, development workers and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the cultural differences in how we live out our common faith sometimes surprise us, it is theological diversity that most often challenges our unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The apostle Paul uses the metaphor of being \u201cchained\u201d to Christ in Ephesians 4. Thomas R Yoder Neufeld suggested that analogy may be useful for our communion of churches: You need chains for what does not easily hold together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For 100 years now, up to 110 national member churches of MWC and the thousands of congregations that make up those entities have chosen to identify with this family. This family is not necessarily in a state of harmony, much less uniformity nor agreement on all things. Instead, \u201cUnity is God\u2019s gift, not our achievement,\u201d said Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May we receive this gift for another 100 years \u2013 with all its challenges in the spirit of following Jesus: with humility, patience and forgiveness as we suffer with (and, at times, because of!) each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Karla Braun is editor of <\/em>Courier <em>and writer for Mennonite World Conference. She lives in Winnipeg, Canada. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":122485,"template":"","network":[302,1306,1307,1308,1309,1310,1311,1312,1313],"resourcetype":[381,1336,1337,1338,1339,1340],"language":[165,1341,1342,1343,1344,1351,167],"resourcecategory":[1393,1394,1395,1396,1397,1398],"resourcetheme":[313,1422,1423,1424,322,1433,1434,1435,1436,1441,1440,1439,1438,1437,1467,1466,369,1427,1426,1425,315,1442,1443,1444,1445,328],"eventcategory":[],"class_list":["post-122405","mwcresource","type-mwcresource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","network-courier","network-courier-es","network-courier-fr","network-courier-ja","network-courier-zh-hant","network-courier-hi","network-courier-nl","network-courier-id","network-courier-de","resourcetype-pdf","resourcetype-pdf-es","resourcetype-pdf-fr","resourcetype-pdf-id","resourcetype-pdf-pt-pt","resourcetype-pdf-de","language-en","language-en-es","language-en-fr","language-en-pt-pt","language-en-de","language-es-pt-pt","language-fr","resourcecategory-courier-es","resourcecategory-courier-fr","resourcecategory-courier-hi","resourcecategory-courier-ja","resourcecategory-courier-ko","resourcecategory-courier-zh-hant","resourcetheme-ecumenism","resourcetheme-ecumenism-es","resourcetheme-ecumenism-fr","resourcetheme-ecumenism-de","resourcetheme-history","resourcetheme-history-es","resourcetheme-history-fr","resourcetheme-history-nl","resourcetheme-history-de","resourcetheme-identity-de","resourcetheme-identity-pt-pt","resourcetheme-identity-nl","resourcetheme-identity-fr","resourcetheme-identity-es","resourcetheme-leadership-fr","resourcetheme-leadership-es","resourcetheme-leadership","resourcetheme-mission-de","resourcetheme-mission-es","resourcetheme-mission-fr","resourcetheme-mission","resourcetheme-unity-es","resourcetheme-unity-fr","resourcetheme-unity-pt-pt","resourcetheme-unity-de","resourcetheme-unity"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Courier 2025 \/ 40.4 - Mennonite World Conference<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Courier 2025 \/ 40.4 - Mennonite World Conference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unity is God\u2019s gift \u201cSo that they may be one, as we are one,\u201d Jesus prayed in John 17:22. This prayer for those who follow Jesus has been acutely relevant since the moment he spoke it. The Anabaptist movement whose 500th anniversary we mark this year was a \u201cchurch split\u201d at the time. The many [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mennonite World Conference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MennoniteWorldConference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-22T20:08:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CCC-40.4-EN.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"950\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1233\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/\",\"name\":\"Courier 2025 \/ 40.4 - Mennonite World Conference\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CCC-40.4-EN.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-22T22:27:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-22T20:08:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CCC-40.4-EN.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CCC-40.4-EN.png\",\"width\":950,\"height\":1233},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Courier 2025 \/ 40.4\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Mennonite World Conference\",\"description\":\"A communion of Anabaptist-related churches\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"MWC\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Mennonite World Conference\",\"alternateName\":\"MWC\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MWC_Sig_Blue_Horiz_webheader1-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MWC_Sig_Blue_Horiz_webheader1-logo.svg\",\"width\":786,\"height\":82,\"caption\":\"Mennonite World Conference\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MennoniteWorldConference\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/mennonite-world-conference-mwc\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mwcmm\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/mwccmm\",\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/mwcmm.bsky.social\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Courier 2025 \/ 40.4 - Mennonite World Conference","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Courier 2025 \/ 40.4 - Mennonite World Conference","og_description":"Unity is God\u2019s gift \u201cSo that they may be one, as we are one,\u201d Jesus prayed in John 17:22. This prayer for those who follow Jesus has been acutely relevant since the moment he spoke it. The Anabaptist movement whose 500th anniversary we mark this year was a \u201cchurch split\u201d at the time. The many [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/","og_site_name":"Mennonite World Conference","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MennoniteWorldConference","article_modified_time":"2026-04-22T20:08:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":950,"height":1233,"url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CCC-40.4-EN.png","type":"image\/png"}],"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/","url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/","name":"Courier 2025 \/ 40.4 - Mennonite World Conference","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CCC-40.4-EN.png","datePublished":"2025-12-22T22:27:53+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-22T20:08:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CCC-40.4-EN.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CCC-40.4-EN.png","width":950,"height":1233},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/resources\/courier-2025-40-4\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Courier 2025 \/ 40.4"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/","name":"Mennonite World Conference","description":"A communion of Anabaptist-related churches","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#organization"},"alternateName":"MWC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#organization","name":"Mennonite World Conference","alternateName":"MWC","url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MWC_Sig_Blue_Horiz_webheader1-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MWC_Sig_Blue_Horiz_webheader1-logo.svg","width":786,"height":82,"caption":"Mennonite World Conference"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MennoniteWorldConference","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/mennonite-world-conference-mwc\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mwcmm\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/mwccmm","https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/mwcmm.bsky.social"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mwcresource\/122405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mwcresource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/mwcresource"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"network","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/network?post=122405"},{"taxonomy":"resourcetype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resourcetype?post=122405"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=122405"},{"taxonomy":"resourcecategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resourcecategory?post=122405"},{"taxonomy":"resourcetheme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resourcetheme?post=122405"},{"taxonomy":"eventcategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eventcategory?post=122405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}