India \u2013 A jointly sponsored series of workshops have helped to strengthen Anabaptist identity across India.<\/p>\n
In a collaborative effort, the Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India (MCSFI), Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and Mennonite Central Committee India (MCCI) hosted a series of four workshops across India from 20 October to 3 November 2014. As a follow-up to similar initiatives in the last three years, these workshops included four primary objectives: (1) to stimulate a better understanding of Anabaptist identity; (2) to prepare a core of leaders for ministry within the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches of India and Nepal; (3) to move to a greater sense of unity among these churches; and (4) to encourage vibrant congregational life through a focus on the Bible.<\/p>\n
Event organizers report that \u201call of these objectives were met to a great extent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forty to 60 people attended each workshop. The workshop team was led by Jack Suderman of Canada, secretary of the MWC Peace Commission, and included speakers Shant Kunjam, bishop of Mennonite Church India; Sandra Baez, pastor of the Iglesia Menonita Torre Fuerte<\/em> (Torre Fuerte Mennonite Brethren Church) in Bogot\u00e1, Colombia; and Christina Asheervadam, professor of theology at the Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College in Hyderabad, India. The music coordinator was Irene Suderman of Canada, and translation was conducted by Sushant Rajat Nand of Mennonite Church India.<\/p>\n According to a report from conference organizers, the workshops were well received and had a significant impact on participants\u2019 sense of Anabaptist identity. They credited the speakers with provoking participants \u201cto think with open minds about some controversial topics like modes of baptism, the role of women in the church and leadership roles in the churches using gifts of the Spirit and shalom in all areas of life.\u201d Moreover, they added that the team \u201ccommunicated well across language, cultural and experience barriers with good interaction, group discussions and clarifications.\u201d<\/p>\n At three of the workshops, the sessions were augmented by a presentation from C\u00e9sar Garc\u00eda, MWC general secretary. Garc\u00eda\u2019s presentations were much appreciated by participants, and event organizers add that the \u201cface-to-face experience [with Garc\u00eda] brought participants to a better understanding that MWC is \u2018all of us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Based on a report by Cynthia Peacock, Carol Zook, Gordon Zook, and Rev. M. K. Masih<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" India \u2013 A jointly sponsored series of workshops have helped to strengthen Anabaptist identity across India. In a collaborative effort, the Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India (MCSFI), Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and Mennonite Central Committee India (MCCI) hosted a series of four workshops across India from 20 October to 3 November 2014. As a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":86371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"network":[],"eventcategory":[],"class_list":["post-6444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n