{"id":6554,"date":"2016-04-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/more-united-than-ever-before\/"},"modified":"2024-12-10T18:39:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T18:39:23","slug":"more-united-than-ever-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/more-united-than-ever-before\/","title":{"rendered":"More united than ever before"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alfred Neufeld, chair of MWC\u2019s Faith and Life Commission, reflects on the state of the global Mennonite faith community<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alfred Neufeld, theologian, historian and generally insightful philosopher, reads on two tracks these days: \u201cProceedings\u201d from past Mennonite World Conference Assemblies and social media.<\/p>\n

Neufeld, of Asuncion, Paraguay, is on a year\u2019s sabbatical from his administrative duties as president of the Universidad Evang\u00e9lica del Paraguay, spending his time in Regensburg, Germany.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s reading the \u201cbig books of Proceedings,\u201d produced after the first 10 Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Assemblies (held between 1925 and 1978) to discover the big issues surrounding each of those events.<\/p>\n

And he reads social media attentively, especially the theological expositions by \u201cneo-Calvinist preachers,\u201d as he calls them, who, he observes, lots of Mennonite young people are currently following.<\/p>\n

Neufeld, who chairs MWC\u2019s Faith and Life Commission, recently addressed the General Council of Mennonite World Conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, as part of the 16th MWC Assembly, PA 2015. He spoke about \u201cHow Have We Dealt with Conflict in the Past?\u201d He finds the subject of high interest to Mennonites in many places who wonder whether splitting and fragmenting will continue to be part of their futures.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I study the history of our Anabaptist fraternity and admire the lives of the founding fathers and mothers of Mennonite World Conference, I discover much wisdom in their way of dealing with conflict and holding the family together,\u201d says Neufeld.<\/p>\n

While none of the major historic conflicts or tensions has completely gone away, Neufeld says, \u201cI am encouraged. The global family today is probably more united than ever before, even though the challenge to do this with 100 Mennonite cultures is far bigger than it was with a quite homogeneous group 90 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Current struggles in the global family<\/strong><\/p>\n

And yet, Neufeld notes reasons to stay watchful and in meaningful support of each other throughout our global fellowship. \u201cHere are the things I hear stirring that need attention:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new cruel actions of Islamic terrorism are a critical test for the quality of Mennonite peace convictions based on the gospel.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWho should our leaders be and who will shape our theology?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Paraguay, Germany, and parts of Canada (the places in the world that I know best) 60 percent of our young people are getting their theological inspiration from several North American neo-Calvinists who have powerful social media presences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese motivated young people aren\u2019t looking for cheap, right-wing stuff. They want straight, hard, biblical wisdom. But they\u2019re listening to voices who are strongly opposed to women in leadership and who say that the spiritual ethic of nonresistance is a compromised way to live.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do I see this as seriously confusing to our young people, it may also undercut our women pastors in countries where they don\u2019t have a lot of institutional support. \u201cThese threats to our Anabaptist identity markers call for very wise and strategic care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat priorities determine where our money goes?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSome want all our donations to go to missions and church plants.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould churches accept government money to do their work? If so, how much, or what percent of the whole for particular projects?<\/p>\n

\u201cThose with mission interests sometimes ask if it\u2019s appropriate for service agencies and networks or our schools to accept this \u2018easy\u2019 money when missions don\u2019t get that kind of funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a church, we renounced state sponsorship 500 years ago. That was at the heart of Anabaptism. How do we manage this today?<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my reading of the MWC Proceedings from the early gatherings, I\u2018m reminded that this is a similar agenda as during the period of the Nazis, who offered to help bring Mennonites out of Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly, these early \u201cglobal\u201d gatherings of Mennonites included a measure of honesty about the issues besetting them.<\/p>\n

Reasons for hope from the past<\/strong><\/p>\n

So why does Neufeld think the global Mennonite family has grown in numbers, strength, and support of each other?<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely [through] the grace of God, the lordship of Jesus and the miraculous glue of the Holy Spirit present in all of our churches.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, he adds, there might be at least three additional secrets:<\/p>\n