{"id":8115,"date":"2023-07-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/a-spirit-of-repentance-and-renewal\/"},"modified":"2024-12-09T17:16:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T17:16:44","slug":"spirit-repentance-and-renewal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/spirit-repentance-and-renewal\/","title":{"rendered":"A spirit of repentance and Renewal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThat they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.\u201d<\/em> (John 17:21)<\/p>\n

With these words from the Gospel of John 17:21, we warmly greet the sisters and brothers of Anabaptist churches worldwide and also those from other Christian communions.<\/p>\n

At this moment in history, we reflect on the first 500 years of the Radical Reformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cRenewal<\/a>\u201d is the name that the Mennonite World Conference has given for a decade of regional events around the memory of five centuries of our existence as a community of faith. We are approaching these 10 years of commemorations by focusing on our history from a global, ecumenical and transcultural perspective.<\/p>\n

We remember the past to look toward the future. We want to recall our roots as we express gratitude to God for the inheritance of the faith we have received. But we also come before the Lord in a spirit of repentance and renewal, committed to learning from the past to grow in our relationship with God both here and now and in the years to come.<\/p>\n

Why do we need each other?<\/h3>\n

With the theme of \u201cJesus Christ, Our Hope,\u201d we seek to explore how our Anabaptist tradition has offered its witness to the world about Jesus as our hope since the 16th century.<\/p>\n

Unity is one of the challenges that we have historically faced in the Anabaptist world.<\/p>\n

Why do we need to be one globally with other members of our family of faith?<\/p>\n

Why do we need something like Mennonite World Conference, a body that facilitates unity around 10 000 local congregations, 108 national conferences and 1.5 million baptized believers?<\/p>\n

In contexts of persecution, oppression or violence, reasons why we need a global church seem more evident to our members: a global communion offers support when local congregations cope with difficult circumstances (e.g. financial resources, political advocacy, pastoral care).<\/p>\n

In Africa, Asia, and Latin America, global interdependency is crucial for projects exceeding a local church\u2019s capacity (e.g. mission, theological education, formation of new agencies).<\/p>\n

What do our churches say about Jesus?<\/h3>\n

However, beyond pragmatic reasons to look for unity, our Anabaptist tradition must recover the idea of a visible global church.<\/p>\n

The reason I affirm this has to do with the New Testament concept and practice of ecclesia<\/em>. Scripture speaks of interdependent local congregations that lean on each other for theology, pastoral care, financial support in times of crisis and mission, among other things.<\/p>\n

However, even more, critical is the fact that Jesus linked the credibility of his life to the unity of his followers.<\/p>\n

Mennonite World Conference is the global \u201cspace\u201d where we can receive unity as God\u2019s gift.<\/p>\n

As we thank God for Jesus Christ, our hope, let us also maintain an attitude of repentance for the divisions that have arisen among us, negatively affecting the impact of Jesus\u2019 life and ministry in a world marked by polarizations, divisions and fragmentation.<\/p>\n