“Forgiving Lutherans could be a temptation for self-righteousness,” says Mennonite theologian
The request of our historic persecutors for forgiveness presents us Mennonites with a temptation and an opportunity, warns Jeremy Bergen, assistant professor of Religious Studies at Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont. In response to a previous article in Canadian Mennonite, Bergen publsihed the following commentary on the magazine’s website. Read more
The Mennonite features personal story of Mennonite-Catholic journey
A recent issue of The Mennonite includes a reflection from a “dyed-in-the-wool Catholic” who “came to feel comfortable and welcomed in a Mennonite community.” The article is linked here.
Sermon for Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
A friend of Bridgefolk recommends a sermon preached at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on January 18 on the occasion of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Click here to read.
Excerpt:
The insight of our ecumenical pioneers in Edinburgh Missionary Conference in 1910 is that witness to the things of Christ’s resurrection will only be effective if Christians are united with one another, be it the churches Acting Together in Haiti this week and in the coming years, the churches responding to human division and unjust structures, the churches responding to the environmental crises, the churches responding to war and violence, the churches responding to cynicism and despair with the good news of the Gospel. In all these things, we bear witness to the Risen Christ, together.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity coincides with response to Haiti
“This week we join Christians of all denominations and traditions in celebrating the Week of Christian Unity,” wrote Joetta Schlabach, Bridgefolk participant and pastor of Faith Mennonite Church in Minneapolis, to her congregation this week. “Certainly the tragedy in Haiti is drawing people of all faiths—and many who do not profess faith—to join in a unified response of compassion and aid. Let us pray that some of the hostilities and misunderstandings between faith communities will diminish as people join hands in service.”
For more on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2010, including links to a joint statement by World Council of Churches and Vatican bodies reflecting on the occasion, visit http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3193.
Meanwhile, as many people wonder how to respond to the tragedy of earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and how to insure that aid reaches Haitians through reliable channels, Mennonites and Catholics can turn to their churches’ well-respected relief and development agencies. Here are links to the most prominent examples:
Mennonite Central Committee: http://mcc.org
Catholic Relief Services: http://crs.org
“Let go of marytr complex,” urges Bridgefolk participant
Bridgefolk participant Julia Smucker recently published a letter to the editor in The Mennonite (Oct. 6 issue, p. 4). Since her letter needed to be shortened, she asked to share the original letter here: Read more
A Tribute to Brother Roger of Taizé
by Ken Henke, Princeton Theological Seminary
On Tuesday, August 23, funeral services will be held for Brother Roger of Taizé. At the age of 90, he was attacked with a knife by a woman, most probably mentally disturbed, in the midst of community prayer in the Church of Reconciliation at Taizé, France. He died shortly afterward.
The son of a Swiss Reformed pastor, at age 25 he left his native Switzerland and came bicycling into the tiny, poor hamlet of Taizé in France, seeking a place where he could quietly devote himself to a life of prayer and contemplation. A peasant woman, keeper of the keys to the run-down house and property which Roger Schutz had come to look at, begged him to buy the house and stay. Later on, when asked, “Why Taizé?” Roger Schutz was to say: “I chose Taizé because the woman was poor. Christ speaks through the poor, and it’s good to listen to them. Anyone who begins with the poorest of the poor is not likely to go wrong.” Read more
New pope a strong critic of war
Report from the Catholic Peace Fellowship:
http://www.catholicpeacefellowship.org/nextpage.asp?m=2252
Ivan Kauffman reflects on the legacy of John Paul II
Has there ever been another person mourned on a global scale in the way Pope John Paul is being mourned? We in Bridgefolk have special reason to join this outpouring of emotion and appreciation. Surely the speed with which the Mennonite Catholic bridge has developed is due, in some major way, to his leadership. It will be years if not centuries before the full impact of this historic life is apparent, but already there are several things for which we may be grateful: Read more
No Place to Stand
When you’re Christian, progressive, and “pro-life,” voting your conscience is often easier said than done.
by Heidi Schlumpf
What does it mean to be “pro-life”? For some, the term is understood very narrowly as the opposition to abortion, particularly through legal sanction. Others are committed to reducing the number of abortions, truly making them rare, but favor policies that don’t criminalize abortion—and prosecute women and/or their doctors—to do so. And as U.S. Catholic’s Heidi Schlumpf explains in this article, many people, on both sides of the legality question, see a genuinely pro-life stance as one that embraces respect for the human person at every stage—a position that’s hard to find in today’s polarized politics, and one that cries out for broad (and civil) dialogue across our various divides. —The Editors
It’s an election year, and once again Jennifer Roth is wondering if she might as well flip a coin. The 31-year-old systems administrator is one of those “swing voters” who could go either way—a demographic highly coveted by both Democrats and Republicans as the key to winning in 2004. But neither the Dems nor the GOP does much to inspire or excite Roth.
The problem? Roth is a self-described liberal on nearly all issues except one: Abortion. It’s a view that she—and countless other “pro-life progressives”—finds entirely consistent. “In my view liberalism is all about looking out for the little guy, the people who don’t have power, money, or protection,” she says.
But where does that leave her when it comes to the political process? Read more
