Footwashing: one congregation’s story
Bridgefolk participant Pat Shaver from Seattle Mennonite Church offers these reflections on the challenges her congregation encountered while planning a footwashing service:
Hygiene and hospitality
Seattle Mennonite is an urban congregation with a growing homeless ministry. MRSA (virulent type of infection) is frequent among the homeless. The congregation needed a way to protect the health of the participants while being open and welcoming. To meet this challenge, the congregation provided an individual towel for each person and someone at each station to insure people used hand sanitizer after washing someone’s feet.
A local homeless chaplain said that to allow homeless persons to participate without feeling ashamed, the congregation should Read more
Why footwashing – a testimony
I read with interest your announcement of the Foot Washing Conference to be held this summer. I am a retired Mennonite Minister in Des Allemands, LA. I would love to attend your conference. But that is not possible. Instead I will share this testimony: Read more
Conference ride-sharing information
A number of people have indicated interest in sharing rides to this summer’s conference. Anyone interested in ride-sharing should e-mail coordinator @ bridgefolk.net. An e-mail list will be formulated in early July to allow interested parties to offer or request rides to/from the conference.
Press release: 2010 Bridgefolk conference explores footwashing
Collegeville, MN (Bridgefolk) – For the ninth consecutive year a voluntary group of North American Mennonites and Catholics will meet for three days this summer for conversations about the faith which unites them—and the issues which divide them. The Benedictine community at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville MN will host the gathering, as it has six previous conferences.
Called the Bridgefolk conferences, these annual gatherings seek to build bridges between these two long-estranged Christian communities. This summer’s conference will be held on July 22-25. It is open to the public.
This year’s topic is the practice of footwashing, which has emerged in previous conferences as a common practice which both groups have traditionally shared, and which participants in the Bridgefolk movement have found they can share despite the divisions which still exist between their two communities.
This summer’s conference will be the first in a series focusing on the common spiritual practices which sustain both Catholic and Mennonite life.
The 2010 Bridgefolk Conference is subtitled “Practices for our Life Together in Christ.” It will explore issues such as service, hospitality and non-violence. Speakers will include scholars, pastors and laypersons from both Mennonite and Catholic traditions offering theological, academic and personal reflections on the practice of footwashing and its role in discipleship and Christian formation. Read more
Conference registration now online
Online registration is now available for the 2010 Bridgefolk Conference at St. John’s Abbey. Registrants may choose to register by mail, e-mail or online. Please click here for the registration page.
Summer conference travel information
Those traveling to Minnesota for this summer’s conference may be interested in extended their trip to include a visit to the Twin Cities area. The Dead Sea Scrolls will be on display in the Science Museum of Minnesota. See this link for additional information. Visitors to the museum can also view a display of the St. John’s Bible, a hand-written, hand-illuminated Bible commissioned by St. John’s University.
Conference registration now open
Registration is now open for the 2010 conference. The conference will be held July 22-25 at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN. Visit the conference page for more information or click here to access the registration form directly. Online registration will be available soon.
Bridgefolk 2010 Conference schedule updated
To see the updated schedule for this summer’s conference, please click here. For registration information, please click here.
Bridgefolk Conference 2010 information
Information related to the Bridgefolk 2010 Conference at St. John’s Abbey is now posted on the conference tab of the Bridgefolk website. You may access the information at the conference tab above or click here for the main conference page.
