News release
Akron, PA (Bridgefolk) – Mennonites and Catholics will join together this summer in prayer and friendship at the tenth annual Bridgefolk summer conference. Entitled “Practices for our Life Together in Christ,” the 2011 summer conference will take place August 4-7 in Akron, Pennsylvania, and focus on the practices of hospitality, forgiveness, and common worship.
This summer’s conference will be the second in a series of summer conferences focusing on nine “key practices” of Bridgefolk. Over the course of three years, Bridgefolk conferences are exploring spiritual practices that sustain the active Christian lives of both Catholics and Mennonites. Mennonite Central Committee’s Welcoming Place will host the gathering.
As the Bridgefolk movement celebrated its tenth anniversary, participants reflected on their shared history together and began to plan for the future. In the shared worship and discussion of Bridgefolk sessions, a number of “key practices” began to emerge. These are central practices of the Christian life that find new life in the shared experience of Catholics and Mennonites. Nine key practices have been identified, and are giving shape to Bridgefolk annual conferences over a three year cycle: prayer, simplicity, prayer and non-violence (2010 conference); hospitality, forgiveness and common worship (2011 conference); service, scripture, and community (2012 conference).
Speakers at this conference will include scholars, pastors and laypersons from the Catholic and Mennonite traditions. Presenters will offer theological, academic and personal reflections on the key practices of Christian life. The conference schedule, as always, is built around a framework of prayer and worship. In the beautiful retreat setting of the Welcoming Place, there will be ample opportunity for personal reflection, sharing in small groups and corporate worship.
Bridgefolk is a movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other’s traditions, explore each other’s practices, and honor each other’s contribution to the mission of Christ’s Church. Together they seek better ways to embody a commitment to both traditions. They seek to make Anabaptist-Mennonite practices of discipleship, peaceableness, and lay participation more accessible to Roman Catholics, and to bring the spiritual, liturgical, and sacramental practices of the Catholic tradition to Anabaptists.
Bridgefolk meetings began as a small gathering at Laurelville Retreat Center in Pennsylvania, in which various church leaders, pastors and laypersons gathered to pray and worship together. Since that initial meeting, Bridgefolk has convened annual gatherings of Mennonites and Catholics from across North America and beyond. Conferences have centered on topics such as peacemaking, baptism and Eucharist, with a strong focus on joint worship and developing friendships.
This summer’s conference at The Welcoming Place will be held August 4-7. More information is available at www.bridgefolk.net or by contacting info@bridgefolk.net.