Author: gws

Latest issue of Vision on theme of baptism

The latest issue of Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology is dedicated to the theme of baptism.  Vision is published at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Indiana and Canadian Mennonite University in Manitoba, and is edited by Bridgefolk board member Mary Schertz.

The theme of baptism is timely given that representatives of worldwide bodies of Mennonites, Catholics and Lutherans will soon be launching a trilateral dialogue on the theme.

Information and two sample articles from the issue are available at http://www.mennovision.org/Volume12-2.htm.   One of the two sample articles, “Cultivating a congregational climate of discernment,”  is by Bridgefolk co-chair Marlene Kropf.

Blessed are the merciful

by Dora Dueck
Borrowing Bones blog

I belong to a Mennonite-Catholic dialogue group which meets several times a year. Our assignment for this week’s meeting was a personal reflection on the Beatitudes, broadly, and then more specifically, in choosing one beatitude we were particularly “attracted” to at this point — in not more than seven minutes each! The contributions were varied, and all interesting. This was mine:

I memorized many parts of the Sermon on the Mount as a child, to get a reduction on Bible camp fees. So it seems the Beatitudes have been with me forever, like old markers, like a fence around my life. They’ve been markers for my (Mennonite) understanding of discipleship.

In this reflection, however, I was struck by something else. The opening beatitudes [blessed are the poor, mourning, meek, hungry], at least, seem an expression of holes in the soul. I see need, grief, poverty of whatever kind, hunger. Yes, there’s a happiness expressed, but next to gaping wounds. Continue reading “Blessed are the merciful” →

Mennonite interchurch leader analyzes shift away from just war theory

Writing in the Sept. 12 issue of the Mennonite Weekly Review, Andre Gingerich Stoner observes that leaders of Christian churches from around the world are increasingly concluding that the just war theory is obsolete.  Stoner is director of holistic witness and interchurch relations for Mennonite Church USA.  Here is his commentary:

André Gingerich Stoner

Just war concept obsolete
by André Gingerich Stoner
Mennonite Weekly Review

In a remarkable shift, a key World Council of Churches statement describes the concept of a just war as obsolete. It calls for a fundamental shift in ethical practice to what it calls “just peace.”

The Ecumenical Call to Just Peace repeatedly lifts up the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus as the model for Christian peacemaking.

The 13-page document is peppered with sentences like, “Jesus told us to love our enemies, pray for our persecutors, and not to use deadly weapons … Despite persecution, he remains steadfast in his active nonviolence, even to death.”

Continue reading “Mennonite interchurch leader analyzes shift away from just war theory” →

Catholic theologians in the U.S. speak out against the death penalty

A Catholic Call to Abolish the Death Penalty

There were two state-sanctioned executions in the United States on September 21, 2011. In Georgia, Troy Anthony Davis, an African American man, was put to death for the 1989 murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. In Texas, Lawrence Brewer, a white supremacist, was executed for his participation in the racist hate crime dragging murder of James Byrd in Jasper in 1998. As theologians, scholars, and social justice advocates who participate in the public discussion of Catholic theology, we protest the state-sanctioned killings of both of these men, and we call for the abolition of the death penalty in the US. Continue reading “Catholic theologians in the U.S. speak out against the death penalty” →

Susan Harrison insists: Interfaith dialogue must include those “you can’t talk to”

Susan Kennel Harrison

Drawing especially on her experience with Iranian Shiites, former Bridgefolk Board member Susan Kennel Harrison recently spoke at Eastern Mennonite University’s Interfaith Forum recently.  Her forum presentation, “You Can’t Talk to Them – Peacemaking and Dialogue,” focused on the importance of building relationships with persons of other religious affiliations, particularly fundamentalists, in order to promote understanding and respect.  The talk is available as a podcast at http://emu.edu/now/podcast/2011/09/14/cie-interfaith-forum-susan-kennel-harrison.

Sant’Egidio convenes 9-11 peace reflection in Germany, emphasizes solidarity with the poor

Geneva (WCC) — A call for solidarity with the poor was delivered to a gathering of religious and political and civil society leaders from all over the world by one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The meeting on the topic “Bound to Live Together: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue” is taking place from 11-13 September in Munich, Germany.

The Roman Catholic lay community of Sant’Egidio has convened the gathering in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York. Continue reading “Sant’Egidio convenes 9-11 peace reflection in Germany, emphasizes solidarity with the poor” →

Reflections on 9/11 and Catholic peacebuilding in US Catholic

Maryanne Cusimano Love
Maryanne Cusimano Love

In its September issue, US Catholic interviewed Maryann Cusimano Love on the aftermath of 9/11 and Catholic understandings of peacebuilding.  Cusimano Love is a friend of Bridgefolk who teaches at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC.  Among her reflections are these:

That nonviolent resistance can be very effective is something most Catholics don’t understand, but we’ve seen it in Egypt and Tunisia. Sometimes it takes an outside example to help us draw on our own tradition.

For the U.S. military, peace is the absence of the use of military force right now. So if nothing’s blowing up today, that’s peace in Iraq, right?

The Catholic Church says, not so much. You have to rebuild social relationships, restore people who have been traumatized by violence, reintegrate refugees and internally displaced persons back into their communities, and rebuild the human infrastructure.We think about peace in a sustainable and holistic way, as being about education and development.

When the U.S. military or other state organizations talk about building peace, they’re really talking about construction projects. How many roads and bridges can we put in?

The Catholic Church says building peace is not just about bricks and mortar. It’s about rebuilding the people and the human community. If you don’t do that work, then the bricks-and-mortar stuff you rebuild today is going to be blown up tomorrow.

To read the entire article in US Catholic, click here.

Andy Martin joins Bridgefolk Board, strengthening Canadian voice

Bridgefolk is pleased to welcome Andy Martin of Elmira, Ontario, Canada, on to its board.  Andy is married to Colleen and they have three (nearly) adult children. He grew up in Waterloo region in the conservative Mennonite church, which split from the (Old) Mennonite church in the late 1950s in order to hold to a more conservative practice and theology. At the age of 31 Andy left his community of origin and his career as an automotive technician and owner of several small businesses to pursue an education. “From the beginning this was a journey to discover the bigger questions in life,” he explains.

Andy completed an undergrad degree in music and a master’s degree in counseling in Manitoba at Providence College and Seminary and a master’s degree in theology from Conrad Grebel University College/University of Waterloo, with a thesis on the influence of fundamentalism on the conservative Mennonite movement directed by Mennonite historian and Bridgefolk participant Arnold Snyder. Continue reading “Andy Martin joins Bridgefolk Board, strengthening Canadian voice” →