Author: gws

Vatican’s ecumenical council proposes renewed dialogue with Mennonites

A recent Information Service publication of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) includes news that the PCPCU has sent a letter to the Mennonite World Council “proposing a round of conversations.”  The council suggests that this new round of dialogue begin in late 2010 or early 2011, and that discussions center on “the theology and practice of baptism in our communities”.

The news is part of an article reporting on last year’s Mennonite World Conference assembly in Paraguay: Continue reading “Vatican’s ecumenical council proposes renewed dialogue with Mennonites” →

Lutherans to seek formal reconciliation with Anabaptists

Strasbourg, France (MWC) -When Lutherans from around the world gather in July, they will seek a historic reconciliation with Mennonites and other Christians of the Anabaptist tradition. On July 22, the third day of the eleventh assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) to be held in Stuttgart, Germany, delegates are expected to ask “forgiveness-from God and from our Mennonite sisters and brothers-for the harm that our forebears in the sixteenth century committed” in persecuting Anabaptists. Continue reading “Lutherans to seek formal reconciliation with Anabaptists” →

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. Continue reading “Press release: 2010 Bridgefolk conference explores footwashing” →

Study guide to help prepare world convocation on peace

Geneva (WCC) — “Telling the Truth About Ourselves and Our World”, a study guide on overcoming violence in contemporary contexts, has been published by the World Council of Churches in English, French, German and Spanish as part of the build-up to the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in May 2011 at Kingston, Jamaica.

Gathering about 1,000 representatives from church-related peace networks from all over the world, the convocation will mark the culmination of the ongoing ecumenical Decade to Overcome Violence (2001-2010) – Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace.

Four main sections of the study guide provide resources for discussion of the central themes of the IEPC: peace in the community, peace with the Earth, peace in the marketplace and peace among peoples.

The pattern suggested as a process for considering each theme provides an opportunity to relate the theme to one’s own context and experience, further reflection on the theme in a global perspective, a search for one’s own vision of peace and a commitment to action.

The study guide also provides resources for prayer, study, further reading and action.

The publication is now available in English, French, German and Spanish on the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) website.

Printed booklets may be ordered from dov@wcc-coe.org; these hard copies are free of charge, but there will be a charge for shipping quantities of more than 25.

The DOV would welcome offers to translate the study guide into additional languages. Such translations would then be posted on the website.

The new study guide is a follow-up to the widely used DOV publication “Why Violence? Why Not Peace?” which has been translated into 16 languages.

Study guide “Telling the Truth About Ourselves and Our World” (pdf, 1.1 MB)

Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV)

International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC)

Recommended reading: “As Different as We Think: Catholics and Protestants”

Protestants and Catholics may use much the same vocabulary to express their respective beliefs and practices, but behind this common language lie different ways of thinking. Becoming aware of and paying attention to these differences is essential for fruitful ecumenical dialogue.

Bridgefolk board member Darrin Snyder Belousek calls our attention to a recent article in Books & Culture that explores those background assumptions in an especially succinct and helpful way. The full article is not available online, except to the magazine’s subscribers, but Darrin shares his summary below: Continue reading “Recommended reading: “As Different as We Think: Catholics and Protestants”” →

Pope’s theme for Lent: “Justice founded in love”

Pontiff Encourages Work With the Poor

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 14, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is affirming that Jesus satisfies man’s “thirst for justice,” through his Divine love rather than political revolution.

The Pope stated this today in a public address before he prayed the midday Angelus with the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

He reflected on today’s liturgy and the Gospel reading of the Beatitudes.

“The beatitudes are based on the existence of a divine justice,” the Pontiff affirmed, “which raises up those who have been wrongly humiliated and casts down those who have been exalted.” Continue reading “Pope’s theme for Lent: “Justice founded in love”” →

An Iraq Journey: Remembering Rutba, seeing Jesus

by Weldon Nisly

Pastor, Seattle Mennonite Church
Bridgefolk board member

Every day for nearly seven years I have remembered Iraq and envisioned returning to that war-torn occupied land. I have longed to return to Iraq with Christian Peacemaker Teams and dreamed of going back to Rutba, a desert city in Western Iraq. Rutba holds a special place in my heart. I will always remember Rutba as the place where Iraqi people bandaged our wounds in a time of war. Continue reading “An Iraq Journey: Remembering Rutba, seeing Jesus” →