Author: gws

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” →

Duke Center for Reconciliation invites applications to summer institute

Applications are now being received for the 2010 Duke Divinity School Summer Institute, online at www.divinity.duke.edu/summerinstitute.   This summer’s Institute will focus on the theme “The Ministry of Reconciliation in a Divided World” and will be held from May 31 – June 5, 2010 on the campus of Duke Divinity School. The 2010 Summer Institute will create a community of learning among diverse peers and offer intimate interaction with a world-class faculty of scholars and practitioners. You will experience in-depth teaching, prayer and worship, shared meals, real-world contexts and challenges, and an opportunity to reflect on your own vocation and ministry setting. Continue reading “Duke Center for Reconciliation invites applications to summer institute” →

A prayer for Haiti

by Rose Marie Berger

Most Holy Creator God, Lord of heaven and earth,
we bring before you today your people of Haiti.
It is You who set in motion the stars and seas,
You who raised up the mountains of the Massif de la Hotte
and Pic La Selle. It is You who made her people in your very image:
Their gregarious hearts and generous spirits,
their hunger and thirst for righteousness and liberty. Continue reading “A prayer for Haiti” →

Bridgefolk Board member returns to Rutba, Iraq

Weldon Nisly, pastor of Seattle Mennonite Church and Bridgefolk Board member, returned to Rutba, Iraq in January as part of a Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).   As part of a CPT delegation that visited Iraq in 2003 during the US invasion, Nisly was injured in an automobile accident and treated at a clinic in Rutba.  He and other members of the delegation returned this year in order to express their gratitude to their Iraqi hosts and medical personnel.   For CPT news releases on the recent trip, click here.

Italian Catholic bishops call for nonviolence

War Is Irrational, Italian Bishop Affirms 

Conference Considers Priority of Disarmament

ROME, FEB. 8, 2010 (Zenit.org).- War is irrational and inhuman, and non-violence needs to become a language, reconciliation a style of life.

These were some of the conclusions at the Italian episcopal conference’s convention last month on “For a World of Peace: the Dream of Isaiah and the Proclamation of Christ.”

Caritas-Italy and Pax Christi co-sponsored the event.

An official from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Tommaso Di Ruzza, told the conference participants that disarmament is an ethical question that involves everyone, not just governments. Continue reading “Italian Catholic bishops call for nonviolence” →

“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. Continue reading ““Forgiving Lutherans could be a temptation for self-righteousness,” says Mennonite theologian” →

Mennonite Church Canada represented at Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

WINNIPEG, Manitoba —Mennonite Church Canada leaders gathered with those from other denominations on January 24/2010 for the opening service of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  Among the other denominations represented  were Anglican, Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, United Church of Canada, Evangelical Lutheran, United Church of Christ, Salvation Army, Presbyterian and Ukrainian Orthodox. Continue reading “Mennonite Church Canada represented at Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” →

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.