The 2025 Bridgefolk summer conference was one of many events during this year that commemorated 500 years of Anabaptism. It seemed fitting that our grassroots organization of Mennonites and Catholics who have been in conversation for the past 25 years would consider the historical roots of the rupture that kept our traditions divided for nearly 500 years. The conference was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, hosted by First Mennonite Church.
The two keynote speakers for the conference were Dr. Jennifer Otto, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Lethbridge (Alberta), and Fr. John Klassen OSB, former abbot of Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. Each provided, from their respective Mennonite and Catholic perspectives, circumspect insights about the social and religious factors that led to the Protestant Reformation and the unique experience of Anabaptism in that historical moment.
Dr. Otto emphasized the importance of recognizing that “Christianity doesn’t have a single story.” As a Mennonite who grew up Baptist, with Anglican influences, and who now teaches at a secular university, she stated that she has been blessed to “rethink my priors” because many of her students come from Calvinist and/or military backgrounds. Within the context of Matthew 5-7 and John 17, where Jesus commands the church to be one, she confessed that one story of Anabaptism is that it was “elitist, self-righteous and holier-than-thou,” leading to divisions around discipline and a “desire for purity that bred a spirit of divisiveness and contentions.” One of the gifts of ecumenical dialogue that Dr. Otto noted was the appreciation for difference.
Otto highlighted three principles for dialogue in a time of polarization: 1) humility, 2) being aware of the challenges of the “near other” (J.Z. Smith), and 3) assuming the good faith of others – that “they are not bad, mad or stupid.”
Fr. Klassen began with a personal story of the impact of a Bridgefolk pilgrimage to the borderlands of Austria, Italy and Switzerland where he felt viscerally the reality of the persecution of Anabaptists by the Catholic Church in the 16th century. Despite a seminary education that included Reformation studies, he had not been aware of the degree of persecution and number of executions of Anabaptists. Only with his involvement in Bridgefolk did this change. Now, having come to know Mennonites intimately over 25 years of participation in Bridgefolk and as longtime Catholic co-chair of the Bridgefolk board, Klassen shared insights as an outsider, based on fresh study he undertook to more fully understand the emergence of Anabaptism and the response of the Catholic Church at that time.
Fr. Klassen framed his presentation with the question: “Are we a learning church?” He shared historical antecedents for what was considered “just persecution” of heretics (Augustine). But he also traced later developments, especially at the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), which opened the door to ecumenism and recognition of the right to religious liberty. He concluded with his desire to see a formal Catholic apology for the violence against Anabaptists in the 16th and 17th centuries. He also envisioned a new understanding of Christian unity that seeks a covenant among divergent church traditions, recognizing that despite their different trajectories, “we are already one because we’ve all been baptized into Christ” (Max Johnson).
Presentations by Dr. Otto and Fr. Klassen can be viewed here.
The conference schedule allowed time for small group discussion prior to a Q&A session with the keynote speakers. Spiritual director Laura Funk planned and led the worship times, with the collaboration of musicians Matthew Pauls and Neil Weisensel. Worship followed an arc from the beginning of the church, through history, to the work of the Spirit in the present day. Each session incorporated a unique spiritual practice.
A much-appreciated element of the daily schedule were Somatic Practices, led by Melanie Neufeld, which allowed participants to move their bodies in nonthreatening ways — a welcome relief to the many hours of sitting. Odelia Duffus, from a local mediation organization, led a session on Practices for Respectful Dialogue. A panel discussion highlighted stories of ecumenical dialogue: the sharing of a building by Aberdeen Mennonite Church and St. Kateri Catholic parish in Winnipeg, the journey of a Mennonite oblate in a Benedictine Catholic community, and how formative cross-cultural experiences prepared one of Bridgefolk’s founders for ecumenical work.
Two beloved elements of Bridgefolk conferences are a hymn sing and a foot washing/agape meal liturgy. The hymn sing, led by Matthew Pauls and Neil Weisensel, drew participants from a number of Mennonite churches in Winnipeg, and highlighted moments in church history through the hymns collected in the Voices Together Mennonite hymnal. Marlene Kropf, one of the founding members of Bridgefolk, led the foot washing liturgy, held in the sanctuary of St. Kateri church, followed by an agape meal in the church fellowship hall, which is the worship space of Aberdeen Mennonite Church.
One participant described the foot washing/agape meal liturgy as an element that “moves Bridgefolk into a community with binding ritual of their own.” The conference concluded with Sunday morning worship, focused on God’s presence through time. Like the hymn sing, the worship brought together members of several local Mennonite Churches. Rev. Mary Lehman Yoder, secretary for the Bridgefolk board, served as worship leader and Rev. Phil Waite, the Mennonite co-chair of the Bridgefolk board preached. A potluck meal after the service provided a final opportunity for conversation before farewells and the departure of participants who had come from a distance.
