Discerning the future of Bridgefolk:
an invitation to join the conversation

Bridgefolk, the grassroots movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Catholics, celebrated its 20^th anniversary of summer conferences in 2022. That gathering, entitled “Standing At The Crossroads,” offered an opportunity to look both back in gratitude and forward, as we began to discern the future path for Mennonite-Catholic dialogue and peacemaking. We now wish to invite Bridgefolk participants to resume this discernment.

Since 2022, the Bridgefolk board has taken some new initiatives. We have explored partnerships such as the co-sponsorship of the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) Rooted & Grounded conference in 2023 and a partner relationship with AMBS in 2025. We have also made greater use of on-line opportunities to connect Bridgefolk participants through webinars and evening prayer.

At the same time, we have witnessed the Spirit at work in Mennonite-Catholic reconciliation beyond the bounds of Bridgefolk. In 2025, conversations between Catholics and plain Mennonites began in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. At the celebration of 500 years of Anabaptism in Zurich, Switzerland in May 2025, Cardinal Koch of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity read a letter from the newly elected Pope Leo XIV during the worship service that celebrated reconciliation with Lutheran, Reformed and Catholic believers.

While we have much to celebrate, much has changed in the broader society and ecclesial world in the past 25 years. A younger generation no longer has the strong institutional commitments of prior generations and is more open to exploring other religious expressions and to marry persons of other faith traditions. Meanwhile, some of the founders and early participants in Bridgefolk have become less active due to the limitations of health and aging, and some have departed from us. Saint John’s Abbey, which offered hospitality and leadership to Bridgefolk since its founding, and the Saint Benedict’s Monastery community, are both in a time of discernment as their communities age and are diminishing in size. Current board members have raised concerns about the efficacy of in-person conferences given the financial expense, as well as the environmental considerations of travel.

As Joetta and Gerald Schlabach – current executive director and webmaster, respectively – anticipate concluding these responsibilities in mid-2027, the board is asking the hard questions:

Is there sufficient interest and energy/capacity to continue Bridgefolk in its current structure into the future?
How does an organization know when its mission is accomplished?
If Bridgefolk continues, what shape might it take? Do we have a critical mass of people to give leadership, time, and energy to a next expression of Bridgefolk?

The board would like to expand the circle of this conversation to include persons for whom Bridgefolk has been a home during these past 25 years. To that end, we are scheduling several regional, in-person conversations as well as on-line opportunities. If you would like to join the conversation …

click here to register

Videos from Bridgefolk 2025 now available

Due to various technical difficulties, it has taken us a few months to post videos from our summer conference in Winnipeg. We apologize for the delay.

Thankfully, they are now available by clicking here. You will find keynote addresses by Dr. Jennifer Otto and Fr. John Klassen OSB, along with Q&A sessions following each one. Also available is a panel discussion with stories of ecumenical dialogue.

Bridgefolk formalizes relationship with Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary

When Bridgefolk formed in 2002, Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN – under the leadership of Abbot John Klassen – offered to be a home for this fledgling movement. Initial annual conferences were hosted by the Abbey. After several years, some of the Catholic participants expressed interest in visiting Mennonite settings. Conferences began to alternate between the abbey (as well as Saint Benedict’s Monastery) and various Mennonite institutional settings locations in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ontario, Manitoba, Washington, and Indiana. Over the years, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Ind. hosted three conferences and several of its faculty members served key roles in Bridgefolk leadership and on the board.

In 2024 the Bridgefolk board initiated conversations with AMBS leadership about the possibility of establishing a formal institutional relationship, so that Bridgefolk would have both Catholic and Mennonite “homes.” This has now been formalized in a memo of understanding, signed in summer 2025.

Some of the items of mutual benefit outlined in the agreement include:

a designated Bridgefolk board member appointed from the AMBS teaching or administrative faculty.
opportunities to co-sponsor events of shared interest and to collaborate in the development of biblical and theological resources that further our shared call to peacemaking.
providing a safe space for Catholics and Mennonites who wish to study and worship in each other’s milieu, together with Saint John’s Abbey

The bylaws of Bridgefolk specify that one director of the board be “an official representative of a recognized body or institution within the Mennonite tradition.” This agreement formalizes AMBS as this “recognized institution body or institution,” for the sake of continuity and accountability.

What does the 500th anniversary of the start of the Anabaptist movement mean for the unity of the church?

Jeremy Bergen
for Salt+Light Media
25 March 2025

_{Woodcut of 16th-century Anabaptist leader and eventual martyr Dirk Willems halting his escape from prison to rescue the guard pursuing him. From Wikimedia Commons.}

In this recently-published article, Dr. Jeremy M. Bergen of Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo introduces the Anabaptist-Mennonite movement for Canadian Catholics and reflects on its significance for other Christians.

Just over 500 years ago, on January 21, 1525, several adults gathered in a home in Zurich. After prayer and discussion, former Catholic priest George Blaurock asked one of the men present, a university student named Conrad Grebel, to baptize him. After Grebel did so, Blaurock proceeded to baptize the others gathered there. This group had initially been keen on Ulrich Zwingli’s religious reforms in the city, but were frustrated by its slow pace and the role of the secular authorities in implementing change. The emerging movement of dissenters believed that baptism was exclusively for (adult) believers. They placed an emphasis on a life of discipleship as following the teachings and example of Jesus, and the local congregation as a voluntary community of committed believers who interpret the Bible together. They believed in the separation of church and “state,” and the rejection of the sword. A movement with these commitments emerged in Switzerland, South Germany, and the Netherlands.

This ritual act in 1525 marked the beginning of the Anabaptist movement. …

Click here to continue reading

Registration for Bridgefolk 2025 now open!

Anabaptism at 500:
Ecumenical Dialogue in an Age of Polarization
First Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
July 24-27, 2025

Click here to register.

This year’s conference will look at the birth of Anabaptism from both a Mennonite and a Roman Catholic perspective, what has changed in the past five centuries, and what the implications are for ecumenical dialogue today.

The Mennonite keynote address will be given by Dr. Jennifer Otto, Associate Professor in the Department of History and Religion at the University of Lethbridge, where she teaches courses on Christianity, Bible, and Western Religions. Dr. Otto’s current research project, “Remembering Anabaptist Martyrs,” investigates the reception and representation of early Christian martyrs among Anabaptists in the 16th century and in the present day.

We also welcome Fr. John Klassen OSB, as our Roman Catholic keynote speaker. Fr. John was abbot of Saint John’s Abbey, in Collegeville, Minnesota, for over 23 years, and was instrumental in starting and supporting Bridgefolk during that time. Before becoming abbot, he received a doctorate from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, in 1985, taught at Saint John’s Preparatory School (1972-77) and Saint John’s University (1983-2000), and was the director of the university’s senior seminar program (1986-88), and of the Peace Studies Program (1988-90). He was the director of monastic formation for the abbey from 1993-99.

This conference will also feature a panel discussion with others who are involved in ecumenical dialogue and work, locally and elsewhere. The conference will feature a workshop to equip participants with practical tools to engage in respectful dialogue as well as small groups in which to practice these tools.

Click here to register.
Or click here for more information.

Bridgefolk 2025 to be held in Winnipeg in July

Bridgefolk Conference 2025
Mennonites and Catholics in Dialogue

Anabaptism at 500:
Ecumenical Dialogue in an Age of Polarization
First Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
July 24-27, 2025

Click here to register.

The 2025 annual Bridgefolk conference will be held July 24-27, 2025 at First Mennonite Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba—Treaty 1 Territory and the homeland of the Metis Nation. This is the 23^rd annual Bridgefolk gathering, the second time it will be held in Winnipeg, and the third time in Canada.

Bridgefolk is a grassroots ecumenical movement of Mennonites and Roman Catholics who work together toward Christian unity by “proceeding through friendship.” Newcomers are always welcome at Bridgefolk gatherings, regardless of religious affiliation.

Interior of church. — ^{First Mennonite Church, Winnepeg, Manitoba (photo by George Penner)}

The 2025 conference theme is “Anabaptism at 500: Ecumenical Dialogue in an Age of Polarization.” This year’s conference will look at the birth of Anabaptism from both a Mennonite and a Roman Catholic perspective, what has changed in the past five centuries, and what the implications are for ecumenical dialogue today.

The Mennonite keynote address will be given by Dr. Jennifer Otto, Associate Professor in the Department of History and Religion at the University of Lethbridge, where she teaches courses on Christianity, Bible, and Western Religions. Dr. Otto’s current research project, “Remembering Anabaptist Martyrs,” investigates the reception and representation of early Christian martyrs among Anabaptists in the 16th century and in the present day.

We also welcome Fr. John Klassen OSB, as our Roman Catholic keynote speaker. Fr. John was abbot of Saint John’s Abbey, in Collegeville, Minnesota, for over 23 years, and was instrumental in starting and supporting Bridgefolk during that time. Before becoming abbot, he received a doctorate from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, in 1985, taught at Saint John’s Preparatory School (1972-77) and Saint John’s University (1983-2000), and was the director of the university’s senior seminar program (1986-88), and of the Peace Studies Program (1988-90). He was the director of monastic formation for the abbey from 1993-99.

“Bridgefolk brings a unique set of gifts to this work,” notes Laura Funk, long-time Bridgefolk participant and local conference organizer. “Mennonites and Catholics are in conversation and prayer with each other. Often we do our best learning in the presence of those who have had a different experience, who bring different assumptions and history to the challenge of respectful dialogue in an age of increased polarization. In addition, we are called together to be peacemakers, with a commitment to the non-violence of Jesus in the Gospel. This call shapes our approach to listening, speaking, thinking, and acting.”

The conference will include a foot-washing service and agape meal, as well as a hymn sing, which have become favorite elements of Bridgefolk gatherings.

Click here to register.

Bridgefolk webinars page updated to include 27 January event

Recent Bridgefolk webinars are now available online at
https://www.bridgefolk.net/conferences/webinars/, including …

Dr. Jennifer Otto, “2025: Remembering Zurich and Nicaea,” 27 January 2025
Br. Denys Janiga OSB, “War, technology, acceleration: Responding to the cries of the earth through stability and contemplation,” 8 October 2024
Introducing the Bridgefolk board, 11 April 2024

Virtual event to remember Zurich & Nicaea, January 27

2025: Remembering Zurich and Nicaea
January 27, 8-9:30 p.m. ET

Portrait photo of Jennifer Otto — ^{Jennifer Otto, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Lethbridge and Bridgefolk board member.}

The year 2025 marks 500 years since the first adult believers’ baptisms of the Anabaptist movement took place in Zurich, Switzerland. It also marks 1700 years since the Council of Nicaea, where the Nicene Creed was established as the first ecumenical statement of “catholic” Christian faith. In this webinar, Bridgefolk Board Member Jennifer Otto, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Lethbridge, will provide a brief historical introduction to the events of both Nicaea and Zurich and invite us into conversation about unity and division within the Church.

How should we, as Mennonites and as Catholics, commemorate these two events?
How do these anniversaries impact the way we think about “proceeding in friendship” together?
Can we celebrate the Nicene Creed and the beginnings of Anabaptism while acknowledging the pain caused by the ruptures in the Body of Christ that both events embody?

To register, click here.

Virtual event on war, technology & acceleration, October 8

Mug shot of Brother Denys Janiga — ^{Denys Janiga, OSB}

War, Technology, Acceleration:
Responding to the Cries of the Earth Through Stability and Contemplation
Tuesday, October 8, 8:15-9:30 pm ET

In this presentation, Bridgefolk Board Member Br. Denys Janiga OSB will talk about the relationship between war, ecology, and society, with a focus on technology.

He will discuss some of the recent technologies being deployed in modern conflicts, including Ukraine and Russia, Gaza and Israel, and Azerbaijan and Armenia. This will then move into a discussion of the notion of the “technocratic paradigm,” which Pope Francis has critiqued in his encyclical Laudato Si. Building on the pope’s encyclical, Br. Denys will use the work of Hartmut Rosa to better understand the temporal dimension of modern societies that he refers to as acceleration. The presentation will conclude with a Benedictine response through the vow of stability and contemplation.

After working as a program development assistant for the Environmental Studies program at the College of Saint Benedict (CSB) and Saint John’s University (SJU), Br. Denys has recently joined the university’s Campus Ministry staff. A member of Saint John’s Abbey, he is also a student in the Saint John’s School of Theology.

People on Bridgefolk mailing lists will receive a Zoom link on the morning of October 8.
Click here to subscribe.

This event is cosponsored by Pax Christi USA: The National Catholic Peace Movement.