Category: Announcements

Summer Ecumenical Institute in Saskatoon, SK

Here is another opportunity for ecumenical conversation in which Mennonites and Catholics have both played a part, in western Canada.

Summer Ecumenical Institute 2009: Telling our story, shaping our future: Christian unity and reconciliation in Canada

June 2-5, 2009 in Saskatoon, SK

The Summer Ecumenical Institute will function as a stock-taking and a vision-building exercise for the grassroots ecumenical community in Canada. 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism. It is also the 50th anniversary of the announcement by Pope John XXIII of the Second Vatican Council, one of whose main aims was the advancement of Christian unity. It is 50 years since our founder, Fr. Bernard de Margerie, received his call to the path of ecumenism. There is much to celebrate!

This conference will be the climax of a year of themed events giving thanks for the past achievements of the ecumenical movement and committing ourselves to Christian unity and reconciliation for the future. Continue reading “Summer Ecumenical Institute in Saskatoon, SK” →

Duke Summer Reconciliation Institute

The Center for Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School has extended a special invitation to Bridgefolk to participate in a week-long training workshop May 31 – June 5. Three Bridgefolk leaders took part in a conference at the center last year and found it be a meaningful opportunity to explore the challenge of reconciliation at many levels — international, racial, and ecumenical.. Continue reading “Duke Summer Reconciliation Institute” →

New publication on martyrdom

Martyrdom in an Ecumenical Perspective: A Mennonite-Catholic Dialogue, edited by Peter Erb, is the most recent publication in the Bridgefolk Series by Pandora Press. Acknowledging the martyrdom of Anabaptists, the 1998-2003 bilateral discussions between the Catholic Church and Mennonite World Conference resulted in a call for further reflection on the experience of martyrdom. In 2003 and 2004, Saint John’s Abby of Collegeville, Minnesota hosted two conferences in which Catholics and Mennonites discussed this subject. Martyrdom in an Ecumenical Perspective is a collection of perspectives presented at these meetings.

Contributors:

  • Brad S. Gregory
  • Neal Blough
  • Helmut Harder
  • Margaret O’Gara
  • C. Arnold Snyder
  • John D. Roth
  • Drew Christianson, S.J.
  • Chris K. Huebner
  • Jeremy M. Bergen

Books may be ordered from: www.pandorapress.com

Bridgefolk seeks sermons, poetry and art for book project

Bridgefolk is inviting sermons and homilies as well as poetry and art that reflect on the relationship between eating together at the Lord’s Table and our life of Christian peacemaking. Submissions will be considered for publication in a new book, We Are Each Other’s Bread and Wine: Mennonite and Catholic Reflections on Eucharist and Peacemaking.

This book project is a collaborative effort among Mennonites and Catholics to share reflections and convictions on the profound gifts of each tradition — the Eucharist and peacemaking — for the sake of encouraging richer Christian worship and more faithful Christian discipleship in the world. The contents of the book will be invited from Catholic and Mennonite communities in the United States, Canada, and abroad. The Institute of Mennonite Studies (AMBS) plans to publish the book jointly with a Catholic publisher.

We hope the book will explore questions such as:

  • How does the feast we share nourish our passion for peacemaking?
  • How does the ministry of Jesus and his work on the cross inspire us to become peacemakers?
  • How do our active lives of working for justice and making peace call us back to the Lord’s Table.

For information on how to submit entries, go to http://www.bridgefolk.net/misc/sermons.

Bridgefolk appoints new director, Kent Yoder

The Bridgefolk Board is pleased to announce the appointment of a new executive director, Kent Yoder of Goshen, Indiana.

Kent is a student at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, where he is currently pursuing a degree in the Master of Divinity program. He is a member of Assembly Mennonite Church and is actively involved in congregational life.

Kent has recently worked in the Geneva Office of the World Council of Churches, and this involvement has led to his pursuit of a M.A. thesis on the subject of international ecumenical peace dialogue. In the summer of 2007, Kent helped coordinate the Bridgefolk Conference held at AMBS.

Colombian Catholics and Mennonites strike new bonds at first dialogue

Bogotá, Colombia (MWC)- “I have been able to get to know a new world that I never knew before,” said Monsignor Fidel Cadavid, the bishop of Quibdo, Colombia. “Without knowing one another, it is impossible to practice ecumenism.”

Bishop Cadavid plans to connect with the Mennonite congregation in Quibdo on his return. “I see a great affinity [between our churches] in peace work. Working together, we will have more strength and be more effective in our advocacy.”

He was speaking of “Called Together to be Peacemakers,” an encounter for Catholic – Mennonite Dialogue which took place here August 15 and 16 at the Episcopal Conference of Colombia. Continue reading “Colombian Catholics and Mennonites strike new bonds at first dialogue” →

Building Bridges of Reconciliation in Latin America

A recent publication from the Mennonite Central Committee — the cooperative agency of Mennonite denominations in North America for relief, development and peacebuilding — surveys bridge-building efforts between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals in Latin America. The April-June issue of the Peace Office Newsletter is available online at http://mcc.org/peace/pon/PON_2007-02.pdf. Introducing the newsletter is the following article: Continue reading “Building Bridges of Reconciliation in Latin America” →

Invitation to attend Bridgefolk conference

Dear friends,

Please join us for our fifth annual Bridgefolk conference.  This year we will again gather at Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota.  Meeting from Thursday evening June 29 through Sunday noon July 2, our theme will be “Making Peace: At Table, in the World.”  This year we are able to offer online registration as well as mail-in registration.  You will find a tentative schedule, as well as registration materials at http://www.bridgefolk.net/conferences/.

Calling ourselves a “movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics,” Bridgefolk has often examined the challenge of peacemaking. We have also encountered the pain of brokenness that prevents us from fully sharing at the table of the Lord. At the 2006 Bridgefolk gathering, therefore, we will continue to keep peacemaking in focus while frankly and lovingly facing the challenge of Eucharistic communion.

Nowhere is the scandal of Christian disunity greater than when Christians depart from the Lord’s Table to kill or exploit one another. Nowhere is the promise of God’s kingdom more tangible than when people from estranged nations and communities share a meal together. Through formal presentations, storytelling and discussions, we will explore peacemaking at tables set in various places — from the Eucharist, to the family, to communal and global settings.

The 2006 Bridgefolk conference is being held just prior to the summer Monastic Institute at Saint John’s Abbey. Entitled “One Heart, One Soul: Many Communities,” this week-long institute will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Benedictines in Minnesota by discussing “intentional communities” and other new monastic models as they are springing up in unexpected forms, places and denominations. Bridgefolk participants are encouraged to attend some or all of this event if they are able.  More information on the Monastic Institute is also available at http://www.bridgefolk.net/conferences/.

Grace and peace,

Gerald Schlabach
Bridgefolk Executive Director
info@bridgefolk.net
www.bridgefolk.net