Category: News

Catholic theologians in the U.S. speak out against the death penalty

A Catholic Call to Abolish the Death Penalty

There were two state-sanctioned executions in the United States on September 21, 2011. In Georgia, Troy Anthony Davis, an African American man, was put to death for the 1989 murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. In Texas, Lawrence Brewer, a white supremacist, was executed for his participation in the racist hate crime dragging murder of James Byrd in Jasper in 1998. As theologians, scholars, and social justice advocates who participate in the public discussion of Catholic theology, we protest the state-sanctioned killings of both of these men, and we call for the abolition of the death penalty in the US. Continue reading “Catholic theologians in the U.S. speak out against the death penalty” →

Susan Harrison insists: Interfaith dialogue must include those “you can’t talk to”

Susan Kennel Harrison

Drawing especially on her experience with Iranian Shiites, former Bridgefolk Board member Susan Kennel Harrison recently spoke at Eastern Mennonite University’s Interfaith Forum recently.  Her forum presentation, “You Can’t Talk to Them – Peacemaking and Dialogue,” focused on the importance of building relationships with persons of other religious affiliations, particularly fundamentalists, in order to promote understanding and respect.  The talk is available as a podcast at http://emu.edu/now/podcast/2011/09/14/cie-interfaith-forum-susan-kennel-harrison.

Sant’Egidio convenes 9-11 peace reflection in Germany, emphasizes solidarity with the poor

Geneva (WCC) — A call for solidarity with the poor was delivered to a gathering of religious and political and civil society leaders from all over the world by one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches (WCC). The meeting on the topic “Bound to Live Together: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue” is taking place from 11-13 September in Munich, Germany.

The Roman Catholic lay community of Sant’Egidio has convened the gathering in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York. Continue reading “Sant’Egidio convenes 9-11 peace reflection in Germany, emphasizes solidarity with the poor” →

Mennonites begin ecumenical dialogue with Seventh-Day Adventists

Silver Spring, Maryland, USA– Representatives of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and the Mennonite World Conference held the first of several theological conversations June 28 to July 1, 2011 at the world headquarters of the 17 million-member Seventh-day Adventist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland. Continue reading “Mennonites begin ecumenical dialogue with Seventh-Day Adventists” →

Bridgefolk celebrates the fruit God brings through human failure

News release on 2011 Bridgefolk conference

By Gerald W. Schlabach

Bridgefolk co-founder Ivan Kauffman speaks during discussion following panel on common worship. Panel members, left to right: Stanley Kropf (moderator), Mary Schertz and Alice Noe.

Akron, Pennsylvania (BRIDGEFOLK) – “The Holy Spirit works in and through human failure, not around it,” Mennonite biblical scholar Mary Schertz told Catholics and Mennonites gathered at the headquarters of Mennonite Central Committee August 4-7 for the 2011 conference of Bridgefolk, a grassroots movement for dialogue and unity between Mennonites and Roman Catholics.

Peter was in a position to deny Jesus only because he was trying to be faithful to his promise, Schertz explained.  He risked his life to follow Jesus into the courtyard near where he stood trial.  “God worked the birth of the church out of human failure,” noted the Bridgefolk board member and professor of New Testament at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.  “Failure will always be present in the life of the church, but it doesn’t have to have the last word.  So too with Bridgefolk.  God has been at work through our failure.”

Schertz’s insight helped conference participants name the mix of joy and pain that they continue to share as Bridgefolk enters its second decade as a movement.  “This was Bridgefolk’s tenth annual conference,” Bridgefolk co-founder Weldon Nisly commented later, “and I think we have matured.  We feel the pain of church disunity as acutely as ever.  But holding that pain together has also led to a deep trust and mutual love.  We are clearer than ever that it is only ours to live in hope, not to ‘fix’ the church’s disunity.   Yet we find ourselves celebrating the fruit that God has brought from our failure.” Continue reading “Bridgefolk celebrates the fruit God brings through human failure” →

Death of Doris Murphy

We have just received news of the death of Doris Murphy, a Bridgefolk friend who contributed enthusiastically to some of our early conferences.  Her obituary follows.

Doris Helen Murphy, age 74, of Ellsworth, Wis., passed away at home on Aug. 11 after a short illness.

She was cared for in her final weeks by her family.

Doris was born on Feb. 7, 1937, in Big River, to the late Edward Bernard Murphy and Edna Anna (Schommer) Murphy.

She was a member of the Benedictine Religious Community until 1987. She earned a degree in education from Viterbo College, a master’s degree in music history with a concentration in liturgical music from The Catholic University of America, and a master’s degree in theology from St. John’s University School of Theology. Continue reading “Death of Doris Murphy” →

Woman’s journey from Mennonite to Catholic is a two-way street

Bridgefolk brings 2 churches together for dialog, worship

Dorothy Harnish

Dorothy Harnish is one of the local organizers for this year’s Bridgefolk conference in Akron, Pennsylvania.  A local paper in Lancaster did the following feature story on her:

By JOAN KERN
Correspondent
Lancaster Intelligencer-Journal / New Era

Dorothy Harnish was a cradle Mennonite. And a teen Mennonite and a young adult Mennonite and a middle-aged Mennonite.

But now she’s a senior citizen Catholic, a member of Lancaster’s St. Leo the Great Catholic Church.

Harnish, 69, of Landisville, will gather with about 75 other Catholics and Mennonites at the 11th annual Bridgefolk Conference, Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 7. Continue reading “Woman’s journey from Mennonite to Catholic is a two-way street” →

Uncovering ancient rhythms of daily prayer

Day by Day These Things We Pray

WATERLOO, Ont. and SCOTTDALE, Pa. (Herald Press)— When he was a young adult, Arthur Boers’ 17 year-old sister died of leukemia. Torn by grief and unable to understand how God could allow such a terrible thing, he found himself unable to pray.

“At times I had nothing to say to God or did not know how to voice my prayers,” says Boers, author of the new Herald Press book Day by Day These Things We Pray: Uncovering Ancient Rhythms of Prayer.

“Sometimes I could think of things that I wanted to tell God, but was not sure whether they were legitimate or blasphemous,” he says. “So I clamped my mouth and my mind shut when thoughts turned toward God.”

Then a friend introduced him to the practice of using a prayer book for daily prayers.

“I was comforted because that volume gave me words to pray,” he says. “It helped me voice laments and also encouraged me to put my situation into a wider context. Slowly I learned to pray again.”

Today Boers wants to help others who are struggling with prayer find ways to connect with God though the use of set prayers and prayer books. Continue reading “Uncovering ancient rhythms of daily prayer” →