Tag: Ecumenical news

Mennonite Church USA names new director of
interchurch relations

Mennonite Church USA
News Release:

Mennonite pastor helps Mennonite Church USA
to work with other denominations

by Laurie L. Oswald

NEWTON, Kan. (MC USA) — Believing that Christ wants the church to be one is
one thing. But it’s quite another to believe that working for the common
cause of Christ with other faith traditions is good for Mennonite Church
USA.

Andre  Gingerich Stoner, pastor of missions at Kern Road Mennonite Church in
South Bend, Ind., knows the difference — and he’s made the leap. What’s
more, he’s inviting his Anabaptist faith family to work with other faith
traditions to build up Christ’s body and to sharpen their own expression of
God’s reign in the world.

In his new role as director of interchurch relations for Mennonite Church
USA, Andre  coordinates efforts on behalf of Executive Leadership. In a
one-eighth time-position, he helps Mennonite Church USA to enter into
relationship and conversation with other Christian denominations. Continue reading “Mennonite Church USA names new director of
interchurch relations” →

Mennonite ecumenical conference

The following conference announcement may be of interest to some Bridgefolk participants.

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Collaborative Ministries
April 18-21, 2005 – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – Sheraton Cavalier Hotel

The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism in Saskatoon is planning the conference, with a team consisting of Mennonite, United Church, Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic members. We are building on the strength of two highly successful national shared ministry events (Winnipeg 1993 and Edmonton 2002) and also on annual “ecumenical institutes”, the most recent one held in May 2004 in Winnipeg, which have been held across the prairies for the past several years, attracting participants from a wider number of denominations who are interested in learning about and promoting ecumenical sharing in their congregations and regions. Continue reading “Mennonite ecumenical conference” →

Remembering the Cloud of Witnesses: 2nd Ecumenical Conference on 16th-century Martyrdom

PRESS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference
August 12, 2004

COLLEGEVILLE, Minnesota — Mennonite and Catholic historians and theologians continued the study of 16th-century religious martyrdom that began last year. Discussions at Saint John’s Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Minnesota, July 26-28, included plans to form an ecumenical institute for on-going scholarly research on this topic.

The conference was entitled, “Sixteenth century martyrdom in ecumenical perspective.” Ivan Kauffman, a Washington, D.C.-based writer and one of the conference organizers, provided this framework: “The church today stands between a past marred by extensive violence and a future committed to peacemaking. We must somehow connect our historical past to our very different future.”

Sixteenth-century martyrdom became a topic of ecumenical discussion when, in 1998, the Mennonite World Conference entered into a five-year dialogue with the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. Two major contributors to the international dialogue, Drew Christiansen, S.J., and Helmut Harder, spoke at this year’s martyrs conference.

Full story

Confession and Forgiveness Mark Anabaptist-Reformed Conference

NEWS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference

For Immediate Release
July 9, 2004

Zurich, Switzerland – Christians from the Zwinglian Reform tradition and the Anabaptist global church confessed sins that separated them 500 years ago and extended forgiveness to each other at an event called “remarkable and memorable.” Settings for the Reformed-Anabaptist Reconciliation Conference were the Grossmunster and nearby Limmat River in the city of Zurich on June 26.

Throughout the day, some 400 people, representing four continents and the two traditions, took steps toward new understanding of what drove them apart and new relationships as brothers and sisters with a common vision.

Full story

Sidebar

Report from Mennonite – Catholic Dialogue now available

“Called Together to Be Peacemakers,” the final report of the international dialogue that occurred from 1998-2003 between representatives of the Mennonite World Conference and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Church Unity, was released in February.  Thanks to the gracious help of the MWC office in Strasburg, France, we have been able to make the report available on the web.  You will find a link to the document at http://www.bridgefolk.net/theology/dialogue.

The release of any such document would be a major event in Mennonite – Catholic relations, but the document makes major substantive contributions on many points.  Chapter 1 endeavors to narrate the history that separated Mennonites from Catholics in a way that both can accept.  Chapter 2 takes up three key theological concerns: the nature of the church, understandings of sacraments/ordinances, and the call to peacemaking.  Chapter 3 closes with confessions of past sin that invite Mennonites and Catholics to move forward through a “healing of memories.”

While reading and reflecting on the document, begin thinking about how you might use it to encourage local dialogues between Mennonites and Catholics in your own setting.

Common threads: Mennonites in dialogue with the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome

by Marilyn Stahl and Dirk Giseburt

In early May, several Mennonites from the United States paused in the 16th century Church of Sant’Egidio in Rome.  In the 1970s, after many years as an adjunct to a Carmelite convent, the church became the gathering place of the new Community of Sant’Egidio, a loosely organized group of young people who had come together in prayer and in dedication to service to the poor.  With simple, white walls, the church is in the form of a cross.  The altar on the left side is piled with Bibles in all the languages of countries where the Community has active membership.  The altar on the right is decorated with a multitude of crosses made by craftspersons in many countries.  The altar in front bears a very old Russian icon of Christ that had been found at the church.

“We pray here, between Holy Scripture and the poor, facing Jesus,” explained Claudio Betti, a Sant’Egidio member.  When Sant’Egidio was founded in 1968, this twin devotion to the Bible and the poor had set the Community apart in Rome.  But today, with 40,000 members worldwide, the Community has the support of Church leaders and has become a widely respected advocate both for the poor and for peace.

The tour continued:  In the former convent dining room, Sant’Egidio members once acted as mediators between the factions in a civil war in Mozambique that had taken several hundred thousand lives. The negotiations lasted over two years but finally resulted in a peace agreement, signed in the dining room in 1992.  The Community has several times been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as a result.

Sant’Egidio had invited American Mennonites to visit their community in Rome after making contact through the Mennonite-Catholic Bridgefolk conversations in the U.S.  Continue reading “Common threads: Mennonites in dialogue with the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome” →

Official communique issued jointly by the MWC and the PCPCU

NEWS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference (MWC)
For Immediate Release
November 2, 1998

STRASBOURG/VATICAN CITY – For the first time, Mennonite and Catholic theologians met in international dialogue, October 14-18, to discuss the reasons for the centuries long separation between the two churches, starting in the sixteenth century. The meeting took place in Strasbourg, France.

This international consultation was sponsored by the Mennonite World Conference (Strasbourg) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Vatican City). Dr. Helmut Harder (Winnipeg, Canada) and Bishop Joseph Martino (Philadelphia, Pa., USA) were co-chairmen. Dr. Larry Miller (Strasbourg) and Monsignor John A. Radano (Rome) served as co-secretaries.

The purpose of the consultation was to promote better understanding of positions about Christian faith held on each side and to contribute to overcoming prejudices that have long existed between Mennonites and Catholics. Continue reading “Official communique issued jointly by the MWC and the PCPCU” →