Larry Miller reflects on 22 years at the helm of Mennonite World Conference

by Phyllis Pellman Good

“As long as the wind is in its sails. . .”

Larry Miller remembers one moment clearly when, as a 38-year-old, he was weighing whether or not to accept the nomination to lead Mennonite World Conference. The year was 1988, 23 years ago, and he was sitting in a university library in Strasbourg, France, where he lived.

“I was working on my dissertation, and I looked up and noticed a book by one of my professors on a shelf. I pulled it down. It was dusty, and no one had ever checked it out. I suddenly realized that I was poised to write those kinds of books!”

07-12-2011ec2009larrydanisanancy_5 — Miller speaks at the 2009 Executive Committee meetings in Paraguay. To his left are Danisa Ndlovu, incoming MWC president that year, and Nancy Heisey, who was completing her term as president. Photo: Merle Good

Miller was finishing his doctorate in New Testament and was under consideration for a graduate-level teaching position in that field in the Protestant faculty at the University of Strasbourg. But something unexpected had come his way. The European Mennonite churches had together nominated him to be Executive Secretary of Mennonite World Conference. Continue reading “Larry Miller reflects on 22 years at the helm of Mennonite World Conference” →

Invoking the gift of unity among Christians

VATICAN CITY, 18 JAN 2012 (VIS) – The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which begins today, was the theme of Benedict XVI’s general audience celebrated this morning in the Paul VI Hall. The Holy Father explained how this initiative has been held annually for more than a century and brings together Christians from Churches and ecclesial communities, who “invoke that extraordinary gift for which the Lord Jesus prayed during the Last Supper: … ‘That they may all be one'”. Continue reading “Invoking the gift of unity among Christians” →

Week of prayer for Christian unity begins tomorrow

VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2012 (VIS) – The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is due to begin tomorrow, 18 January, under the theme “We will all be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The Week is promoted by the World Council of Churches (WCC), a worldwide fellowship of 349 Churches seeking unity, common witness and Christian service. The Catholic Church participates in this ecumenical initiative, despite not being a member of the WCC. Continue reading “Week of prayer for Christian unity begins tomorrow” →

Darrin Snyder Belousek publishes major study on the atonement and peacemaking

Bridgefolk participant and board member Darrin Snyder Belousek has just published a major new book on atonement. The book develops a biblical theology of the cross in connection with justice and peacemaking. Published by Eerdmans, the book is entitled Atonement, Justice, and Peace: The Message of Cross and the Mission of the Church. Belousek notes that “one chapter focuses on ecumenical peacemaking in the church and is directly influenced by my experience in and reflection on Bridgefolk.” Here is the publisher’s description and a link to purchase online:

In this substantial new study Darrin Belousek presents a comprehensive and critical examination of standard Protestant atonement theology and offers an alternative to the theory of penal substitution that is both biblically grounded and theologically orthodox. Beginning with Paul’s message of the cross and the Gospel narratives of Jesus, Belousek develops a comprehensive vision of justice and peace in light of the cross — a vision that connects theology and ethics, salvation and mission. Integrating his biblical study and theological reflection with philosophical analysis, historical considerations, and social-scientific evidence, Belousek shows that Christian thinking on atonement is no mere academic exercise, but rather a practical theology that speaks to such concrete realities as economic justice, capital punishment, the war on terror, ethnic and religious conflict, and Christian disunity.

Click here to order.

Global Christian Forum holds second international gathering

News Release
Mennonite World Conference
by Ron Rempel, MWC news editor

Manado, Indonesia (MWC) –Anabaptists were among the 287 participants in a diverse Christian gathering held here October 4-7, 2011. The meeting was the second international gathering of the Global Christian Forum (GCF). The first was held in Kenya in 2007.

Participants came from 65 countries and all continents and brought together many streams of the Christian faith: African Instituted, Anglican, Catholic, Charismatic, Evangelical, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Protestant, mega churches and contemplative communities.

Leaders at the gathering came from 12 world Christian communions and nine global ecumenical organizations. Mennonite World Conference (MWC) was represented by Anne-Cathy Graber, MWC representative on the GCF Committee, Danisa Ndlovu, MWC president, and Larry Miller, MWC general secretary. Miller was introduced at the gathering as the new GCF secretary beginning January 2012. Continue reading “Global Christian Forum holds second international gathering” →

Mennonite leaders reflect positively on Assisi day of prayer

News Release
Mennonite World Conference
by Ron Rempel, MWC news editor

Assisi, Italy (MWC) —Danisa Ndlovu, Mennonite World Conference (MWC) president, and Larry Miller, MWC general secretary, joined with leaders of many other religious communities and several humanist organizations October 27, 2011 for a day of reflection, dialogue and personal prayer in Assisi, Italy, the home of the 12^th century Catholic friar and preacher, St. Francis, known for his commitment to peace. Continue reading “Mennonite leaders reflect positively on Assisi day of prayer” →

New book interprets church apologies

In recent years, churches have repented for historical wrongs. In his new book, Ecclesial Repentance: The Churches Confront Their Sinful Pasts, Jeremy M. Bergen tells the story of these apologies and analyzes the theological issues they raise about the nature and mission of the church.

“In a context in which churches, as well as national governments, are increasingly offering public apologies for past acts of injustice and failure,” Bergen’s book, Ecclesial Repentance: The Churches Confront Their Sinful Pasts, “represents an important contribution.” In a review by Christopher Craig Brittain of the University of Aberdeen, Britton continues, “rather than seeing ecclesial repentance as undermining the Church’s reputation, or functioning as a self-serving public relations strategy, Bergen offers a theological account of how they help the Church be faithful to its mission. The result is a sensitive reflection on the complexities and perils of public apologies, as well as a thoughtful appreciation for their potential to facilitate the healing of past wounds.’ Continue reading “New book interprets church apologies” →

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

CommonWorshipDiscussion — 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” →