Tag: Ecumenical news

Ivan Kauffman surveys 50 years of Mennonite-Catholic dialogue

Earlier this month Bridgefolk co-founder Ivan Kauffman spoke at Assembly Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana.  His talk offers a succinct overview of how Mennonite-Catholic dialogue has unfolded in the last 50 years. 

Called Together to Be Peacemakers
Mennonite Catholic Dialogue 1962-2012

Ivan J. Kauffman
Assembly Mennonite Church
Goshen, Indiana
July 8, 2012

It has been said we over-estimate what can be changed in one year, and under-estimate what can be changed in ten years. My life experience confirms that. But I would add that we can not even imagine the change that can take place in 50 years.

When the Second Vatican Council opened 50 years ago this October I was a student at Goshen College, at a time when Carl Kreider was still wearing a plain coat, and Mary Oyer was still wearing a covering. None of us then had any idea this event would affect us—that it would permanently change relationships between Mennonites and Catholics and launch us into a new era in the Church’s peace witness—but that is what has happened.

I could keep us here for hours telling stories about how this happened but I will briefly mention only a few. Continue reading “Ivan Kauffman surveys 50 years of Mennonite-Catholic dialogue” →

Catholics remember Anabaptist martyr

Collegeville, Minnesota (BRIDGEFOLK) – On May 20 a Benedictine abbot whose ancestors had once been Dutch Mennonites, led in commemorating the 485th anniversary of the martyrdom of Michael Sattler. Sattler had been a Benedictine, but left during the Peasants War of 1525 to become an Anabaptist leader. He is regarded as the primary author of the Schleitheim Confession.

The Abbot was Fr. John Klassen, the leader of the largest Benedictine monastery in North America, Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota.

The commemoration on May 20 affirmed both the nonviolent witness of Michael Sattler, and his willingness to die for the principle of religious freedom—positions now widely accepted in the Catholic community. Fourteen members of the monastic community participated, along with two Mennonite pastors. Continue reading “Catholics remember Anabaptist martyr” →

Leading ecumenist Br. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, highlights Lutheran-Mennonite footwashing in keynote address

A keynote address by Br. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, to the 2011 National Workshop on Christian Unity last May has recently come to our attention.  In it he called attention to the use of footwashing at a historic service of repentance and reconciliation, in which representatives of the Lutheran World Federation confessed 16th-century persecution of Anabaptists as a sin.  This “icon” should serve as a model for planning similar commemorations as Christians around the world mark the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017, he said.   Continue reading “Leading ecumenist Br. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, highlights Lutheran-Mennonite footwashing in keynote address” →

Margaret O’Gara to address Washington (DC) Theological Consortium on Christian unity, February 2

Professor Margaret O’Gara, Canadian ecumenical leader and Bridgefolk Board member, is scheduled  be the featured speaker at the annual Washington Theological Consortium Figel Lectures on Christian Unity in Washington DC Feb 2 2012.  Additional information can be obtained by visiting the  Washington Theological Consortium website:  http://www.washtheocon.org/consortium_events.html

Continue reading “Margaret O’Gara to address Washington (DC) Theological Consortium on Christian unity, February 2” →

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

Mennonite World Conference
news release

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!”

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” →