Tag: Sacraments and spirituality

Lutherans and Mennonites seek reconciliation, forgiveness

STUTTGART, Germany– In what Bishop Mark S. Hanson, President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), described as possibly “the most significant legacy this Assembly will leave,” the Eleventh Assembly of the LWF today took the historic step of asking the Mennonites for forgiveness for past persecutions. Delegates unanimously approved a statement calling Lutherans to express their regret and sorrow for past wrongdoings towards Anabaptists and asking for forgiveness.

Hanson described the act of repentance and reconciliation as “communion building and communion defining. “We will not just look back; we will also look towards together to God’s promised future.” Continue reading “Lutherans and Mennonites seek reconciliation, forgiveness” →

Bridgefolk conference explores footwashing

Collegeville – The annual Bridgefolk conference, which each summer brings together Mennonites and Catholics for four days of discussion and fellowship, met this year at Saint John’s Abbey at Collegeville, MN. This year topic was footwashing, which has emerged as a central practice of the conferences.

The program began with addresses by Mary Schertz, professor of New Testament at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries, and Abbot John Klassen of Saint John’s Abbey. Schertz emphasized the Biblical foundations of footwashing in the Gospel of John. Abbot Klassen explored the status of footwashing in the Catholic tradition.

Other speakers discussed footwashing as prayer, as simplicity, and as nonviolence. Continue reading “Bridgefolk conference explores footwashing” →

Footwashing: one congregation’s story

Bridgefolk participant Pat Shaver from Seattle Mennonite Church offers these reflections on the challenges her congregation encountered while planning a footwashing service:

Hygiene and hospitality

Seattle Mennonite is an urban congregation with a growing homeless ministry. MRSA (virulent type of infection) is frequent among the homeless.  The congregation needed a way to protect the health of the participants while being open and welcoming.  To meet this challenge, the congregation provided an individual towel for each person and someone at each station to insure people used hand sanitizer after washing someone’s feet.

A local homeless chaplain said that to allow homeless persons to participate without feeling ashamed, the congregation should Continue reading “Footwashing: one congregation’s story” →

Press release: 2010 Bridgefolk conference explores footwashing

Collegeville, MN (Bridgefolk) – For the ninth consecutive year a voluntary group of North American Mennonites and Catholics will meet for three days this summer for conversations about the faith which unites them—and the issues which divide them.  The Benedictine community at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville MN will host the gathering, as it has six previous conferences.

Called the Bridgefolk conferences, these annual gatherings seek to build bridges between these two long-estranged Christian communities.  This summer’s conference will be held on July 22-25.  It is open to the public.

This year’s topic is the practice of footwashing, which has emerged in previous conferences as a common practice which both groups have traditionally shared, and which participants in the Bridgefolk movement have found they can share despite the divisions which still exist between their two communities.

This summer’s conference will be the first in a series focusing on the common spiritual practices which sustain both Catholic and Mennonite life.

The 2010 Bridgefolk Conference is subtitled “Practices for our Life Together in Christ.”  It will explore issues such as service, hospitality and non-violence. Speakers will include scholars, pastors and laypersons from both Mennonite and Catholic traditions offering theological, academic and personal reflections on the practice of footwashing and its role in discipleship and Christian formation. Continue reading “Press release: 2010 Bridgefolk conference explores footwashing” →

Bridgefolk director calls new book the fruit of much interchurch dialogue

Gerald W. Schlabach, Bridgefolk co-founder and long-time director, has just published a new book on the practices of stability that all Christian churches need to sustain community in an age of individualism and mobility of all kinds. “I know I’m being a little provocative with the title,” says Schlabach, “but Unlearning Protestantism is really the fruit of many years of interchurch dialogue. I have tried to listen to various traditions as they have grappled with the challenges of loyalty and dissent, and to share my reflections in a way that helps all of us grow together toward Christ.” Continue reading “Bridgefolk director calls new book the fruit of much interchurch dialogue” →

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’s Gerald Schlabach in Commonweal magazine

Bridgefolk Executive Director Gerald Schlabach has just had an article published in Commonweal magazine, entitled “You Converted to What? One Mennonite’s Journey.” In it he offers nine “non-Roman” reasons why he became Roman Catholic, even while remaining Mennonite in many ways. Commonweal has granted Schlabach permission to post the article on his web site. You will find it at http://personal.stthomas.edu/gwschlabach/rc/.

Here are three excerpts: Continue reading “Bridgefolk’s Gerald Schlabach in Commonweal magazine” →

Two new books by Bridgefolk (good conference prep!)

Earlier this year Herald Press published two books written or edited by Bridgefolk board members Marlene Kropf and Gerald Schlabach.  The themes of peacemaking and worship at God’s table coincide with the theme of our upcoming conference: Making Peace: At Table, in the World.   Dip into one or both of these books as you prepare to attend the conference or join us in prayer.   Continue reading “Two new books by Bridgefolk (good conference prep!)” →