English La declaración revisada sobre inmigración para toda la iglesia contiene cinco acciones recomendadas a cada congregación para los años 2014–2016. Cada acción está ilustrada con un ejemplo de ministerio ya existente en la Iglesia Menonita de EE. UU. ¿Qué acciones resultan adecuadas en su contexto particular? Mi deseo es que como comunidad de fe profundicen en la declaración y disciernan cómo Dios los está llamando a responder. —Iris de León-Hartshorn, directora de trabajo transformador por la paz para la Iglesia Menonita de EE. UU. Acciones para 2014–2016 Educativas 1. Aprender habilidades para ayudar a facilitar la competencia intercultural y/o... read more →
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If you are not happy with the results below please do another searchWe, the members of the Mennonite Church USA Discernment Group convened to continue the work of healing and reconciliation in the wake of theologian John Howard Yoder’s abuse of women, are frequently asked questions about our work. In 10 questions below, we’ve captured the gist of the questions we frequently hear asked and offer responses with insight into the biblical, theological and pastoral grounding for our work. Each of the answers we provide could be expanded significantly, and no doubt there are many ways in which some readers will find them lacking. We offer them in the hope that... read more →
John Howard Yoder Digest: Collected Articles About Sexual Abuse and Discernment For those who are following the discussions related to John Howard Yoder’s sexual abuse of women and its theological and ecclesiological implications, here is a collection of articles that outline the conversation and developments. This is not necessarily comprehensive, so feel free to suggest other articles to add to this digest. In early June of 2013, responding to a book review written in The Mennonite, Barbra Graber created a Facebook note about John Howard Yoder’s abuses and what the church must do to work towards accountability and healing.... read more →
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We place our hope in the reign of God and in its fulfillment in the day when Christ our ascended Lord will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. He will gather his church, already living under the reign of God according to the pattern of God’s future. We believe in God’s final victory, in the end of this present age of struggle between good and evil, in the resurrection of the dead, and in the appearance of a new heaven and a new earth. There the people of God will reign with Christ in justice,... read more →
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We believe that the church is God’s “holy nation,”1 called to give full allegiance to Christ its head and to witness to all nations about God’s saving love. The church is the spiritual, social, and political body that gives its allegiance to God alone. As citizens of God’s kingdom,2 we trust in the power of God’s love for our defense. The church knows no geographical boundaries and needs no violence for its protection. The only Christian nation is the church of Jesus Christ, made up of people from every tribe and nation,3 called to witness to God’s glory. In contrast... read more →
Six-week core curriculum [Español] Download the Radical Hospitality Bible Study Guide. También disponible en español: Hospitalidad radical: Responder al tema de la inmigración (Una guía de estudios bíblicos) When you have completed your study of Radical Hospitality, we would greatly appreciate you taking three minutes to fill out this simple evaluation. Thank you! To view the following videos with Spanish subtitles: Click the “play” button. The gear/settings icon will then appear in the lower righthand corner. Click the gear icon and a new window will pop up. In the second box titled Subtitles/CC, you will see “English” listed. Click on the... read more →
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We confess that, beginning with Adam and Eve, humanity has disobeyed God, given way to the tempter, and chosen to sin. Because of sin, all have fallen short of the Creator’s intent, marred the image of God in which they were cre-ated, disrupted order in the world, and limited their love for others. Because of sin, humanity has been given over to the enslaving powers of evil and death.1 Sin is turning away from God and making gods of creation and of ourselves. We sin by making individual and group choices to do unrighteousness and injustice.2 We sin by omitting... read more →
Blog Post
Hannah Heinzekehr is the Director of Communications for Mennonite Church USA ■ A church of more than 1,000 members preaching and worshipping in Spanish on the west side of Chicago. ■ A young family feeling called to work at church revitalization and simple living in rural Washington State. ■ A youth group from Indiana getting inspired to work for justice on behalf of immigrants in Georgia and beyond. ■ Two Korean pastors beginning a peace and conflict reconciliation training program for Asian-Americans in Los Angeles County. ■ A Pennsylvania congregation hiring new staff to reach... read more →
The revised 2014 Churchwide Immigration Statement for Mennonite Church USA recommends five actions to congregations for 2014–2016. Each of the actions below is illustrated by an example of ministry already happening in Mennonite Church USA. Educational 1. Learn skills to help facilitate intercultural competency and/or undoing racism processes in congregations through the Communities of Hope process Invite a Communities of Hope facilitator to work with your congregation. 2. Plan Bible studies, sermons, and worship services on themes of hospitality to immigrants. Learn about the footwashing vigil hosted by Chapel Hill (N.C.) Mennonite Fellowship during Holy Week. “For the past... read more →
Blog Post
This post was shared originally on the MennoNerds website. According to their website, "The primary qualifier for a MennoNerd is that we write or talk or think about theology or other Christian issues from an Anabaptist perspective. Some write blog articles nearly every day. Others blog every couple of weeks. Not every MennoNerd is a blogger and not every MennoNerd is an author on this site." By MennoNerds “The myth is that we don’t live in a highly racialized and white-controlled society, and that the Church isn’t complicit. But the truth is that race and racism affect all of us,” says... read more →
Blog Post
This reflection was originally shared by Nekeisha Alexis-Baker during a chapel service at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary on Friday, February 28th, 2014. The chapel was focused on the Anabaptist women’s theology conference, All You Need is Love, which had happened the week previously. By Nekeisha Alexis-Baker Welcome to this morning’s chapel, Expressions of Women Doing Theology. When Katerina and I requested this chapel slot, we only had a vague idea of how to use... read more →
Blog Post
By Joanna Shenk So let’s go with the sad news first. As you may have heard, Hilary J. Scarsella ended her role as co-coordinator for the Women in Leadership Project (WLP) at the beginning of May. The two of us decided together on the transition time, given her preparations for moving to Nashville to pursue doctoral work at Vanderbilt University this summer. For two years she joined me in coordinating the WLP.... read more →
Blog Post
This post was originally shared in Evangel, the tri-annual newsletter of Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference. By Brenda Zook Friesen On February 20-22, close to 200 mostly-Anabaptist women gathered in Leesburg, VA, for All you need is love: honoring diverse women’s voices doing theology. I attended in my dual role as both participant and Mennonite Church USA staff person providing logistical support. I had attended... read more →
Blog Post
By Colleen McFarland In 1982 Robert Shuster, director of archives at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, tackled the problem of documenting spiritual enthusiasm in the historical record.[1] Recognizing the importance of spiritual enthusiasm as an agent of social, cultural, and political change, Shuster asked whether archival documents can “capture” it -- record spiritual awaking in ways that allow researchers to feel its spontaneity and its power. Reflecting on his own repository, which collects historical documentation of Protestant nondenominational evangelism and mission work, he concluded that historical... read more →
Blog Post
Albuquerque Mennonite Church April 4-6, 2014 Climate change. Global warming. Weather wilding. Polar vortexes. Permanent aridity. Carbon displacement—are among the growing list of terms that add to an awareness that our environment is changing. Life as we’ve known it is likely to experience significant disruption. What should people of faith do with growing evidence that human activity is playing a significant role in the environmental crisis? Is there a place for hope? Is there a role for the church? This past winter Albuquerque Mennonite Church decided to spend part of its mission budget on an effort to address some of... read more →