General Secretary Larry Miller (left) and General Secretary-elect César García (right) share a light moment at the MWC Executive Committee meetings in Taipei, Taiwan. Photo by Merle Good
The rise of Anabaptist-related churches in the global South is becoming much more than a matter of membership. At this year’s meeting of the Mennonite World Conference’s Executive Committee, May 4-10, actions on staffing and structures also reflected that growth.
Young Anabaptists (YAB) helping to decide are (l to r) Melani Susanti, Indonesia; Tigist Gelagle, Ethiopia; Rodrigo Pedroza Garcia, Mexico; Kristina Toews, Canada; Sumana Basumata, India, and Carlos Alberto Alvarez Woo, Colombia. Seated are Adi Walujo, Indonesia; Edgardo Sanchez, Argentina; and Sandra Campos Cruz, Costa Rica.
With eyes wide open about the visa challenges faced by international participants,
Three generations of peacebuilders from Argentina are studying at SPI: Maria Karina Echazu, an attorney; her nephew Joaquin Echazu, a university student studying security issues; and Lilian Burlando (Maria Karina's mother and Joaquin's grandmother), director of a Peace Center in Teirra del Fuego. --Photo by Jim Bishop
Those entering the opening session of Eastern Mennonite University’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) were handed felt markers and circles of fabric. Their assignment: “Tell what you bring here.”
Faisa Loyaan’s contribution: “learning and sharing.”
Amy Kosari, of Ellswroth, Wis. a representative of a Presbyterian church belonging to the Synod of the Lakes and Prairies in the Twin Cities area, speaks against an amendment to eliminate the celibacy requirement for gay and lesbian clergy at the Peace Presbyterian Church in St. Louis Park, Minn. --AP Photo
Gay and lesbian advocates celebrated a landmark victory on May 10 when the Presbyterian Church (USA) entered the expanding ranks of Christian denominations that allow openly gay, partnered clergy. The winds of change, they said, are at their backs.
A girl is carried away after the shooting spree.
The National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil has joined a national disarmament campaign to combat violent crime in the country.
Another Church has been attacked and burned down in Egypt by a mob of Muslim extremists on the basis of “a rumour” that the Church was holding captive a Christian woman who, they claim, wanted to convert to Islam
Christian and Muslim clashes in Egypt have left 12 people dead, 238 injured
Bill Warren from Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, leading the study.
Working in a cluster of offices above a LifeWay Christian Bookstore, Bible scholars are buried in a 20-year project to codify the thousands of changes, verse by verse, word by word -- even letter by letter -- that crept into the early New Testament during hundreds of years of laborious hand-copying.
Katharine Jefferts Schori: "the reign of God lies in the direction of more porous borders."
In a world where crossing borders is becoming a literal fact of life in economics, work and culture, U.S. and Canadian Lutheran and Episcopal/Anglican church leaders crossed the borders of their countries on 1 May to mark a decade of their denominations' "full communion" relationships.
EMU professor Lisa Schirch with Pakistani graduates of EMU's masters program in conflict transformation, Ali Gohar (l.) and Jennifer Jag Jivan (right).
Pakistan-based graduates of Eastern Mennonite University say U.S. military policy in their country has fed extremism and that, sadly, such extremism may not subside with the death of Osama bin Laden.
César García
For the first time, a leader from the global South will become the General Secretary of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC). On May 4, the MWC Executive Committee formally appointed César García of Bogotá, Colombia, as General Secretary-elect, to succeed Larry Miller on January 1, 2012.
Safwat Marzouk
Safwat Marzouk, a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary originally from Cairo, Egypt, has been appointed as Professor of Old Testament at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, beginning in July.
Addition completed in time for Conrad Grebel's 50th anniversary in August, 2013.
Construction will begin in March, 2012 at Conrad Grebel University College, Waterloo, Ont. on a $6.3 million addition to the academic building, particularly the library and archives. It will be completed by August, 2013, “just in time for the beginning of the College’s 50th anniversary,” notes outgoing president Henry Paetkau.
Residents of Aura in the Afar showed North American farmers on a food study tour to Ethiopia reserves of sorghum in their homes thanks to agricultural support and irrigation.
Hungry people around the world are once again benefitting from the generosity of people across Canada.
Altogether, a total of $9.1 million was donated to Canadian Foodgrains Bank in 2010, including 19,523 tonnes of food grains worth $4.8 million.
While Latin America has traditionally been overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, the face of religion there is being transformed with the growth of Protestantism expected to stabilize over the coming decades, according to a Brazilian sociologist.
Child soldiers are regularly used in conflicts such as that in Sri Lanka.
The report of a special U.N. panel that investigated allegations of massive human rights abuses in an ethnic war in Sri Lanka has prompted mixed reactions.
An estimated two billion people around the world tuned in on Friday, April 29, to watch the wedding of Prince William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, and Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey, a ceremony infused with British pageantry and steeped in elements of Anglicanism -- past, present and future.
I.B. Horst, 1915 - 2011
Irvin B. Horst, a former Eastern Mennonite University professor who devoted most of his life to Anabaptist history, research and thought, died Apr. 23, 2011, at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. He was 95.
Russ Eanes
Russ Eanes, director of finance and operations for Mennonite Publishing Network, will become executive director of MennoMedia on July 1. He will move to Harrisonburg where the head office of the new agency formed by merging MPN and Third Way Media will be located.
Steve Shenk, succeeding John Longhurst as director of marketing/sales for MPN, has been the executive director for Valley Brethren/Mennonite Heritage Center, Harrisonburg, for the past 7 years. He has also worked in public relations for Bluffton College and EMU, as well as managing editor for Gospel Herald, now The Mennonite.
"MennoMedia" is the name emerging for the new agency that has been working its way through the approval process of Mennonite governing boards in recent months. The new name applies when Mennonite Publishing Network and Third Way Media merge on July 1,
EMU Charlotte Wenger and mascot HERM, featured in the award-winning video, challenge all college students to "Chill Out." Photo by Lindsey Kolb
Eastern Mennonite University has been honored as a winner of the National Wildlife Federation’s annual competition “Chill Out: Climate Action on Campus.” This award program recognizes U.S. schools that are designing and implementing creative approaches to advance sustainability on campuses. EMU is one of six winning schools that were chosen from a national pool of entries.
The promotional supplement in the March 21 issue advances important matters of conscience. The proposed involvement, though, reflects an acceptance that we are out of step with what the majority of Canadians want from their government. Electing members of parliament who are open to pursuing peace would create some space for these issues of conscience.
‘With grace, courage, and a discerning spirit, Jeremy Bergen offers an account of ecclesial repentance worthy of a pilgrim people, a church at once reconciled and always on the journey toward full reconciliation." --Margaret Pfeil of the University of Notre Dame
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.
Betty Pries
Betty Pries, a mediator and MTS 2005 graduate, will be given the Distinquished Alumni Service award by the Alumni Committee of Conrad Grebel University College.
Richard Thiessen
Richard Thiessen of Abbotsford, B.C., has been named managing editor of the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO), succeeding Sam Steiner of Kitchener, Ont., whose terms ends this year. Thiessen, library director at Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, has been associate managing editor since November, 2006. He begins his role in January, 2012.
Leader: Lord God, Ruler of the Universe, King of kings and Lord of lords, in this Federal Election in the spring of 2011 we come and bow before you, our first and last allegiance. You have created powers and principalities, governments and institutions, to regulate human life. We acknowledge them as your servants for our good.
