Author: admin

Benedictine monk of Saint John's Abbey, Minnesota, since 1969.

Bridgefolk Briefs

A few items of interest this week:

  • From Mennonite Church Eastern Canada: A service of healing between Mennonites and Lutherans will take place later this month in Waterloo, Ontario.  Bridgefolk participants might be particularly interested in the story of footwashing as a means of healing relationships.
  • Click here for a report on the day of reflection for Mennonites and Catholics in South Bend, Indiana.  This gathering, involving many friends of Bridgefolk, was previously announced on this site.
  • Resources from last summer’s conference are now available on the 2010 Conference page.  Click here to read the presentations by Abbot John Klassen and Mary Schertz or to view the footwashing liturgy used in our corporate worship.
  • Share your thoughts on the Discussion page.  The current discussion topic explores the interaction of movements and institutions in church life.

Discussion: Movements and Institutions

During our most recent conference, frequent conversations focused on how we relate to our larger church institutions. Do we take on the role of prophet, calling institutions to new ways of thinking?  Or do we work within the systems in place to make small but meaningful steps in reconciliation?  Can we do both?

A recent post, found at the Interchurch Relations page of the Mennonite Church USA offers some reflection:

Movements and institutions need each other.

This summer and early fall I met people who are part of movement Christianity.

In August I attended a Jesus Radicals gathering hosted at Portland (Ore.) Mennonite Church.

In September I attended a gathering of community networkers convened by Reba Place Fellowship in Evanston, Ill., a Mennonite Church USA congregation, to discuss how to support newer discipleship communities.

Later I flew to Southern California and participated in a west coast Catholic Worker retreat. These Catholics live together in houses of hospitality, emphasizing the importance of Christian peace witness.

I also spent time with Urban Village, an intentional community birthed out of a Sunday school class at Pasadena (Calif.) Mennonite Church.

At the Abundant Table Farm Project in Oxnard, Calif., I was inspired by the integration of work, church and life as an organic farm, intentional community and worshiping community all use the same land.

In each case these groups are alternative communities interacting with the institutional church in a variety of ways.

After these visits I landed in Pittsburgh for MC USA’s Leaders Forum, a gathering of conference representatives, agency board members and denominational staff. I was there in my staff role with MC USA, feeling the tensions of working within the institutional church while also being in relationship with movements on the margins. I thought of how different we look today from the “leaders forum” that met in a barn, secretly, to draft the Schleitheim Confession in 1527.

Given our Anabaptist origins, I wondered, how are our institutions accountable to movements at the margins? Have we given increasing power to institutions while limiting movements in our midst? How have movements, at times, refused to engage with institutional structures?

Have we become either cynical about institutions or dismissive of movements? What could it look like for there to be mutual accountability between movements and institutions, recognizing that institutions often carry disproportionate amounts of power?

Let’s be open to the Spirit’s creativity and wisdom, wherever it is found.

Joanna Shenk, of Elkhart, Ind., is associate for interchurch relations and communications with Mennonite Church USA.

While written from a specifically Mennonite perspective, this post has some things to say about the broader issues at work here.  As we continue to discern and move forward in this second decade of Bridgefolk, what are your thoughts?

Mennonite publication celebrates ministry of Marlene Kropf

Marlene Kropf, Bridgefolk co-chair, retired from her position as denominational minister of worship (Mennonite Church USA) last month.  The Mennonite featured an article in celebration of her ministry.

From the article:

Since 1983, Marlene has been a key leader in the creation of Mennonite worship resources and spiritual formation material and has helped lead six spiritual pilgrimages and numerous music and worship retreat weekends. She has introduced a variety of spiritual disciplines across the church. “The main focus of my interest in worship transformation,” Marlene says, ‘has not simply been a conversion from passive to active behavior in worship but rather toward a more active encounter with God.”

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” →

Michiana Bridgefolk sponsors day of reflection

Michiana Bridgefolk will host a day of reflection on September 18 in South Bend, IN.  Participants will focus on “A Mennonite and Catholic Contribution to the World Council of Churches’ Decade to Overcome Violence.” Leaders include Bishop Kevin Rhoades, Marlene Kropf, Andre Stoner, Margie Pfeil, Mary Schertz, Tina Velthuizen, Mike Griffin, Rich Meyer, and Jay Landry.  Click here to access the event flier.

Mennonite World Conference endorses dialogue with Catholics, Lutherans

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – During its annual meeting in July, the Executive Committee of Mennonite World Conference approved participation in a tri-lateral conversation with the Lutheran World Federation and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.  General Secretary Larry Miller reflected: “Because of our history, we Anabaptists have often seen ourselves as heirs of martyrs, and we need to come to terms with how that affects our view of the world.  We also need to see ourselves as members of the wider body of Christ, called to give an account of our convictions and practices, and to receive others as they do likewise.”  The dialogue will begin in 2011.  The full report can be found here.

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” →