Commentary on “Called Together” now available online

As enthusiastic supporters of the international dialogue between Mennonite World Conference (MWC) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), Bridgefolk has made a number of resources available for the study of Called Together to be Peacemakers, the final report from its first round. New on our website is a commentary that appeared with the document upon its initial release by the PCPCU.

Written by Professor Emeritus Jos. E. Vercruysse S.J., the commentary can provide a useful summary of the Called Together for those who have not yet had an opportunity to read it in full, along with certain points of critique that will interest those who are studying it closely.

You will find Called Together to be Peacemakers in various languages, along with information about an abridged study version with discussion questions, and commentaries by Prof. Vercruysse as well as others at http://www.bridgefolk.net/theology/dialogue.

Thanks to Gerald Stover of Bethelehem PA for helping to make Prof. Vercruysse’s commentary available.

Gerald Schlabach
Bridgefolk Executive Director
info@bridgefolk.net
www.bridgefolk.net

Anabaptist Prayer Book revised

Our Moments and Our Days
An Anabaptist prayer book
Arthur Paul Boers, Eleanor Kreider, John Rempel, Mary H. Schertz, Barbara Nelson Gingerich, editors
Co-published by Institute of Mennonite Studies and Herald Press

The new version of Take our moments and our days is a four-week cycle of prayers for ordinary time. Lying behind the prayers is a pattern of themes that are especially important in the Anabaptist tradition. Continue reading “Anabaptist Prayer Book revised” →

2006 Conference: Making Peace: At Table, In the World

Making Peace: At Table, In the World

June 29 – July 2, 2006

Saint John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota

Calling ourselves a “movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics,” Bridgefolk has often examined the challenge of peacemaking. We have also encountered the pain of brokenness that prevents us from fully sharing at the table of the Lord. At the 2006 Bridgefolk gathering, therefore, we will continue to keep peacemaking in focus while frankly and lovingly facing the challenge of Eucharistic communion.

As Virgil Michel OSB of Saint John’s Abbey reminded Catholics decades ago, liturgy and social justice belong together. Nowhere is the scandal of Christian disunity greater than when Christians depart from the Lord’s Table to kill or exploit one another. Nowhere is the promise of God’s kingdom more tangible than when people from estranged nations and communities share a meal together. Through formal presentations, storytelling and discussions, we will explore peacemaking at tables set in various places — from the Eucharist, to the family, to communal and global settings.

(The 2006 Bridgefolk conference is being held just prior to the summer Monastic Institute at Saint John’s Abbey. Entitled “One Heart, One Soul: Many Communities,” this week-long institute will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Benedictines in Minnesota by discussing “intentional communities” and other new monastic models as they are springing up in unexpected forms, places and denominations. Bridgefolk participants are encouraged to attend some or all of this event if they are able.)

Check http://bridgefolk.net/conferences for
further information in early 2006.

A Call to Pray and Fasting for CPT

Bridgefolk:

Many of you have been following news from Iraq about the four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams who went missing more than a week ago. Rooted in the Mennonite Church and other historic peace churches, CPT is now a broader ecumenical effort to develop and practice active nonviolent alternatives amid conflicted situations. One of the missing CPTers is a Catholic peace activist from Ontario, Jim Loney.

While Bridgefolk does not have a direct affiliation, many of us have followed its work with interest and a few of us have been directly involved. Most notably, board member Weldon Nisly was part of a delegation to Iraq at the time the war broke out.

Below you will find two short news releases from earlier today, one from the Mennonite Church USA, and the other from CPT itself.

Please join with many others around the world in praying for the safety of the CPT team members, for the witness of creative nonviolence that they seek to extend, and for the suffering people of Iraq.

Gerald W. Schlabach
Executive Director, Bridgefolk Continue reading “A Call to Pray and Fasting for CPT” →

Presentations to Mennonite Catholic Theological Colloquium now available

All of the presenters at the July meeting of the Mennonite Catholic Theological Colloquium have now provided text versions of their presentations. You can find them by going to the newly re-designed section of our website for Theological Dialogue and Reflection: http://www.bridgefolk.net/theology/colloquia/2005theology.

The topic of the colloquium was “How Are We ‘Called Together?'” A Mennonite and a Catholic panel was asked to comment on the final report of the international dialogue between Mennonite World Conference and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity by answering the question, “What have we learned and what’s next?” Mennonite panelists were Nancy Heisey and Earl Zimmerman; Catholic panelists were Margaret Pfeil and Drew Christiansen SJ.

The event began with a keynote address by John A. Lapp, church historian and former Executive Secretary of Mennonite Central Committee on “Ecumenical Dialogue as a Ministry of Reconciliation.”

Michiana Bridgefolk forms around centering prayer in Northern Indiana

More than a 100 Mennonites and Catholics in the Northern Indiana area came together for centering prayer last summer, contributing to the formation of one of the first local Bridgefolk groups. Marlene Kropf, Bridgefolk co-chair notes that “one of the good things that came out of this experience was becoming friends and realizing how many interests and visions we have in common. Though we come from very different traditions, our vision for the church and for spiritual growth and renewal is remarkably similar.” The newspaper of the Fort Wayne – South Bend diocese has done a feature on the summer meetings. Here are the opening paragraphs, and a link for the entire story.

Continue reading “Michiana Bridgefolk forms around centering prayer in Northern Indiana” →

Christianity Today cover story on the “New Monasticism” movement

Tne “New Monasticism Project” seeks to bring together Christian communities — Catholic, Protestant, and often Evangelical — that are seeking to be “schools of conversion” to lives of discipleship and that drawing on ancient monastic traditions to do so.

Recently Christianity Today magazine featured a cover story on the “New Monasticism” movement, highlighting the commitment of many of these communities to “blighted urban settings all over America.” You can read the article at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/009/16.38.html.

Also recently published is a book entitled School(s) for Conversion: 12 Marks of New Monasticism. Bridgefolk co-founder Ivan Kauffman contributed a chapter to the book. More information and links for ordering is available at http://www.thesimpleway.org/index.php/store/product/schools-for-conversion.

A few announcements

The Bridgefolk Board met in conjunction with our July conference in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and wishes to make a few brief announcements:

Our 2006 conference will be held at Saint John’s Abbey, either July 5-8 or July 6-9. We will hold the conference in conjunction with Saint John’s annual Monastic Institute, July 1-7. On the occasion of the abbey’s sesquicentennial celebration, the institute will include a focus on new forms of monastic life, including lay communities. Mark your calendars for the next Bridgefolk conference and consider participating in the Monastic Institute as well.
With regret, we accepted the resignation of Sheri Hostetler, pastor of San Francisco Mennonite Church. Sheri has found that her responsibilities as a new mother have made it difficult to travel to Bridgefolk meetings. Many thanks for your friendship, service and prayers, Sheri.
With gratitude, we elected Susan Kennel Harrison to the Bridgefolk Board. Susan is a chaplain and doctoral student at the University of Toronto.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes other developments have been in the works: As of last April, Bridgefolk is incorporated in the state of Minnesota as a non-profit organization. We have also applied to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) status. This will facilitate acceptance of grants and donations in the future, which is something that a few of you have asked about. While we are committed to continue “proceeding through friendship” above all, we do anticipate doing some modest fund-raising within a few months. Stay tuned.

Announcing Mennonite/Catholic Theological Colloquium, July 20-21

How Are We “Called Together?”
A Mennonite/Catholic Theological Colloquium

July 20-21, 2005
on the campus of Eastern Mennonite University
Harrisonburg, VA

In 2004, theological exchange between Mennonites and Roman Catholics marked a historic milestone as delegations to the first international dialogue between representatives of Mennonite World Conference and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Church Unity released a final report summarizing their five years of conversation. “Called Together to be Peacemakers” (available at http://bridgefolk.net/theology) offers a common narrative of watershed events in church history especially during the 16^th and 4^th centuries. It explores theological perspectives that the two traditions both share and dispute concerning the nature of the Church, sacraments and ordinances, and peacemaking. It closes with mutual confessions of repentance for past violence and recrimination, thus inviting a “healing of memories.”

As it holds its fourth annual conference, Bridgefolk – a grassroots movement for dialogue and unity between Mennonites and Roman Catholics – invites theologians, historians and ecumenists from the two traditions to gather on the previous evening and day to reflect on what they have learned from this historic document and to explore next steps for promoting theological dialogue between Mennonites and Roman Catholics. Scholars from other churches who regularly find themselves in conversation with both traditions are also invited to attend, along with all participants in the Bridgefolk conference to follow.

The colloquium will begin on the evening of July 20 with a keynote address by John A. Lapp, church historian and former Executive Secretary of Mennonite Central Committee on “Ecumenical Dialogue as a Ministry of Reconciliation.” On July 21, the colloquium will hear theological reflections on “Called Together to Be Peacemakers” from both Mennonite and Roman Catholic ecumenists. Participants will have ample opportunity for their own responses and discussion. The meeting will conclude by exploring ways to follow through on the document’s suggestions for further study.