Bridgefolk is a movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other's traditions, explore each other's practices, and honor each other's contribution to the mission of Christ's Church.
The relics of St. Marcellus are kept at Notre Dame’s Sacred Heart Basilica, and each year on his feast day, pilgrims visit those relics and meditate on the current-day meaning of his martyrdom for peace 1,700 years ago. Continue reading “St. Marcellus Day celebration Oct. 30 at Notre Dame”
We are sad to have to share news of the declining health of Margaret O’Gara. Bridgefolk has been exceptionally blessed to benefit from Margaret’s friendship and wisdom as one of the leading Catholic ecumenical thinkers on the scene today. Margaret is a theologian at the University of Toronto, a member of the Collegeville Institute Board of Directors, and a recent president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, as well as a member of the Bridgefolk Board. A private person, Margaret has not wished to call attention to her cancer. But a letter from Donald Ottenhoff, executive director of the Collegeville Institute, updating colleagues on Margaret’s condition, has begun to circulate widely among theologian friends. So it seems appropriate to share excerpts with Margaret’s friends in Bridgefolk as well:
I write to inform you that our friend and colleague Margaret O’Gara has entered hospice care during this past week. As many of you know, Margaret has undergone treatment for cancer over the past two years, even as she has continued to pursue her teaching schedule as her medical regime has allowed. Margaret’s husband Michael reports that Margaret is still functioning pretty well, but that it became clear to them that the time had come for Margaret to benefit from professional care. …
Michael tells me that he and Margaret are of course sad about this turn in Margaret’s condition, but that they are “feeling calm and collected at the most fundamental level,” and that they find themselves “greatly consoled by our Christian hope in the resurrection, and by support from family and friends.”
Please keep Margaret and Michael in your prayers.
Let us join with others in this prayer and concern.
Gerald W. Schlabach
News Release
June 11, 2012
Collegeville, MN (BRIDGEFOLK) – As Bridgefolk meets for its 11th annual conference in July, the grassroots movement for dialogue and sharing between Mennonites and Roman Catholics will mark its hopes for a second decade by welcoming Darrin Snyder Belousek of Lima, Ohio, as its new executive director.
Snyder Belousek will replace long-time director and Bridgefolk co-founder Gerald Schlabach of St. Paul, Minnesota. Schlabach has been encouraging fellow Bridgefolk leaders to begin nurturing a new generation of leaders that brings fresh insights into the difficult and changing church scene that is challenging all Christian traditions.
A member of the Bridgefolk Board for six years, Snyder Belousek agrees. One of his hopes for a second decade of Bridgefolk, he says, is to “solidify what’s been accomplished in the first decade and put in place ways of handing that work over into the stewardship of a ‘next generation’ of leaders.”
Snyder Belousek has been actively engaged in Bridgefolk since its first summer conference in 2002. He has made significant contributions to the movement as a board member, as a presenter at summer conferences, and as writer. At the local level, he served as coordinator of the Michiana Bridgefolk group from 2005-2008 and also as one of the planners of the Mennonite Catholic Theological Colloquium, which met at Notre Dame in 2007. Continue reading “Darrin Snyder Belousek to become next Bridgefolk director”
Recently we posted a news article on the Bridgefolk website: “Leading ecumenist Br. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, highlights Lutheran-Mennonite footwashing in keynote address.” Brother Jeffrey has asked for the prayers of Bridgefolk as he prepares for surgery to treat a pancreatic tumor this month. He writes:
I am doing very well and the MDs are optimistic. I am in chemo, will go into chemo+radiation in March in preparation for an April removal of a contained pancreatic tumor. Prognosis sounds good for now, though I have had to drop my classes at Lewis and at Catholic Theological Union, as well as miss my presidential meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies.
May God grant our friend and colleague peace to face surgery in hope and confidence in God’s merciful care.
The American Benedictine Academy has chosen as the theme of its 2012 annual meeting, “Seek Peace and Pursue It: Monasticism in the Midst of Global Upheaval.” The conference will be held at St. Scholastic Monastery in Duluth MN. Bridgefolk board member Weldon Nisly will be one of the featured speakers. (Those planning to attend the Bridgefolk conference in Minnesota in late July should note that the ABA conference is the following weekend, approximately three hours away.)
For more information and registration forms, go to http://www.osb.org/aba/2012/.
Bridgefolk, an organization committed to ecumenical dialogue and sharing between Mennonites and Roman Catholics, seeks a part-time Coordinator to work eight hours per week assisting the Executive Director with administrative tasks, including financial bookkeeping, grant writing, fundraising appeals, and database management. The Coordinator will also assist with communication needs, including correspondence, website postings, and editing work, as well as event planning.
The ideal candidate would bring a collaborative spirit, an ability to work independently, enthusiasm about ecumenical relations, and good communication and logistical skills. The Bridgefolk Board welcomes applicants who can volunteer their time; as funding is available, the Board aims to provide an honorarium for this role.
To apply for this position, or request more information, write to search[at]bridgefolk.net.
Bridgefolk board member Darrin Snyder Belousek has won an award from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute for an article he wrote in 2010 in the Journal of Markets and Morality entitled ““Market Exchange, Self-Interest, and the Common Good: Financial Crisis and Moral Economy.” The Templeton Enterprise Awards on the Culture of Enterprise are given annually to the best books and articles published in the previous year on the culture of enterprise. The awards are designed to encourage young scholars (thirty-nine or younger at the time of publication) to explore and illuminate the process by which economics and culture are related throughout the world. Snyder Belousek, a Mennonite, notes that the article is “effectively a Catholic-Mennonite affair,” since “the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching substantially informs the argument.”
Professor Margaret O’Gara, Canadian ecumenical leader and Bridgefolk Board member, is scheduled be the featured speaker at the annual Washington Theological Consortium Figel Lectures on Christian Unity in Washington DC Feb 2 2012. Additional information can be obtained by visiting the Washington Theological Consortium website: http://www.washtheocon.org/consortium_events.html
VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2012 (VIS) – The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is due to begin tomorrow, 18 January, under the theme “We will all be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The Week is promoted by the World Council of Churches (WCC), a worldwide fellowship of 349 Churches seeking unity, common witness and Christian service. The Catholic Church participates in this ecumenical initiative, despite not being a member of the WCC. Continue reading “Week of prayer for Christian unity begins tomorrow”