Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Mennonite World Conference

Reconciled Communities in Christ

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By Rev. Sue Lang, with Pastor Emily Ralph
(May 6, 2011)

Franconia, PA — Lutherans and Mennonites stood side by side at the communion table to receive the bread and the wine. Together, they then went out into the congregation to distribute the elements to those present at the 2011 assembly of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The unity observed at the table was further acknowledged during a time of reconciliation at the start of the assembly. Bishop Claire Burkat, representing the Lutherans, apologized to Pastor Charles Ness, a Franconia Mennonite Conference pastor who has been involved in the global Anabaptist reconciliation movement, for the sins of 16th century Lutherans who persecuted and murdered Anabaptists during the Reformation because of doctrinal differences.

“Lutherans, by and large, developed a historical amnesia about this shameful part of our Reformation heritage,” said Burkat.

In 2006, The Declaration of the ELCA on Condemnation of the Anabaptists stated the following: “No church should use the state to impose its own beliefs and practices on others. We [therefore] express our deep and abiding sorrow and regret for the persecution and suffering visited upon the Anabaptists during the religious disputes.”

Bishop Burkat made an emotional apology to Pastor Ness on behalf of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod who has held their assembly at Franconia Mennonite Church since 1997. She then presented him with a pitcher, basin, and towel representing the washing away of past sins through Jesus Christ. The towel was embroidered with the symbols of both the Mennonite Church USA and the ELCA.

In his own emotional acceptance of the gifts, Pastor Ness quoted the President of the Mennonite World Conference, Danisa Ndlovu, who responded to a similar apology from the Lutheran World Federation last summer in Stuttgart, Germany. Ndlovu said: “Today in this place, we together—Lutherans and Anabaptist Mennonites—are fulfilling the rule of Christ. We cannot bring ourselves to this table with heads held high. We can only come bowed down in great humility and in fear of the Lord.”

Ness then presented Bishop Burkat with a painting depicting the story of Dirk Willems, a Dutch Mennonite who successfully escaped across a frozen canal but returned to save his captor who had fallen through the ice. Willems was later put to death for heresy.

“These words and actions today point to the truth that the Kingdom of God is more than denominational labels and distinctions,” said Ness. “Through these confessions I believe that Christ will heal the wounds of history and free us to become whole persons and spiritually renewed churches.”

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Read Emily’s blog about this event or watch the reconciliation (begins around 15:00):

Video streaming by Ustream

César García to become General Secretary of Mennonite World Conference

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(reposted from Mennonite World Conference )
Wednesday, 04 May 2011
First appointee from the global South

Taipei, Taiwan – 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.
“I am excited about the possibility of serving in the leadership of MWC with the purpose of praying, thinking and acting as part of Christ’s global church,” García said, following his acceptance of the call. “God is glorified when the multicultural interdependency of his church is evidenced in our way of doing theology, practicing ecclesiology and bearing Christian witness in the world.”

The appointment was one of the first actions taken at MWC Executive Committee’s annual meeting, held this year in Taipei, Taiwan, May 4 to 11. “The affirmation of Cesar’s candidacy is a historical moment for us,” said MWC President, Danisa Ndlovu. “It is a recognition of our positive integration as a community of faith as we see the global South offering its richness to the global North.”

Also included in the Executive Committee action was the plan to move the location of the MWC head office from Strasbourg, France, to Bogotá . García will join MWC staff in August for a period of transition with Miller.

García, who was chair of the Iglesias Hermanos Menonitas de Colombia (Mennonite Brethren Churches of Colombia) from 2002 to 2008, is currently completing masters studies at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California.

He also serves as secretary of the MWC Mission Commission and as a member of MWC’s task force on the creation of a new network of service ministries. In addition, he has been active in inter-Anabaptist and ecumenical endeavours in Colombia.

According to García, 39, the Colombian church and his local congregation, Iglesia HM Torre Fuerte (Strong Tower MB Church) in Bogotá , had sent him to California for studies in order to return and serve in Colombia, where he has been a church planter, pastor and professor of Bible and Theology.

When the MWC leadership nominated him as a candidate in January 2010, García submitted the matter to an intense process of discernment with Colombian church leaders and with close church friends in Fresno. The process ended in unanimous and enthusiastic support.

“The fact that many people were involved in different interviews,” said García, “encouraged us to trust God’s leadership and gave us the courage to accept this calling.” He added that his commitment to the Colombian church continues, but in the context of this broader appointment. The location of the office in Colombia will allow him to maintain regular contact with the church there.

García is married to Sandra Bá ez, who is also completing studies in Fresno. They have two teenage daughters, María and Paula.

– Byron Rempel-Burkholder, MWC editor

Photo by Byron Rempel-Burkholder