The central purpose
Mennonite Central Committee wasn’t meant to last 100 years. In the beginning, it was, in fact, a committee, with a specific task — to save the lives of starving Mennonites in Ukraine. It proved too good an...
[read more]In all sincerity
The bride’s grandparents led the wedding procession. The two grandmothers walked down the center aisle; a grandson pushed the grandfather’s wheelchair. The attendants were next, followed by the groom and...
[read more]Ethnic or faith heritage?
It’s innocently called shorthand. The word “Mennonite” can be used to describe a theology, or an ethnicity, or both. Each is valid in its own way. But painful damage is done when we disregard a faith...
[read more]Schools put to the test
Pop quiz: How many Mennonite students does a Mennonite school need? Today’s answer: all of the above. As denominational identity erodes, institutional loyalty that defined religion in the 20th century goes...
[read more]Pro-life peacemakers
Years ago, a Mennonite man shared his experience of facing an awful question: Should his wife have an abortion? An ultrasound during the first trimester had revealed a fetal abnormality. Doctors said the...
[read more]Today’s peace churches
Historic Peace Churches are an exclusive club. Beginning with a 1935 conference bringing together Mennonite, Quaker and Church of the Brethren representatives, the “big three” have never added a...
[read more]600,000 divided by 67
Does your church have a reason to be? There’s a reason it began, but does it have a purpose today? If your great-grandparents needed a shorter drive for the horse and buggy, that doesn’t count any...
[read more]Nonconformity’s perils
Born from schism as a mark of truest obedience to the Lord, Anabaptists are better at breaking than binding. When the Reformation didn’t reform enough 500 years ago, Anabaptists went further, many paying the...
[read more]Unforeseen outcomes
“What’s next?” During college commencement season, it’s the question on everyone’s lips. A graduate who doesn’t know the answer might tire of hearing it. A day of celebration offers little respite....
[read more]Refined by fire
Watching one’s church burn is painful and horrifying. The people of Paris who prayed and sang as flames engulfed Notre Dame Cathedral on April 15 did not need to be members of its Catholic parish to feel...
[read more]Bonus levels
The graduation ceremony was supposed to be a celebration, but one 30-year-old woman was crying. Casa Horeb, a Mennonite congregation in Guatemala City, was hosting a commencement event last year for people who...
[read more]Dead fridge lives on, artistically
It had to happen eventually. The aged Kelvinator refrigerator that held the lunches of generations of journalists, typesetters and pressmen at Mennonite World Review fell silent and warm in 2015. As the solid...
[read more]Most ancient testimony
Assigned to read Herzog by Saul Bellow, a college student encountered these thoughts on death: What is the philosophy of this generation? Not God is dead, that period was passed long ago. Perhaps it should be...
[read more]An attack on one, an attack on all
People of faith applied the balm of prayer to the disease of hate after a gunman murdered 50 worshipers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15. Christians, Jews and others prayed with and for...
[read more]Shameful tourists
Switzerland is a land of beauty and Anabaptist history. Many North American Mennonite and Amish people visit to get in touch with their faith’s roots. Most Swiss hosts are too gracious and polite to offer...
[read more]Lasting Lenten sacrifice
What are you giving up for Lent? Like showing up for Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday worship services, Lenten self-sacrifice is one of the few church traditions that still finds some measure of appeal with the...
[read more]A common struggle
Few of us dive eagerly into issues of sexuality and church governance, but the Mennonite Church USA Constituency Leaders Council knows it is necessary. Any denomination with traditional and progressive wings...
[read more]Gospel of conquest
The gospel of conquest goes by many names: Manifest Destiny. White supremacy. American exceptionalism. Within the past several years, Mennonites have learned to know it as the Doctrine of Discovery. As we have...
[read more]Great Trek’s legacy
The 39 families who followed Claas Epp into the Central Asian wilderness to avoid military conscription and meet Christ’s return in the late 19th century have received undo derision from descendants of other...
[read more]Removing an obstacle
Mennonite Brethren are a praying people. Whatever they decide is God’s will for them, you can be sure they prayed a lot about it. The U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches’ study conference on...
[read more]Warming relations
What the world needs now is more Coffee Corners. In a time of so much division and strife, it’s refreshing to see people spot a problem and do something about it. The pop-up Hutchinson, Kan., ministry of...
[read more]Jesus’ little flock
Megalophobia is the fear of large things. Jesus spoke favorably of small things, and his followers aren’t wrong to adopt their own skepticism of megachurches. Obsession with church growth (or decline) is a...
[read more]A welcome disruption
To Americans who’ve grown accustomed to long wars with no end in sight, it came as a shock when President Trump said on Dec. 19 that U.S. forces would leave Syria within 30 days. His advisers seemed as...
[read more]Transformed by angels
Of the many dangers, challenges and reasons not to become a sanctuary congregation, pastors of such churches say in interviews that potential legal ramifications seem to worry them least of all. Yes, there is...
[read more]What readers say
One of our favorite responses to a survey we sent with our annual fundraising letter in October was, “I want to know what everyone is thinking.” So do we. But you have to tell us. The beginning of a new...
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