Different is good
In a fast-changing world, a slow-moving church will get left behind. But a church that doesn’t fear change has a chance to thrive. Reviewing the year’s Anabaptist news, we see signs that Mennonites...
[read more]Celebrate all of the season
As the season of Advent escalates to its apex on Christmas Day, it is a good time to remember Christ’s birth can and should be celebrated well after no more shopping days remain. Commercial interests drive...
[read more]The face of God
The second commandment God etched in stone warned the Israelites not to imagine what God looked like. There must be no “graven image” of Yahweh. Israel’s invisible God would permit no idols. The rule...
[read more]Words of gratitude
This Thanksgiving we are grateful for the published word. We are thankful for Mennonite writers, publishers and the readers who support them. Our gratitude is tinged with sadness, as the death of a Mennonite...
[read more]Room in the middle
The candidate’s photo seemed irrefutable evidence. A neatly trimmed, white beard hugged the jawline, never close to the upper or lower lip. He had to be Mennonite. After running for Congress last year in the...
[read more]Adjusting the dreams
The reunion of Franconia and Eastern District conferences does more than simplify the map of Mennonite Church USA. Healing a 172-year split, it revives a 19th-century vision of unity and shows how new...
[read more]Welcome the stranger
Anabaptist history is defined by migrations, typically to escape persecution or pursue opportunity. What can get overlooked, on the flip side, is the welcome that made each chapter possible. Northern German...
[read more]Working upstream
Dorothy Nyambi’s profile as president of Mennonite Economic Development Associates brims with firsts. First women to hold the position. First person of African descent. First medical doctor. Her unique...
[read more]Groups enlist unity
Opposition to military service continues to unify Anabaptists. An unprecedented number of Anabaptist groups found common ground this summer to sign a letter outlining concerns to the National Commission on...
[read more]Humility, moral clarity
God’s word to Solomon after the dedication of Israel’s temple offered a remedy for a wayward nation. A time of judgment will come, God says, and then “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble...
[read more]Seeking inner peace
Anxiety must have troubled the writer of Psalm 139, who prayed, “Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” These words of David speak to all of us. Everyone worries. To be...
[read more]Plain acculturation
Head coverings, beards and limited clothing options aren’t always enough to set a people apart. In North America, these seem to do the trick. But conservative Anabaptists encounter deeper questions when they...
[read more]Profitic justice
Adam Smith has never been confused with Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount has nothing good to say about the rich and powerful. But, now and again, capitalist free markets understand the pursuit of justice makes...
[read more]Ancient bones, new flesh
It’s been said that those who write the hymns need not care who writes the creeds. Hymns shape churchgoers’ beliefs far more than sermons or Confessions of Faith. Thus the stakes are high for the Voices...
[read more]God’s presence needs us
While bad news spurs some people to action, it is just as likely to make us feel helpless. But if you think there is nothing you can do, you are wrong. The Associated Press reported Aug. 21 that the Trump...
[read more]Lift up our colleges
Bethel College supporters got a wake-up call that all who appreciate Mennonite higher education need to hear. An accreditation review team recommended the college be placed on probation due to a 15-year...
[read more]Daughters who prophesy
Growing acceptance of female pastors is one of the positive Mennonite trends of the past half century. On July 27, Mennonite Church USA’s Western District Conference — a leader in gender equality —...
[read more]Blooming in the desert
Like a summer rain coaxes dormant plants to flower in the desert, life is returning to the former Hopi Mission School in Kykotsmovi, Ariz. Reborn as Peace Academic Center, the former elementary and middle...
[read more]Love it or leave?
Mennonites once knew what it was like to be told to love America or leave it. They heard the phrase during wars they refused to fight or pay for. In the days when they still spoke German, neighbors taunted...
[read more]Youthful authenticity
The church is in decline. Statistically, it’s inarguable. But researchers who presented their findings at the Mennonite Church USA convention said the denomination is positioned to turn the trend around, if...
[read more]Suffer each other
Returning to Kansas City, Mo., four years after a contentious convention, members of Mennonite Church USA remarked how much had changed. There was the size of the crowd: 4,680 at the 2015 assembly; 2,839 this...
[read more]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]About Me
