The Mennonite provides Anabaptist content and is a publication of Mennonite Church USA.
Daily News
Archival collections on the move
Jason Kauffman is the Mennonite Church USA Archives Director. This post originally appeared on the Anabaptist Historians blog. For most of my short time at the Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) Archives, I have occupied myself with “the move.” Shortly before I began in July 2016, MC USA made the decision to transfer all archival collections from […]
Mennos dancing with the stars
Ruth Harder is Pastor of Rainbow Mennonite Church, Kansas City, Kansas. Joanna Harader is Pastor of Peace Mennonite Fellowship, Lawrence, Kansas. Artwork by Jess Graber. Rosi Penner Kaufman provided musical score assistance. “I can’t tell if Menno Simons (pictured above) is excited about Monday’s solar eclipse or disappointed in our sketch of him. Or maybe he […]
Friday roundup: Five things worth paying attention to this week
David and Leann Augsburger are two semi-retired people who co-lead a home base church (Peace Mennonite Church, Claremont, California) and volunteer to welcome, care and connect people in the San Gabriel valley. Here are some of the most quoted, most shared and most remembered of this week’s items: 1. Alternative Christianity. An Aug. 11 op-ed in […]
Purple
Claudia May is the Director of Reconciliation Studies and an Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies at Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota. She is also a spiritual director. She is a regular contributor to Patheos and the author of Jesus is Enough: Love, Hope, and Comfort in the Storms of Life. Dr. May is a passionate […]
August recipe: Homemade blueberry soda
The Hungry Hounds is the food blog of Paul and Rebecca Shetler Fast, Country Representatives for Mennonite Central Committee in Haiti. Learn more about MCC Haiti at their new blog: www.haitimcc.org. We are back in Haiti with both a chattering toddler and tiny newborn in tow. On my bucket list of foods to enjoy before we left […]
Seven roadblocks that get in the way of dismantling racism in the church and society (and strategies to overcome them)
Over the last 30 years of equipping people inside and outside the church to resist racism and white supremacy, I’ve repeatedly encountered the following seven roadblocks. They appear time and again within the white community in general and among white Mennonites in particular. In light of the resurgence of overt white supremacy in Charlottesville, Virginia, […]
Under the shadows of statues, we’ll meet
Kevin Ressler is Executive Director at Meals on Wheels of Lancaster, Pennsylvania and co-founder of the Lancaster Action Now Coalition. He attends Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster. This poem was written and spoken on August 13 for a vigil in Lancaster’s Penn Square in solidarity with the Charlottesville community following the terrorist marches of white […]
Orlando 2017 Photo Gallery
Are you interested in browsing photos from the Mennonite Church USA Convention in Orlando this summer? Vada Snider, a freelance photographer based in North Newton, Kansas, served as the photographer for both The Mennonite and Mennonite World Review during convention week. Browse Vada’s photo galleries from convention week. If interested, you may order 4×6 prints or digital images […]
Book Lover’s Day: 5 books that have helped shape my life
Gordon Houser is Editor of The Mennonite. In honor of Book Lover’s Day (August 9), here is a list of my top five books, although it’s tough to limit it to five. I may come up with a different list on a different day. But here are five in the order in which I read them. […]
Hot chiles and warm fellowship
Contributed by Danielle Gonzales for Mennonite World Conference. Danielle participated in SALT (2016–2017), an exchange program of Mennonite Central Committee, in Colombia as web communications coordinator for MWC. Here Danielle is pictured with her host mom, Yida Arias. As a Mexican-American, one of the most comforting things about living in Colombia was how similar my Mexican culture […]
A call to prayer as tensions rise between N. Korea and the U.S.
The relationship between the United States and North Korea has been fraught for a long time. That’s likely an understatement. But over the course of the last weeks and months, we have seen those tensions escalate. If you’ve been following the news over the last two days, you’ve likely seen a back-and-forth war of words […]
Seven questions with…Merv Stoltzfus
Name: Merv Stoltzfus Role: Executive Conference Minister, Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA 1. What is your earliest memory of church? I remember being in a Sunday school class and having a teacher that I really liked. At that point, I knew that we went to church every Sunday and that this was my […]
On trauma and a path toward healing
Erica Littlewolf is from the Northern Cheyenne tribe of southeastern Montana and currently lives in Kansas. She works for Mennonite Central Committee Central States with the Indigenous Visioning Circle where she is committed to the work of decolonization, authentic relationship and healing. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and American Indian Studies […]
My top 10 songs: Erin Bradley
Erin grew up in Newton, Kansas, and attended Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas. She just wrapped up two years of volunteer service in San Antonio, Texas, one year through Mennonite Voluntary Service and one year through AmeriCorps. She is currently working part time for a nonprofit that focuses on providing support for those who are […]
Carrie Newcomer: On spirituality, music and a playlist
Author, poet, singer, songwriter and Goshen (Indiana) College alum, Carrie Newcomer, visited with Hannah Heinzekehr, executive director of The Mennonite, Inc., about spirituality, news, art and her top five most influential artists. You can listen to a playlist inspired by their conversation below. Hannah Heinzekehr: As it turns out, you are the most cited artist […]
A miracle reunion takes place at Spruce Lake
Vocalist Jon Sheptock presented a concert July 12, 2017, during Spruce Lake Retreat’s Family Week in Canadensis, Pennsylvania. Despite his incredible voice and godly charisma on stage, this was no ordinary concert. In the audience sat his biological mother and several other relatives, listening. They had never heard him sing like this! In fact, they […]
The priesthood of all believers at Chapel Hill Mennonite
Photo: Meghan Florian, one of the preachers at Chapel Hill (North Carolina) Mennonite Fellowship, stands before the congregation. A graduate of Duke Divinity School, she is the author of a 2017 book, The Middle of Things. Photo provided. Chapel Hill (North Carolina) Mennonite Fellowship (CHMF) first met for worship late in 2001. It existed for its […]
Open Table Mennonite Fellowship: Sharing word and table
Open Table Mennonite Fellowship in Goshen, Indiana, joined Central District Conference at their June meetings. Photo: Open Table Mennonite Fellowship attendees worship and share a meal in the large living room of Faith House in Goshen, Indiana. Photo provided. While Open Table is fairly new, having begun in 2012 in something like its current shape, it […]
Global Anabaptist testimony: Choosing to follow the way of Jesus
Renewal 2027 is a 10-year series of events to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement. This series highlights leaders in the movement from history to the present. In this installment, KyongJung Kim, MWC regional representative for Northeast Asia, reflects on his visit with Eun Hunki (Takai Satoshi in Japanese), a Korean Mennonite […]
Reflections on being in Charlottesville on Aug. 12
Cynthia Lapp is Pastor of Hyattsville (Maryland) Mennonite Church. I went to Charlottesville because clergy were called. I don’t always go when I am called but my pastor’s heart was compelled this time, even though I am a homebody and would rather stay home and even though it sounded dangerous. Kim McDowell, a pastoral colleague […]
MCC U.S.: Statement on white supremacy and racism
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a worldwide ministry of Anabaptist churches that shares God’s love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by responding to basic human needs and working for peace and justice. In light of recent events, we are again compelled to denounce and condemn the racist ideologies of white supremacy […]
What will you do?
Julian Jackson is a member of Living Water Community Church in Chicago. Photo by Tim Nafziger. In 1990, I attended the first legal rally of the South African Communist Party. I was there because Nelson Mandela was speaking (see picture). It was one of his very first speaking engagements after being released from Robben […]
Orlando 2017 Convention Reflection
Kerinna Good is a rising high school junior who participated in the Step Up program at the Mennonite Church USA convention in Orlando in July. She attends Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia. I had the unique experience at the convention in Orlando of participating in the program called “Step Up,” which was an effort […]
Hope and action on climate change
Ethan holds an M.S. in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University and an M.S. in ecological engineering from the SUNY School of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syarcuse, New York. He grew up Presbyterian and joined the Mennonite Church in 2007, being re-baptized at Raleigh (North Carolina) Mennonite Church. He can be reached at […]
The Church’s Movement
Michael Danner is Executive Conference Minister for Illinois Mennonite Conference. Is Mennonite Church USA moving towards full LGBTQ inclusion? This is a question I have been asked numerous times since the Future Church Summit in Orlando, Florida. My plain answer is yes. Yes, we are. Of course, that answer lacks nuance. Who, exactly, is Mennonite […]
