Mennonite World Conference
The Mennonite World Conference (MWK, English Mennonite World Conference ) is an international association of 102 Mennonite churches and community associations that go back to the radical reformation Anabaptist movement . The umbrella organization sees its task primarily in promoting the fellowship of the Anabaptist churches with one another as well as in ecumenism with other Christian churches.
Conferences in the strict sense take place at regular intervals. The last global gathering took place in Harrisburg , Pennsylvania , USA in July 2015 with over 8,000 participants. A meeting had previously taken place in Asunción, Paraguay in 2009 . The 2003 conference in Zimbabwe marked the first time that an assembly was held in Africa.
description
The first Mennonite world conference was held in Basel in 1925 . The conference took place 400 years after establishment of the first in the Reformation period incurred Baptist congregation in Zurich instead. The German pastor Christian Neff was the main behind the establishment of the Mennonite World Conferences . In 2000 the Mennonite World Conference celebrated its 75th anniversary.
In addition to the larger international conferences, larger general assemblies are held every three years, to which the member churches send one to three delegates, depending on their size. There are also various long-term projects that deal primarily with the issues of peace and development. In memory of the establishment of the first Anabaptist congregation on January 21, 1525 in Zurich, the World Conference calls for a World Community Sunday every January. World Community Sunday is intended to remember the common Anabaptist roots and celebrate the global community.
Member churches in German-speaking countries are the Working Group of Mennonite Congregations in Germany and the Conference of Mennonites in Switzerland . There is also close cooperation with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).
Conferences
| year | Place and country | Focus of the conference |
|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Basel, Switzerland | 400th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement |
| 1930 | Danzig | Mennonite Relief Efforts |
| 1936 | Amsterdam and Elspeet, Netherlands | 400th anniversary of the conversion of Menno Simons |
| 1948 | Goshen, Indiana and North Newton, Kansas | not known |
| 1952 | St. Chrischona, Switzerland | The Church of Christ and Her Commission |
| 1957 | Karlsruhe, Germany | The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the World |
| 1962 | Kitchener, Ontario, Canada | The Lordship of Christ |
| 1967 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | The Witness of the Holy Spirit |
| 1972 | Curitiba, Brazil | Jesus Christ Reconciles |
| 1978 | Wichita, Kansas, USA | The Kingdom of God in a Changing World |
| 1984 | Strasbourg, France | God's People Serve in Hope |
| 1990 | Winnipeg, Canada | Witnessing to Christ in Today's World |
| 1997 | Calcutta, India | Hear what the Spirit is Saying to the Churches |
| 2003 | Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Africa | Sharing Gifts in Suffering and in Joy |
| 2009 | Asuncion, Paraguay | Come together in the way of Jesus Christ |
| 2015 | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA | Walking with God |
literature
The Mennonite World Conference regularly recommends books that support the development of a common spiritual identity. In the worldwide Anabaptist bookshelf there are so far available and published in German:
- C. Arnold Snyder (2002): Anabaptist Seeds - Worldwide Growth. The historical center of Anabaptist identity . Agape. (Book of the year 2002) ISBN 978-3-88744-103-6 .
- Tim C. Lind & Pakisa Shimika (2006): Share what we are and what we have. Giving and receiving as a church worldwide. Neufeld Verlag, Schwarzenfeld. (Book of the year 2003) ISBN 978-3-937896-27-4 .
- Bernhard Ott (2007): Shalom. God's project. Agape. (Book of the year 2004) ISBN 978-3-88744-203-3 .
- Alan Kreider, Eleanor Kreider & Paulus Widjaja (2008): A Culture of Peace. God's vision for the church and the world. Neufeld Verlag, Schwarzenfeld. (Book of the year 2005) ISBN 978-3-937896-63-2 .
- Alfred Neufeld (2008): What we believe together. Anabaptist-Mennonite Beliefs. Neufeld Verlag, Schwarzenfeld. (Book of the year 2007) ISBN 978-3-937896-68-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Courier: Pennsylvania 2015 Assembly Overview. (PDF) Mennonite World Conference, accessed April 24, 2016 .
- ^ Pennsylvania 2015. Mennonite World Conference, accessed April 24, 2016 .
- ^ Mennonite World Conference Assembly 15 theme chosen . MWC. January 30, 2008. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
- ↑ Worldwide Anabaptist Bookshelf . MWC. Archived from the original on July 6, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
