Posts in category Assembly experiences

Constant prayer in Pennsylvania 2015

The same heart for God unites across language and culture Carlos Martínez García At the Mennonite World Conference Assembly, prayer was constant. A room – open all day long – was set aside where people could pray for different prayer requests. A 40-foot x by 24-foot world map, courtesy of the Rosedale Mennonite Mission, was […]

Peacock recognized as pioneer

Dutch group awards MWC Deacons Commission chair Anne Zernike was the first Mennonite woman ordained in the Netherlands, possibly in Europe and “even maybe in the world,” said Christien Duhoux-Rueb. She and Coot Winkler Prins, pastors from the Netherlands, highlighted Zernike at a workshop and with an award at PA 2015 Ordained at the Mennonite […]

How to celebrate 500 years

Faith and Life Commission workshop explores how to observe 2025 By Gordon Houser Mennonite World Conference held its first assembly in 1925 – the 400th anniversary of the beginning of the Anabaptist movement. With the 500th anniversary only 10 years away, many people are wondering how MWC plans to commemorate it. A workshop 24 July […]

Unexpected blessing

Friendship group gives financial gift to Kenyan pastor By Paul Schrag In his friendship group at the Mennonite World Conference assembly, Francis Ojwang found that getting to know fellow believers from distant places brought an unexpected blessing. The Kenyan pastor had hoped that his wife, Everline Achieng, could travel with him to PA 2015. But, […]

The family speaks together

Friendship groups at PA 2015 facilitate small group conversation By Karla Braun Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA – “You can witness young to very old people [talking with each other]. And we’ve become intimate friends,” says Omondi Samson from Kenya as he takes a picture of his new “mom and dad” from the USA. Samson participated in […]

Walking with God through art

Images in MWC art exhibit communicate at a deeper level By Byron Rempel-Burkholder Mennonite World Conference assemblies are often remembered as festivals of words: stories, songs, sermons and conversations. But what about visual art? “There has been a surge of interest in art in the Anabaptist world,” says Geoff Isley, PA 2015 visual arts planning […]

Half-day tours extend the Assembly ex...

Bus trips take guests to points of interest throughout central Pennsylvania By Matthew Hahn Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA – All week, 33 different half-day tours have extended the PA 2015 experience beyond the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg to numerous sites of interest and significance throughout central Pennsylvania. On the busiest days, more than 20 coach […]

Doing something about faith

MDS house build at Mennonite World Conference Assembly erects homes in 5 days Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA – Pounding nails may be the last activity one might expect at an international church convention, but for many at the Mennonite World Conference’s PA 2015, it was a perfect fit. Every afternoon, just outside the air-conditioned halls of […]

At MWC assembly, MCC cans vegetables ...

International participants can beans in Pennsylvania heat By Tim Huber Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA – Mennonite Central Committee’s mobile meat canner went vegan for Mennonite World Conference PA 2015, switching for one week from pork, beef and turkey to green beans. Slipping out a back door into a parking lot, attendees donned hairnets, a few beard […]

Music brings unity at world conferenc...

International songs draw participants into worship despite unfamiliarity By Laura Kraybill Worship rises to the rafters as Mennonites and Brethren and Christ join their voices in music from around the world at PA 2015 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Differences exist in theology and culture, yet music is a unifier at world conference, even when it stretches […]