Posts by Karla Braun

Peace commission engages enemies and ...

Work of Peace Commission includes prayer, advocacy and resourcing “Peace is free,” says Paulus Widjaja, outgoing Peace Commission member. “Conflict has a price but the gospel is free.” The Peace Commission, formed as one of the chambers of the MWC heart (Peace, Deacons, Faith & Life, Mission) in 2009, held a workshop 23 July 2015. […]

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 […]

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 […]

An agricultural host for a global Ass...

Mennonite World Conference Assembly takes place at Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex By Devin Manzullo-Thomas Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA – Would the attendees of Pennsylvania 2015 accept “an occasional farm smell” in their meeting space? That’s just one of the many questions PA 2015 National Coordinator Howard Good of the USA asked as he and his team […]

Signs, signs, everywhere signs

Designer creates visual information that communicates across languages By Byron Rempel-Burkholder Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA – It’s easy for anyone to get lost in the Harrisburg Farm Show Complex, especially if you can’t read the English signs above the entrances to the vast halls that are typically used for livestock shows and auctions. That was the […]

“A holy moment”

Ordination blessing conferred at European women theologians meeting By Harriet Sider Bicksler What was intended as a forum for European women theologians to discuss how they can network with each other and others in the MWC family ended as a time of special blessing for one woman. The group was small. Only five women attended in […]

Iron sharpens iron

Faith and Life commission engages in ecumenical dialogue and discovers own convictions By Karla Braun Why is the Mennonite World Conference Faith and Life Commission spending time with Catholics? At the workshop “Beyond the Shared Convictions: The Work of the MWC Faith and Life Commission,” chair Alfred Neufeld explained the commission’s mandate: to promote theological […]

Stories of faithfulness for the 21st ...

Bearing Witness Stories Project carries on work of Martyr’s Mirror “Anabaptist witness in the face of suffering did not end in Europe in the 16th century,” explained John D. Roth, secretary of the Mennonite World Conference Faith and Life Commission and professor of history at Goshen College, during a workshop at PA 2015, the MWC […]

Shuttles bring people together

Transportation network makes friends from strangers By Karla Braun Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA – “All I see is smiles,” says Brenda Burkholder, volunteer at the homestay shuttle information table. Many of the more than 7,200 guests from 56 countries registered for Pennsylvania 2015 travel between their overnight lodging and the Farm Show Complex each day via […]

Build each other up on the foundation...

Speakers on walking in conflict and reconciliation focus on our hope in Jesus Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA – “We are thankful that indeed God walks with us as we experience both conflict and reconciliation,” said Patricia Shelly, moderator of Mennonite Church USA, introducing the theme of the 23 July 2015 morning plenary of PA 2015. Elizabeth […]