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COVID-19 global response fund helps more Global South churches
“I have seen entire families in the garbage dumps looking to quench their hunger. I have also watched with sadness as they return the elderly from the hospitals because there are no possibilities to attend them, nor medicines to supply them,” said Erwin Francisco Mirabal González, a Mennonite pastor in Venezuela. “We pray to the…
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MWC shifts Assembly 17 to 2022
In close consultation with the national advisory committee in Indonesia, the host country, the executive committee of Mennonite World Conference (MWC) has decided not to hold Assembly 17 in 2021, as originally announced. Instead, MWC has decided to postpone its next global assembly until July 5-10, 2022. “The COVID-19 pandemic continues to infect hundreds of…
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MWC hires new chief development officer
Shirley Redekop began as chief development office, a half-time role at Mennonite World Conference (MWC) on March 23. An American living in Canada, she brings a range of competencies in the field of development as she joins the team working at MWC’s office in Kitchener, Ont. She has served several roles in her local congregation,…
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Mennonite World Conference cancels event, meetings in B.C.
With the World Health Organization using the word “pandemic” to describe global infection from the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), Mennonite World Conference leadership has cancelled the March Renewal 2027 public event and April executive committee meetings that were scheduled to take place in Abbotsford, B.C. “We are cognizant of our global witness,” says César García, MWC’s…
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A global conversation through books
“Although each congregation has its own history and social and cultural background, it is common to experience the same sorts of conflicts, troubles and situations,” says Ellul Yongha Bae, a Mennonite church leader and publisher in South Korea. “[Mennonite World Conference] communications is very helpful to show that, as Mennonite churches, we have raised similar questions…
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MWC census shows increased numbers
“Uganda is ripe for evangelism and the church is growing,” says Bishop Simon Okoth, national coordinator of Uganda Mennonite Church. The new Mennonite World Conference (MWC) member church, accepted by the Executive Committee in 2017, grew from 310 members in seven congregations in 2015 to 553 members in 18 congregations in 2018. Every three years,…
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World Fellowship Sunday: A communion of 500 years
Every year on the Sunday closest to January 21, Mennonite World Conference (MWC) invites its 107 member churches to join in a celebration of World Fellowship Sunday. (See the 2019 worship resources here.) The worship themes vary from year to year, but the rationale for the timing of the event has remained constant: on January…
