Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service -- May 9, 2008 Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director 800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews@brethren.org
BRETHREN, MENNONITES MEET ON UNITING THE CHURCH FOR PEACEMAKING
(May 9, 2008) Elgin, IL -- Is it possible for a broken church to heal a divided society? A conference of people of Church of the Brethren and Mennonite backgrounds met in Washington, D.C., on April 11-12 to discuss this question.
"Bridging Divides: Uniting the Church for Peacemaking" was held at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, hosted by the Brethren Witness/Washington Office and the Anabaptist Peace Center. Speakers and participants discussed how to interact with those who are miles away politically, but sit next to us in worship every Sunday. Can we find common ground yet remain the prophetic voice in society?
Main speakers included Celia Cook-Huffman, the W. Clay and Kathryn H. Burkholder Professor of Conflict Resolution at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., and Nate Yoder, associate professor of church history and director of the master of arts in religion program at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, speaking on the topic, "Sources of Our Common Faith."
Worship featured Myron Augsburger, professor and president emeritus at Eastern Mennonite University. "For me, the deeper convictions for peace find their base in the Lordship of Christ, in his teachings and his mission of a crosscultural and global extension of his kingdom," Augsburger said, in a message in which he proposed the need for an ecumenical association of people committed to nonviolence.
A plenary session on the subject, "Mending the Broken Body of Christ," was led by Chris Bowman, pastor of Oakton (Va.) Church of the Brethren and a past moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference, and Michelle Armster, codirector of Mennonite Central Committee's Office on Justice and Peacebuilding.
A closing session on "Christians Engaging the World" was led by Phil Jones, director of the Brethren Witness/Washington Office, and Steve Brown, minister and director of care ministry at Calvary Community Church in Hampton, Va., a Mennonite church.
The conference was a success in the minds of those who attended, and the hope is that it can continue annually. When asked why he attended, Jerry O'Donnell, a Brethren Volunteer Service worker for the Church of the Brethren's workcamp ministry, said, "I came to this conference to learn more about our struggles--both as a church and part of the Anabaptist movement--hoping to learn how we can peacefully resolve our internal divisions.
"I learned, simply, that we have taken the first step in mending the broken body of Christ by coming together in His name, committed to another way of living," O'Donnell said. "Peace for far too long has solely been seen as the ends or the goal--a sort of distant prize. I think it is high time that we restore our faith in peace as the means."
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts almost 130,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.
(This report was provided by Rianna Barrett, a legislative associate at the Brethren Witness/Washington Office.)
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For more information contact:
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford Director of News Services Church of the Brethren General Board 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 800-323-8039 ext. 260 cobnews@brethren.org
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