Dear Blooming Glen Friends, 

"By the grace of God, we seek to live and proclaim the good news of reconciliation in Jesus Christ.  As part of the one body of Christ at all times and places, we hold the following to be central to our belief and practice: 

7. “As a worldwide community of faith and life, we transcend boundaries of nationality, race, class, gender, and language.  We seek to live in the world without conforming to the powers of evil, witnessing to God’s grace by serving others, caring for creation, and inviting all people to know Jesus Christ as savior and Lord.”

 The most recent Anabaptist confession of faith, known as the "Statement of Shared Convictions of Global Anabaptists," was adopted in 2006.  I helped to host the meetings of the Mennonite World Conference General Council in Pasadena, California that adopted a seven-point confessional statement that Anabaptists leaders from national church bodies around the world agreed was a sufficient summary of our common beliefs.  This statement doesn't replace our "Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995)," but it does provide us with a starting point to define our faith identity as Mennonites in relationship with sisters and brothers around the world.

Anabaptism is a global movement. According to Mennonite World Conference, two out of every three Anabaptists now live outside of North America and Europe. So, the things that might seek to categorize us and divide us matter much less than the embrace of a common lifestyle of nonconformity, service, stewardship, and evangelism.

Rather than focusing on boundaries which limit and isolate us, we are called to freedom – living a distinctive way of life that is not interested in the world’s labels.  Rather than only embracing one another in our cloistered definations, we serve friends and enemies alike.  Rather than assuming God has given up on this world, we embrace that the new heaven and new earth of God’s promise is the repair of the world as it is, leading us into the world God has promised.  And rather than assuming some are created to be eternally cut off from God, we offer the gift of eternal salvation through allegiance to Jesus to anyone, to everyone, everywhere.

Nonconformity.  Service. Stewardship. Evangelism. The temptation is to elevate one of these above the others, and to absolutize our traditional understandings of these four discipleship themes over the ways these are being expressed in other places on the globe.  Without a commitment to all four:  nonconformity, service, stewardship, and evangelism, we lose our global reach, and our missional effort deteriorates into church growth for the sake of institution building, rather than God’s kingdom alive and well on earth. 

To be an Anabaptist is to think globally. To break down barriers. To live in opposition to the powers of evil. To serve all in need. To care for God’s good creation.  To invite everyone to follow Jesus. 

It’s as simple, and as hard, as all that…

Pastor Jeff
jeff@bgmc.net

PS - I’m looking forward to the regular Monday breakfast conversation at the A&N Diner on October 30, at 7:30 am.  I’m also looking forward to a Friday afternoon coffee at the Broad Street Grind, on November 3, at 3:30 pm.  These are opportunities for you to share with me whatever is on your mind.