Late January, Mennonite pastors from around the nation came together in Elkhart, Indiana, for the annual “Pastors’ Week” assembly held each year on the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary campus. I don’t know what I expected heading into my time there, but what I experienced can only be described as holy wind and fire. Each and every day, we participated in beautiful, powerful, and Spirit-filled worship. We had honest discussions about issues facing pastors, congregations and communities. We broke bread together and asked hard questions of ourselves and our role in God’s redemptive work.
Many of us entered our time together wondering what shape the future church would take. Speakers like Meghan Good, Drew Hart, and Greg Boyd challenged and inspired us to think about embracing and welcoming new generations of Anabaptists. AMBS faculty spoke wisdom and truth to our hearts, and worship leaders Lane Miller and Marilyn Rudy-Froese enriched our experience with deep, Spirit-led worship.
Many of the teachings revolved around the question of what it means to be an Anabaptist Christian today, which correlates with one of Mennonite Mission Network’s Missio Dei publications, What is an Anabaptist Christian? The publication, authored by Palmer Becker, gives a few simple statements that encompass the core values of Anabaptist Christianity. It was also noted that this publication is available in 15 different languages at the moment, with more than a dozen more translations in the works.
The atmosphere surrounding our time together was filled with love and hope. Those present were welcomed to share their joys and concerns with one another. Several pastors noted the profound freedom in the Spirit they experienced during our time together – freedom to take the pressure off of themselves and to acknowledge that the future of the church belongs to God and God alone.
During our final day together, we spent time in a communion service. AMBS staff and other ministers present distributed the elements as Lane Miller played piano. The aisles quickly filled with pastors from across the nation, breaking bread together, encouraging one another, and praying for each other. The sanctuary was alive with holy wind and fire.
Karla Minter, one of my fellow Church Relations associates, summed up the week wonderfully by saying, “Pastors’ Week not only nudged me closer to letting go of what would keep me from embracing a church that looks like all that God has created, but it also pushed me into a new space that says, ‘I’m ready. If this is what the future church can look like – I’m all in!’”
