Journey forward—peacemaking
As minister of peace and justice for Mennonite Mission Network, I was honored to work with Sue Park Hur of Mennonite Church USA and Jes Stoltzfus Buller of Mennonite Central Committee on organizing Journey Forward: Peacemaking, a peace gathering before the start of MennoCon19 in Kansas City. It had been many years since peacemakers […]
Selective Service Administration considers expanding registration to women
Even as our peacemaking grows and responds to new areas of violence and injustice, problems related to Militarism still exist. PJSN works and will continue to work on how we as Mennonites can respond to Militarism. Here’s an update how we been working on this issue the past few months. You may have been aware […]
Reducing political polarization
The divisive nature of partisan politics has seeped into almost every aspect of our society. Political views and affiliations often determine who we associate with, even who we worship with. There’s a deep desire in our church for tools that can help us talk productively to people we disagree with politically. It might be co-workers, […]
El Pacto del Día de la Supervivencia firmado en Australia
La mayoría de los australianos festejan el 26 de enero con desfiles, fuegos artificiales y carne a la parrilla. Pero los pueblos originarios de Australia y de las Islas del estrecho de Torres no lo llaman el Día de Australia, sino el Día de la Supervivencia. Todos reconocen la fecha como el aniversario de la […]
Survival Day covenant signed in Australia
Most Australians celebrate each Jan. 26 with parades, fireworks and barbecues. But Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples call Australia Day by another name: Survival Day. All recognize the date as the anniversary of British proclamation of sovereignty over the land now known as Australia. It was on this day in 2019 that Anabaptists from […]
Alumni service-learning tour to Mississippi
The civil rights struggle stepped out of history and came to life for 12 alumni of Mennonite Mission Network short-term service programs. From Mar. 9–16, Arloa Bontrager, SOOP and Youth Venture director, and Susan Nisly, Service Adventure director, led a learning tour through Mississippi. Each tour participant had served in one of Mission Network’s smorgasbord […]
Mission in Conflict Zones
Anabaptists around the world are engaged in costly mission in conflict zones. Some of these Anabaptists face the threat of death, kidnapping, and rape. The articles in this issue of Anabaptist Witness show that many living and working in conflict zones find Anabaptist and Mennonite theology a helpful aide to their understanding and practice of […]
Jesus inspired creativity
I’ve benefited greatly over the past several months from reading the work of Mennonite theologian Gordon Kauffman. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I understand everything he wrote, or agree with it all, but the idea of creativity being a central component of God’s work in the world through Jesus is exciting. Especially these days […]
God’s table
Practicing Lectio-Divina By Dani Klotz OK. I’m just going to say it. Here I go … I am not a huge fan of Lectio-Divina. Now, don’t judge me just yet. Let me explain. For those of us who might need a refresher on what Lectio-Divina is, it is a Benedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation, […]
I need your help
The Peace and Justice Support Network exists to support, encourage and strengthen peace and justice across Mennonite Church USA. How that happens takes many forms. PJSN produces resources: Sunday school lessons, Peace Sunday materials, PeaceSigns, the PeaceLab podcast, and more. We offer Spread the Peace grants to support your peace and justice work. PJSN also […]
Full membership in Christ’s new humanity
As human beings, it is our natural tendency to classify and separate ourselves from those who are different from us. That classification and separation takes all forms: gender, age, race, ethnicity, education, socio-economic, religion … and the list goes on. These classifications can cause discomfort, fear, and even harm depending on one’s location and situation. […]
Church safety
The epidemic of mass shootings in our country has the topic of safety on all our minds. How do we best keep schools, children and neighborhoods safe? And the horrific incident of a shooting at a church in Texas last year has many of us asking how do we keep our churches safe. That’s a […]