Mennonite World Conference

Mennonite World Conference logo.

The Mennonite World Conference (MWC) is a global community of Christian churches that facilitates community between Anabaptist-related churches and relates to other Christian world communions and organizations.

The first Mennonite World Conference was held in Basel in 1925. Its main purpose was to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Anabaptism. An assembly is convened approximately every six or seven years.

Christian Neff (1863–1946), a Mennonite minister in Germany, is often called the "father" of the Mennonite World Conference. Neff, through the Conference of Mennonites in South Germany, issued the call for the first gathering in 1925, and personally proposed the following meetings in 1930 and 1936.

As of 2009, the MWC represents 99 Mennonite and Brethren in Christ national church conferences in 56 countries. The MWC prints a quarterly news publication in three languages—Spanish (as Correo), English (Courier), and French (Courrier.) This project began in 1986. The Mennonite World Conference considers that its mission is to (1) be a global community of faith in the Anabaptist-tradition, (2) facilitate relationships between Anabaptist-related churches worldwide, and (3) relate to other Christian world communions and organizations.

The official repository of Mennonite World Conference is the Mennonite Church USA Archives.

Conferences

Year Location Conference Focus
1925 Switzerland Basel, Switzerland 400th anniversary of Anabaptism
1930 Free City of Danzig Free City of Danzig Mennonite Relief Efforts
1936 Netherlands Amsterdam and Elspeet, Netherlands 400th anniversary of Menno Simons' conversion
1948 United States Goshen, Indiana, and North Newton, Kansas, United States Relief, Nonconformity to the World, Faith and Life, Missions, Young People's Work, A Young People's Program, the Peace Testimony, Colonization, Institutions and Mennonite Life, and Christian Education[1]
1952 Switzerland Bettingen, Switzerland The Church of Christ and Her Commission
1957 West Germany Karlsruhe, West Germany The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the World
1962 Canada Kitchener, Ontario, Canada The Lordship of Christ
1967 Netherlands Amsterdam, Netherlands The Witness of the Holy Spirit
1972 Brazil Curitiba, Brazil Jesus Christ Reconciles
1978 United States Wichita, Kansas, United States The Kingdom of God in a Changing World
1984 France Strasbourg, France God's People Serve in Hope
1990 Canada Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Witnessing to Christ in Today's World
1997 India Calcutta, India Hear what the Spirit is Saying to the Churches
2003 Zimbabwe Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Sharing Gifts in Suffering and in Joy
2009 Paraguay Asunción, Paraguay Come together in the way of Jesus Christ[2]
2015 United States Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States Walking with God

Notes

  1. ↑ Mennonite World Conference in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
  2. ↑ "Mennonite World Conference Assembly 15 theme chosen". MWC. 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2008-07-05.

References

External links

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