Growing up in Holmes County, Ohio, I attended Sunday evening services that featured the stories of missionaries on furlough from assignments in exotic locations. I particularly remember a presentation by Albert and Lois Buckwalter, then hard at work alongside indigenous groups in the Argentinian Chaco translating the Bible.
The GAP, a joint initiative of the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism (ISGA-Goshen College) and Mennonite World Conference (MWC), is a two-year project profiling the demographics, beliefs and practices of 24 church conferences in MWC.
The first Schafer-Friesen Research Fellowship researcher, Karl H. Kienitz, an engineer from Brazil, arrived at Goshen College in June to study Pilgram Marpeck.
In March 2014, troops from Russia occupied and annexed Crimea, escalating a civil war in Ukraine that has left thousands homeless and thousands more facing extreme shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies. For some Mennonites in North America — particularly those whose ancestors once lived there — the crisis triggers a deep emotional response.
Regina Shands Stoltzfus '84 is a professor of peace, justice and conflict studies at Goshen College, where she teaches about race, class and ethnic relations, personal violence and healing, and transforming conflict and violence. She is co-founder of the Roots of Justice Anti-Oppression program (formerly Damascus Road).
J. Nelson Kraybill '78 will be installed as president of the World Mennonite Conference on Saturday, July 25, 2015, at the Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg, Pa.
Several years ago, while strolling through a farmer’s market just outside of Guatemala City, I encountered a group of teenagers dressed in distinctive, conservative Mennonite garb but speaking fluent Spanish to each other and to the vendors. Intrigued, I asked them about their story.
The peace, justice, and conflict studies major is great for those interested in being mediators, lawyers, peace workers, social workers and more.
The announcements of congregational withdrawals from Mennonite Church USA and the subsequent formation of new affiliations have generated considerable anxiety in the church at large. But a similar process of separation and realignment has been taking place in various parts of the Mennonite church for a long time.
“The press,” writes Franklin Klassen, editor of Chaco-Press, a new monthly newspaper published in the Menno Colony of the Paraguayan Chaco, “is the conscience of a society. When offenses happen, the press must sound the alarm.”
