First Anabaptist Evangelism Council held;
participants discuss evangelism in a postmodern society
New Life Ministries hosted the first Anabaptist Evangelism Council in Elgin, Illinois, February 21-22, 1998. Attending were twenty-nine persons representing seventeen denominational and parachurch agencies from four New Life Ministries partner denominations. Theme of the council meeting was "Anabaptist Witness in a Postmodern Society."
The purpose of the meeting was two-fold: to provide a plenary session on an evangelism-related theme, and to network agencies working in various aspects of evangelism and church vitality.
"The council meeting provided a wonderful time of learning, networking among the partner agencies, and fellowship across denominational lines," said S. Joan Hershey, council convener and staff coordinator for New Life Ministries.
The emphasis of the plenary session was to envision a model for Anabaptist witness which will enable congregations to more consistently reflect the transforming gospel of Jesus Christ in our postmodern society. Plenary presentations were given by Lois Barrett, General Conference Mennonite Church, Commission on Home Ministries; Dale R. Stoffer, The Brethren Church, Ashland Theological Seminary; Titus Guenther, Conference of Mennonites in Canada, Canadian Mennonite Bible College; Paul
Mundey, Church of the Brethren, Frederick, Md., congregation; and Linford
Stutzman, Mennonite Church, Eastern Mennonite University.
Barrett constrasted the modern and postmodern worldviews. She noted that the Anabaptist worldview is
"extramodern," one of several perspectives that stand outside the dominant culture of North America. From that perspective, Anabaptists may find points for missional conversation with the postmodern worldview. "I am not asking how Anabaptism might adapt itself to postmodernism. I want to go beyond contextualization to talk about how we might be both nonconformed and engaged with the dominant culture around us," she said.
Stoffer also emphasized points of contact with persons who hold the postmodern world view, noting that a narrative approach to evangelism, which is thoroughly Anabaptist, may be most effective. "We need to be able to tell three stories well: God's story of his redemptive work that culminates in Jesus Christ, my individual story of how God's story has transformed my life, and our community story that shows that God's story can authentically reshape an entire social group," he said.
In his presentation, Guenther highlighted how Canadian Mennonites are addressing the postmodern challenge through portable training programs, home and international missions, service, and academic training.
Noting his role as a pastor, Mundey emphasized the importance of developing missionary congregations and leadership, recognizing generational preferences, accepting that we can offer no easy answers to the challenges of daily living, and relating Christology to the confusion all around us. "It's time to lift persons into the light. It's time to lift persons out of confusion into clarity, out of error into meaning, out of iniquity into righteousness," he said.
Stutzman emphasized the importance of a powerful apologetic in the midst of pluralism. "In a free market, we can compete and win because Jesus has a monopoly on truth--he is truth. He is the way of emancipation, and the church can demonstrate that," he said.
Devotional and worship leaders included Stutzman; Robert J. Suderman, Conference of Mennonites in Canada, Resources Commission; Frederick J. Finks, The Brethren Church, Ashland Theological Seminary; and James F.
Myer, Church of the Brethren, Brethren Revival Fellowship.
Suderman reminded participants of the impetus for the meeting by recalling a comment by George Brunk III in an earlier consultation--that Anabaptists have, for 70 years, worked together in social ministry around the world under an umbrella organization and perhaps it is time for us to do likewise in the areas of evangelism, congregational renewal, and church planting.
Part of the council meeting was devoted to the various agencies represented sharing with one another about their ministries and how they are trying to address Anabaptist witness in a postmodern world. Breaks and meal times gave opportunity for agency representatives to network with one another, identify areas of similar ministry, and consider ways of partnering in future ministry.
A portion of the meeting was devoted to visioning how the various agencies might most effectively work together and identifying the role New Life Ministries might play in fostering inter-agency and inter-denominational cooperative ministries.
At the conclusion of the council, participants agreed overwhelmingly to meet again. The next meeting was set for February 20-21, 1999, in the Chicago area.
New Life Ministries is the successor of The Andrew Center. The mission of New Life Ministries is to multiply the number of persons turning to Jesus Christ by multiplying the number of leaders and congregations spiritually alive and evangelistically effective. New Life Ministries serves as both a resourcing arm and a means for networking in evangelism and church vitality for the Brethren Church, Church of the Brethren, General Conference Mennonite Church, Mennonite Church, Conference of Mennonites in Canada, and Shalom Foundation.
For more information, contact Joan Hershey at 1-800-774-3360 or by e-mail.
Posted 3/25/98
