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European Leaders Face Challenges in 2007

KARLSRUHE, Germany — Hope for the future, keen public interest in Anabaptism, surprising church growth, new enthusiasm and challenges highlighted reports from seven countries when 20 Mennonite church leaders from conferences in Europe gathered here in December for their annual meeting.

While the leaders acknowledged that membership numbers suggest stagnation or even regression (the 2006 Mennonite World Conference directory showed a slight decline of 1.9 percent in Europe since 2003), they brought positive reports from Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, France and England.

In Switzerland, where the first Anabaptists were persecuted for their faith, recent films, theatre productions and reconciliation services have raised intense public interest and questions of today's Mennonites. Their resources are so stretched that they are looking for more people to take on the responsibility of responding. 2007 will mark the year of the Anabaptists, most prominently in the Emmental region beginning on March 24, 2007 in Langnau. They have invited people from other countries for the International Days, July 26–29, 2007.

In 2006, Dutch Mennonites turned a new page by identifying Switzerland as the country of origin of the Anabaptist movement and a symposium in Amsterdam posed the question, “What is Anabaptist identity?” Some churches in the Netherlands are growing but the conference is looking for ways to support churches that continue to decline. The Theological Seminary in Amsterdam is offering a new master's degree training program for work in the church and a course on weekends for volunteers.

Building up the church has also been on the agenda of the Association of Mennonite Churches (AMG - Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mennonitischer Gemeinden) in Germany. Its 6,000 members in 54 churches in three regions undertakes larger tasks collectively: publication of the journal Die Bruecke (The Bridge), the Yearbook and two youth projects. The May 2007 Church Day on the theme "I will give you future and hope," will include speakers from The Netherlands and Switzerland.

Hermann Heidebrecht reported on the ministry to the Aussiedler. Since 1972, 110,000 people from the former Soviet Union with a Mennonite past, now called Umsiedler, have been registered in Germany. People with a Mennonite past constitute only a small percentage of the newly arriving Aussiedler. Members of Mennonite churches, which still exist in various areas of Russia, now are predominantly of Russian descent.

During the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mennonites emigrated from Kazakhstan via Lithuania to come to Germany. Today there are six churches in Lithuania with a total of 250 members because a Mennonite reading the Bible in a hospital captured the interest of his room-mate. The man became a Christian and an elder in a Russian-German church. Other Lithuanians who were approached got saved and formed Lithuanian churches. Evangelism is important to them, but many people work long hours and have little time for church work.

Until recently, the six churches in various regions in Spain, founded by American Mennonite missionaries, had limited contact with each other. In 2006, all of them met together for the first time in Malaga. Also, the Mennonite European Regional Conference (MERK), which took place in Spain for the first time in May 2006, was for Spaniards and other participants an enriching time. Spanish Mennonites have increasing contact with Protestant and Catholic churches and they will make a contribution at a Protestant Congress in 2007 entitled "Reconciliation and Peace."

Issues under discussion in the Mennonite Conference of France (AEEMF) are the joining of two churches, one African and the other Vietnamese, as well as a request for membership from the French Protestant Federation. Many churches are discussing questions of leadership. France is also heavily involved in the Francophone Network, which is facilitated by Mennonite World Conference.

The London (England) Mennonite Centre is widely known for its peace work and its connection with "Roots and Branches," a network of organizations with Anabaptist values, which includes approximately 20,000 people. One program of Roots and Branches is a Peace School. New challenges in London are work with African immigrants who are building rapidly growing churches and recently, the Mennonite Centre has begun the project, "Work among Muslims."

Werner Funck of the AMG, welcomed the Mennonite leaders by quoting Isaiah 12: 3 (NIV): "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." Funck said, “As many exert much effort to find water, so we must strive to find faith. We who know the well can show others the way to the well of salvation.”

The meeting in Karlsruhe concluded with reports from Mennonite World Conference and Mennonite Central Committee. The next meeting will take place in Switzerland before first Sunday of Advent in 2007.

— From a report by Barbara Hege Galle and Markus Rediger, translated from German by Henry J. Regehr, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada).

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Photo of group available on request:

Front (seated, l to r) : Barbara Hege Galle (Germany), Anna Sorgius (MWC), José Luis Suarez (Spain) Back (standing, l to r): Jakob Kikkert (MCC), Max Wiedmer (France), Doris Hege (Germany), Thijn Thijink (The Netherlands), Henk Stenvers (The Netherlands), Werner Funk (Germany), Simonas Kiela (Lithuania), Markus Rediger (Switzerland), Vic Thiessen (United Kingdom), Larry Miller (MWC)