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A faith to die for350th anniversary of Martyrs Mirror
Akron, Pa.
Martyrs Mirror is newer than the Bible and longer than some copies of it.
Like the Bible, though, the book has a powerful message for today, said Mennonite historian James Lowry, at a June 8–10 conference, “Martyrs Mirror: Reflections Across Time,” at Elizabethtown College.
We live in a materialistic age, said Lowry, as Dutch Mennonites did in 1660 when Thieleman van Braght revised and added to previous books and records about Christian martyrs, aiming to spark spiritual renewal.
“The Martyrs Mirror is the correct medicine for 21st-century Christians, and especially for Mennonites,” Lowry said.
More than 60 people gathered to mark the 350th anniversary of the 1660 edition, called The Bloody Theater of the Baptism-Minded and Defenseless Christians. In the book, van Braght tells of martyrs from the early church and persecuted groups in Europe through the Anabaptists of the 16th and 17th centuries.
One story tells of Anneken Jans, drowned in 1539 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after she was arrested for singing a hymn in public. Another remembers Dirk Willems, from Asperen, the Netherlands, who escaped from prison but stopped running to rescue his pursuer, who had fallen into an icy pond, only to be recaptured and executed in 1569.
John D. Roth, professor of history at Goshen (Ind.) College, announced the Mennonite Historical Society in Goshen is planning a conference on the Martyrs Mirror in 2012 and discussing the possibility of extending the collection of accounts to the present day.
“The suffering church has continued in many parts of the world, including in the Anabaptist Mennonite world,” Roth said.
—Celeste Kennel-Shank, assistant editor of the Mennonite Weekly Review, for Meetinghouse.
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Parish folks react to spillPlaquemines Parish, La.
Maurice Phillips, a commercial fisher of Plaquemines Parish, La., took a group of disaster management leaders out on a small boat to “see the oil” on June 7. This is the best way to witness the destruction of the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill, said members of the Grand Bayou. Paul Unruh of Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), a relief agency supported by Mennonite Brethren churches, led the group as part of a listening tour. The group also met with 11 pastors from the area who described their concerns and expressed their faith in God.
The oil has devastated the seafood industry and the livelihood of individuals in the Parish. Just five years ago, these same families lost their homes because of Hurricane Katrina.
“Usually this time of the year, there would be 100 shrimping boats out,” Phillips said. That morning, the boat for the listening tour was the only one.
“This is all we’ve ever done and we don’t want to do anything else.” Reverend Ted Turner, from a church in Boothville, La., said many young people in the Grand Bayou and Venice, La., learned to fish from their parents, who learned from their parents and on back.
“We live off the land.” Carolyn, wife of fisherman and assistant pastor Paul Sylve, buys few groceries because the family eats so much of what they fish.
“This Bayou is a great place, and God created it for us. Hopefully they’ll find a way to stop this oil.” Sylve’s 11-year-old daughter said she will cry if she goes out to see the oil in the marsh.
“This is something we haven’t faced before; it’s a new enemy.” Another member of the Bayou community, Rosina Philippe, described the spill as a “product of greed.”
Unruh and Jerry Klassen of MDS provided a collaborated statement regarding a possible MDS response to the spill: “Because of the ongoing, unfinished disaster that’s unfolding and the need for support in the community, our best channel may be to return to our building program, let our hammers ring hope while we continue to listen to other opportunities to respond.”
—Anna Groff, for Meetinghouse
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Churches who ask that God would bring people to their door may be surprised by how their prayer is answered. In the midst of dealing with the aftermath of a collapsed floor in their sanctuary, Central Heights Church leaders in Abbotsford, B.C., learned the nearby McCallum interchange would be expanded and relocated, bringing a roundabout very close to the church building. Two years later, the floor has been fixed, and the congregation can again use the auditorium. (See page 22.) And while the machines work outside, the church is offering coffee and hospitality to the workmen who are literally at CHC’s front door.—BMc____________________________________________________________________
Celebrating the church past, present, and future
Surrey, B.C.
More than 500 Mennonite Brethren gathered in B.C.’s Lower Mainland July 12–17 to mark the denomination’s 150th anniversary with academic papers on identity and mission, presentations
from binational institutions, business sessions for the Canadian and U.S. conferences, and plenary addresses from international speakers.
Nzuzi Mukawa of DR Congo, and John Shankar Rao of India addressed guests and delegates from Canada and the U.S. at the binational sessions of Celebration 2010.
Visit www.mycelebration2010.ca to interact with stories and reflections on the event by MB Herald staff and guest bloggers. Full MB Herald coverage of the event will appear in the September issue.—KB
Surrey, B.C.
More than 500 Mennonite Brethren gathered in B.C.’s Lower Mainland July 12–17 to mark the denomination’s 150th anniversary with academic papers on identity and mission, presentations
from binational institutions, business sessions for the Canadian and U.S. conferences, and plenary addresses from international speakers.
Nzuzi Mukawa of DR Congo, and John Shankar Rao of India addressed guests and delegates from Canada and the U.S. at the binational sessions of Celebration 2010.
Visit www.mycelebration2010.ca to interact with stories and reflections on the event by MB Herald staff and guest bloggers. Full MB Herald coverage of the event will appear in the September issue.—KB
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