Hopewit

  Individual and Church – What about Creeds and Confessions?©  George G. Epp  Early Anabaptism in Switzerland wasn’t even slightly similar to a tent-meeting spiritual revival nor to a protest movement like Black Lives Matter. It was much more like the proverbial snowball rolling down a hill, gathering a bit here, a bit there until an identifiable mass was observable. The people we associate with this early, tentative movement—Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock—survived only the initial few years of a fledgling development, leaving small pockets of adherents drawn mainly by the argument for adult baptism, for discipleship and—probably—by disaffection with municipal and church authoritarianism.   But there came a time when those drawn into the movement would be shown to disagree on one or more of the myriad questions that face a purpose-bound, developing community, Christians’ obligations to the state, for example. The over-arching sensibility was bound ...

  2014 Grad Class How do I Think I Think? Practical Reconciliation 7   So far, I’ve talked about the basis of bias and its offspring--prejudice, discrimination and racism---  against the background of my Mennonite culture and faith. This would seem appropriate except for one factor: the binary worldview has very much been a part of denominational Christianity historically. Early Anabaptists stepped out of the established, national religious culture into what was seen by them to be a life lived faithfully under the direction of Jesus and the gospels, a stand that challenged the authority of the established church. Stepping over that line could mean exile, even death and all that was required by way of evidence would be news of one's participation in a re-baptism.   You were either an Anabaptist or you were an obedient adherent of the established church; in practice, there was nothing between. It was a decidedly dualistic, binary worldview. But looking back,...

      How do I Think I Think? Practical Reconciliation 6   Lamborghini NI. A great vehicle for delivering potatoes to the food bank! I said this week’s post would be touchy , so I considered not touching it. Earlier I mentioned the issue of lifestyle and indicated that Rosthern’s town Logo is, “Where lifestyle counts.”  I think we generally assume that “She’s got style” means "she" may have something we run-of-the-mill people may not have, and so “lifestyle” easily becomes a word suggesting a class structure: those with it, and those without it. Dualistic, binary thinking.   Obviously, even the man who seldom showers, seldom changes his clothes, drinks too much and expresses himself in words of single syllables and invective also has a style of sorts. Our biases regarding class, although not as stark as India’s caste system, are very much attached to style, and style is very much contingent on opportunity and income, on education and rearing—and to ...

How do I Think I Think? Practical Reconciliation 5   A review: 1.       Our worldview influences how we approach events, people, ideas: binary , unitary or spectrum , for example. 2.       The church’s role in reconciliation begins with reconciling to ourselves as individuals and as a congregation. 3.       A peaceable kingdom vision includes many skills and talents plus the courage to offer our careers and occupations as a gift to the coming of the kingdom. 4.       Because of the significance of our conversation with others, continuing education in becoming fluent readers, writers and conversationalists is essential. 5.       Recognizing that we carry unconscious biases and that discrimination can be the result, is important.  You may well have sensed that, so far, I’ve talked almost exclusively about self-awareness and self-improvemen...