Mennonite Weekly Review

Last November at the Simple Way, a Christian community in Philadelphia, I sang from a Mennonite hymnal with Simple Way leader Shane Claiborne and others.

Joanna Shenk is associate for Interchurch Relations and Communications for Mennonite Church USA.

For a weekend I spent time learning about the New Monastic communities — Christians who seek to embody principles of economic justice, peacemaking and contemplative spirituality, among other virtues — in Philadelphia and Camden, N.J.

I attended a School for Conversion, a five-session course with hands-on activity that introduces various aspects of intentional community life.

The Mennonite hymns, chosen by music leader Tim Heatwole-Shenk, were new to all of the other participants at the School for Conversion. Tim and his wife, Cheryl, organized the weekend. They are graduates of Eastern Mennonite University and now live at a New Monastic house in Camden. Yet the vast majority of those drawn to the New Monastic tradition have never heard of Mennonites, let alone sung our hymns.

In my travels I’ve found that these discipleship groups often live out the gospel in more radical ways than an average Mennonite congregation. This is an important reminder that our relationship with this emerging movement can be one of learning as well as sharing.

At a Mennonite Church USA Interchurch Relations consultation in 2008, Ched Myers and Elaine Enns helped us think about how and why we connect with these groups. Out of these conversations, Interchurch Relations helped extend the invitation to Shane Claiborne to speak at MC USA’s 2009 convention in Columbus, Ohio.

Their words were also the basis for my joining the work of Interchurch Relations last fall with a focus on building relationships with discipleship communities and networks.

Since then I have visited a number of communities and have brainstormed about continued connections with MC USA. Conversations have happened at the Open Door Community in Atlanta, Jubilee Partners in Comer, Ga., Reba Place Fellowship in Evanston, Ill., Circle of Hope in Philadelphia and Missio Dei in Minneapolis.

I also attended an Emergent Church conference in Minneapolis, a Jesus Radicals gathering in Memphis, Tenn., and have spent time with authors and speakers Brian McLaren and Tom Sine.

Given our history and institutional stability, MC USA can provide roots for these newer groups that need support and encouragement. At the same time we can grow in wisdom as these groups speak prophetically to us.