Widening the Circle: Experiments in Christian Discipleship Paperback - 2011

From the rear cover

Afterword

by Joanna Shenk

When I was approached about writing this book, I could think of no better way to tell the story than to have communities speak for themselves. As I traveled around the country, I realized that women and people of color are not often given the opportunity, or choose not to publically share, their stories of community. Creating this anthology felt like a fitting way to deepen already-existing relationships with various communities and individuals, and a good opportunity to get to know some contributors for the first time.

From the start, I wanted this project to give life to the communities and to the individuals writing rather than drain it away. In efforts to keep this front and center, a few individuals had to back out due to other priorities in their lives and communities. During the writing process, others expressed gratitude for the opportunity to reflect and to share untold stories. A few mentioned this project as a catalyst for deepened relationships and continuing writing projects.

From the beginning, I also knew that these stories merely scratch the surface of Anabaptist-inspired discipleship in North America. There are many more communities that have challenging and inspiring stories to share. And the communities and individuals that have shared in these pages could say much more.

This book is an offering of hope to the Mennonite church, to Anabaptist-minded people, and to the broader Christian church. As Vincent Harding said in Chapter 1, it is only when we are in familial relationships that we can wrestle together--that we can "get messy and connected and involved and angry and sorrowful and everything else that deeply engaged people are supposed to get." And, he went on to say, "Love trumps ideology every time."

In my work with Mennonite Church USA, I have been a part of many conversations that question the future of the denomination:

What will it look like? Who will be committed to its ongoing work? What about the people who are leaving? What about the people knocking on the door; will they find a place?

Often I share that I think we have a wealth of resources to engage these questions. As I travel, I meet many younger and older people are who deeply committed to the way of Jesus and to Anabaptist values of community, peacemaking, simplicity, and discomfort with the status quo. Some of their stories are shared here. They embody for us what the future of the church can look like and, indeed, what it already looks like in some ways.

Widening the circle of communion

As Anabaptist-minded people, as followers of Jesus, we have a call to discipleship always before us. This brief volume offers glimpses of how some people have responded to that call. In big and small ways they have chosen to share life together as a response to the individualism and materialism of North American culture and religion.

Through sharing their stories of formation, we are compelled to consider our own formative experiences. For Vincent Harding, his call to peacemaking came while firing a rifle in the U.S. Army. For Hedy Sawadsky, the words of a Palestinian friend still echo: "Go home and work for peace." For Jesce Walz, knowing her family's history of transition enabled her to embrace her own journey.

How do their stories challenge you? What questions do they raise?

As the Mennonite church seeks connection with congregations and communities on the margins of our denomination, how do we relate in mutual ways? Instead of offering charity or "justice with an ego" to those considered poor or marginalized, these stories challenge us to become partners who are accountable.

This accountability, at times, may compel us to evaluate and reimagine the shape of our organizations and communities and congregations. In seeking relationship and input from those who are different from us, we open ourselves to new revelations of God's work in the world. According to Dawn Longenecker, "Sometimes old forms of church and community must die in order for new ones to emerge. If Christians are wise, we will recognize that this needs to happen. We can even help it happen."

Are we willing to ask difficult questions about what is dying and what might be reborn among us?

Often I have been moved by the words of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. A collection of his poems was given to me as a high school graduation gift, Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, and this book has been with me since then. Rilke's words have shown up in my sermons, Bible studies, and even occasional songs I have written. Rilke was a wandering writer with a stormy history, and in the midst of it, he repeatedly reached toward God, within himself, and in the world around him. With full recognition of his brokenness, he expected God to meet him.

May we, like Rilke, acknowledge our stories of brokenness, of resurrection, and of hope for what is to come. And may we expand our understandings of what it means to live lives of discipleship, as individuals and as communities.

Indeed, the communion circle is widening as we live out the vision that Andrea Ferich and others in this book describe. Let's not be surprised by the experiments of discipleship all around us and let us not be afraid to join them.

"Many Christians are rediscovering living in community, sharing life with the poor, and seeking to love even their enemies," André Gingerich Stoner shared. "Even though we may think of these as uniquely Mennonite concerns, we Mennonites didn't make this stuff up. We shouldn't be surprised that whenever people read the Bible and try to take Jesus seriously they come to this place."

As disciples, let's learn from each other, inspire and challenge each other, "get messy and connected" and walk together in the way of Jesus.