MWR : Articles : Congregational ministry

Last updated June 13.

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Articles : Congregational ministry

Photo by Laurie Oswald Robinson

Honoring God and memories, Kansas church closes

PAWNEE ROCK, Kan. — The strains of hymns wafted through Bergthal Mennonite Church’s 1915 sanctuary as 350 worshipers paid their last respects.

Among them were 21 active Bergthal members saying goodbye to their 138-year-old congregation, one of the oldest in Mennonite Church USA’s Western District Conference.
Philadelphia Anabaptists celebrate Pentecost

PHILADELPHIA — More than 100 worshipers erupted in applause as Tam Tran finished the opening riff on his South Vietnamese vong co-style guitar. As he began a soft strum, two more musicians joined to sing a song they had composed at a workshop two weeks earlier.

New name, new hope for survival at Colo. church

ARVADA, Colo. — Arvada Mennonite Church reached what longtime member Menno Gaeddert sees now as the height of its activity in the mid-1970s.

Exchange program translates to success

KORBA, India — The New Testament is now available in the Chhattisgarhi language — a feat that would have been improbable had a young Indian man not opened his heart while participating in a cultural exchange program decades ago.

Hmong build ties from U.S. to Thailand

A new Hmong Mennonite church building was dedicated Nov. 23 in Thailand during a weekend that marked multiple beginnings.
Church’s rebuild fulfills mission, hospitality

HYATTSVILLE, Md. — After decades of planning and false starts, Hyattsville Mennonite Church can now more fully realize its hospitality emphasis.

Seeking a tribe, megachurch weighs its Anabaptist options

A 2,500-member Minnesota church led by prominent Christian writer and speaker Greg Boyd is discerning where it fits among the Anabaptists.
Pastor serves Methodists, Mennonites

Mennonite pastor Bruce Bradshaw goes to church on Sunday morning, puts on his priestly robes, climbs into the pulpit to preach and serves communion to those who kneel at the altar rail.

Ohio church plant embraces Anabaptist discipleship

In 2007, three congregations in eastern Ohio partnered to support the birth of a new peace church in their area.
Church name trend: less is more?

The Grove. The Springs. Watershed. Several U.S. Mennonite Brethren church plants from the last few years are modeling a trend in church names that moves away not just from “Mennonite” and “Brethren” but occasionally even the word “church” itself.