Renewal 2027

Young Anabaptist's mentor Tigist Gelagle with translator Riki Neufeld at Renewal 2027 event in Augsburg, Germany, 2017.
Photo by Susanne Werner for Mennonite World Conference

Renewal 2027 is a 10-year series of events organized by Mennonite World Conference (MWC) to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement.

A day-long public conference on the theme "Transformed by the Word: Reading the Bible in Anabaptist Perspectives" launched the project on 12 February 2017 in Augsburg, Germany. The gathering, which occurred some 500 years after Luther's famous appeal to sola scriptura launched the Reformation, explored how Anabaptist-Mennonites around the world have engaged Scripture in the past, and how Scripture continues to be relevant in the global community today.

In subsequent years, an annual day-long public conference, coinciding with the meeting of the MWC Executive Committee or General Council, will focus on a relevant theme with broad international participation. The initiative includes a larger celebration in 2025 in Zurich, Switzerland, and culminates with the 18th Mennonite World Conference Assembly in 2027, likely in Africa.

The goals for Renewal 2027, approved by the MWC Executive Committee in February 2016, included the following points:

1. to encourage and strengthen the global faith witness of MWC through theological/historical teaching and discussion focused on the Reformation and Anabaptist beginnings;
2. to renew and deepen our understanding of Christian faithfulness as shaped by the Anabaptist movement;
3. to promote "right remembering" through a focus on local church history within the larger context of the history of the Anabaptist (and Christian) tradition;
4. to nurture a deeper sense of connection among member churches within MWC through a focus on our shared theology and history;
5. to improve ecumenical [inter-church] relations, using these events as an opportunity to highlight ecumenical conversations where appropriate;
6. to strengthen a sense of collective identity and witness with Anabaptist groups beyond MWC members.

The “Renewal 2027” event in 2018 was scheduled for Kisumu, Kenya on the theme of “The Holy Spirit Transforming Us.”

Bibliography

Roth, John D. "How to Commemorate a Division?: Reflections on the 500th Anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation and its Relevance for the Global Anabaptist-Mennonite Church Today." Mennonite Quarterly Review 91 (January 2017): 5-35.

Author(s)	Karla Braun
Date Published	June 2017

Cite This Article

MLA style

Braun, Karla. "Renewal 2027." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2017. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Renewal_2027&oldid=148921.

APA style

Braun, Karla. (June 2017). Renewal 2027. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Renewal_2027&oldid=148921.

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