Six things you can do to prepare for PA 2015

Getting ready for the next big Anabaptist-Mennonite “family reunion”

October 16, 2014 | Web First
Phyllis Pellman Good | Mennonite World Conference
Harrisburg, Pa.
Next year’s MWC Assembly will feature exuberant singing by people from around the world. (Credit: Merle Good)

In less than a year from now, our sisters and brothers from around the world, and from across North America, will be coming to Harrisburg to worship and fellowship with us. PA 2015, the Mennonite World Conference Assembly, will be held at the Farm Show Complex, July 21-26, 2015.

“We expect to host up to 8,000 guests,” says Lynn Roth, North America representative for MWC. “Our team is lining up lodging, food, transportation, the worship services, the seminars, the Global Church Village, and the choirs, but we need local people to provide a heartfelt welcome, to enter into the event as fully as possible, beginning now!”

Here’s what you can do:

1. Plan to attend the whole five-and-a-half days. This is the way you’ll make lasting friendships and discover the gift of belonging to an international family of faith. Go to www.mwc-cmm.org/pa2015registration.

2. Join the Prayer Network now. You’ll receive monthly messages about particular needs in planning the Assembly. Two big ones—that our sisters and brothers from the Global South will be granted visas so they can attend; and that we North Americans will offer hospitality of the heart to our visitors. Go to www.mwc-cmm.org/pa2015prayernetwork.

3. Urge your congregation to partner with another congregation whose members have fewer financial resources or are recent immigrants to the U.S., so its members are able to attend and join in the global fellowship. For more detail, go to www.mwc-cmm.org/pa2015partnership.

4. Learn more about your global family of faith. The book What We Believe Together, by Alfred Neufeld, is based on MWC’s “Shared Convictions of Global Anabaptists” statement. It includes discussion questions, so find others who will read the book, and discuss it together. (Canadians can borow it from the Mennonite Church Canada Resource Centre.) Or read and discuss the five books in MWC’s Global Mennonite History Series. These histories were written by persons from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. In Canada, the books can be borrowed from the MC Church Canada Resource Centre or purchased from Pandora Press, 866-696-1678.

5.  Don’t miss “Resources for Congregations” on the MWC website. You’ll find a video about PA 2105, information for your church bulletins, background articles, ideas for planning events leading up to the Assembly, and more. Go to www.mwc-cmm.org/pa2015resources.

6. Volunteer to help now and/or during PA 2015. If you live near Harrisburg, consider hosting guests in your home. Go to www.mwc-cmm.org/pa2015volunteer.

“Remember,” says Roth, “PA 2015 will be an experience of Jesus we can’t fully replicate in our own congregations, a taste of heaven as we worship and fellowship in many languages and cultures.”

—Posted Oct. 16, 2014

See also:

Mennonite World Conference Assembly to meet July 21-26, 2015

Next year’s MWC Assembly will feature exuberant singing by people from around the world. (Credit: Merle Good)

Share this page: Twitter Instagram

Add new comment

Canadian Mennonite invites comments and encourages constructive discussion about our content. Actual full names (first and last) are required. Comments are moderated and may be edited. They will not appear online until approved and will be posted during business hours. Some comments may be reproduced in print.