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2007-03-06 issue:

Anabaptist Network a tool for young adults

by Anna Groff

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HARRISONBURG, Va.—The Anabaptist Network, an online networking tool for young adults in Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, works to link young adult events within Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA and make connections across ethnic, racial and economic divides.

Begun as a conversation at a meeting of the Young Adult Fellowship, an organized partnership between young adults and young adult ministry in Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA, in South Bend, Ind., in October 2006, the network was also partly inspired by Tim Nafziger’s work with the Anabaptist Network in the United Kingdom.

Anabaptist Network takes form as a group on the global Internet networking tool Facebook. “Since many Anabaptist young adults already use Facebook, we saw this as a sustainable approach, as well as an option for future global Anabaptist networking possibilities,” says Hinke Loewen-Rudgers, who works for Mennonite Church Canada and volunteers time to the project.

The network plans to publish formal events—conference gatherings—while allowing registered users to submit events such as hymn sings or afternoon hiking trips.
Transient young adults, who may feel distant from the Mennonite church, have expressed a need for support and networking, Loewen-Rudgers says. To join the Anabaptist Network community, go to www.facebook.com, register an account and search for the group “Anabaptist Network.” This is open to anyone interested, not just young adults.