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2010-08-02 issue:

Lutherans ask forgiveness from Mennonites

Lutheran World Federation action represents 70 members worldwide.

by Byron Rempel-Burkholder of Mennonite World Conference

Print Article

When Lutherans from around the world gathered in July, they planned to seek a historic reconciliation with Mennonites and other Christians of the Anabaptist tradition.

Delegates to Lutheran World Federation (LWF) gathering in Stuttgart, Germany, were expected to ask "forgiveness—from God and from our Mennonite sisters and brothers—for the harm that our forebears in the 16th century committed" in persecuting Anabaptists.

The resolution acknowledges that in the centuries since then, Lutheran scholars and authors have often portrayed Anabaptists in misleading and hurtful ways. It also spells out commitments to continue working with contemporary Anabaptists in fostering greater understanding and fellowship.

The action, representing 70 million Lutherans worldwide, comes after several years of conversation between representatives of the LWF and of Mennonite World Conference.

In July last year, LWF general secretary Ishmael Noko of Zimbabwe—son of a Brethren in Christ mother—attended the MWC assembly in Asunción, Paraguay.

In an emotional moment for many delegates, he announced the resolution that would be presented at Stuttgart.

"This wound," Noko said, "needs the deep healing possible only when it can be seen, in the bright sunlight of memory, for the ugly wound that it is. Then we can seek for it the healing of God’s forgiveness and reconciliation."

In Stuttgart, a delegation of leaders from the Mennonite World Conference planned to be on hand for the passing of the resolution. MWC president and Brethren in Christ bishop Danisa Ndlovu—who is also Zimbabwean—will respond with words of gratitude, forgiveness and commitment to further healing. 

Besides Ndlovu, the MWC delegation includes general secretary Larry Miller of France, vice president Janet Plenert of Canada, treasurer Ernst Bergen of Paraguay, past president Mesach Krisetya of Indonesia, and Rainer Burkhart of Germany, co-chair of the LWF/MWC International Study Commission (2005-2008), which laid the groundwork for the LWF action.

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