2022 Featured Titles
Theology at the Border: Community Peacemaker Teams and the Refugee Crisis in Europe
by Hadje Cresencio Sadje
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Available now on Amazon in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, and Australia. Copyright 2022 109 pp. Softcover. 978-1926599755 $15.00 CAD About the Author Hadje Cresencio Sadje is a visiting research fellow at the University of Vienna, Austria, a visiting fellow at the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre in Canada, an associate member of the SOAS Center for Palestine Studies at the University of London-UK, and a research associate at the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student at the University of Hamburg Germany. |
Following its change in name from Christian Peacemaker Teams to Community Peacemaker Teams, CPT Europe places significant theologically-informed emphases on political, economic, and public policy advocacy. The identity of CPT Europe differs markedly from traditional theological and pastoral approaches, but does not preclude theological interpretations of its work. This booklet explores how CPT Europe’s work can inform a contextually sensitive, socially relevant, and liberating form of Christian faith that is immersed in the everyday lives of people, especially refugee lives. Although it is not solely a Christian organization, the work of CPT rests on a strong theological affirmation of immersion as a concrete approach to doing theology at the borders of this world. The work of CPT Europe shows how theological reflection at the borderland should not remain academic exercise, but instead it ought to emerge in the context of common people, especially the poor, the vulnerable, and the oppressed. In brief, this booklet argues that theology cannot be done without taking lived realities into account, and it demonstrates this conclusion by showing how CPT Europe provides a paradigm for doing theology – seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching God – at the borderland.
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Making Wars Cease: A Survey of the MCC Peace Section, 1940–1990
by Urbane Peachey
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Available on Amazon.ca Copyright 2022 320 pages. Softcover 978-1926599885 $29.95 CAD Praise for Making Wars Cease "Across five decades, North American Mennonites worked together in the MCC Peace Section to address issues of war and peace and to push boundaries of social justice advocacy. Urbane Peachey’s stance as practitioner, visionary, and critic provides authenticity and depth to this study of twentieth century Mennonite-led efforts, outcomes, and roads not taken. In hindsight, the Peace Section’s aspirations and breadth were remarkable. Peachey’s historical appraisal of this “lively mosaic” is a timely contribution to contemporary debates regarding present-day humanitarian need and grounded ethical response." — Rachel Waltner Goossen, Professor of History, Washburn University "Urbane Peachey draws on both archival documents and his own long experience to remind us of a key part of Mennonite peacemaking work as it developed and matured in the 20th century. MCC Peace Section was sometimes in the foreground but consistently in the background helping Mennonites network with one another and with ecumenical partners to respond to new challenges with growing theological sophistication and practical wisdom. Making Wars Cease will be an indispensable resource to help us continue to remember and learn from that work." — Gerald W. Schlabach, Emeritus Professor of Theology and former chair of Justice and Peace Studies at University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. |
This book is a modest effort to preserve and interpret the half century work and witness of the Mennonite Central Committee Peace Section. The Section was formed by MCC in 1942 and assigned to address “all matters that concerned witness to the nonresistant way of life on behalf of all member groups.” It was organized semi-autonomously, with its own board because of US Selective Service urgencies. The Section was formed in January, 1942, after Mennonites, Quakers and Church of the Brethren had spent half a decade appealing to the U. S. government for exemption of draft age men from military service. Canadian Mennonites served on the MCC board and the Peace Section in the early years, before the formation of MCC Canada in 1963. The book includes perspectives on the organizational issues between MCC Canada and MCC US. Peace Section bi-national was formed in 1974, with full Canadian-U.S. membership. The book includes Canadian perspectives and major roles of Canadian members on the bi-national Section, but only summarizes peace activities of the Canadian Peace and Social Concerns Committee and MCC Canada.
About the Author Urbane Peachey was Executive Secretary of the MCC Peace Section binational from 1975-1986, with a focus on the joined agenda of Canada and the US, including international work. He first served in Mennonite Central Committee as Director of Personnel Services where he coordinated the recruitment, selection and placement of MCC workers, 1960-1969. He served as the MCC country director in Jordan and MCC Representative for Egypt and Lebanon from 1970-75, residing in Jordan and Beirut, Lebanon with his family, just before coming to the Section. After 1986, he changed careers and served as pastor and counselor for 20 years until his retirement in 2005. Peachey holds graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, Lancaster (Pa.) Theological Seminary, and the University of Pittsburgh's School of International Affairs. He graduated from Eastern Mennonite University in 1958 with a BA in Sociology. |
Intercessory Prayer and the Communion of Saints: Mennonite and Catholic Perspectives, Edited by Darrin W. Snyder Belousek and Margaret R. Pfeil
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Copyright 2022 260 pages. Softcover Cover design by Meghan Harder 978-1926599786 Available on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca |
"This miracle will be one of the bridges between Roman Catholics and Mennonites in an ecumenical point of view," said Pope John Paul II in 2003 on the occasion of the canonization of Joseph Freinademetz, S.V.D. He was speaking of the miraculous healing of Jun Yamada, son of a Japanese Mennonite pastor, through the joint intercessions of Catholics and Mennonites united by faith in Jesus and love of God. That miracle, as John Paul predicted, has inspired ongoing ecumenical friendships, dialogues, and engagements between Mennonite and Catholics, leading to this volume. Moved by this healing story, Bridgefolk, a Mennonite-Catholic ecumenical movement in North America, centered its annual conference in 2015 on that story. Following that conference, the Mennonite Catholic Theological Colloquium convened in 2016 to consider the Christian practice of intercessory prayer and doctrine of the communion of saints from the perspectives of both traditions. This volume collects the presentations from those two events, including the personal and theological reflections of Nozomu Yamada, brother of Jun, and Alfonso Fausone, S.V.D., who initiated the intercessions for Jun.
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Praise for Intercessory Prayer and the Communion of Saints
"Memory and hope meet mystery and faith in this collection of essays. One family's story of people praying and God healing inspires rich reflections about what it means to belong to God's family, a communion of saints spanning space and time. Conveying helpful historical, theological, and liturgical context about how Mennonites and Catholics approach praying with and/or praying for others, this book will serve theologians, ecumenists, and faith leaders."
-Anne McGowan, Assistant Professor of Liturgy, Catholic Theological Union
"This book not only tells the story of a miraculous healing, but of a network of relationships that bears witness to transformation, reconciliation, and movement toward the very centre of faith. First there is an astonishing experience of prayer and the communion of saints. Then Catholics and Mennonites together reflect, discuss, and deepen their understanding of prayer and the communion of saints. This is an instructive and inspiring pattern of doing theology in service of the church."
-Jeremy M. Bergen, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Theological Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo
"Memory and hope meet mystery and faith in this collection of essays. One family's story of people praying and God healing inspires rich reflections about what it means to belong to God's family, a communion of saints spanning space and time. Conveying helpful historical, theological, and liturgical context about how Mennonites and Catholics approach praying with and/or praying for others, this book will serve theologians, ecumenists, and faith leaders."
-Anne McGowan, Assistant Professor of Liturgy, Catholic Theological Union
"This book not only tells the story of a miraculous healing, but of a network of relationships that bears witness to transformation, reconciliation, and movement toward the very centre of faith. First there is an astonishing experience of prayer and the communion of saints. Then Catholics and Mennonites together reflect, discuss, and deepen their understanding of prayer and the communion of saints. This is an instructive and inspiring pattern of doing theology in service of the church."
-Jeremy M. Bergen, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Theological Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo
Menno’s Descendants in Quebec: The Mission Activity of Four Anabaptist Groups 1956 – 2021, by Richard Lougheed
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Available on our website, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.fr, and Amazon.de
Praise for Menno's Descendants in Quebec
See here for a recent interview with the author in Anabaptist Historians!
"Although this study specifically retraces the missionary history of Mennonites in Quebec, many parallels can be seen with the missionary ventures of other denominations. Thus, this book is a vital contribution for the entire Quebec evangelical movement. In addition the combination of a historical work and a missiological critique is a welcome precedent." - The late Gilles Marcouiller, occupying the Chair of Leadership in Evangelical Protestant Missiology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies of Université Laval.
"Richard Lougheed delivers the first historical review of the Anabaptist movement in Québec since 1950. This volume, which provides a quite complete picture accompanied by many pertinent observations and questions, also reads well. It will certainly remain an important reference for some time both for Anabaptist history and for the evangelical movement in Quebec. " - Jean Raymond Théorêt, former Director of the Institut Biblique Laval and chairman of the Board of ÉTEQ.
"Finally, a history of Mennonite mission in Quebec is available for English readers. Richard Lougheed has chronicled the stories of each of the four Anabaptist groups whose vision brought them to Quebec during the latter half of the twentieth century, placing it in the context of the sweeping changes of the sixties. With its comparisons among the groups, and insights from Anabaptist mission in France, the book provides an analysis of methods and strategies relevant both for Mennonites and other evangelicals." - Lucille Marr, Adjunct Professor at McGill University.
About the Author
Grandson and son of United Church pastors, Richard Lougheed also served as pastor of a joint Anglican-United congregation before PhD studies in French Protestantism. He has taught church history in French in Montreal since 1993 at the Faculté de Théologie Évangélique and since 2011 at the École de Théologie Évangélique du Québec. He serves on the Quebec and Canadian Boards of the Mennonite Brethren denomination. His research concentrates on French Protestant history and he is past chair of the Société d'histoire du protestantisme franco-québécois.
Available on our website, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.fr, and Amazon.de
Praise for Menno's Descendants in Quebec
See here for a recent interview with the author in Anabaptist Historians!
"Although this study specifically retraces the missionary history of Mennonites in Quebec, many parallels can be seen with the missionary ventures of other denominations. Thus, this book is a vital contribution for the entire Quebec evangelical movement. In addition the combination of a historical work and a missiological critique is a welcome precedent." - The late Gilles Marcouiller, occupying the Chair of Leadership in Evangelical Protestant Missiology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies of Université Laval.
"Richard Lougheed delivers the first historical review of the Anabaptist movement in Québec since 1950. This volume, which provides a quite complete picture accompanied by many pertinent observations and questions, also reads well. It will certainly remain an important reference for some time both for Anabaptist history and for the evangelical movement in Quebec. " - Jean Raymond Théorêt, former Director of the Institut Biblique Laval and chairman of the Board of ÉTEQ.
"Finally, a history of Mennonite mission in Quebec is available for English readers. Richard Lougheed has chronicled the stories of each of the four Anabaptist groups whose vision brought them to Quebec during the latter half of the twentieth century, placing it in the context of the sweeping changes of the sixties. With its comparisons among the groups, and insights from Anabaptist mission in France, the book provides an analysis of methods and strategies relevant both for Mennonites and other evangelicals." - Lucille Marr, Adjunct Professor at McGill University.
About the Author
Grandson and son of United Church pastors, Richard Lougheed also served as pastor of a joint Anglican-United congregation before PhD studies in French Protestantism. He has taught church history in French in Montreal since 1993 at the Faculté de Théologie Évangélique and since 2011 at the École de Théologie Évangélique du Québec. He serves on the Quebec and Canadian Boards of the Mennonite Brethren denomination. His research concentrates on French Protestant history and he is past chair of the Société d'histoire du protestantisme franco-québécois.
