Global Anabaptism: Stories from the global Mennonite church

In his landmark book Beyond Christendom: Globalization, African Migration and the Transformation of the West (Orbis, 2008), Jehu Hanciles challenges standard assumptions regarding “globalization.” Although it may appear as if Western religious, economic, political and cultural forces have come to dominate the world, the reality is actually much more complicated.

Not only do local cultures frequently reframe Western influences to suit their own purposes, but the massive migrations of people from South to North during the past few decades—and the dynamic communities they have formed—are gradually reshaping the culture of Europe and North America. The recent rise to political prominence of Spanish-speaking immigrants in the United States is only one visible expression of this dynamic.

In reality, vibrant immigrant communities from many cultures have taken root in cities throughout the United States, and a growing number of churches in the global South are now sending missionaries to plant new congregations in Europe and North America.

Conrad Kanagy’s book Road Signs for the Journey (Herald Press, 2007) notes that the fastest-growing groups in Mennonite Church USA today are the so-called “Racial/Ethnic” congregations, many of them dominated by first- or second-generation immigrants. This transformation may seem unsettling to some, but it also suggests an expression of Anabaptist renewal in North America that bears the promise of new life and vitality.

In January, I received an email from a student at Fuller Theological Seminary who signed his name Pablo Kim Sun. I immediately assumed that Pablo was a Korean student who had, with good humor, adopted a local Spanish name because his own first name was too difficult for students and professors to pronounce. Several weeks later, as our friendship deepened, I realized his story was much more complicated—and much more interesting—than my initial assumption.

Hyung Jin (Paul) Kim Sun was born in Asunción, Paraguay, the son of Korean immigrants. His parents, of mixed Catholic and Presbyterian background, had immigrated to Paraguay in the late 1970s, seeking their economic fortune. Hyung Jin grew up speaking Korean at home and Spanish with his Paraguayan friends. But he also learned English at the private Christian school he attended, where he adopted the name Paul.

Paul had encountered German-speaking Mennonites in Asunción through his parent’s wholesale grocery business. But it was not until he discovered Anabaptist history and theology while studying at Fuller—an evangelical school in Pasadena, Calif.—that he realized what Menno­nites believed. By then he had become a convinced Anabaptist, committed to the principles of biblical peacemaking, daily discipleship and a life in community. His journey embodies a new, culturally diverse form of Mennonite identity that is bringing the global church to our own doorstep.

Giving expression to this multicultural religious identity is never simple. In the United States, Paul opted to identify himself with the Spanish Pablo as a reminder of his Paraguayan identity. And even though he quickly joined the local Korean Mennonite church, he resists rigid cultural categories. “I am more than just a Korean Mennonite,” he insists. “I’m a Korean-Paraguayan Mennonite. … I read my Bible in English, pray in Korean and tend to share the gospel in Spanish.”

Meanwhile, the impact of the Korean Menno­nite witness in southern California continues to grow. In 2010, Korean Mennonite pastors in the United States and Canada formed the Korean Anabaptist Fellowship, an organization “committed to living out the Anabaptist confession in a Korean context.” More recently, Hyun Hur, a Korean Mennonite pastor, helped create ReconciliAsian, a peace center in Los Angeles that seeks to promote Anabaptist values in the Korean immigrant community.

“The goal of the center,” he writes, “is to encourage a peace culture in the immigrant churches and provide skills that can promote conversation, participation and cooperation.” In the meantime, Pablo Kim Sun is completing an M.Div. in Christian ethics and was recently licensed by the Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference to serve as the lead pastor of Church for Others, a Korean Mennonite congregation in Temple City, Calif.

The exact form of the Korean Anabaptist-Mennonite witness in North America is still emerging. But as a new generation of committed theologians, ethicists, peacemakers and church planters emerge, the identity of the broader Mennonite church in North America will inevitably be stretched and transformed.

Can we be open and attentive to the presence of the global church in our own backyard?