PHILADELPHIA — In a letter to Jerusalem’s exiled leaders, the prophet Jeremiah called on them to work for the welfare of Babylon, the city to which they had been deported.
“Seek the peace and prosperity of the city,” he wrote. “Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer. 29:7).
Nearly 100 Anabaptist leaders gathered Oct. 2-4 in Philadelphia to discuss what responding to Jeremiah’s charge looks like in the 21st century.
Participants came from cities including New York; Hampton, Va.; Philadelphia and Washington to attend the Urban Anabaptist Ministry Symposium organized by Glen Alexander Guyton, chief operating officer for Mennonite Church USA, and Chantelle Todman Moore, Philadelphia program coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee East Coast.
The symposium invited urban leaders to discuss practical Anabaptist ministry in their cities.
Speaker Addie Banks, executive director at The Groundswell Group in the Bronx, N.Y., said: “Being a peace church isn’t just about not going to war — it’s about manifesting God’s kingdom in our own communities.”
Banks said the symposium provided opportunities for her to learn from colleagues in new ways.
“Each of us has a tool,” she said. “We all need tools to do our work, and gathering here with one another is like assembling a toolkit.”
During plenary sessions, Banks; Al Taylor, pastor of Infinity Mennonite Church of Harlem, N.Y.; and Ertell Whigham, associate pastor of Nueva Vida Norristown New Life and executive minister of Franconia Mennonite Conference; shared best practices from their ministries.
Whigham spoke about the need to develop personal connections in culturally diverse contexts.
“To be intercultural in the church of God today means that I will recognize how God has blessed you in your life, and I will recognize the gift that you are to me,” he said. “I will allow the Jesus in you to be the Jesus in me.”
Workshop leaders drew from firsthand experience to facilitate sessions on youth and young adult ministry, education for urban leaders, immigration, developing community partnerships and dismantling oppression.
Additional event sponsors included the African American Mennonite Association, Cookman at Emerging Ministries Corporation, the Franconia Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA, Goshen (Ind.) College, Kingdom Builders Anabaptist Network of Greater Philadelphia, Mennonite Mission Network and Philadelphia FIGHT.
Symposium organizers hope that participants will continue to connect and collaborate with one another.
“I’m excited about the relationships that were forged here,” Guyton said. “This gathering showed that we can all benefit from the expertise of Anabaptist leaders who are carrying out practical ministry in their own contexts.”
Todman Moore hopes that urban Anabaptist leaders will convene in other cities in coming years.
“We’d love to hear from Anabaptist leaders in other urban areas who are interested in discussing practical ministry in their contexts,” she said.
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