Winds of the Spirit: A Profile of Anabaptist Churches in the Global South

by Conrad Kanagy, Tilahun Beyene, Richard Showalter

Overview

In this groundbreaking study, the authors make an unsettling claim: Anabaptist churches of the Global South have more in common with the church of the first three centuries than they do with contemporary churches in Europe and North America that claim the Anabaptist name. With data from 18,000 church members in ten countries, they show how historical patterns of church renewal are repeating themselves today in the Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The study does more than crunch statistics; it probes the sources and nature of the renewal and growth. And it pushes readers to ask what these trends can teach the church of the North in their own quest for faithfulness and vitality.

"A compact and informative thesaurus on emerging ecclesiastical and cultural meanings of ‘Mennonite.’ Christian faith today is not merely a world religion, but a substantially non-Western phenomenon."
—Jonathan J. Bonk, executive director, Overseas Ministries Study Center

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780836197075
Publisher:	MennoMedia
Publication date:	08/29/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Conrad L. Kanagy is Professor of Sociology at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, where he has taught since 1993. From 2000-2005 he was lead pastor of Elizabethtown Mennonite Church and since October, 2011 has again been serving in that role. Conrad was born in Covington, Kentucky, and grew up in Belleville, Pennsylvania. His undergraduate degree is from Wheaton College in Illinois and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are from Penn State University. From 2005-2007 Conrad was director of the Mennonite Member Profile of Mennonite Church USA and authored Road Signs for the Journey (Herald Press) as a result of that project. In 2008 he conducted a study of Mennonite church planters in the U.S. and in 2010 the Global South profile described in Winds of the Spirit. Conrad and his wife Heidi live in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. They are parents of one adult son.
Tilahun Beyene is the coordinator of the International Missions Association, affiliated with Eastern Mennonite Mission. He was born in Deder, Ethiopia, and received his high school education at the Mennonite-run Bible Academy in Nazareth, Ethiopia. In the late 1960s he studied business administration at the Haile Selassie I University in Addis Ababa. He received other administrative training during his 28 years in management of Ethiopian Airlines. A key leader in Ethiopia's Meserete Kristos Church in the 1970's, 1980s and 1990s, he authored I Will Build My Church, the Amharic language history of the growth of the MKC. He then served as prayer minister and church relations consultant at Eastern Mennonite Missions from 2001 to 2011. He and his wife Hiewet Tsegay live in Columbia, Maryland, and attend the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Baltimore. They have three adult daughters. 
Richard Showalter worked as a pastor and teacher in the United States and missionary in Kenya and the Middle East before serving as president of Rosedale Bible College (1989-1994) and as president of Eastern Mennonite Missions (1994-2011). Currently he serves as chair of the Mission Commission of Mennonite World Conference and coach for the International Missions Association, of which he is also president emeritus. Richard, who was born in Monticello, Wisconsin, completed undergraduate studies at Eastern Mennonite University and graduate studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School (MTh), Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (MDiv), Fuller School of Intercultural Studies (courses), and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary (DMin). He and his wife Jewel are members of West End Mennonite Fellowship in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which is their home base while they serve in Asia. They have three adult children and ten grandchildren.

What People are Saying About This

Endorsement

"Provocative and thrilling, this book paints a picture of Anabaptism on the move around the world. Some will find the snapshot unsettling. Others will swell with gratitude and hope."
—Mark R. Wenger, director of pastoral studies, Eastern Mennonite Seminary

"Winds of the Spirit should prompt the Mennonite church in North America to reassess its place within the larger movement of God’s Spirit in the world. I recommend it enthusiastically!"
—John D. Roth, professor of history, Goshen College, and director of the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism

"Winds of the Spirit reminds us that Anabaptists in the South have much to teach us about how to reshape and revitalize Anabaptism in the North."—Juan Francisco Martínez, associate provost for diversity and international programs, Fuller Theological Seminary