"Who keeps us safe?" Christian Politics of Care
2026 Bechtel Lecture in Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies
About the Lecture
To become a peace church involves social habits that draw people into the loving-kindness of God, whose justice precipitates a confrontation with the ordinary violence that structure our lives -- the sins of the church and the world. This lecture will turn to the Anabaptist tradition for insights into organizing communities of mutual care.
Rooted in his experience as a Mennonite pastor, Isaac Villegas will develop a political theology of care that follows from the social practices that sustain congregational life. His account will include the lessons he has learned from abolitionist organizing where people develop interpersonal commitments and institutional networks through which they attempt to live out the possibilities of a chant heard in the streets during protests and demonstrations, a rallying cry for another world: "Who keeps us safe?" "We keep us safe!"
Details
Date
Thursday, March 26, 2026, 7:30 PM
Location
Chapel
Conrad Grebel University College
140 Westmount Road North
Waterloo, Ontario
Registration
Free admission. All are welcome.
Please register in advance to let us know you're attending.
Register to attend the Bechtel Lecture
About the Speaker
Isaac is an ordained minister in Mennonite Church USA. He served as a pastor for 16 years. He has also served as the president of the North Carolina Council of Churches and on the executive board of Mennonite Church USA (2013-2015).