by Laura Schmidt Roberts
This seven-volume series republishes the content of CONCERN: A Pamphlet Series for Questions of Christian Renewal, 1954-1971, a publication born of concerns among a handful of young Mennonite scholars and practitioners who addressed a gap between an Anabaptist vision and their contemporary Mennonite reality. Wide-ranging in topic and authored by over 50 writers total, the historical essays broadly reflect the pursuit of renewal following two prominent themes: the nature of the church (mission, characteristics, leadership, polity, structural forms) and the relation of church to society (church as alternative community critically engaging social, political, economic realities and ideologies).
Such questions remain vital today. But the model the pamphlet series provides is equally important. The pamphlets reflect varying viewpoints intended to promote discussion, critical reflection, and ultimately transformation of understanding, practices, and structured forms of Christian discipleship. This example of dialog across difference as a shared path toward renewal is welcome in today’s increasingly polarized context, where disagreement seems more likely to end a conversation than begin one. To this end, the final four volumes edited by Roberts include response essays from contemporary Mennonite writers, critically engaging the contribution and limitations of the historical essays and building out concerns of their own in the current global, ecclesial, and historical climate. The response essays are authered by Melissa Florer-Bixler, César García, Susanne Guenther Loewen, Hyung Jin Kim Sun, Andrés Pacheco Lozano, Kimberly Penner, and Isaac Villages, many of whom have been involved with TMTC.
