{"id":1496,"date":"2025-12-02T02:20:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T02:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/?p=1496"},"modified":"2025-12-02T15:59:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T15:59:27","slug":"a-call-for-sustainable-living-and-a-rebirth-of-anabaptism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/?p=1496","title":{"rendered":"A Call for Sustainable Living and a Rebirth of Anabaptism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sam Funkhouser, a member of the Old German Baptist Brethren, New Conference, challenged approximately 80 attendees at a November 15, 2025, stewardship seminar to live in radical nonconformity to a culture deeply at odds with the gospel message of Jesus. Most of those who attended the stewardship forum at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church were Mennonites, but not all. One woman who wasn\u2019t Mennonite attended and confirmed how relevant this was for all followers of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Funkhouser presented with the conviction of a modern-day prophet. But with a twinkle in his eye and a smile, he said, \u201cYou invited me to come and speak.\u201d Most at this meeting live like kings, he declared, and \u201cOur standard of living is predicated on masses of people living in poverty around the world.\u201d Funkhouser, with an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, used Scripture to warn against the dangers of wealth and read from a 1903 Brethren doctrinal book on nonconformity to tell the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Funkhouser concluded his call to sustainable living by reading Isaac Watts\u2019 lyrics from an 1882 Old German Baptist Brethren hymnbook: \u201cCome, let us search our ways and see, have they been just and right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sam Funkhouser spoke at the seminar on Nov. 15, 2025, at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church. (photo by Elwood Yoder)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Steve Pardini, Virginia Mennonite Conference Interim Chair, spoke from a scientific perspective about sustainable economics in the twenty-first century. Pardini, with a PhD in physical chemistry and an MDiv, encouraged seminar participants to consider the environmental advantages of driving electric vehicles rather than gas-powered cars. Then he explained why blue whales matter in today\u2019s world. Europeans, with deadly harpoons and fast whaling ships, hunted blue whales to near extinction by 1900 for their blubber, a source of lamp oil, machine lubricant, and perfumes. But they are a vital part of the ocean ecosystem, eating krill and producing excrement that feeds plankton, which all sea life depends on. Plankton removes CO2<\/sub> from the atmosphere and releases O2<\/sub>, benefitting the biosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pardini explained that while indigenous groups sustainably hunted whales for centuries, a warped sense of dominion over the planet nearly led to the blue whale\u2019s extinction. Pardini has just released Climate Change and the Healing of Creation<\/em>. This excellent 217-page book outlines a readable scientific and theological foundation for creation care, available for purchase on Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the lunch hour, table discussion groups enjoyed a “stone soup” stew made with chopped vegetables participants brought with them. And in the spirit of renewed concern over world neighbors in need, over $2000 was raised for the work of Mennonite Central Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the long-term impact of the seminar remains to be seen, attendees departed with a clear awareness that, for Anabaptism to survive, sustainable economic living and choices that align with the gospel call of Jesus are essential.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sam Funkhouser, a member of the Old German Baptist Brethren, New Conference, challenged approximately 80 attendees at a November 15, 2025, stewardship seminar to live in radical nonconformity to a culture deeply at odds with the gospel message of Jesus. Most of those who attended the stewardship forum at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church were Mennonites, but … Continue reading A Call for Sustainable Living and a Rebirth of Anabaptism<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[216,44,4,92],"tags":[15,91,33,12],"class_list":["post-1496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anabaptism","category-church","category-mennonite","category-virginia","tag-harrisonburg","tag-mennonite","tag-shenandoah-valley","tag-virginia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1496"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1502,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496\/revisions\/1502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mennonitearchivesofvirginia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}