Trinity Western University’s new Anabaptist-Mennonite Centre for Faith and Learning are hoping to help deepen Christian thinking in Canada.

Giving a voice to Anabaptist theology

Mennonite research centre integrates faith and learning

LANGLEY, BC—Those heading up Trinity Western University’s new Anabaptist-Mennonite Centre for Faith and Learning are hoping to help deepen Christian thinking in Canada. The centre is a partnership between the Mennonite Faith and Learning Society, a non-profit society that promotes Mennonite Studies in higher education, and TWU.

Director Myron Penner says the centre will fund research projects, hold lectures and organize conferences in Anabaptist-Mennonite theology. Though not formally affiliated with any Mennonite denomination, a large number of Mennonite undergraduates attend TWU each year, which gives the centre a unique vantage point in the Anabaptist-Mennonite world.

“A major focus for our centre is serving the ‘intellectually disenfranchised’ that feel that churches may not be equipped or wired to have the kinds of conversations that are important to their faith journey,” Penner says.

The centre is also focused on serving the academy by helping Anabaptist-Mennonite scholars land their work in traditional, peer-reviewed academic venues.

“We want to provide interesting and relevant content that brings an Anabaptist-Mennonite theological voice to the integration of faith and learning in a way that has scholarly credibility,” Penner says, adding that the centre is also committed to presenting content in non-technical language accessible to a wider audience.

While the Centre for Faith and Learning just launched in October of last year, they have already sponsored a joint lecture with Dead Sea Scrolls experts Daniel Falk (Penn State University) and Dorothy Peters (Trinity Western University) on “Understanding the World of the Bible: The Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls.” The centre’s next public event on March 3 is an evening with Mennonite author Rudy Wiebe on the topic of “Faith and Death.”

“We’ve been really pleased with the support we’ve received both from the university and the community at large, and look forward to exciting things to come,” Penner says. To learn more visit www.twu.ca/amcfl .

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