Return to the M.B.Herald Vol. 36, No. 5 Home Page
Walfred J. Fahrer. Herald Press, 1995. 126 pp. Reviewed by Sieg Wall.
Walfred Fahrer is a pastor, church planter, missionary and conference minister who is a "Mennonite by choice". This book is a good primer; short, readable and to the point on the Mennonite faith. It is eminently suited to introduce new Christians to the essentials of how Mennonites "do" church. It will be helpful to the increasing numbers of our pastors who have received their training outside our Mennonite schools.
"Mennonites have rarely written a simple definition of their ecclesiology," says Fahrer. His book is an attempt to do this. In 13 short chapters he describes 13 "keystones" which form the foundation of the historic Anabaptist-Mennonite vision of church. Beginning with an understanding of church "as a community of believers who have voluntarily declared their faith in Christ, Fahrer systematically and succinctly addresses the characteristic features of that tradition. He admits, "No one denomination owns this understanding today." Fahrer goes on to speak of the church as a community of people committed to the teachings of Jesus, in which radical discipleship, loving relationships, concern for the disadvantaged, mutual accountability, non-violence as a way of life, and evangelism, among others, shape the community.
While I find myself in agreement with essentially all that he affirms, I find myself in tension with what at times he seems to deny. I've always thought that Anabaptists were part of the Reformation. Fahrer seems to want to distance himself from the Reformers. But, "Sola Scriptura"--the belief that Scripture alone has the authority to bind the conscience; "Sola Gratia"--the belief that salvation is all of grace an unmerited gift of God; and "Sola Fide"--the belief that salvation is not of works but by faith alone, surely characterizes us, as much as any Reformed church. Aside from this, the book is worth reading and handing on.
Sieg Wall is pastor of Jubilee Mennonite Church in Winnipeg.
Return to the M.B.Herald Vol. 36, No. 5 Home Page