New work, and: new work

In the past year, my family and I have moved from Hamburg to Frankfurt am Main. The move was mostly for family reasons, but I have been enjoying the must faster and more reliable train connections from here to Amsterdam and, well, everywhere else. We have also been warmly received by the local Mennonite congregation, whose pastors are longstanding friends of ours.

In the mean time, the Conrad Grebel Review published an article of mine in its final issue. The article is titled “Unlearning Obedience: The Ecclesiopolitical Critique of the ‘Sword’ in the Schleitheim Articles.” Schleitheim’s sixth article on the “sword” is often taken as the quintessential Anabaptist argument for pacifism or nonviolence. But that is not really what the text argues:

On closer reading, it quickly becomes clear that the “sword” Schleitheim here rejects [refers] to a particular logic of political domination … a kind of political order or legal authority that—seemingly anticipating modern discussions of sovereignty—makes a distinction between lives: the “wicked” and the “good,” those that are to be protected and those lives given up to death. Although such authority can be legitimate, the church should strive to build communities that operate according to a different logic, shaping communities we might call “non-sovereign,” in emulation of Christ’s non-sovereign character.

The article is something of a preview for my little book on Schleitheim that has been in the works for some years now. I’m excited to announce it is slated to be published by T&T Clark towards the end of the year, under the title of Community and Catastrophe: An Ecclesio-Political Reading of the Schleitheim Confession.

A final announcement: Starting in July, I will take on pastoral responsibilities in the Frankfurt Mennonite congregation as the current pastors take a partial leave of absence. The calling is part-time for about a year. I am grateful for the congregation’s trust and I look forward to this opportunity to serve.