June 24th, 2025Global Youth Summit 2025 report
Young adults report on Mennonite World Conference’s Global Youth Summit in May 2025, Schwabsh Gmund, Germany
It truly was an event powered, and “Empowered by love”! Anabaptist young adults from around the world gathered to worship together, reflect on faith across cultures, learn about the local culture, and grow in understanding at the fifth Global Youth Summit (GYS) in Germany from May 30-June 1, 2025.
We asked the 5 Young Adults (read introductions) sent by the 5 Mennonite Church Canada Regional Churches to reflect on the question: “What surprised you and what did you learn?” during your GYS experience. Read on to discover their reflections.
Laura Rodriguez Reyes - Young Adult Delegate for Mennonite Church Canada.
Before the GYS gatherings, I had the privilege of serving as the Canadian delegate for Mennonite Church Canada at Mennonite World Conference in Germany, while also taking part in the 500th anniversary celebration in Switzerland. This was a moving and humbling experience, both as a delegate and as a member of a global faith community.
As I stood among delegates and believers from across the world, I was struck by the theological diversity of the Mennonite family. I felt both honoured and challenged: honoured to represent my community and witness the work of God among the nations, and challenged to carry forward the legacy of peace, reconciliation, and justice in today’s complex world with such radically diverse theological perspectives.
After the delegate conversations, being in Switzerland—where the Anabaptist movement began—was deeply symbolic. Commemorating 500 years of Anabaptism was not just about remembering the past—it was also a call to renewal.
As I return to Canada, I carry with me a renewed awareness: while our roots and theology may differ, our shared mission to walk with Jesus remains the same. Echoing the conversations I had, I invite you to join me in considering how we, as a new generation of Canadian Mennonites, can respond to the pressing issues of our time—climate justice, migration, and racial inequity. How can we be faithful witnesses to peace and nonviolence in a world so deeply marked by division?
Danika Warkentin - Global Youth Summit Participant from MC Manitoba
Although the global Anabaptist family is far-reaching and diverse, we remain the same body of Christ. The Global Youth Summit culminated in a shared communion time within small groups. Though we had bonded so well with our small group over three days, when it came time to share communion, we all had different ideas. “Shall I offer the elements around the circle for everyone?” “I was thinking we could each pass them to our neighbour.” “First the bread, then the wine?” “Oh, I like to dunk the bread in the wine!” We ended up doing a messy variation of all the rituals, recognizing that no one way is inherently more meaningful than the other. The Global Youth Summit opened my eyes to the ways that youth from across the globe live out their Anabaptist faith in different – yet equally faithful – ways.
Shenyce Buhler - Global Youth Summit Participant from MC Saskatchewan
I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to experiencing my first GYS. But what surprised me the most was how easy it was to bond and chat with people, despite not knowing them for that long. That such a short duration could impact the connection a person made with someone from a different part of the world. Something that I took away from the activities is that although there may be differing opinions and views, we could still come together through common interests. One example was a talk on nature, and how we take care of the Earth using scripture to help us in caring for the only place we are living. Small actions can still make an impact, even if we do not see the evidence of that right away.
Caleb Yang - Global Youth Summit Participant from MC British Columbia
One of the most surprising aspects was the vast array of diverse thoughts and beliefs surrounding faith and practices, particularly in aspects I had previously assumed to be universally shared among Anabaptists. This revelation was a significant eye-opener, as it challenged my perception that the regional or national church I belonged to represented the entirety or even the majority of beliefs within the broader Mennonite community. It certainly prompted me to delve deeper into the diverse beliefs held by others and explore how I should engage in healthy disagreements in areas that I believed were non-negotiable. And it certainly piqued my curiosity and fueled my desire to engage in more profound discussions about the reasons behind each person’s beliefs.
Liam Kachkar - Global Youth Summit Participant from MC Alberta
Before the GYS weekend, I also didn’t know what to expect. I was unclear if the weekend would be filled with lots of discernment about our future as anabaptists, or intense conversations about our spiritual practices and beliefs, or high energy rushing through the weekend from activity to activity.
In the end, the weekend was none of these. I was pleasantly surprised by the opportunity to simply be and to make the weekend what it needed to be in my spiritual journey. During this weekend, I was part of a small group of fellow French speakers from Canada, Switzerland, Burkina Faso and France. Our group had the chance to discern what it looked like to put the following theme in action: “the courage to love”. Our conversations ranged from our sense of self worth, what it means to do everything in our lives for the glory of God and how to disagree well with our fellow church members. In our conversations, there was a resounding reminder that God is enough to satisfy every need we have and to provide us the confidence to take on every challenge in our life. I was reminded to let the love of Christ more seriously sink into my heart, my soul and my mind in my day-to-day life.
Watch your MC Canada news feed for a Fall invitation to learn firsthand about this group’s research on Young Adults in the Church, and to catch their excitement about the Global Anabaptist family of faith expressed through Mennonite World Conference.