Links To The United States
Widmer was instrumental in renewing ties with American Mennonites, and in bringing an ecclesiology to French Mennonites that was regarded by many as being particularly American. Widmer represented French Mennonites at the Mennonite World Conference in Goshen, Indiana, in 1948. During his stay in the United States, Widmer was impressed by the level of organization in the American churches, including youth activities and Sunday schools. He was also deeply influenced by the American Mennonite commitment to pacifism. American Mennonites such as Harold Bender, Guy Hershberger and Orie Miller wrote and spoke out on the topic of non-resistance and peacemaking. Bender's 1942 article "The Anabaptist Vision" posits that the Mennonites should return to the faith of the 16th century Anabaptists, characterized by non-conformity to the world, complete love and service to one's neighbors, and a rejection of all forms of violence. John H. Yoder, a disciple of Bender from Goshen, came to France to work with the Mennonite Central Committee in the 1950s. He and Widmer collaborated on many projects, including a translation into French of The Anabaptist Vision, and the creation of a children's home at Valdoie, near Belfort. Widmer was also instrumental in creating American-style Sunday school classes for children at many French Mennonite churches. He organized the first summer camps for children at Laxou near Nancy.
Widmer was the motor behind the creation of many French Mennonite associations. He was the co-founder and president of the Comité Missionaire Mennonite Française (French Mennonite Missions Committee) which supported missionaries abroad, co-founder and president of La Mission Mennonite Française (collaborated with the MCC to support evangelisation and relief efforts in post-war France), co-founder and first professor of the Mennonite Biblical Institute in Basel, Switzerland, co-founder of the Evangelical seminary at Vaux-sur-Seine, co-founder and president of the Entente Évangelique du Pays de Montbéliard, among others.
In 1962, Widmer's wife Hélène died of cancer. Widmer remarried two years later to Christianne Buy, the widow of Robert Gaudry, the director of the children's home at Valdoie that Widmer had helped to create.
Read more about this topic: Pierre Widmer
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