Do we have freedom of religion within our own churches?

Veronica Zundel shines a light on the impact of disagreements around beliefs and practices in the Church.

Christians are reportedly the most persecuted religious minority on earth. This is of course a tragedy, just like persecution of any other group. Nevertheless, as always, God is able to bring good out of disaster: as the Church father Tertullian said: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” I remember hearing in my early days as a Mennonite about the Meserete Kristos church in Ethiopia, worshipping secretly during the military junta, and now numbering nearly 1,200 churches and almost 400,000 members. Mennonites, hounded by both Catholics and Protestants in the 16th century, have always known that suffering can foster growth.