I’d suggest that Menno’s summary is also great if you’re looking for a holistic description of Christian faith. What the folks in Ghana seem to be interested in is what makes Mennonite faith distinctive among Christian traditions - particularly as understood by the founders.

In order to get at this I think you can do no better than to look at the pre-Menno Schleitheim Confession in which a number of the founders came to consensus about Anabaptist distinctives.

One attempt to translate those distinctives looks like this:

The Schleitheim Consensus of 1527 is the first broadly recognized document of Anabaptist sentiment. In this time of crisis, a number of Anabaptist leaders converged in Schleitheim, Switzerland to clarify the beliefs about which they were risking their lives. Many of those gathered would become martyrs within years. The consensus emphasizes that the life of following Jesus must be a voluntary one self-determined by the individual.

Article I. Being a disciple of Jesus involves a self-determined voluntary commitment to the Christian faith (therefore baptizing children was inappropriate).

Article II. Being a disciple of Jesus involves a self-determined voluntary commitment to the peacemaking Rule of Christ (Matthew 18:15-20 – promotes reconciliation and serves as discipline rather than appeal to coercive authorities).

Article III. Being a disciple of Jesus involves an ongoing self-determined voluntary commitment to faithful discipleship (the Lord’s supper is to be shared only with those who continue to be responsive to the teachings of the Jesus and reconciled to one another [see article II]. The presence of Jesus is not in the memorial bread and wine but in the gathered, reconciled, body of believers.)

Article IV. Being a disciple of Jesus involves a self-determined voluntary commitment to holiness (requiring a separation from worldly ungodliness).

Article V. Disciples of Jesus self-determine who will serve as their pastors (rather than the appointment of church leaders by the State church elite).

Article VI. Being a disciple of Jesus involves a self-determined voluntary refusal to use violence (Church discipline was enforced only by notification that an repeatedly unrepentant individual could no longer be “on the team” [the ban] and not by violence; Christians should not serve as judges or magistrates in positions of power requiring the threat of force; [there is little reason to believe they would have endorsed voting as a means to encourage others to be responsible for taking actions the voter finds abhorrent]).

Article VII. Being a disciple of Jesus involves a self-determined voluntary commitment to humility and allegiance only to God (commitments are made with a simple “yes” or “no” in recognition of how finite humans are and therefore the uncertainty of human promises – this in contrast to those who make bold oaths, guarantees, and pledge ultimate allegiance to anything other than God.)

In context of a state/church monopoly directing how people lived their lives the Anabaptist movement is rightly understood as a human, or civil, rights movement. The founders insisted that the God-given dignities (or “rights”), particularly the dignities of self-determination in matters of faith, not be subject to coercion by others.

http://www.themennonite.org/issues/12-13/articles/True_Evangelical_faith

(As a side note, I’m pretty sure that the reference to a Maroon T-Shirt was to my website - Mennoshirts.com. For the record, I was never asked to comment on that or engaged in any dialogue on it.)

http://mennoshirts.com/Shirts/True_Evangelical_Faith.html

Menno describes a fully-orbed faith including holiness, evangelism, the centrality of scripture, care for the needy, and suffering. Most of this is lost in the social work version.

Menno would almost certainly have objected strongly to the way that the edited version narrows his concerns.

“True evangelical faith cannot lie sleeping,
for it clothes the naked,
it feeds the hungry,
it comforts the sorrowful,
it shelters the destitute,
it serves those that harm it,
it binds up that which is wounded,
it overcomes evil with good,
it has become all things to all people.”

Wishing you all the best in your continued communication and relationship-building.