“Do you not realize what the Holy One can do with dust?”–Jan Richardson
By Steve Kriss, Executive Minister
Growing up in a dominantly Catholic community, I annually had ash envy. There was something about that mark of the cross on the forehead, the smear and the audacity of wearing it out and about in town and at school that made me want to be marked similarly.
This year I joined the shared worship at Blooming Glen, jointly planned with Deep Run East and Perkasie congregations. Each of the congregations’ pastoral leaders had a part. I found my eyes becoming full as I watched them mark each other’s foreheads, after finishing marking those who came forward. There was something both beautiful and awful in the fragility of the statement “from dust you’ve been created, and to dust you shall return,” being spoken to pastoral colleagues I know and love.
“Do you not know what the holy one can do with dust?” It’s a serious question, written poignantly. The dust of human existence breathed on by God becomes true life and even resurrection. Until then, we have these fragile days of marking, of honoring life, of sharing generously, of witnessing profoundly, of journeying together in sickness and in health, ’til death do we part.
Last Thursday, we honored the relationships we have with our credentialed leaders in an evening dinner with music. It was a lovely night with good food and fellowship around tables while listening to some Gospel Folk music by The King’s Strings. It felt like an extravagant night out for some of us. A few pastors incredulously and skeptically wondered how the costs had been covered. Two families from our community paid the bill as a gift, to show their appreciation for our credentialed leaders and conference. Our pastors who attended felt honored. It’s one of the ways we honor life’s fragility, through generosity and appreciation. I’m grateful for our donors and our time together.
We set out now into these 40 days of journey toward the cross and resurrection. Some of us are fasting from sugar or social media. My catholic cousins often refrained from chocolate or soft drinks. A recent suggestion I appreciated invited us to give away something every day. They are all acts of devotion or attempting to focus direction differently. These can be meaningful practices that stretch and strengthen our spiritual reflexes and muscles. The Hebrew prophets repeatedly provoked honest service, pure-heartedness, and justice-seeking & doing over showy displays. Our religiosity and practice, even during holidays, that help tell the story of our faith have little meaning without right relationships.
We continue to work and hope across our conference, our cities and towns, our country and all the world of sharing God’s extravagant and creative love incarnated in Christ and also through us when we live out the invitation in Isaiah to seek justice, share generously and relieve the burdens of those who struggle. This is our journey this season of Lent, and always.
We were all drawn together on that cold, windy Monday evening, February 13, by the promise of fresh enchiladas and tostadas made by the members of Centro de Alabanza, along with some warm conversation with James Krabill of 
Throughout the the evening, James shared Biblical principles about how the Cross brings reconciliation on a cosmic yet personal scale. He then reminded us that the ministry of reconciliation is God’s highest priority in the cosmos. At this point I leaned in, realizing how often this simple calling gets strangled by the tyranny of the urgent.
At this point, we changed tables to meet someone new and to share about our experiments and obstacles encountered in mission. I had the privilege of sitting with Lynne Allebach, the lay pastor from Arise Community Outreach, and Fernando Loyola, pastor of Centro de Alabanza. We reminisced about our own unexpected appointments, and commented on the unique shape of the ministry of reconciliation in our different settings. At the end of the evening, James offered a few final remarks, namely that Christianity comprises about one third of our planet, and that Islam comprises about one fourth of our planet. This is paramount to the ministry of reconciliation. We must recognize the task before us now, for the life of the world!
When Steve Kriss, Conference Executive Minister, invited me to consider being a LEADership Minister, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I have a LEADership minister and I have been in the conference long enough to remember the early conversations of the role of a LEADership Minister. However, one of my first interactions, a phone call from an elder of a congregation I now serve as a LEADership Minster, caught me by surprise. Steve never warned me of such a call, nor was it listed in the memo of understanding I signed. I attended the training on mandatory reporting; Barbie Fischer, Conference Communication Manager, provided some guidelines for communication protocol so that confidentiality is maintained. I was ready to go, so I thought.
To not have history repeat itself it is important for both people of color and the white culture, to be intentional about inviting and retaining people of color. Hope for the Future allows space for discussion on how various things impact people in different ways. This year, discussions focused on what it means to be a peace church in consideration of the lived reality of people of color in this country, how to monitor and change when policies are being implemented inconsistently, and visioning for Hope for the Future.
its winter beauty, a dazzling display. Sunday afternoon when I’d plan to return home, four inches of new snow blanketed our vehicles. Vermonters for whom that is no big deal,
My change of plans was a minor inconvenience. But other situations feel more major. Heather Wolfe, member of the Taftsville Transition Team reflected on a piece of their four year pastoral search process. At one point, two pastoral candidates seemed to be real possibilities. However, both people withdrew their names from consideration. Dorcas Lehman, who was an interim pastor at that time, reminded the Team that Moses wandered in the wilderness for forty years before reaching the Promised Land. Surely Moses felt much disorientation, and disappointment. Heather remarked that they hoped it didn’t take 34 more years to get to their Promised Land of finding a pastor!
Krista began with her own story of disoriented following. She was about to graduate from seminary. A congregation inquired about her openness to a pastoral call. While on a silent retreat she sensed the Spirit validating her call to pastoral ministry. Soon there were multiple long-distance Skype interviews with a search committee resulting in a call to candidate at that church. Krista purchased plane tickets but then suddenly questions began to emerge from the search committee and the offer to be the pastoral candidate was withdrawn. Krista was obviously disoriented and devastated. Questions about that experience remain, but she testifies that it led to growth and new opportunities.
Psalm 139:23-24 is a cry for God to search our hearts and “see if there is any offensive way…” in us. Yet, how often, do we make that our prayer? Esther Good from Whitehall Mennonite Church recently reflected on that scripture and her conclusion might surprise some.
“The extent to which we are surprised by the results of the election demonstrates the poverty of our relationships. The extent to which we don’t understand the need for immigration reform demonstrates the poverty of our relationships.” As I listened to 
One of the things I love about SLT is that it turns people of authority into students for a few days. The ones I’m used to seeing up front at conference and denominational events are sitting and listening, taking notes and asking questions. At SLT, we participants — the majority of us white church leaders with a significant amount of agency in our daily lives — learned from keynote speakers Dr. Cleveland and 
Using illustrations from scripture and their lives, the speakers explored the depth of race’s impact on our society. They explored how our racialized society maintains itself and why it’s so hard for white people to see and confront racism — why we need people with a “view from the underside,” in Hart’s words, to recognize it. They called the largely white audience to recognize how we’ve been socialized into racial bias, and that Jesus never called us to shame but to repentance and new life together. Dr. Cleveland showed us by example how to notice privilege in our own lives. We were being tutored in how to reach beyond ourselves as a demonstration of respect and also of our need.
But it’s not just that we need each other’s perspective, or that we need to learn from one another to understand Jesus’ message. No, we each have a role to play in dismantling racism, wherever we are. When we’re uncomfortable we can benefit by staying at the table and continuing the conversation. In fact, that’s what we were doing at the conference: listening, learning, checking our assumptions and discerning our next steps. One conference attendee asked Drew Hart, “What can I do about racism in my predominantly white community?” and Hart responded, “You’re right at the center of the action!” Throughout the conference I heard calls to learn and act right where we are, building relationships with our literal neighbors. I attended a workshop where we practiced listening to people we disagreed with. In another workshop we discussed what it means to “seek the peace of the city” where you are (Jer. 29:7) and spent some time brainstorming for our own contexts.
My first communication received in the new executive minister role came as a text message on Sunday morning before I went to worship on January 1. It came from a Conference board member who told me that his congregation intended to support the work of Danilo Sanchez in Allentown for another year in the partnership between the Conference, Whitehall Mennonite Church, Ripple congregation and Mennonite Central Committee East Coast. It was a welcome communication and a gracious reminder of the Spirit’s work among us. What our board member didn’t know was that this important 
Mission to the margins means both speaking and acting. For us as Conference staff, these last few weeks have included finding ways to support when Carlos Romero, Executive Director of Mennonite Education Agency, received a racially harassing phone call. Our response to Christ and the Spirit’s work at Pentecost means we cannot remain silent as witnesses to ethnic intimidation or acts that represent white supremacy. We are the first community to have named an African American pastor in the Mennonite Church and to have an African American lead our conference. We worship in four languages. Almost 20% of our pastors are people of color. This is our story. It’s never been easy work and gets even more challenging when we are able to be more honest with one another about our experiences.
Donella Clemens from the Perkasie congregation once advised me to seek out Biblical texts that offer guidance into where to situate ourselves for difficult or transitional times. This week, I’ve settled into Micah 6.8’s invitation to “live justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God.” It’s a challenging invitation for our time even though the words can at times feel overly familiar. It seems exactly where I’m going to need to be awhile after 30 days into the new leadership role. There’s still much to figure out and to learn.