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News

Gathering around tables, sharing Christ’s body

November 14, 2008 by Conference Office

Lora Steiner, for Franconia Mennonite Conference

For more than 50 years, the churches of Franconia Mennonite Conference have sent missionaries and money to Mexico to plant new churches. This year, a church in Mexico City sent missionaries back.

Husband and wife Linker Sanchez and Luz Maria Vargas, of the Tierra Prometida congregation, were commissioned on Friday night, November at this year’s conference assembly to work with the Spanish-speaking community in Gaithersburg, Md, near Washington, DC.

“The United States has sent missionaries for many years all over the world,” Sanchez told those gathered. “But as you know, God is now sending all the nations of the world to the United States—and we have come here to reach our countrymen in their language and culture.”

“We are from many different nations but we are all children of the same God,” said Vargas.

More than 200 people, including 130 delegates from conference congregations and related-ministries gathered around tables at the Penn View Christian School cafeteria in Souderton, Pa. to worship together, discuss a variety of issues in the conference and celebrate newly credentialed leaders. The theme for the assembly was “Come to the Table: Embracing God in Us.”

Blaine Detwiler, conference moderator and pastor of Lakeview Mennonite Church, wrapped himself in a quilt to welcome participants on Friday night. Detwiler told of the quilt he and his wife had received as a wedding present, and how it had been used over the years.

“The beauty of a quilt is in its use,” he said, and suggested that this is also true of Christians.

Unlike previous years, there was no traditional worship time or sermon on Friday evening. Instead, Detwiler invited everyone to sit at tables and “see and hear the movement of Jesus in the faces around us.”

“There is no sermon, not in the traditional sense, because the sermon is going to be in the Anabaptist sense of community—how we are together with each other,” said executive conference minister Noel Santiago. “And doing that in front of a watching world is how the Anabaptists understood the message. In a way, the message is us… It comes out of all of us, together.”

While those gathered did less business than in the past and spent more time learning from each other, some things did remain the same: several rooms were designated as prayer space, and “prayer ushers” were available to pray at any time during the assembly. Ongoing worship was held in the teacher’s lounge, and an indoor prayer labyrinth with a guided liturgy was set up for anyone wanting to meditate. And while worship was held in English, some songs included verses in Spanish or Bahasa Indonesia, the two most common languages other than English spoken by conference churches.

Early on Saturday morning, participants again gathered at their tables—this time to tell stories of how they had seen God acting and how they were embracing the mission in their own churches.

A number of congregations in the conference have connections to Mexican churches and regularly send financial support and work teams or visit each other.

Urban Byler, who attends Whitehall Mennonite Church near Allentown, Pa., noted that his congregation is sponsoring a Karen Burmese refugee family. It has also supported Ripple Effects, a gathering led by Tom and Carolyn Albright for those who don’t have a church and often don’t want to be involved in a traditional church.

Churches have also been learning that to go out into the neighborhood and make disciples—and that crossing of language barriers, cultural assumptions and socioeconomic lines—can sometimes be uncomfortable or require flexibility.

John Ehst, pastor of Franconia Mennonite Church in Telford, Pa., shared that some of the recent converts in their Spanish-speaking gathering wanted a baptism by immersion, so the church held the service in the afternoon at a neighboring Grace Brethren church.

Several pastors said that while they often preach about following Jesus, sharing that love and joining the work of the Holy Spirit, it can be difficult to be missional and reach out as a congregation—especially for “cradle” or “legacy” Mennonites.

“The challenge we face is just talking about our faith,” said one pastor. “We’re good at doing things but not as much at verbalizing our faith.”

“One of the biggest challenges is that in this community,” said another pastor, “Mennonites hang out with Mennonites. They work for Mennonite businesses and go to Mennonite schools… it’s hard to get outside of that.”

In keeping with the theme of mission, part of Saturday was spent talking about an important inward focus of churches: the faith formation of children.

Mary Benner, pastor of youth and children at Souderton Mennonite Church, said the goal is to help churches and church schools think about “how we help children and youth become radical followers of Jesus Christ—the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount, the Jesus of perfect love.”

Benner, along with Marlene Frankenfield, conference youth minister, and Sharon Fransen, shared a framework for how families, churches and schools can work together to pass along the faith. The framework was developed in conjunction with regional Mennonite schools, but is intended to help any child whether or not he or she attends a Mennonite school.

“Passing on the faith to the next generation is one of the most important roles of the entire body of Christ,” said Benner. “We want [our children] to develop a costly compassion, and have empathy for a hurting world… We want them to know Jesus so they will keep their hearts soft.”

But Benner also said that Jesus can make us uncomfortable.

“There’s a risk to teaching our children to be followers of Christ, because they will then go and do what we’ve taught them to do,” says Benner, who has two children doing voluntary service. “The reality is, if our kids live the spirit of Jesus, it’s costly. They’re going to be more vulnerable to pain and loneliness, and probably be drawn to the margins of society.”

Benner said that the most important thing churches can do for their children is to pray, be present and pay attention, because even churches appear similar on the surface, they’re all so different that what works in one congregation often can’t be translated into another.

“We feel like when we see another congregation doing something, we think, ‘That’s the answer for us.’ But the most effective thing is just that love relationship—knowing your context, your culture.”

The Saturday morning session covered approval of the 2007 assembly minutes, an update on the Vision and Financial Plan, and nominations for the gifts discernment process. Delegates voted unanimously to approve Randy Heacock, pastor of Doylestown Mennonite Church, as assistant conference moderator and conference board vice chair.

It also included time to welcome everyone who had been credentialed in Franconia Conference in the past year. Those licensed for ministry included Arnold Derstine, of the Franconia congregation; Eva Kratz, for prison ministry; Gay Brunt Miller, conference director of collaborative ministries; Jenifer Erickson Morales, conference minister of transitional ministries; Timothy Moyer, Vincent Mennonite Church; Yunus Perkasa, Nations Worship Center; and Aldo Siahaan, Philadelphia Praise Center. John Brodnicki of Mennonite Bible Fellowship was the only newly ordained person, while transfers of credentials were recognized for Dennis Edwards, Peace Fellowship (Washington, D.C.); Chris Nickels, Spring Mount; Mary Nitzsche, Blooming Glen; Wayne Nitzsche, Perkasie; Jim Ostlund, Blooming Glen; and Wayne Speigle, Bally Mennonite Church.

Throughout the gathering, there was a recognition that churches are working to minister in shifting contexts, and that the conference itself is becoming more diverse each year. Among conference churches, services are held not only in Spanish and Bahasa Indonesia, but also in Vietnamese and with some congregations having growing numbers of persons form varied Asian and African contexts. And while Mennonite conferences have historically been organized by geography, the web of relationships is taking the conference outside of those boundaries, and conference staff are working with churches in Delaware, New Jersey, Arkansas, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

Amidst shifts and changes in the church, said Noel Santiago, “We want to be proactive, not reactive.”

At the end of the final delegate session, participants who had come from all over the world paused to partake in the re-membering of the body of Christ, and shared communion.

Filed Under: Conference Assembly, News Tagged With: Conference News, Franconia Conference, global, National News

Perkasie Congregation hosts coffeehouse concert favorites

November 3, 2008 by Conference Office

On November 15, Perkasie Mennonite Church will host a night of folk music at the Perkasie Patchwork Coffeehouse. Greg Greenway and opening act The Fretnoughts will perform.

Greg Greenway is a rare combination of instrumental expertise, a soulful and moving singer, powerful poet and sparkling entertainer. This all comes through the singular lens of Greenway’s humanity and his easy affinity for the audience. He has been described as “one of the strongest, and finest voices in folk music.” The Boston Globe wrote, “Confessional one moment, rambunctiously disarming the next, few modern folk singers can own a coffeehouse stage as completely as Greenway.”

The Fretnoughts derive their name from the powerful dreadnought guitar, a fretted instrument used in their performances, and from the carefree “fret-not” spirit of their sound. Nick Winter and Sharon Abbott are joined by Joel Hanna (also of the folk band “Elgie’s Kitchen”). All three enjoy creating arrangements and harmonies to back up each other’s original works, as well as putting their own spin on familiar blues, classic country, folk and swing tunes.

Doors will open at 7 pm at the Perkasie Patchwork Coffeehouse in the Perkasie Mennonite Church hall at 4th & Chestnut Streets in Perkasie, PA. The performances will begin at 7:30. Adults $9, Seniors 65 & over $7, Students 13 and over $4, 12 & under free. Tasty refreshments for sale.

For more information and directions visit perkmenno.net or call 215-723-2010.

 

Filed Under: News

Oxford Circle ordination marks a first for Lancaster Mennonite Conference

October 28, 2008 by Conference Office

Peter M. Sensenig
Interim Associate Pastor
Oxford Circle Mennonite Church

The August 3, 2008, ordination of Lynn Parks at Oxford Circle Mennonite Church, a Franconia Conference Partner in Mission, in Philadelphia is the first official Lancaster Mennonite Conference ordination of a woman. Parks, along with her family, congregation, and the wider church, celebrate a renewed sense of God’s affirmation and calling with this important milestone.

Parks recognized that one of the hardest parts of ministry was taking on the identity of pastor. “For a long time, I would not tell people that I was a pastor but would simply say that I worked at our church,” she said. “Being ordained, for me, is an important part of embracing that identity.”

After a long discernment period the Bishop Board, which oversees all conference credentialing activities, decided in May 2008 to allow diversity within the conference on the ordination of women. Prior to Parks’ ordination bishop Linford King had performed two ordinations in the Lancaster District, Elizabeth Nissley of James Street Mennonite in June 2007 and Janet Breneman of Laurel Street Mennonite in January 2008.

Now Parks joins these women and a growing number of other women being ordained or transferring their ordination credentials from other conferences. They represent the reality of a fresh vision of conference pastoral leadership that includes both women and men.

Philadelphia bishop Freeman Miller officiated over the ordination. “As I have watched her preach, teach, counsel, guide and equip many at Oxford Circle for effective life and witness, my appreciation for her skilled leadership has grown steadily every year. So it seemed only fitting and right, at the request of the congregation, publicly and fully to affirm her gifts in an ordination service,” said Miller.

In his sermon conference moderator Keith Weaver reminded the congregation of their own responsibility to follow God’s leading. Oxford Circle senior pastor Leonard Dow led the service, which included statements of affirmation from fellow ministers and members of the congregation. Church council chair Tim Leaman and Mark Lyndaker-Studer, pastor at Neshaminy-Warwick Presbyterian Church where Parks works part time in pastoral visitation, both affirmed her giftedness. Parks’ husband Vandy, daughter Bethannie, and mother Ann Sawyer also participated in the service.

Dow described Parks as “radical in her patience. In a world today that demands ‘our rights’ now, Pastor Lynn’s love for the church and appreciation for discernment is indeed radical. My prayer is that all within the church can affirm this gift she has given to the church as much as we have at Oxford Circle.”

Parks first felt a call in 1999 as she became increasingly involved in teaching adults during Dow’s first year as pastor. She was praying for God to bring an associate to the church. Her husband Vandy had been the interim pastor the previous year, and she recognized the pressure that Dow was under as the only pastor. “God used all that to increase my interest in becoming more involved in ministry,” said Parks. “And then one day I clearly heard God speak to me that God wanted me to be associate pastor. I ignored that thought for a few weeks but it wouldn’t go away, so I talked to my husband Vandy and he affirmed it immediately. Within a week pastor Leonard Dow also affirmed it and we began the process of discernment with bishop Freeman Miller, our extended family, church council and finally the congregation.”

In eight years of ministry at Oxford Circle, Parks has seen the multi-racial congregation double in size and become increasingly involved in community outreach. The Oxford Circle Christian Community Development Association (OCCCDA), the nonprofit affiliated with the church, is currently in the midst of a major fundraising campaign along with the church to purchase a building that will house a rapidly growing community center doing holistic ministry, as well as a larger meeting space for worship. “Pastor Lynn enthusiastically shares our congregation’s strong passion to combine evangelism and social ministry to transform broken lives,” said Ron Sider, board member of OCCCDA and member of Oxford Circle.

Parks values the role that education plays in equipping for ministry, having recently completed the Master of Divinity degree from Regent University. “Finding time to complete an M.Div. while pastoring was a constant challenge,” said Parks. “I was greatly helped by support from my husband, my extended family, and the congregation. The studying and ministry practice went hand in hand, and I saw my time at seminary as a benefit to the congregation. It is a constant balancing act in trying to prioritize family time, ministry responsibilities and study.”

Parks is much appreciated at Oxford Circle for her leadership training through a program called the Discovery Class and its follow-up two year mentoring program. Practicing what she preaches, Parks continues in a co-mentoring relationship with two women in the church who also gave words of blessing at her ordination. Anita Lyndaker-Studer, executive director of OCCCDA, said of Parks, “Her skills in leadership development and discipleship stand out as a blessing to our congregation. The Discovery Series that Pastor Lynn led has been instrumental for me personally in terms of finding and following God’s call on my life.” Arbutus Sider said of the ordination, “We are grateful that we are celebrating Pastor’s Lynn’s ordination, not on the basis of her gender, but because of her giftedness, calling and affirmation.”

“God has called and equipped me to be a pastor,” Parks said. “Now that is fully affirmed by the church that I serve and that helps me to embrace my pastoral identity and to minister more effectively.” The congregation, the conference and the church continue to rejoice that God is faithful in calling and equipping leaders like Lynn Parks for effective service in God’s mission in the world.

To extend healing and hope in the Oxford Circle community believing that God’s purpose of reconciling all people to Jesus leads us to minister on spiritual, physical, social & economic levels.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: National News

Voting with our faith in mind: A guide from Mennonite Church USA

October 28, 2008 by Conference Office

by Susan Mark Landis, Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership

On what criteria do Christians base their voting decisions? Life experiences? Sunday school or small group discussions? Common sense? The Bible?

Christians who vote based on their understanding of the whole Bible might evaluate a candidate through the lenses of the Christian principles below, outlined in October 2004 by Leo Hartshorn, Minister of Peace and Justice for Mennonite Mission Network:

1. The earth is God’s good creation (Genesis 1). We are stewards of creation.
2. God has created humanity in the divine image (Genesis 1:27). We are to foster the dignity and rights of all peoples and the sanctity of life.
3. The state was created to serve human welfare (Romans 13:4). We are to call upon the state to serve its more noble purposes.
4. In Jesus Christ, God has revealed a way of peace, nonviolence, justice and reconciliation (Matthew 5). We are to live in the way of peace and justice.
5. All human reality has “fallen” from God’s purpose (Romans 8:22-23). We are to live in that creative tension of being “in” the world, but not “of” the world.
6. The church, as a signpost of God’s reign, is the primary arena for Christian “politics” (1 Peter 2:9). We are to be the church, an alternative community or polis.
7. God’s mission is for and within the world (John 3:16). We are to engage the world reflecting God’s compassion.
8. God has compassion for the most vulnerable in the world (Proverbs 31:8-9). We are to welcome the stranger and seek economic justice for the poor and the marginalized in society.
9. Security is in God (Psalm 146:1-6). We are to place our ultimate trust in God.
10. God’s reign transcends peoples and nations (Revelation 7:9). We are first and foremost citizens of God’s rule.

Studying and prayerfully evaluating candidates and their views on a wide variety of topics is time consuming. However, it doesn’t take long to realize that no candidate will bring about God’s kingdom on earth. That’s not the job of government – that’s God’s job. The church is here to proclaim that some government laws and policies – and the candidates and politicians who pass them – bring more justice and peace and some bring much less. That’s the goal of voting in a democratic society.

Here are resources to help you gather biblical voting information:

  • Mennonite Central Committee: Congressional Voting Record
  • Sojourners: Voting All Your Values
  • “Guiding principles for Christian political engagement” by Leo Hartshorn (PeaceSigns, Oct 2004)
  • National Council of Churches
  • National Association of Evangelicals

Filed Under: News Tagged With: National News

Convention 2009 gives Holy Spirit center stage

October 21, 2008 by Conference Office

by Laurie Oswald Robinson, Mennonite Church USA

The Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009 is far removed from when Jesus breathed his Spirit on the first disciples. But the planning committees for Mennonite Church USA’s convention next July are risking the theme on the belief he’ll do it again with huge crowds of Mennonites.

In a bold move that is bringing a deeper focus on the Holy Spirit than in past conventions, the adult and youth planning committees chose the theme, “Breathe and be filled,” based on John 20:21-22. It’s when Jesus reminds his disciples that as his father sent him, so he was sending them. To empower them to go, he breathed his spirit upon them, and they were filled.

Planners envision this theme will give center stage to the Spirit to renew the church’s missional drama by refreshing vision for next steps of call. They hope the theme integrates the stillness of waiting upon, listening to and receiving from the Spirit and the “sent-ness” into a broken world that is a response to this infilling and strengthening.

“We worried some constituents may feel this theme will encourage us to have a big feel-good party in God, and foster a me-and-Jesus mentality that forgets we are a called and sent community,” said Regina Shands Stoltzfus, adult planner and a longtime Mennonite leader who will co-lead adult convention worship with Joel Miller, pastor of Cincinnati Mennonite Church.

“But we believe the theme encourages us to receive the breath of Christ that releases us to go and do the works God calls us to do. We are called by Christ to go out in his name through the empowerment of his fire and breath and energy — not on our own brain power and strength.”

Miller agrees now — though he wasn’t sure at first. He came to planning sessions hoping the theme would focus on identity-building for the church as Christ followers in North America. At San José 2007, delegates agreed Mennonite Church USA in the next few years would focus on identity building. Some months down the road, he believes this theme is more integrative than he initially thought.

“This theme allows us to integrate the two components of our faith — the Spirit who sends us and who we are as the sent ones in this world,” Miller said. “Our spirituality is all of who we are — the peace Christ gives us within and the peace we advocate in the world.

“The Holy Spirit is named an ‘advocate’ in the Scriptures, and that is what Christ’s infilling is preparing us to be — advocates in the world for those who are most in need.”

Even as this theme is integrative and communal, it also invites participants to connect intimately with God by renewing their sense of personal call, said Anna Gomez, youth planner who will be co-leader of youth worship with Peter Eberly, youth planner and youth pastor at Harrisonburg (Va.) Mennonite Church.

“As their worship leader, I want to impart to them a sense that the Holy Spirit isn’t something they have to strive to get,” said Gomez. “If they are believers in Christ, then they already have his Spirit within them. I also want to reassure them adults will walk alongside them on their journey, but that we can’t do it for them.”

Gideon Dunster, a senior at Central Christian School in Kidron, Ohio, and a youth planner, helped shape the theme. He is very excited that the Holy Spirit is getting some top billing.

“I think Mennonites focus a lot on Jesus in the New Testament, and that’s good, because he is our savior and our example,” Dunster said. “But I think we could focus a little more on the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t get a whole lot of recognition, and after all, the Spirit is the one guiding our actions when are striving to be more like Jesus.”

Like Dunster, some staff of Mennonite Church USA’s Executive Leadership — charged with guiding the convention — feel it’s time to give the Holy Spirit freedom to move in fresh ways.

“It really impacted me to sense how the Spirit was moving amongst us, and how people were opening themselves up to that movement,” said Marathana Prothro, communication director for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership. “We worked and prayed hard, but in the end, the theme evolved in a pure and natural way. It was refreshing to be a part of something so genuine.”

The theme is genuine — but that doesn’t erase the risk planners felt in following the Spirit’s lead to finalize it, said Rachel Swartzendruber Miller, associate director of Convention Planning. It’s a risk they were willing to take to allow Christ to breathe new life into the church in a new time.

“We felt God calling us to invite Mennonites — usually so active — to take some time to breathe in and breathe out and to stop and listen to the Lord,” she said. “In striving to be a faithful church in the 21st century, we are experiencing anxiety and new questions are cropping up about our identity and who we are supposed to be now as a church.

“Some people may feel that it’s selfish to stop and listen, because it means spending too much time focusing on ourselves. But perhaps it will give us the stillness we need to ask the most important identity question of all — who is God in all this and where is God taking us next?”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: National News

Jim Schrag announces plans for retirement

October 21, 2008 by Conference Office

by Marathana Prothro, Mennonite Church USA

In an October 9 letter to Mennonite Church USA moderator Sharon Waltner, executive director Jim Schrag made official his plans to retire Nov. 30, 2009. He previously had discussed his plans with the entire Executive Board at its September meeting in Philadelphia. Schrag made the announcement public Oct. 19 at the Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) meeting in Santa Fe, N.M. Executive Leadership staff and agency directors were informed prior to the CLC meeting.

“The time has come for me to express my desire to retire from this calling on Nov. 30, 2009,” Schrag wrote in the letter. “In the remaining year, I will continue to serve the cause of Christ through this office and under the direction of the Executive Board.”

The Mennonite Church USA Executive Board will establish a search committee to identify the next leader of Mennonite Church USA. According to Waltner, the committee “will work with deliberate speed, but without a deadline, to find the person who will help us move forward together in the next phase” of the denomination’s life and ministry.

Schrag’s plans to retire in November 2009 coincide with his 65th birthday and come after 35 years of ministry. His wife, Judy, retired earlier this year from teaching special education. Schrag has served in the executive director role since the transformation of Mennonite Church USA in 2001. He was project director for the transformation team from 1999 to 2001 and general secretary of the former General Conference Mennonite Church from 1996 to 1999.

Waltner said October 14 that Schrag has been a key leader and “steadying force” in the denomination’s formative years. His ability to ask difficult questions, she said, has helped Mennonite Church USA more fully embrace and live out its vision to share God’s healing and hope with the world.

“Jim has worked steadfastly to help Mennonite Church USA pursue its vision of becoming a missional church. His efforts have been tireless and sacrificial, and we are deeply grateful for his work,” Waltner said. “Jim was instrumental in the formation of Mennonite Church USA, a critical effort that we simply cannot overlook. The whole of Mennonite Church USA owes a significant debt of gratitude to Jim for his lifetime commitment to our church.”

Schrag’s professional career began in 1966 after he graduated from Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., and married Judy Nickel the same year. He spent one year as a social studies teacher in Clay Center, Kan., before he and Judy took on a three-year term as teachers in Kenya through Mennonite Central Committee’s Teachers Abroad Program. Upon returning to the United States, the couple moved to Elkhart, Ind., where Schrag attended Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.

Shortly after receiving his master’s of divinity degree in 1973, Schrag pursued what would become a 23-year calling to pastoral ministry. Beginning that year, Schrag spent 12 years as pastor of Tabor Mennonite Church in Newton, Kan. Then, in 1985, he began an 11-year stint as pastor at Oak Grove Mennonite Church in Smithville, Ohio.

“I have been privileged to work shoulder to shoulder with many dedicated leaders across the church,” Schrag said. “I trust that our efforts together have resulted in a combined ministry that is a sign and foretaste of the Kingdom of God.”

One of the leaders Schrag has worked “shoulder to shoulder” with in recent years has also made known his plans for ending ministry with Mennonite Church USA. In July 2007, associate executive director Ron Byler made known to the Executive Board and Schrag his decision to complete his employment with Mennonite Church USA between July and December 2009. He has yet to determine the exact date his resignation will become official.

“When I was called to churchwide leadership in 1996 I didn’t think I would serve beyond the transition in 2001. But I learned that transformation is continuing in the church and so I accepted the call to continue,” Schrag said. “It has been both a challenge and a blessing to be in this ministry.”

Filed Under: Conference Assembly, News Tagged With: National News

Bold faith in divine financier helps Oxford Circle move forward

October 18, 2008 by Conference Office

by Laurie Oswald Robinson, Lancaster Mennonite Conference

Going on sabbatical during a multimillion-dollar ministry expansion requires Leonard Dow, pastor of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, a Franconia Conference Partner in Mission, to practice the bold faith that comes with knowing God is the ultimate financier.

Dow is lead pastor of the multi-racial congregation and board chair of the Oxford Circle Christian Community Development Association. This joint faith community is seeking to purchase a $3.55 million, 40,000-square-foot commercial building across the street from its current location. The new building will use 10,000 square feet to house larger sanctuary and Sunday school space for the congregation and expand the development association ministries, including conflict resolution, job training and after-school activities. The remaining space will be leased to community service organizations.

To seal the deal, the congregation and association must have $115,000 by September 30 in order to provide a deposit and monies for a feasibility study/inspection. Final purchase date is February 28, 2009. Despite impending deadlines, Dow and other leaders discerned that he should go to Puerto Rico on the long-planned sabbatical. The leaders felt Dow could be absent from August through December as they trusted that God’s presence is moving them forward.

To date, the congregation has raised nearly $25,000 for the down payment, and an additional $25,000 is pledged from the members. Donations and pledges from the wider faith and secular communities are flowing in now, but about $30,000 to $40,000 is still needed to reach the balance of the September 30 payment.

“We’ve known from the start that realizing this vision would be about God’s greatness and not ours – and my sabbatical is perfectly timed for spiritually preparing me for what God has in mind for our future,” said Dow who guides the congregation at Oxford Circle with Associate Pastor Lynn Parks, and Peter Sensenig, interim associate pastor during Dow’s sabbatical.

“We believe this is a total God-thing similar to the crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites. No one thought it was the strength of the children of Israel that got them through that. They knew it was God acting. There is no doubt in my mind that when all is said and done, no one will say, ‘Wow, look at what Leonard and Oxford Circle did.’ They will marvel at what God did through some very limited folks in Philadelphia.”

Limitation and commitment are both descriptive of the faith community in the Oxford Circle neighborhood. This is a place where many people work multiple jobs to make ends meet. Approximately one-third of the church family supports their families through the help of public assistance. However, this has not stopped the congregation from believing that God has chosen them to help transform their community into a place where God’s riches reign.

“Our congregation is very enthusiastic about what God is doing, and we’re totally committed to knowing God has called us to stay in this neighborhood,” Parks said. “We are fully invested in establishing God’s reign here in Oxford Circle. But that commitment is fueled by also relying on the generosity and expertise of countless others.”

The time, talent and treasure of the local and wider community – Mennonites and others – are bringing the faith community closer to the purchase. A team is working to raise the needed funds. Many individuals are also offering pro bono services in legal and building-code matters. Individuals and groups from Lancaster and Franconia conferences, as well as other people and churches from across Mennonite Church USA, have come forth.

Most surprising has been the show of support from the secular arena, most significantly the former owner of the building, the Fire, Police and Medical Association. This group lowered its original asking price from $4.25 million to the $3.55 million.

“As I spoke to the association, I felt it nearly impossible to explain our vision to these no-nonsense guys, for whom faith seems to be for the weak,” Dow said. “But as I talked to the guys sitting with arms folded across their bellies, I shared my heart.

“I told them that what we want is no different from what they had sought for many years — building a better community. I said that even though we go about it differently, we wanted the same things as they did — a neighborhood that is peaceful, safe, productive and hopeful for its young people – a neighborhood of ‘shalom.’”

Dow said when he left he felt it was over the top. However, it was exactly what God needed to move heart-strings in these men. “The building representative told me that when he talked to the men after I spoke, they got real ‘soft,’” Dow said. “They started blabbering on about how wonderful it would be to have the legacy of the fire and police continue. He felt it was some kind of freak change of attitude on their part. But I call it a move of the Holy Spirit.”

The church and development association will use 10,000 of the 40,000 square feet to reach out with Christ’s healing, hope and reconciliation within the lower northeast side of Philadelphia. The development association will expand its community services and ministries, including conflict resolution for families and groups, training in job skills and small business development and positive after-school activities.

The congregation will use its portion of square feet to house their new the church home. The growing congregation – of about 100 Sunday morning attendees — is bursting at the seams at its current location. It is currently worshiping in a sanctuary of 1,100 square feet and using the remaining 2,200 square feet for Sunday school rooms and the development association.

Leasing the remaining 30,000 square feet (four parties are currently renting and an additional party will be sought) will supply the monthly mortgage. That will enable the church and development association to pay off the principal of the building within fifteen years. The total cost – including $600,000 needed to renovate sanctuary space– is $4.25 million. When the principal is paid off, rental income from tenants will further expand ministry outreach.

Open house will be next Saturday, November 1 from 5-7:30 pm at 5600 Langdon Street, Philadelphia, PA 19124. It will take place at the new property the congregation is in the process of purchasing. Please join us to see the space, architectural plans, and hear what God is doing in our community! Please RSVP to the contact info listed below.

For more information please contact Anita Lyndaker-Studer.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: National News

Eastern Mennonite Seminary alumna heads Mennonite Central Committee's Washington Office

October 18, 2008 by Conference Office

Laura Lehman Amstutz

With the presidential race on many peoples’ minds these days, Rachaelle Lyndaker Schlabach is always thinking about the intersection of politics and Christian faith. Lyndaker Schlabach, a 2006 graduate of Eastern Mennonite Seminary, is director of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S.’s Washington Office. She attends Franconia Conference Partner in Mission congregation, Peace Fellowship in Washington, D.C.

“The work of MCC’s Washington Office largely grows out of MCC’s work in the U.S. and other countries,” said Lyndaker Schlabach.

“A large part of MCC’s Washington office work is talking to MCC workers around the world to figure out what position we should be advocating for on policy issues,” said Lyndaker Schlabach. “We are trying to get to the root causes of poverty and injustice to which MCC’s relief and development work is responding. It is taking Christ’s call to love our neighbor as we love ourselves into the realm of public policy.”

Lyndaker Schlabach’s work includes monitoring U.S. policy on the Middle East and militarism, keeping in touch with other like-minded organizations in Washington and encouraging and training people to advocate for policy changes with their congresspersons. She also does administrative work for the Washington Office.

“I enjoy much about this work, particularly helping people to make the connection between what is happening in their lives, or the lives of other people, and public policies,” she said.

Lyndaker Schlabach helps people make that connection by holding training sessions for people who would like to talk to Congress about policy issues. She also sends out action alerts via email to let people know when important votes are coming up.

“Before I came to D.C. I saw the U.S. government as a more monolithic structure, but really it’s just a bunch of unique individual interactions,” said Lyndaker Schlabach. “I enjoy getting to know congressional staffers. They are interesting and engaging people, and often they are sympathetic to our views.”

However, it is not easy to advocate for peace in Washington.

“It can be a challenge to ever feel that I am doing enough on the policy issues that I’m working on – Iran, Israel-Palestine and Iraq,” she continued. “They are tough issues to work on in Washington, and yet I know that people’s lives in those countries are directly affected by decisions made in the halls of Congress.”

Filed Under: News Tagged With: global

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