Mosaic Mennonites
Missional - Intercultural - Formational
In January 2007 Mennonite Mission Network launched Relate: A Christian Service Newsletter, an Anabaptist youth ministry resource for pastors, sponsors and lay leaders working with youth and young adults from middle school through college.
You can receive this free HTML newsletter every other month.
See a preview and sign up online at www.mennonitemission.net.
PERKASIE, PA Deep Run Mennonite Church East of Bucks County has committed to the service project of building a house for hurricane victims. The Church is working in conjunction with the relief agency of Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Disaster Services (MDS) and Shelter for Life, which is an interdenominational Christian organization that assists with rebuilding after natural disaster and war around the world.
The shelter will be built for elderly and disabled Native American members of the Chinamache tribe in Point Aux Chenes, Louisiana whose homes have been destroyed by hurricane disaster. Deep Run East is dedicated to supplying all the materials, building wall panels and transporting everything to Louisiana. Church members with building trade skills will be helping to construct the house on site as well.
Deep Run East is reaching out to the community for help. The anticipated cost of materials for this shelter mission is approximately $50,000. Any building material suppliers who are able to provide materials at or under cost, or anyone wishing to provide financial contributions of any amount are encouraged to contact Deep Run East’s main office at 215-766-8380.
Contributions can be sent to Deep Run Mennonite Church East, 350 Kellers Church Road, Perkasie, PA 18944. Please designate Shelter for Life Project and include a return address if you would like a receipt. All contributions are tax deductible.
Deep Run Mennonite Church East (www.deepruneast.org) is located in Bedminster Township, PA and is recognized as a warm and inviting congregation consisting of people of all ages, occupations and life experiences. Deep Run East seeks to carry out its mission of “Bringing People in Contact with God” by glorifying God in worship, opening its lives to the community, and sharing its gifts and resources in faithfulness to Jesus Christ.
Follow-up articles in the Morning Call of Allentown, PA:
Everyone is invited to a weekend with Pastor Steve Cheramie Risingsun, January 20 and 21, at Deep Run Mennonite Church East. Deep Run East has committed to building a house for an elderly Native American family with disabilities from the Chinamache tribe in Louisiana, working in conjunction with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) and Shelter for Life, which is an interdenominational Christian organization assisting in rebuilding after natural disasters and war around the world. A gourmet dinner with a Southern Louisiana Flair will be held at the church on Saturday, January 20, at 5 p.m.
Reservations for the dinner are due by January 15. At 7 p.m., Steve Cheramie Risingsun, a Native American pastor, will share stories about the Chinamache tribe in Point Aux Chenes, LA. A free will offering will be taken to benefit the Shelter for Life project. On Sunday morning, January 21, Pastor Steve Cheramie Risingsun will preach during the morning worship service beginning at 9 a.m. An informal question and answer time will follow at 10:15 a.m. To make reservations for the dinner or for more information, you may call the church office at 215-766-8380 or visit the website at www.deepruneast.org.
AKRON, Pa. — Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has selected Bert C. Lobe to serve as interim MCC executive director for the next year. He will start Jan. 8.
“We had some very good candidates that we interviewed,†said Ron Dueck, chair of the MCC board. “Bert brings a wealth of experience and leadership from both within and from outside of MCC.â€
Lobe and his wife, Martha, live in St. Jacobs, Ontario, and will be moving to Akron. His appointment follows the Oct. 23 resignation of Robb Davis, who joined MCC as executive director in June 2005. Lowell Detweiler has served as acting director since October.
The Lobes first served with MCC in the 1960s in rural India in a famine relief program, and later, from 1977 to 1980, as directors of MCC’s program in India and Nepal. Bert Lobe has since served as MCC’s Asia director, overseas director for MCC Canada and director of China Educational Exchange. During the intervals away from MCC, Lobe was principal of a public high school in Saskatchewan and a Mennonite high school in Ontario and served as associate principal at the Hong Kong International School.
In 2005, the Lobes served a six-month term as interim country representatives for MCC in Bangladesh. Bert Lobe has most recently worked with MCC to develop a program to more deliberately engage youth and young adults in the organization’s mission. Lobe currently is vice chair of Conrad Grebel University College and moderator of the Waterloo Mennonite Church.
Dueck said the committee that selected Lobe was struck by his ability to provide leadership in the context of building a strong team, by his long history with MCC and by his good connections with churches in Canada and the United States.
After Davis’ resignation, the MCC executive committee asked MCC staff to continue moving forward key initiatives, such as changes in the MCC governance structure, network facilitation, international program initiatives, a salary review and human resources initiatives.
As he reflected on his new role with MCC, Lobe noted that the ultimate measure of an organization is not where it stands when circumstances are calm. “It has much more to do with how we find our way when there are challenges, and in a learning organization these are a constant,†he said. “To face the challenges with both a sense of gratitude to God and a passion for the dispossessed is the task of the church.â€
He draws on the words of Jean Vanier, author and founder of L’Arche communities, as he ponders the challenges ahead. The foundational principle for MCC, Lobe says, “is to open our hearts and minds to the needs of others.†This implies, he says, “a quality of observation and listening as well as a commitment to action.â€
The Partner in Mission relationship between Perkiomenville Mennonite Church and The Tabernacle of Christ Church in Vina del Mar, Chile, continues to grow. What began with a divine encounter by the two pastors in New York City in 2002 has blossomed into an ongoing partnership of mutuality. Recent events have deepened this relationship.
With the help of Franconia Mennonite Conference, Pastor Alfredo Navea, was able to attend Franconia Conference Assembly in November. He was received warmly by conference participants many of whom, who greeted him in Spanish expressed interest in his ministry. Through the discussion of bylaws and other conference business, he received inspiration about organizational structure for the churches in Chile which he oversees.
In November the third mission team, from Perkiomenville in three years, traveled to Chile for ministry and work on the church expansion of their church building. They mixed and poured cement for the floor of the building addition and participated in several worship services. The Tabernacle of Christ Church had banners in the church and presented Pastor Charles Ness with a plaque celebrating their Partner in Mission relationship.
In January two young adults, one from Perkiomenville MC and one from Boyertown MC, will go to Vina del Mar, for approximately three months to assist with the first ever Summer Bible School Program. The Sunday school children at Perkiomenville collected money to pay the cost of the Spanish Bible school curriculum. They plan to hold Bible school in at least three locations in the three month period. The inspiration for Bible School came from a visit of nine persons from Chile in 2005 to assist with the Perkiomenville Summer Bible School.
This Partner in Mission relationship is a blessing to both churches. It is helpful to the church in Chile with financial and practical help with their building expansion. They benefit from the preaching and teaching ministry of mission teams as well as ideas about church management and structure ideas. Lifelong friendships are being formed.
It benefits Perkiomenville by providing opportunity for persons from the US to observe both social and church life in another culture. We experience the passion of worship and confident faith of the brothers and sisters in Chile. Each time as new persons go with a mission team, the vision of God’s Kingdom is expanded. Our congregation is enriched by this relationship.
Work also continues on the REAP Chile program which is seeks to establish a micro-finance program to assist church members to start their own small businesses.
Others are welcome share in the blessing of this partnership. The opportunities and needs are more than Perkiomenville can handle; specifically, the financial requirements of pastoral support and completion of the church building are beyond our ability to meet.
Charles Ness
Pastor, Perkiomenville Mennonite Church
For some months now I have been thinking about this question—with a growing sense of urgency for what it means for our future as congregations, as a conference, and as a denomination.
For the last decade or so, Franconia Mennonite Conference (FMC) and the broader Mennonite Church have been on a journey to recapture our voice. It has been a shift from decades and even centuries of being more inwardly focused and “the quiet in the land†to finding our voice as people that Jesus has called to live the Great Commission by sharing the Good News and making disciples.
One of the biggest struggles I see on this journey is our “peace position.†No, I’m not trying to walk away from it. In fact, that’s far from the truth. But in our society and even in our congregations today this is a loaded conversation. We have dichotomized Jesus’ call to be people of peace and to share the Good News as though either or both of them are optional.
And so we often find our FMC congregations in one of two camps—either we are trying to live out our call to be peace churches OR we are trying to win souls into the Kingdom. And it’s hard to have a civilized conversation about peace and evangelism at the same time. The tension is often palpable when these two values confront one another. Why?
I certainly don’t have the answers (in fact I don’t even have many of the answers!), but let me share a few of my observations:
Evangelists: In Matthew 28, Jesus commissioned his disciples to share the Good News! Who of us can deny that as a commission that transcends the ages? For too long we have muzzled the Good News. Being commissioned is more than, “do it if it’s convenient or if you feel like it.†A commission is to be taken seriously. Our FMC history is littered with evangelists who could not find a place among us. They have gone out from us to found churches like Calvary Church of Souderton, BranchCreek Community Church, Living Faith, and more. The Kingdom is still blessed by their gifts, but how can we make space—and even embrace—evangelists to use their God-given gifts among us? What drives them out from us?In this season, when we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, can we find ways to share the Good News that Christ has called us to … in all its fullness? Can we be evangelists that work for peace?
Note: In 2002 the Faith & Life Advisory Council wrote a document entitled, Franconia Congregations and Christ’s Gospel of Peace.
Click here to view a PDF of this document available on FMC’s web site.
By Tim Shenk
AKRON, Pa. — While a devastating armed conflict continues in western Sudan’s Darfur region, the people of southern Sudan are beginning to recover from a 21-year civil war, according to Rob Haarsager, a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) country representative.
In southern Sudan, a grueling conflict between rebels and government forces claimed an estimated 2 million lives and displaced about 4 million people by the time a peace agreement was signed in January of 2005.
Today, however, the southern Sudanese city of Juba has become a boomtown as the seat of southern Sudan’s new parliament and the base for aid organizations working in the region. In January, Rob and Mary Haarsager, MCC’s Sudan country representatives, will move to Juba after living since 2004 in Nairobi, Kenya.
Rob Haarsager says the changes in Juba are striking when compared to his memories of the city. The Haarsagers lived in Juba as MCC workers from 1985 to ’87 in the early years of the civil war.
During the war, Haarsager says that Juba was a garrison town in a war zone. Government forces controlled Juba while rebels controlled the countryside. The city was rife with wartime fears, suspicions and human rights abuses.
Now, however, people can come and go freely and the local economy is growing rapidly, Haarsager says.
“It’s an exciting time for the local person and other people like us who are moving in and living there,” he says.
From Juba, the Haarsagers will continue to manage MCC’s work with Sudanese organizations to help communities recover from the trauma of displacement and war, such as by providing seeds and tools to displaced farmers who are returning.
In Darfur, news reports suggest that the four-year-old conflict is widening into areas of neighboring Chad and Central African Republic. The U.S. Congress has declared the conflict to be a genocide of Darfur’s population, and the United Nations reports that hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million have been displaced.
MCC is currently supporting a peacemaking project in southern Darfur through a Sudanese partner organization, Darfur Emergency Response Organization. The goal is to support dialogue between ethnic groups that have been divided by the Darfur conflict and address local conflicts over land and water rights, Haarsager says.
“We’re hoping that even those kinds of efforts will help bring security to certain specific areas and allow people to return to their homes,” he says.
MCC is also providing food to war-affected communities throughout Sudan in partnership with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Currently, a shipment of 4,000 metric tons of wheat is being distributed to Sudanese schoolchildren, mostly in camps for displaced people in Darfur.
Tim Shenk is a writer for Mennonite Central Committee.
Eileen Viau
On Sunday morning, November 5th, the Spring Mount Mennonite Church (SMMC) building was empty. Signs on the doors invited everyone to a special worship service at the Lower Frederick Firehouse to celebrate the ordination of Don McDonough.
An ordination in a firehouse? Strange, but fitting. This community building has been the venue for other congregational activities: Vacation Bible School programs and Open Windows Nursery School Spaghetti Suppers. It seemed appropriate that Don, who has been serving as Associate Pastor, with a special gift of outreach to the community, be ordained there.
Don’s friend and mentor, Kirk Hanger, pastor of Franconia Conference Partner In Mission congregation New Hope Fellowship in Alexandria, Virginia, preached the sermon, “The Church’s Coach.†He emphasized that pastors are coaches and the church is the team, not spectators. Based on scriptures from Acts, Hanger gave examples of the various coaching techniques that Barnabas used. He equipped Paul to work with the Gentiles, empowered Paul and others by opening doors and instilling self-confidence, and embraced John Mark even though he was a “tough case.â€
The 150 people in attendance, including the McDonough extended family and friends, praised God through various styles of music and enjoyed a meal together following the service. All offered support and blessing to Don, as he continues to serve as SMMC Associate Pastor complementing the ministry of Pastor Michael A. King as these coaches along with the entire team minister to the Spring Mount congregation and its surrounding community.
Jim Bishop
bishopj@emu.edu
I sat in a pew close to the front of the sanctuary and marveled. My baby brother Michael, age 47, was about to become an ordained minister.
For me, it wasn’t a question of his being qualified, only that the process leading toward this special day had been under way for some time and I wasn’t fully aware until an invitation to the service arrived:
“Join us in a service of ordination for Michael S. Bishop as minister of music and worship, 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 26, at Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.”
Michael? A full-fledged, credentialed pastor, serving a congregation of some 700 members? I decided on the spot that my wife Anna and I would do our best to be there.
This was only the third time I’d attended an ordination. It seemed a solemn occasion, recognizing the serious business taking place. At the same time, a sense of anticipation and celebration permeated the proceedings. A recurring theme was a strong sense of the congregation affirming and calling Michael to this significant task.
The process started in 1989 when Michael and wife Brenda began attending the Blooming Glen church with Michael accepting a role as “music coordinator.” This eventually led to his being licensed as minister of music in 2002.
In his ordination message, church historian, veteran pastor and master storyteller John L. Ruth of Harleysville, Pa., identified the components necessary for individual members to form an orchestra of worship and praise, based on Ephesians 5:19.
“We resonate to music, harmony and rhythm, especially when we sing,” Ruth said. “Michael has the gift of song, a gift with a significant tradition in the Mennonite Church. Singing is a spiritual feast; we are called to be stewards of this rich treasury and heritage.
“In our hymn singing, we offer our hearts in praise to God and let the words dwell in our hearts richly,” Ruth told the congregation.
“Michael has the gift of enthusiasm, a sign that this congregation recognizes in this commissioning,” he said, adding: “But it’s as important to love the church as it is to love its music. When this happens, you can sense it in the singing.”
Following the message and comments from Blooming Glen colleagues, Michael and Brenda and their children Greg, Jon and Megan gathered in front as James M. Lapp, senior ministry consultant for the Franconia Mennonite Conference, led the ordination charge.
Lapp anointed Michael’s hands for ministry, and several persons led poignant prayers, recognizing the variety of expectations that people have for pastoral leaders. The congregation then responded with a litany of commissioning.
The ordination was a holy moment that I felt privileged to be a part of Afterwards, I asked John Ruth about the symbolism and significance of ordination.
His response: “Ordination means that the congregation has placed a deep level of trust in the person being recognized. The life, health and spirituality of the church is seen as ‘safe’ in the hands of this person.
“It’s somewhat analogous to the Quaker tradition of ‘recording a moment,’ an official recognition of the spiritual gift or gifts that the one being ordained has been exercising,” John said.
Beyond this, “It is accrued evidence that a special need within the congregation now becomes more explicit. In this case, it’s a recognition and confirmation of Michael’s special gifts in leading music and worship.â€
Ruth noted that the ordination process included involvement with the larger fellowship of Franconia Mennonite Conference with certain rights and privileges arising from that association.
What all this will entail for Michael on a daily basis is not fully known, as congregational leadership at Blooming Glen is in transition, with the lead pastoral couple planning to retire and another taking a pastoral position in Kansas. Mike will also continue working full time as co-owner of Bishop Excavating with his brother, Bob.
During the service, I reflected on the incredible demands placed on persons in pastoral ministry – the variety of expectations, the need to juggle chainsaws, parishioners pushing in different directions at once, the temptation to misuse the power and authority that comes with the position.
It requires an extraordinary combination of thick skin, a heart of love and compassion and perseverance when the going gets tough. I hope and pray that the expectant and celebrative atmosphere that pervaded the congregation, evidenced in part by the spirited singing, will characterize Michael’s ministry at Blooming Glen.
Jim Bishop is public information officer at Eastern Mennonite University
