News

GOSHEN, Ind. — Seven Franconia Conference natives are participating in choral groups at Goshen College during the fall semester.

Kate Derstine, daughter of John and Sheryl Derstine of Blooming Glen, sings alto in Chorale under the direction of Jim Heiks and in Women’s World Music Choir under the direction of Debra Brubaker. The sophomore business major is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

Rachel Derstine, daughter of Daryl and Julie Derstine of Blooming Glen, sings alto in Chamber Choir and Women’s World Music Choir under the direction of Debra Brubaker. The senior sociology/anthropology major is a 2003 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

Krista Ehst, daughter of Tim and Sheryl Ehst of Bally, sings alto in Chamber Choir and Women’s World Music Choir under the direction of Debra Brubaker. The junior Bible and religion major is a 2004 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Perkasie Mennonite Church.

Kelsey Eldredge, daughter of Scott and Alice Eldredge of Abington, sings alto in Chorale under the direction of Jim Heiks and in Women’s World Music Choir under the direction of Debra Brubaker. The freshman biology major is a 2006 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Ambler Mennonite Church.
Greg Yoder, son of Jerry and Beth Yoder of Perkasie, sings bass in Chorale and Men’s Chorus under the direction of Jim Heiks. The sophomore music major is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Perkasie Mennonite Church.

Kyle M. Yoder, son of Kermit and Eva Yoder of Perkasie, sings bass in Chamber Choir under the direction of Debra Brubaker and in Men’s Chorus under the direction of Jim Heiks. The senior molecular biology major is a 2003 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Deep Run Mennonite Church East.

Lindsay Yoder, daughter of Kermit and Eva Yoder of Perkasie, sings alto in Chorale under the direction of Jim Heiks and in Women’s World Music Choir under the direction of Debra Brubaker. The sophomore nursing major is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Deep Run Mennonite Church East.

The Goshen College Chamber Choir, directed by Professor of Music Debra Brubaker, is an auditioned group of 20 to 30 singers, performing secular and sacred repertoire from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Modern periods. Two on-campus and numerous off-campus concerts are presented each season, and the Chamber Choir occasionally joins the Goshen College Orchestra for choral/orchestral works. Annual tours take the choir from coast to coast and to parts of Canada. Membership is open by audition to any student at Goshen College.

The Goshen College Chorale numbers 80 to 100 singers and represents a wide variety of academic majors. The choir, directed by Associate Professor of Music Jim Heiks, sings primarily sacred repertoire from all periods of music history. Occasionally, the Chorale joins with the Chamber Choir and Orchestra to perform major choral/orchestral pieces. Two on-campus and several off-campus concerts are presented each year, including an annual tour. Membership is open to any Goshen College student by audition.

The Goshen College Women’s World Music Choir, directed by Professor of Music Debra Brubaker, sings music of international cultures and indigenous peoples. In doing so, the members celebrate the music of the world, as well as the role that women take in maintaining the arts within cultures.

The Goshen College Men’s Chorus, directed by Associate Professor of Music Jim Heiks, is made up of men from across campus who enjoy the vitality and energy of a collegiate male chorus.

By Robert Rhodes, Mennonite Weekly Review

AKRON, Pa. — Mennonite Central Committee executive director Robb Davis resigned his post, effective immediately, on Oct. 23.

MCC executive committee chair Ron Dueck of Winnipeg, Man., said Davis cited concerns that his leadership style was not compatible with MCC’s future needs.

“We are indeed sorry to see Robb leave,” Dueck said in a statement announcing the resignation.

The resignation by Davis, who joined MCC on June 1, 2005, was accepted by the MCC executive committee Oct. 24 and announced Oct. 25.

In an interview Oct. 25, Dueck said a basic reason for the resignation was “difficulty in providing clarity of leadership” as the growing relief, development and peace agency examines plans for its future operation.

“I think there was a little lack of direction in changes that were being made,” Dueck said, though he added that the executive committee and MCC board were “quite happy” with Davis’ performance.

“We have had a number of meetings in the past couple of months to see how MCC can best work with the churches . . . to be more efficient and more effective [and to determine] whether we needed to be more aggressive in our programming or more accepting of the status quo,” Dueck said. “There were some concerns about the speed with which some of these changes were being made.”

Dueck said Davis asked that his resignation be immediate because “he thought he might be ineffective in speaking for MCC” while a new executive director is being sought.

Davis — who recently organized a meeting of U.S. religious leaders with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York — had previously served as a senior vice president for Freedom from Hunger in Davis, Calif.

In its announcement, MCC said its executive committee will appoint an MCC staff member to handle Davis’ administrative responsibilities until an interim director is found.

Once the interim director is in place, the committee will begin its search for a long-term replacement for Davis.

Dueck said the executive committee was to meet Oct. 25 to decide who will take on Davis’ responsibilities for the near future.

Davis could not be reached for comment.

Last summer (2005) at Charlotte, the delegates to the Mennonite Church USA Assembly agreed that the issue of health care merited study in our congregations. To date less than 100 congregations have given Healing Healthcare any attention. I wonder why?The statistics are that 47 million people in our country lack basic health care coverage in the event of serious illness. But when we recently announced a breakfast for pastors and others to discuss the issue (albeit without a lot of lead time), about a dozen of us gathered, including two FMC staff and a denominational staff person (Dr. Glen Miller) for this conversation. I wonder why?

Glen Miller reports that 18,000 people in the US died last year because they did not have access to health care, and millions of Americans are one illness away from financial disaster. Apparently that is not a crisis in most of our congregations. One FMC pastor reported that health care is a weekly challenge in his congregation. But most of us express interest without alarm about the health care situation in our nation. I wonder why?

We have all this talk about being missional and reaching beyond ourselves as churches. I plead guilty to being one of the spokespersons for this topic. So who are we reaching in our missional efforts? Is it mostly people like us who already have our health care needs well cared for? Congregations can’t be faulted for homogeneous outreach since these represent the most natural relationships for most of us. But what about the larger culture around us and the families that have no access to care? Might these people also become part of our outreach and mission?

I confess too often I have been blasé on this issue. If the truth is known, I have Medicare plus a supplementary plan that makes going to the doctor and the eventually of a hospitalization seem almost “painless,” at least in terms of finances. My wife’s health care is covered by the church where she pastors. My children are covered through employers. So the temptation to relax and assume the world is in good shape is strong. But is everything really well?

I am told we are the only developed nation in the world that does not provide healthcare to all its citizens. And the care we do receive does not rank in the top 20 nations in the world. It costs more than twice as much as the health care costs in other developed countries. What’s wrong with this picture? I realize the healthcare challenge is huge, complex, and often overwhelming. But are we really permitted to sit on the side and not let our voice be heard for those who lack healthcare coverage, even if our system is less than perfect?

I waver between hope and despair on this issue. My hope grows when Glen Miller puts the dilemma into language and stories that I can understand. Beyond optimism, I find hope when church people verbalize concern and intentions to address this large society challenge. I despair when I sense the magnitude of the challenge, how deeply entrenched most of us are in the status quo of our economy and healthcare system, and how out of touch we are with the needs that I suspect are very close home if we only knew.

Personally I wish that many more congregations would choose to make Healing Healthcare: A Study and Action Guide on Healthcare Access in United States a study in their churches, not as a dutiful assignment from the denomination, but as a missional action in behalf of people nearby or distant from us who are outside the loop on healthcare. None of this speaks to the needs of the so-called “third world.” And it doesn’t begin to address how to shift the political environment toward significant change on this issue.

But to start we at least need to begin to talk about the issue. Maybe from such dialogue something will emerge. Theologically communication seems to be God’s thing – coming as The Word. Maybe through our words God will act again in some incarnate way to improve the health of others, even if right now we feel pretty content. Is that too much to hope and pray for?