Mosaic Mennonites

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Planners for Mennonite Church USA Convention 2011 choose theme

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Planners for the Mennonite Church USA Convention 2011 focused on their mission and setting during the convention planning committee meetings as they met for the first time Jan. 14 to 16 in downtown Pittsburgh, Pa., site of the next national gathering. Youth and adult planning committees joined together to discern the theme and initiate other convention plans.

After two-and-a-half days of prayer, reading Scripture and small group brainstorming, “Bridges to (the) Cross,” and 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 surfaced as the theme and Scripture text for the next convention. Convention dates are July 4 to 9, 2011.

Pittsburgh, known as the City of Three Rivers, is connected by many bridges. Planners agreed on the importance of being missional within one’s context and surroundings and used the bridges and rivers idea to connect with their theme.

“The committee recognized that the theme is twofold. First, as instruments of Christ’s reconciliation, we too have many bridges to cross. Second, God calls us to shape our culture as ambassadors for Christ, instead of continuing to have our culture shape us. We are called to serve as bridges to Christ,” Rachel Swartzendruber Miller, director of Convention Planning for Executive Leadership, said.

A high point of the weekend included discussion of a proposal from the Intercultural Relations Reference Committee that suggested convention include a day of showcasing and celebrating the gifts and talents of racial/ethnic members and congregations. Planners welcomed this proposal with excitement and affirmation.

Another high point came after learning that the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, where the Mennonites will gather, is one of the largest green buildings in the United States. It is certified with a Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Building Rating System rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“We want to challenge our attendees to partner in our attempts to be the greenest convention this center has ever seen,” said Stephen Kriss, Philadelphia, Pa., adult committee member and Franconia Mennonite Conference staff.

Planners hope the churches within a few hours of western Pennsylvania will be willing to sponsor those at a distance. “The majority of our constituents live fewer than four hours from Pittsburgh,” noted Marty Lehman, director of administration and advancement for Mennonite Church USA. “This majority will have decreases in travel costs to convention. It is our hope they will consider giving 10 percent of their fund-raising dollars to other groups hesitant to attend convention due to cost and distance.”

Committee members encouraged staff to tell the stories of youth and adults who have been sponsored at past conventions.

“I was able to attend San Jose, and I promised to never miss another convention,” Olufemi Fatunmbi, Los Angeles, Calif., adult committee member and a pastor in Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference, said. “However, I am from a small congregation and need financial help in order to bring more participants from my church.”

Committee members ended the weekend with prayers of thanks and praise for the Lord’s leading and for the opportunity to be involved in this work for the broader denomination.

Each committee includes 12 volunteers from across the denomination, including several from Pennsylvania, the hosting state. Rachel Swartzendruber Miller chairs both committees.

Members of the committee planning adult sessions and activities are Darrell Baer, Chambersburg, Pa., Marilyn Handrich Bender, Pittsburgh, Pa., Erin Clymer, Pittsburgh, Pa., Sue Conrad, Lancaster, Pa., Tory Doerksen, Denver, Colo., Olufemi Fatunmbi, Los Angeles, Calif., Makmur Halim, Highland, Calif., Karen Howard, Pittsburgh, Pa., Paula Killough, Elkhart, Ind., Stephen Kriss, Philadelphia, Pa., Donna J. Mast, Leola, Pa., and Donna L. Mast, Scottdale, Pa. Executive Leadership staff on the adult committee include Marty Lehman, Carol Epp, Ken Gingerich and Nancy Kauffmann.

Members of the committee planning youth sessions and activities are Marisa Aleman-Cantu, Rock Island, Ill., Alyssa Cable, Johnstown, Pa., Joy Cotchen, Johnstown, Pa., Thomas Dunn, Kidron, Ohio, Andrew Gordon, Lansdale, Pa., She’ Tenique Hall, Hampton, Va., Jon Heinly, Lancaster, Pa., Shelly Miller, Walnut Creek, Ohio, Clark Oswald, Newton, Kan., Grace Pam, Corona, Calif., Jason Widmer, Wellman, Iowa, Derek Yoder, Cassopolis, Mich. Jeremy Ours of Kalona, Iowa will serve as worship logistics coordinator and Tonya Keim Bartel of Hesston, Kan., as seminar coordinator. Executive Leadership staff members Glen Guyton and Scott Hartman are part of the youth committee.

MC USA releases consultant LaVern Yutzy’s alignment report

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After a sweeping yearlong study, Mennonite Church USA leadership has received a consultant’s report on how the denomination operates and with suggestions to improve its witness. Consultant LaVern Yutzy’s 22-page “Report on Alignment Opportunities for Mennonite Church USA” puts forth recommendations for 15 different areas of church organization, addressing issues such as the role of area conferences, Executive Board composition and the four church-wide program agencies functions and structures.

To introduce his work, Yutzy states, “I consider it a very rare privilege to have had the opportunity to talk with 142 persons… Meeting these persons and participating in a variety of conference and denominational level meetings have underscored the high levels of commitment and competence that are present. There is clear evidence of a strong passion for the church and an appreciation for worship and prayer as an integral part of following Jesus.”

Yutzy observed Mennonite Church USA as a denomination in change and affirmed our ability to live into the future. The alignment effort, he said, must be seen within the vision and commitment of Mennonite Church USA to embody and extend healing and hope. “Alignment efforts are not an end in themselves…if it has any value, this report will support our efforts to faithfully follow Jesus.”

Noting area conferences’ “significant frustration” at feeling marginalized, Yutzy calls for giving them greater prominence in the church. The role of denominational-level activity, he said, should be supporting the 21 Mennonite Church USA area conferences rather than congregations. Serving congregations should then be the conferences’ responsibility.

“In order to identify resources that will facilitate the work of conferences, conferences themselves must be integrally involved in this ongoing conversation,” Yutzy said.

One way to do that, he proposes, is reconfiguring the Executive Board to include five representatives from area conferences as well as one representative from each recognized racial/ethnic group in Mennonite Church USA.

Other recommendations include:

  • Executive Leadership and the four churchwide program agencies sharing support services as much as possible.
  • Adding MHS Alliance as a fifth agency.
  • Implementing a process to identify strategies to address each of the four churchwide priorities.

The Executive Board, which had hired Yutzy a year ago, received his report last month and has since distributed it to other denominational leaders and staff for their consideration. The report and responses will be a major agenda item at the Executive Board’s Feb. 18-20 meeting in Hampton, VA. At that time the board will develop a plan to receive feedback over the next number of months from those potentially most affected by the recommendations.

Executive Director of Mennonite Church USA, Ervin Stutzman, noted that no decisions have been made about any of the recommendations in the report at this time. Each recommendation will be considered on its own merit over the next months in an appropriate forum for discussion and decision-making. Within this process there will be wide opportunity for participation by people who have a stake in the outcome. Stutzman is calling the church to prayer as we move into this period of discernment.

Mennonite Church USA’s Corinthian Plan begins

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by Keith Harder

The Corinthian Plan, the new health insurance plan of Mennonite Church USA, went into effect Jan. 1. A total of 453 congregations and conferences, including 503 credentialed employees and 75 non-credentialed employees, are participating. Also included are employees of MMA, Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership and Mission Network.

“The dream of delegates at the Mennonite Church USA Delegate Assembly in San Jose has become reality,” says Keith Harder. He has given leadership to creating, on behalf of the denomination’s Executive Board, a health plan that makes coverage available to all pastors and church workers. Congregations that cannot afford the full cost of providing coverage are assisted through a mutual aid component that all participating congregations support. It’s called the Fair Balance Fund.

Congregations have pledged approximately $480,000 for the Fair Balance Fund, and so far $414,203 has been committed to assist 57 congregations with the cost of providing health coverage for their pastors.

“We are grateful to the participating Mennonite Church USA congregations and for the way they care for their employees. We are grateful that they also care for those in congregations that cannot afford the full cost of providing health coverage for their pastors,” Harder says.

The new Benefits Board, which will oversee The Corinthian Plan, will meet in Goshen in mid-February. Board members are chair Hal Loewen of Phoenix, Ariz., Steve Garboden of Goshen, Ind., Marlin Groff of Lancaster, Pa., Marco Guete of Tampa, Fla., Larry Miller of Goshen, Ind., Ron Piper of Harrisonburg, Va., Yvonne Sieber of Hesston, Kan., and Dave Weaver of Goshen, Ind.

Harder will continue to serve as director of The Corinthian Plan for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership.

For more information, contact Keith Harder at 866-866-2872 Ext 34255 (toll-free) or keithh@mennoniteusa.org.

MCC sends structural engineers to assess soundness of homes in Haiti

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by Linda Espenshade

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) sent three structural engineers to Haiti on Saturday Jan. 23, for one to four weeks.

The engineers will examine houses and other buildings to determine if they are in danger of collapse or if they are safe for occupation. Currently many Haitians are sleeping on the streets or in open areas because they don’t feel safe in their homes.

“People are scared to go back in their buildings without someone looking at them to be sure they are sound,” said Ron Flaming, director of international programs for MCC.

Leading the engineering team for MCC is Johann Zimmermann, a licensed structural engineer from Harrisonburg, Va., who served with MCC in Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Nicaragua. He attends Community Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg.

He will be joined by Peter Pereverzoff of Rochester, N.Y., and Marcus Schiere, from the Netherlands.

Zimmermann, who is self employed and a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, said he was motivated to go to Haiti as he thought about the safety of the people. From his personal experience of living through an earthquake in Central America, he understands the uncertainty that survivors feel.

“You’re afraid. Am I safe or not?” said Zimmermann, explaining the uncertainty. “It’s really anxiety producing. If you have children, you are worried about them more than you are about yourself.”

In Haiti, Zimmermann hopes to work alongside Haitian builders because they are the ones most familiar with the local building techniques. He would like to teach them how to assess the structural soundness of buildings, so the work can continue after he and the other engineers are gone.

The engineers’ task involves a significant element of judgment and probability, Zimmermann said. They will look at the way cracks in houses were formed to determine if they are only aesthetic or if the house is in danger of falling down.

In anticipation of sending a second crew of structural engineers, MCC is inviting people who would be willing to volunteer for two to four weeks to send an e-mail to Jan Siemens in human resources, jds@mcc.org.

MCC continues to post daily updates on efforts in Haiti using blogs and podcasts

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Along with regular updates from various MCC workers currently in Haiti, on January 18th, MCC began posting podcast updates from Haiti.

MCC has also posted a special page called “On site” which features first-person reflections, thoughts and observations from people who are responding to the Haiti earthquake. The page is updated regularly.

For more information on MCC’s ongoing relief effort in Haiti visit www.mcc.org.

Congregations encouraged to participate in MCC’s Abundant Life Campaign

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by Christina Warner

At West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship (WPMF), worshippers considered how personal choices such as shopping, career paths, debt and education affect God’s global community during an October service.

Earlier in the year, the congregation focused a worship service on health care and then took action on the issue. Now, WPMF is preparing to address the issue of housing.

WPMF is one of several dozen Mennonite congregations that have dedicated a Sunday worship service to learning and acting on issues of poverty and economic justice.

These congregations are participating in Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. Washington Office’s Abundant Life: Economic Justice for All campaign, meant to raise awareness and encourage action on U.S. public policy. They used a variety of easily accessible resources from the Washington Office to help in planning for worship, discussion and action.

The campaign centers around four U.S. policy issues that have the potential to create greater economic justice across the globe: health care, international debt relief, housing and trade. Dates of specific Sundays are suggested as days to concentrate on each topic.

Two more Sundays for prayer and action are coming up, focused on housing (Jan. 31) and trade (April 25). Congregations are invited and encouraged to participate.

At WPMF, 70 to 80 people participated in the worship service with the health care theme on July 19. The service led to a response time during which congregants shared their own stories as health care professionals struggling with the current health care system. Afterward, the congregation sent 40 letters to government representatives, expressing their concerns and desires for future policy.

At College Mennonite Church in Goshen, Ind., the July health care service drew more than 100 participants for a discussion with Anne Krabill Hershberger, retired associate professor of nursing at Goshen College, and Don Yost, of Maple City Health Care Center in Goshen.

“The Abundant Life campaign provides an opportunity for congregations to learn about current economic justice issues and then to respond by making their perspective known to policymakers,” said Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach, director of the Washington Office.

For more information on the campaign and to sign up for resources, visit the Washington Office website at washington.mcc.org/life.

In addition, the “Washington Memo,” published quarterly by the Washington Office, includes articles and analysis about U.S. policies from an Anabaptist perspective.

Campaign resources in the Washington Memo include worship resources, reflections and prayer, as well as a sample letter to representatives. Featured articles are from both Washington Office staff and other MCC workers who see the direct effect public policies have on MCC partners and their work.

Christina Warner is the legislative assistant for Domestic Affairs at the MCC U.S. Washington Office.