formational

Forbearance That Leads to Repentance

June 25, 2015 by Conference Office

by Kris Wint

The blast and boom of the fireworks was not all that made my heart pound that night as I headed home. Saying goodbye to my then girlfriend (now wife) caused joyful lingering and it was now well past midnight. As I drove back home I remembered the zeal of local police officers and was mindful to make complete stops and go the speed limit (if not a little under). I didn’t even turn my music on to keep my subwoofers from bringing any unwanted attention my way. Even in my caution, my rearview mirror exploded with bright dazzling lights. This time, it wasn’t fireworks; it was police lights.

After a brief exchange, the officer informed me that my license plate light was out. Then, contrary to the fervor I had heard about for their enforcement of the law, he gave me a deal. It was a warning. Fix the light and stop by the police station. However, if I failed to fix the light in time a ticket and fine would ensue. I quickly agreed to the deal, thankful for the kindness and leniency. His response was a demonstration of forbearance at work.

The Bible speaks of forbearance as well. Jesus shares a parable about forbearance illustrating why God would forbear with us. Luke recounts this parable in his gospel. “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down’” (Luke 13:6-9 ESV).

Clearly, God is full of grace and rich in mercy. His forbearance and patience is at work in all of our lives. I turn away daily toward idols, self-reliance and pride but God waits, not cutting down the tree, but digging around instead. He cultivates growth and calls me back.

Just as in the parable, forbearance has a purpose. God does not endure our sin so that we remain unchanged. Divine forbearance is not tolerating our sin. The verses before the parable tell us the purpose and nature of forbearance, especially verse 4. “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Jesus links forbearance with repentance, giving insight into why God forbears with us. His forbearance is so that we would turn from our ways and align ourselves with God.

The police officer extended patience expecting the same: that the broken light would be fixed. What did I do in response? Did I fix the light and drive to the police department? Nope. Somehow, I never got around to it. This kind officer who showed forbearance also then demonstrated his justice and truthfulness when a couple weeks later I got the ticket in the mail as he said I would. What should have only cost about a dollar to fix ended up costing a whole lot more.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to write these words, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead to your repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:4-5).

Paul is simply saying the same thing that Jesus did in his parable. God’s forbearance is a suspense of wrath (which will eventually be exercised) unless the sinner repents (accepts God’s conditions). We cannot rely on forbearance alone, taking God’s kindness for granted. But rather God’s forbearance invites us to confession and repentance.

Regardless of the offense–pride, greed, joylessness, lack of compassion, unforgiveness, lust, sexual intimacy outside of marriage between a man and woman, hate, anger, envy–we are all broken and need to repent before our good and holy Creator. When we do Christ takes us and just like the gardener in the parable transforms us into trees that bear fruit. This is patiently enduring for the purpose of cultivating repentance. This is forbearance that I can stand behind and get excited about. This is the forbearance that we should all be thankful for. This is what Christ offers, restoration through repentance for our good and God’s glory.

Kris Wint is lead pastor at Finland Mennonite Church in Pennsburg, PA. This article is part of a series that the Conference has invited in considering responses to the resolutions for Assembly at Kansas City 2015.

The Other Statement on Sexuality: Why it's Important and What it Might Mean

June 25, 2015 by Conference Office

by Gwen Groff

The Churchwide Statement on Sexual Abuse is a strong, unequivocal statement about sexual abuse in our families, churches and broader culture. When I first read the other statements about sexuality to be discussed at the Mennonite Church USA convention in Kansas City, I internally responded with reservations and disappointments, noticing places where they sound like they were written by a committee struggling to satisfy conflicting interests, places I felt the statements didn’t go far enough or went too far. When I read this statement on sexual abuse I responded with unequivocal affirmation and deep gratitude.

This statement was written in response to the church’s institutional mishandling of the sexual abuse perpetrated by John Howard Yoder. It is part of a process of lament and repentance, but it also addresses the need for actions that will have broad beneficial effects on congregations and other church institutions. The tone of the statement is remarkably positive given that its subject is heinous and anxiety producing. It does not perpetuate an illusion that healing is easy or quick, but it does point to the constructive goals of truth-telling, education, and prevention.

The resolution is beautifully written. It makes simple, clear statements. It declares “human bodies are good.” It commits us to developing and teaching “healthy, wholesome sexuality.” It equates inaction with sin. It acknowledges links between sexism and racism. It draws distinctions between sexual immorality and sexual abuse of power.

The statement identifies the need for concrete action. It reports that 21 percent of women in Mennonite Church USA congregations and 5.6 percent of men reported having experienced sexual abuse or violation. Those who have been sexually abused can hear their voices reflected in this statement. Those who are in leadership in congregations and church institutions can hear this as an explicit call to action.

As I read the statement and its three invaluable appendices, “Actions and commitments,” “Lenses for understanding sexual abuse,” and “Resources,” I recalled working in Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) Peace Office when MCC was drafting a peace statement. As the Peace Office presented a finely wordsmitedh draft, one board member lamented that although all the parts of the statement were sound, the document didn’t “sing.” He wished the words were more resounding and poetic. Reading this document I felt that some sentences of this sexual abuse resolution do in fact sing: “Our spirituality and our sexuality are not disconnected or competing aspects of our lives but express our longing for intimacy with God and with others.” Not quite sing-able, but certainly true and beautiful.

I wondered who wrote this powerful statement on our behalf. Who are these individuals on the “Mennonite Church USA Discernment Group”? The MCUSA web site names them as Carolyn Holderread Heggen, Regina Shands Stoltzfus, Ted Koontz, Chuck Neufeld, Linda Gehman Peachey, Sara Wenger Shenk, and Ervin Stutzman. Their brief bios explain their passion for this work. They represent Mennonite institutions that are committed to necessary change. I look forward to personally thanking some of them in Kansas City.

The work is not finished with drafting and affirming these words. The statement calls us to take very difficult action. It commits us to careful theological work, for example, exploring how our peace theology might contribute to tolerating abuse: “Examine religious teachings that make it difficult for victims to protect themselves or speak up when they have been violated and hurt,” being “especially alert to teachings that advocate … suffering and bearing the cross as signs of discipleship.”

The statement also calls us to tough and sometimes tedious concrete work that might seem contrary to our usual trusting ways of relating in the church. Do we really have to put “windows in all interior doors” of the Sunday school rooms and require “screening for all staff and volunteers”?

Finally the statement calls us to careful, thoughtful work in our institutions. Leaders of institutions often see it as their primary job to protect the institution, sometimes at the expense of victims of abuse committed in the institution. This statement confesses that leaders “have often responded with denial, fear and self-preservation. We have tended to listen to voices who have positional power, rather than to those who have been violated and those who are most vulnerable.” Institutions are good at self-preservation. Doing the patient, transformative work that this statement advocates is the best way to preserve what is worth preserving of our institutions.

Gwen Goff is lead pastor at Bethany Mennonite Church in Bridgewater Corners, VT. This article is part of a series that the Conference has invited in considering responses to the resolutions for Assembly at Kansas City 2015.

Learning to Love our Neighbors: Why I’m for Forbearance

May 20, 2015 by Conference Office

by Joseph Hackman

On a Sunday several weeks ago, my family and I had several neighbors over to a “goodbye party” for our next door neighbor John, who had decided to move to an apartment closer to his son’s family after suffering the sudden loss of his wife in October. As we gathered together, we ate hoagies and Tandy cakes, and had pleasant conversation about what was happening in our neighborhood and in our lives. At 4 p.m., we awkwardly hurried the neighbors out the door to make room for our small group from church. For a few minutes, our neighbors and our small group shared the same space, one group cleaning up and moving out and the other group waiting for a space to move in and sit.

What struck me about these two gatherings is how similar the conversations were in the two groups. There were neighbors suffering from struggles in professional and personal relationships. Church members maxed out by frenetic schedules. Everyone in need of supportive community.

In thinking about supportive communities, a press release I read several weeks ago following the MCUSA’s Executive Board meeting came to mind. Buried at the end were several sentences about the EB counseling staff to include a new overarching priority within The Purposeful Plan that emphasizes a commitment to outreach, evangelism and church revitalization. The EB recognizes that many congregations are struggling with identity and many Mennonites are not comfortable with evangelism, and so the board urged staff to give greater time and energy to these initiatives. Reading about this new priority raised both excitement and anxiety.

I thought back to something I heard Andre Gingerich Stoner, Mennonite Church USA interchurch relations coordinator, say at one of the recent conventions: Mennonites tend to love service, flirt with peace and are allergic to evangelism. I think this description mostly fits my orientation to faith, as well as many in my congregation.

In my neighborhood, people identify as Muslim, Hindu, nominal Catholics, and others claim no faith at all. They know I’m a pastor, and especially with those who have negative perceptions of church, I don’t want them to associate my family or Mennonites with strong armed evangelism. I notice in conversations with these neighbors how sensitive and deliberate I am in talking about my experience of Christian faith. On Sunday, even though the stories my neighbors and small group shared were not all that different, the way in which I shared my own was.

This summer the delegate assembly will discuss a resolution on forbearance, an attempt for the church to remain united in the midst of our disagreements. I confess my spirit is fatigued by the seemingly never ending discussion on LGBTQ inclusion. There are days when I’m not sure I want to be in relationship with people who don’t have the same views as me. Yet, I don’t believe division is our destiny. Forbearance is more than a solution for how we can live together in this difficult season of the church. It can be a signal to our world that we believe the church does not only exist for those who are already a part of it, but for those who are yet to come. It can be a statement that rather than being driven by asking who is most right, we are driven by a vision of creating a community where people of all nations, backgrounds, and beliefs are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It can be a statement that difference and diversity is blessing in Christian community, rather than a curse.

Whether it’s with my neighbors or small group, most people are not looking for community that is consumed by the quest to be right, but rather one that cares deeply about one another, even when it’s difficult. Division is to follow the “course of this world” as Paul puts it in Ephesians 2. Neither my neighbors nor my small group need further polarization and divisiveness in their lives. Our families and communities are divided enough already.

I support forbearance, not because I doubt or want to compromise my own conviction, but because my neighbors are just like you and me. They experience all the joys and hardship that life brings. Just like you and me, they deserve to be invited into the healing power of transformative Christian communities that give people the opportunity to experience faith, hope, and love.

If all across our denomination we would make it a priority of inviting people to be part of our communities of faith, hope, and love, perhaps we too would remember the potential for the uniting love of the church that’s been there all along.

Joseph Hackman is lead pastor at Salford Mennonite Church and lives in Harleysville, PA.

How Do You Read the Bible? Reflections on Biblical Interpretation Through Anabaptist Eyes

April 30, 2015 by Conference Office

by Verle Brubaker

On Saturday, April 18^th, 86 members of Franconia Mennonite Conference met to reflect together on how we read the Bible: as a rule book, as a recipe book for a good life, or as a love letter/story from God to his people.

Coming out of the event I have a renewed purpose to dive into the Scriptures as the revelation of Jesus, God’s word to us. The Bible is a word that reveals the story of God’s love for humanity, as experienced and written by the saints of old. It is a complex and multi-faceted account of that love, what it looks like, and how it was and is experienced.

Seeing this as a love letter and story from/about the Beloved drives us to read, study, and explore not only the words on the pages but the situations, contexts, and world views that are a part of the telling. It cannot be a flat, just-the-facts reading. I don’t read the letters from those I love that way. I devour and read the intimate nuances of each word and paragraph, seeking to know the beloved better.

If our first desire in coming to Scripture is to know this God who loves beyond all imagination, than we will find a growing and deepening love for this Jesus-looking God, and in seeing him we will see each other in his light.

So I come away from the day with a deeper appreciation and desire to know and follow Jesus better by delving more deeply into the Scriptures.

Dawn Moore, a member of Souderton Mennonite Church’s board, shares: “I gained new insight into traditional Anabaptist values as we discussed how those values relate to our church today. Laura {Brenneman}’s comparison of the church to a choir of voices was the most thought-provoking analogy for me. She encouraged us to listen to all the voices in our midst, including those that are more tentative and quiet. I was left wondering: how do we keep those voices singing in tune? Is it important for them to be reading the same music? I am glad I gave a beautiful spring Saturday to meet with other believers and hear their voices on these topics.”

Laura Brenneman, adjunct professor with Eastern Mennonite University and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, presented an Anabaptist overview of the Bible. Terry Brensinger, vice president of Fresno Pacific University, dean of the Biblical Seminary and professor of pastoral ministries, addressed Anabaptism and the Old Testament. To round out the day, Dennis Edwards, senior pastor with the Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, spoke on Anabaptism and the New Testament. Podcasts of these presentations are available here (click on Events tab).

If you were not present, be sure to listen to the podcasts, read the listening committee’s reflections (upcoming Intersectings article), and/or find persons who were there and ask them to tell you what they heard and experienced.

Verle Brubaker pastors the Swamp Mennonite congregation in Quakertown and is a member of Franconia Conference’s Ministerial Committee.

Getting Ready for “Biblical Interpretation through Anabaptist Eyes”

April 15, 2015 by Conference Office

by Sharon Williams

What will motivate you to get out of bed this Saturday morning?

“I am excited about this event because anytime I have the opportunity to discuss the Scriptures with other people and we are all open to the leading of the Spirit, God always speaks to me,” says Mike Clemmer, pastor of Towamencin Mennonite Church. “So I look forward to the opportunity to hear God’s voice speak into my life.”

Aldo Siahaan pastors Philadelphia Praise Center and is one of the conference’s LEADership ministers, and says, “As a Christian and pastor who is a ‘new’ Anabaptist/Mennonite, I am always eager to learn more about understanding the Bible from an Anabaptist perspective.”

“I am excited about this event,” says Sandy Landes, prayer minister with the Doylestown congregation. “So many voices clamor for attention in our world and the Bible, as a message for our lives today, sometimes gets lost at sea. I look forward to hearing and learning about reading the Bible with faith. I want to grow with my brothers and sisters in our understanding of ways to interpret the Bible that will compel us to dig deeper, ask more questions and to increase our faith in God at the same time. I pray that we can learn to communicate with each other, increasing our trust as we respect the differences we bring to the table.”

Three Anabaptist biblical scholars—Laura Brenneman, Terry Brensinger and Dennis Edwards—will headline the event.

The event, this Saturday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m., is free. Registration is required on the conference website or by calling 610-277-1729; donations for lunch will be accepted. Penn View Christian School is located at 420 Godshall Road, Souderton.

Sharon K. Williams is a musician, editor and congregational/non-profit consultant. She serves the Lord with the Nueva Vida Norristown New Life congregation as minister of worship.

Anabaptist Theologians to Teach Pastors & Lay Leaders

April 9, 2015 by Conference Office

by Sharon Williams

Laura Brenneman, Terry Brensinger and Dennis Edwards are the featured speakers for “The Bible through Anabaptist Eyes: Christ at the Center,” on Saturday, April 18, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at Penn View Christian School.

The three Anabaptist biblical scholars will interact with participants through presentations and discussion.

Laura Brenneman will start with “Biblical Interpretation in an Anabaptist Perspective: Joshua, Jonah, Jesus.” She teaches at Eastern Mennonite University and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, as well as the University of Illinois, including a program in a men’s prison. Brenneman previously taught religious studies at Bluffton University, and is the co-editor of Struggles for Shalom: Peace and Violence across the Testaments.

Terry Brensinger will present on “Reading the Old Testament with ‘New Eyes.’” He is vice president of Fresno Pacific University, dean of the Biblical Seminary, and professor of pastoral ministries. Brensinger is best known to Mennonites as the author of Judges, in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series by Herald Press. He previously taught Old Testament studies and chaired the Biblical and Religious Studies Department at Messiah College (Grantham, Pennsylvania). Brensinger is an ordained minister in the Brethren in Christ Church and trained spiritual director. Most recently, he served as the international pastor/teacher for the International Brethren in Christ Association, a position that took him around the world to train pastors.

Dennis Edwards will teach about “Word and Spirit: Interpreting the New Testament.” He is the senior pastor at Sanctuary Covenant Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. A biblical scholar and chemical engineer by training, Dennis has been in urban ministry for more than two decades, having served at churches in Brooklyn, New York and Washington, D.C. He has taught New Testament studies at St. Mary’s Seminary and University and Bethel Seminary of the East.

“The Bible through Anabaptist Eyes” is sponsored by Franconia Conference’s Ministerial Committee, in response to conference delegates’ interests in biblical interpretation from an Anabaptist perspective. This free event is open to everyone; credentialed leaders, teachers, delegates and lay leaders are especially encouraged to participate.

Registration is required; to register, go to the conference website or call 267-932-6050, ext. 110 or 610-277-1729. Donations for lunch will be accepted.

Penn View Christian School is located at 420 Godshall Road, Souderton.

Sharon K. Williams is a musician, editor and congregational/non-profit consultant. She serves the Lord with the Nueva Vida Norristown New Life congregation as minister of worship.

Focusing on the well and not the wall

April 8, 2015 by Conference Office

by Josh Meyer, Franconia Mennonite Church

I vividly remember sitting in one of my seminary classes when a classmate asked our professor, “What’s the single most important piece of advice you’d give us as we prepare for ministry in the church?” The professor responded by saying, “Keep the main thing the main thing. Don’t ever allow Christ to become secondary because you’re distracted by other issues, pursuits, or debates. Those other things may have value, but they’re not the center. Jesus is the center. Above all else, keep the main thing the main thing.”

After nearly a decade in ministry, I’ve seen how easy it is to get preoccupied trying to define the parameters and defend the borders of our faith, rather than focusing on Christ. Debates about who’s in and who’s out, who’s right and who’s wrong, who’s one of “us” and who’s one of “them” have a way of distracting us from the main thing.

It’s kind of like a farmer caring for sheep. One way to prevent the sheep from running away is to build a fence. The downside to fences, though, is they require a lot of maintenance. You need to continually make sure that every part of the perimeter is secure, because just a small gap in the fence will allow all the animals to roam free.

Fences require a lot of resources, though. If you’ve got a three-acre property, you can probably afford to build a fence around it. If you’re a rancher with a huge amount of land, it’s not possible fence the whole thing.

The other option is digging wells. Since a well is a source of water, animals will stay relatively close to it. They are free to roam, but won’t wander too far from the well because it is their source of life. In this scenario, you care for the sheep through what you’re drawing them toward, not what you’re restricting them from. The goal of both approaches is the same, but it’s a whole lot easier and more efficient to dig a life-giving well at the center than it is to maintain a bunch of fences along the border.

I believe the same thing is true when it comes to our faith. Some people spend an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to define and defend the boundaries. Here are the lines we can’t cross, the issues we can’t discuss, the things we can’t do, the words we can’t say, the ways we can’t vote, the people we can’t let in because they believe differently than we do. It’s all about building fences that separate us and erecting walls that distinguish us from everyone else.

The danger of this kind of “bounded set mentality” is it elevates and accentuates peripheral issues while minimizing and diminishing the center. This approach to faith breeds a mentality where we’re extremely clear what we’re against–we draw really thick lines around the edges–but the center tends to get neglected.

I believe a far healthier model is to spend less time defending the borders and more time focused on the center. This “centered set mentality” acknowledges there are some lines we shouldn’t cross, but makes our primary objective the well, not the wall. The bulk of our time and energy is spent inviting people to the source of Living Water.

If we’re really clear about that–if we’re passionate and unwavering in introducing people to Jesus–we won’t need to spend as much time arguing about the border because people won’t want to leave the center. Frankly, I think the problem for many Christians and many churches isn’t that the boundaries of our faith is weak, but that the center of our faith is weak. We’ve spent far too much time on secondary issues and not enough time being formed into the likeness of Christ.

Therefore, we’ve tried to be very clear about what we’re committed to as a faith community: we’re committed to Jesus being the Christ, and we’re committed to Jesus being the center. For that reason, we will unapologetically focus more on the well than on the wall.

As a church, we’re far more interested in proclaiming Christ than we are getting into arguments about who’s in and who’s out. More interested in lifting up the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus than we are debating secondary issues that distract us from the main thing. More interested in introducing people to Jesus than we are engaging in culture wars. More interested in seeing people have their lives changed by Christ than we are convincing them of a particular theological position. More interested in opening the doors of faith to anyone who’s interested in Jesus than we are turning people away because they don’t agree with us on every single issue.

In other words, we are far more interested in the center than we are in the boundary. And Jesus is the center, so that’s what we’re going to preach, that’s what we’re going to teach, that’s what we’re going to study, that’s what we’re going to rally around, that’s what we’re going to get passionate about, that’s what we’re going to give our lives to– because Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus is the center. We want to be really, really clear about that.

May we remember and reaffirm the profound truth that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. May we be a church that is deeply committed to the well rather than to frenetically building fences. And may we always, always, always keep the main thing the main thing.

This is an excerpt from Josh’s sermon last Sunday at Franconia Mennonite Church in Telford, Pennsylvania.

Junior High Youth Have Late Night Blast

March 26, 2015 by Conference Office

by John Stoltzfus, Franconia Conference Youth Minister

Whose job description includes this clause: Must be willing to have face covered in shaving cream and decorated with cheese curls? If you answered, “Junior high youth sponsor,” you are correct! Junior high youth sponsors are some of the bravest people in ministry.

At junior high youth events, helmets are sometimes necessary... — At junior high youth events, helmets are sometimes necessary…

If you were at the Late Night Blast on March 13, you would have witnessed such a scene and a lot more crazy fun. Close to 150 junior high youth and adult sponsors representing 18 churches gathered for this annual event sponsored by Franconia Conference and Eastern District Conference. It was hosted by Christopher Dock Mennonite High School.

Last year, the event was an all-night lock-in; this year it morphed into a “Late Night Blast,” ending at 11:15 p.m. While some youth lamented the loss of staying up all night, most responses to the evening were still very enthusiastic.

Part of the purpose of this annual event is to give our youth a positive and memorable experience of worshipping together, playing hard, and catching a glimpse of the larger body of Christ that makes up our conference churches. This event also gives a wonderful opportunity for our youth workers to partner together in ministry.

The evening started off with some mixer gamers led by staff from Spruce Lake and by Brent Camilleri from Deep Run East Mennonite Church. Justin Hange and a band from Calvary Church in Souderton then turned up the noise for the evening and led in a spirited time of singing and worship.

“That was awesome!” remarked one youth following the singing.

Scott Roth, pastor at Perkiomenville Mennonite Church, kept the energy flowing as he shared stories of how he sees God at work in his life and his community bringing hope and healing. He challenged the youth to bring together a knowledge of God’s Word with an active obedience to God’s Word in everyday life.

The rest of the night was full of fun activities to choose from: soccer, basketball, dodge ball, human Dutch Blitz, Wally ball, Gaga Pit ball, Nerf blasters, and more. One of the popular new games introduced this year was Human Hungry Hippos. It’s the classic board game with a much needed upgrade. One of the perks of being a junior high youth sponsor is the freedom to experiment with wild and crazy games. Of course, the policy is always safety first, and helmets were required.

The evening ended with a shower of giveaways from Mennonite colleges and camps. Thank you to everyone that helped to plan and carry out all the activities and a special thank you to all the youth leaders that commit themselves to serving with their youth. Their commitment was exemplified by one sponsor giving up her shoes to a youth who needed more appropriate athletic shoes to participate in the games.

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