formational

Church as an extension of family

July 26, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Ben Wideman, Salford

I am a child of the Mennonite world – my parents met while doing Voluntary Service in Mississippi and were married soon after. Believe it or not, I was even born on the day of our area Mennonite Central Committee relief sale! My parents recognized the value in bringing me up with the church as an extension of my family system.

The church (no joke: WIDEMAN Mennonite) was where I found my biggest supporters, best friends, and strongest mentors. From an early age I was given the opportunity to participate in the life of the church through handing out bulletins, participating as an usher or greeter, reading scripture, and then transitioning into helping with music and worship leading.

Looking back, I am certain that those church leaders who tapped me on the shoulder were extremely influential in shaping my calling. They provided me with confidence, encouragement, and a belief that there was real value in an authentic church community. However it wasn’t until leaving that my home congregation that I felt a more direct sense of calling toward church ministry.

As I prepared to head off to college, I found myself wondering what path I would take. I originally applied to Eastern Mennonite University as a business major, but was unsure of how that would unfold. I clearly remember the Nashville Youth Convention as an experience where I felt a strong sense that God was directing me toward pastoral ministry, and after that week was over, I contacted EMU to switch my intended major to Biblical Studies. As I began to share this decision with my friends and family, I was surprised by how many people affirmed this decision as if they had expected it all along! From that point on, I have seen God at work shaping this call through a variety of people and experiences in my life.

I graduated from EMU and began to work at the Admissions Office on campus. I spent three years in that role as a college recruiter and inadvertently explored and experienced the denomination as I traveled throughout the country. After I left my position at EMU and moved to California, my experience at Fuller Theological Seminary allowed me to dig deeper into my faith tradition and theological convictions in a multi-denominational environment. It was an incredible experience and one that has continued to shape who I am today.

My calling to Franconia Conference and Salford Mennonite Church was an unexpected transition. My wife Meredith and I had all but ruled out this area as an option for ministry, preferring to find a congregation in an urban, non-traditional Mennonite context. It was the pastoral leadership at Salford who reached out to us and began the conversation that eventually led to our arrival. We did not expect to find a home here, but we have been blessed by a wonderful faith community and a new church family.

My new role as associate pastor of youth and young adults allows me to experience many different aspects of pastoral ministry, while continuing to develop who I am as a new pastor. I look forward to God’s continued guidance in my life, wherever that may take me in the future.

Mennonite community … and community that Mennonites

July 24, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

To Mennonite Blog #8

by Alex Bouwman, West Philadelphia Mennonite Church

It is not easy separating the noun “Mennonite” and the verb “to Mennonite.” I think it is because the terms are not mutually exclusive. Those of us who identify as Mennonite, ethnically or culturally, and practice a Mennonite faith are likely already Mennoniting. Here are a few examples that come to mind that demonstrate the close relationship between our beliefs (as Mennonites, the noun) and our practices (as we Mennonite, the verb):

We have taken to heart Jesus’ call from the Sermon on the Mount to be peacemakers. Much of our identity involves nonviolence, yet peacemaking is a verb.

We believe in maintaining a close relationship with God, praying, and striving to do God’s will. But what does the Lord require of us? I read about the verbs acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.

We believe in living in right relationships, not as individuals on our own, but remaining connected to one another. We follow the practical Ten Commandments as well as Jesus’ explanation of the greatest commandments. Here we are told to love God wholly and our neighbors as ourselves. Love is a verb.

I am proud (wait, can I say that?) of the ways we lovingly Mennonite all over this world for peace and justice. Any of the verbs mentioned above are worth their own blog entries. I would like to share just two simple examples from our church of Mennoniting, or doing community, together.

Last fall our youth group hosted another Mennonite youth group from Lancaster County for a day. They rode the train into Philadelphia and transferred to the trolley, which dropped them off right at our church’s doors. We cleaned up trash at one of our parks, enjoyed lunch together, and did a long two or three mile scavenger hunt walking tour of our neighborhood. This fall we plan to make a trip to their church to enjoy the neat aspects of their rural community, something we city-folk don’t often experience. I sense the Holy Spirit moving as we intentionally get together with those we otherwise might not, finding points of commonality, and learning about the benefits of both city and rural living.

A few years back our church had a meeting to discuss various possibilities for new small groups. Out of that meeting came the desire for more frequent potlucks. We enjoy our monthly church fellowship meals, but this would be a casual weekly meal. There were other small groups that involved bible studies, book clubs, or discussion topics. That involves preparation and a necessary commitment. We wanted something a little different.

Thus our Togethering small group was formed. We meet every Tuesday evening for a potluck meal and fellowship in one of our homes. In the beginning a core of us (probably 8 or so) met weekly with various families joining for a week to check us out. At one point we had over 20 coming! We now consistently have about 10-12 each week. It’s a great way for someone who is visiting for the first time to get connected with a smaller group of people without the pressure of long-term commitment. It is a wonderful gift to share with each other about what is going on with our lives and in the world.

I don’t believe I’m going out on a limb when I say every Mennonite church has ways of doing community, loving God and neighbors as themselves, and working for peace and justice. The way I see it, whether we do them as part of our identity as Mennonites or the way we put our faith into action—or some engrained combination of the two—what matters is that we are living our faith in the real world with love, justice, mercy, and humility.

Next week, Ervin Stutzman, executive director of Mennonite Church USA, will share his experience of Mennoniting through community discernment. How do you “Mennonite”? Join the conversation on Facebook & Twitter (#fmclife) or by email.

Who am I? (To Mennonite Blog #1)
Serving Christ with our heads and hands (To Mennonite Blog #2)
Quiet rebellion against the status quo (To Mennonite Blog #3)
Mennoniting my way (To Mennonite Blog #4)
Generations Mennoniting together (To Mennonite Blog #5)
Body, mind, heart … and feet (To Mennonite Blog #6)
We have much more to offer (To Mennonite Blog #7)

Welcoming ex-offenders: Pastors Breakfast with Liberty Ministries

July 19, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Jonathan Lewis and Charlie Ness — Charlie Ness, pastor of Perkiomenville congregation, and Jonathan Lewis, director of the residential program at Liberty Ministries, share about their experiences with post-prison ministry.

Liberty Ministries exists to serve offenders in prison and ex-offenders in the community by showing God’s love, providing practical assistance, and supporting Biblical standards of justice. At Wednesday morning’s breakfast, Bob Thompson, executive director, Jonathan Lewis, director of the residential program, and Charlie Ness, pastor of Perkiomenville congregation and one of the ministry’s founders, shared from their experiences of walking with ex-offenders who are moving beyond their past in the healing community of the church.

Listen to the podcast

[podcast]http://www.mosaicmennonites.org/media-uploads/mp3/Liberty Pastors Breakfast (July 18).mp3[/podcast]

Watch the video

AMP conference focuses on multiculturalism and identity

July 19, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Andrew Mashas, Anabaptist Missional Project (reposted by permission)

On the weekend of June 29 – July 1, 45 people from around the country gathered at Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in Philadelphia for the Anabaptist Missional Project (AMP) conference. Attendees experienced a time of worship, discussion, and fellowship centered on the growing and expanding diversity among Anabaptists in America, specifically within MCUSA. Throughout the weekend, attendees discussed the difficulty of embracing other cultures while maintaining an Anabaptist identity.

The conference, titled “The Spirit’s Work in Mission: Prophesying about Many Peoples,” focused on a vision of the Kingdom of God in the book of Revelation, which explains that every nation, tribe, and tongue will come together to worship the one true Lord and King, Jesus Christ.

Speakers David and Madeline Maldonado shared about the hundreds of Guatemalan immigrant workers attending their Florida congregation. As the number of immigrant attendees increased, so did the ethnic tensions between the Guatemalan workers and Puerto Rican congregants. The Maldonados explained the reconciliation that took place within the church and its example to the community.

Both Habecker and Oxford Circle Mennonite churches of Pennsylvania were able to share their stories of struggle with identity in the midst of declining church attendance and about revitalization within the church.

Leonard Dow of Oxford Circle, a Franconia Conference Partner in Mission, gave a passionate testimony on how the congregation provided a nonviolent protective community around residents who were threatened with violence, allowing for a new approach to community outreach.

In the case of Habecker, Pastor Karen Sensenig described the congregation’s willingness to become vulnerable to God’s transforming spirit. She explained how the church embraced Burmese refugees who stumbled upon their small rural congregation in Lancaster County. And now, with the church seeing a resurgence of life because of this newly found diversity among the community, they’re able to tell their story to the broader Anabaptist community.

“’New Life’ expresses my response to the conference,” said Pastor Sensenig in reflection on the dynamics of the conference. “The vitality that young people bring to the church is so full of hope. They ask questions that push us into new considerations of the movement of God among us. They are willing to be vulnerable and to take risks. The sincere engagement of the group put us all on a quest to discover just what is needed to open a way for the Spirit to blow into our midst in unexpected ways.”

Meal times were spent in dynamic discussion around a variety of topics including the history of racism, ethnic divisions, and sensitivities in the West and among churches in America. This discussion provided a platform for people to share their faith journeys with new people across the Anabaptist landscape.

Many of the conference organizers, including Carmen Horst, Ben Wideman and Aaron Kauffman agreed that this year’s conference lacked ethnic diversity and representation from multicultural congregations within the Philadelphia area.

“I was hoping for a diverse group of individuals who were interested in networking and entering into dialogue with each other on the subject of mission and had hopes that there would be a large contingent from the local area, but in the end only a few could make it.” said Ben Wideman, associate pastor at Salford Mennonite Church in Harleysville, Pa.

As for the future of the AMP conference, organizer Carmen Horst, associate pastor at James Street Mennonite Church, said, “I hope that those who have been leading our church for a longer time will pay attention to AMP and see a group of people who can be committed to serving Jesus together without agreeing on some of the issues facing the church. What draws me to AMP is the love for and commitment to the Church.”

Some would also like to see AMP grow to have regionally specific and more frequent gatherings. Aaron Kauffman, Global Ministries Director at Virginia Mennonite Missions said, “I would love to see this kind of thing continue to multiply in other parts of the country where local AMP networks would gather to worship, share insights, and spur one another onto greater faithfulness as witnesses to the reign of God in Christ.”

The sky seems to be the limit for a group like AMP. Creating a space for dynamic and in-depth conversation around the church and its mission while facilitating intentional fellowship among many cultures and ethnicities will serve as an example to the broader Mennonite Church. As Carmen Horst described it, “The leaders and participants of AMP recognize the many failings and brokenness of our Church, and yet desire to remain in it. Out of our love for this messy thing called church, we try to create spaces for speaking truth and growing in truth together.”

Reading the Bible “through the eyes of another”

July 10, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Worship Cohort — Bobby Wibowo, Philadelphia Praise Center, and Keith Schoenly, Bally, share song ideas at the monthly intercultural worship cohort at the Conference Center. How are members of Franconia Conference working interculturally? Browse old posts here.

Taking up the risk and hope of Intercultural Bible Reading

by Samantha Lioi, Peace & Justice Minister

Eastern District Conference and Franconia Mennonite Conference encompass many very different groups of people who experience a variety of “borders” in relating with each other and with wider U.S. society. At times some of us are unaware of these borders; at times we talk about them. Some of us live every day with an unavoidable awareness of them. And sometimes we surely avoid talking with each other about topics that might highlight differences.

Could reading the same biblical story and exchanging our questions and understandings across cultural and language lines be transformational in our context? What would it be like to listen to each other and the Spirit around one biblical text for a time? What if we chose a passage of Scripture for small groups across the conference to read? Ideally it would be a narrative that groups would engage as they gathered for Bible study, and these groups would be paired with other groups of believers within our conferences, using online forums to correspond.

Given our relative geographic proximity, we could also visit one another at some point during these exchanges. We would enter into this expecting to hear different understandings of Scripture, to learn to know one another better, to learn who makes up the “we” of Franconia and Eastern District, and to be open to God’s call coming to us from the Scriptures “through the eyes of another.”

Where did this idea come from?

From approximately 2001-2003, ordinary readers, teachers and scholars from five continents participated in the Intercultural Reading of the Bible project, using the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Sponsored by a network of people and institutions who formed the Intercultural Bible Collective, readers ranging from Latino men in a U.S. prison to Dutch Protestants to Colombian Catholics in Bogotá (and many more) formed partner groups and exchanged descriptions of the context of their everyday lives.

They met locally in small groups to study the John 4 text, sent reports of their interpretations to Amsterdam for translating, and received a report from their partner group in another part of the world. Then they read the biblical story a second time, through the eyes of the partner group, and asked themselves: What were similarities and differences? What role did culture play in the reading? Could anything be learned from the partner group? Were there new discoveries in the text on this second reading? Was there a change of perspective? After the second reading, they sent a response to the partner group, usually by letter. Then each group responded to the responses of their partner group, reflected on the process and chose whether to have further contact.

According to Hans de Wit, a leader in this project, “The core question of the project was: What happens when Christians from radically different cultures and situations read the same Bible story and start talking about it with each other? Can intercultural reading of Bible stories result in a new method of reading the Bible and communicating faith that is a catalyst for new, trans-border dialogue and identity formation?”

Those who undertook this project were concerned with the effects of globalization and persistent inequities and were looking for ways to engage Christians in communication which would broaden our awareness of each other’s lives, gifts, and challenges. Not expecting a crystalized, universal meaning of the scripture, they mainly hoped for new perspectives and relationships to emerge.*

Will you join us?

In my early work as Peace and Justice Minister I have begun to test interest in these exchanges and we have a couple of willing pairs that will begin in the fall. I will act as a liaison to check in with Bible Reading groups and to facilitate communication and connection between groups who have agreed to correspond.

Each pairing will have their own online forum to post 1) a description of themselves and their setting, 2) a brief written account of results of their first reading, 3) a response to their partner group’s first reading, 4) the results of a second reading and 5) a response to their partner group’s second reading.

Conference staff will also work with translators to be sure each group can write and receive feedback in their first or preferred language, and to facilitate face-to-face meetings between groups who are developing relationships around the reading of this common text and/or who wish to continue communicating beyond the formal process of the Intercultural Bible Reading project.

Would you like to join us? We welcome multiple small groups from each congregation–existing Bible studies or new groups formed just for this. For more information or to sign up, send me an email: samantha@interculturalchurch.com.

*This too-brief summary is drawn from the book, Through the Eyes of Another: Intercultural Reading of the Bible, edited by Hans de Wit, Louis Jonker, Marleen Kool, and Daniel Schipani. Elkhart, IN: Institute of Mennonite Studies, 2004.

Body, mind, heart … and feet (To Mennonite Blog #6)

July 10, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Maria Byler, Philadelphia Praise Center

I choose to define Mennonite, the verb, with a ritual that is absent in my congregation. Therefore this post is also a call to re-examination, change, growth. To me, to Mennonite is to participate in foot washing.

I don’t pretend to have any scholarly knowledge on the John 13 story, but as a follower of Jesus, it moves me. Jesus knew he would soon be leaving the world. When he washed his disciples’ feet, he was at the point where he was giving conclusions, take-away messages. Something grand or violent might have been more memorable. But instead he did an everyday act of care, to demonstrate the completeness with which he loved his students – and to ask his students to love others as completely.

Now I don’t choose the theme of love for this moment as some wishy-washy, feel-good coating over everything Jesus did. I choose it because this complete love which induced Jesus to wash his disciples’ feet is really what his coming was about. God so loved the world that God sent God’s only begotten Son. That son had so much passion for the people he was saving and teaching that he lived his message even as his people tortured and killed him. But even that could not stop the love of God, which overcame death to reach out once again to humanity. And Jesus physically demonstrated what that love should look like by washing the feet of his disciples, in selflessness and humble concern.

As I said, we do not practice foot washing in my congregation. If I mentioned the practice, members would recognize it from the Bible stories. They would recall the time when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, and may remember that it was a common practice in Jesus’ time. But foot washing is not a practice that many around me will instantly see as Mennoniting.

But while we don’t wash feet at my church, we do practice foot washing in other ways. This is one thing that makes us Mennonite.

That foot-washing love is demonstrated in my congregation through being willing to come over and talk whenever it’s needed or provide a ride on short notice. Members commit to talking about how we’re really doing, praying for one another, and following up with a phone call. And best of all, these things happen out of care for the other. They come out of selfless love and humble desire that our neighbor might enter into the joy we have found.

I used to attend a congregation that washed feet on Maundy Thursday but have not done so for years. Sometimes practices which we use less often simply fade into the past, but sometimes we feel an absence. This absence says that what we used to do was important. And that is what I have noticed with foot washing.

I am a firm believer in physical rituals to remind us of things that are important. In taking off our socks, getting on the floor, and actually cleaning someone else’s feet or allowing ours to be cleaned, our body experiences what we train our minds and hearts for as Mennonites.

We can and do practice foot washing in our relationships and our attitudes. But I think Jesus told us to do the physical act for a reason.

Next week, Ron White, moderator of Eastern District Conference, will reflect on the spiritual vision of the verb Mennonite. What are some of the ways foot washing happens in your congregation? How do you “Mennonite”? Join the conversation on Facebook or by email.

Creative invitation brings new life to Bally

July 5, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Klaudia Smucker, Bally

Bally Mennonite Church has always been a place where creativity has blossomed, but like many small churches, we have been facing declining numbers of children. Our community preschool, which meets daily in our building ten months out of the year, has continued to flourish, but this growth hasn’t been reflected in our Sunday school program.

We had what looked like two main problems: first, our Sunday school preschool class, which sometimes had just a couple preschoolers, was, for a while, combined with an older class and this wide age range seemed to be daunting for the children as well as the teacher; and second, despite many opportunities, we seemed unable to get our preschool families to come to church.

After one Sunday, when there were only one or two preschoolers, Kathryn Schoenly, the preschool Sunday school teacher, and Connie Jones, a parent of a preschooler and a board member for our community preschool, started brainstorming about what they could do to get more children here.

“The preschoolers do come to our Vacation Bible School in the summer,” Kathryn observed. “I wonder if we could interest some of the parents in bringing their children to our Sunday school?”

“Could we just invite them to drop off their kids on a Sunday morning using the preschool entrance?” Connie wondered.

She mentioned it to the preschool board that same evening and Kathryn asked me what I thought about it.

“Go for it!” I said. “What a great idea!”

Almost immediately, Kathryn made an invitation and sent it home with the preschool children.

The next week, two families accepted our invitation and brought their sign-up forms to preschool. The following week, one more came, and Kathryn now has a regular class of about 7 preschoolers.

It is a win-win situation for us all. Our Bally Community preschoolers get to hear about God’s love for them on Sundays and throughout the summer and preschoolers from our congregation have a full class on the same grade level.

We had a few kinks to work out, but as we recognize them, we try to learn from them. When our worship services go longer, someone needs to remember to go downstairs and be ready to welcome the preschoolers. Overall, it is exciting to see the smiling faces of all the preschoolers as they enthusiastically run into class: a safe, warm, and welcoming space.

And all because a couple of people were willing to think outside the box and let the Spirit move!

Generations Mennoniting together (To Mennonite Blog #5)

July 3, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Ubaldo Rodriguez, New Hope Fellowship/Nueva Esperanza (Baltimore, Md.)

I appreciate the opportunity to express my Latino perspective of what it means to Mennonite. I grew up as a Catholic and I became a disciple of Jesus in a Mennonite Church in Colombia, South America.

I define myself as a disciple of Jesus who is part of the Mennonite family and uses the Anabaptist theological glasses by which I read the Scriptures in a particular way: using the historical Jesus as the paradigm for personal and social ethics for Christian living; participating with God and my community of faith in the formation and transformation of individuals and societies; discerning in community our mission or reason for existence here and now in our particular context; making disciples in order to keep expanding the kingdom of God.

I believe the communal Christian life is like a boat that continuously moves back and forth from the river to the pond. When the boat is on the river of the Spirit, it brings life, newness, challenges, and hope for the future. In the river, we take the risk of being led by the flow of the Spirit and many times we end up in wonderful places and situations where we never expected to be. On the other hand, when we are on the still waters of the pond of tradition, we are like a lighthouse that guides those who are traveling in this world with no direction and purpose in life.

In my own experience, I have been in both –the river and the pond waters in the Mennonite Church. What I have been discovering is that both places are important in order to be relevant in this changing and needy world.

I am glad that the Lord allowed me to live in this particular time of history in the Mennonite Church, because along with many brothers and sisters we have this great opportunity to be history makers. I believe we are living in the time that the prophet Joel prophesied (2:28), when the Lord is going to pour out his Spirit on all people–in our case, all those riding the Mennonite boat in the river of the Spirit sharing the richness of our Mennonite Anabaptist theological tradition.

This promise gives me hope for unity, for integration; for working together as people of God in the same spirit, a spirit in which the older generations share their unfinished spiritual dreams to the younger generations and empower them to accomplish those dreams by the power of the Spirit through a fresh vision.

This sounds very exciting to Mennonite in a new way. This is one of the times in our Mennonite history when we need leaders with the spirit of Caleb and Joshua, (Numbers 14:6-9), who saw the challenges as opportunities to experience God’s faithfulness and mighty presence among them. As the Mennonite church, we should keep moving forward; the desert of power and fear of change should not stop us from moving to the promise land that flows with milk and honey.

“Franconia’s got talent–” we have people with amazing gifts that can take the conference to the place where the Lord wants us to be. So now we wait and see what Mennonite history will tell about us, if we were a generation that made a difference.

Next week, Maria Byler, Philadelphia Praise Center, will share a ritual component of Mennoniting. How do you “Mennonite”? Join the conversation on Facebook or by email.

formational

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