intercultural

Teens’ China service brings comfort with the unknown

August 29, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Wil LaVeist, Mennonite Mission Network

Swartz-China — Radical Journey participants Laird Goertzen (left) Kate Swartz and Paul Dyck recently completed a 1-year service assignment in China. Photo provided by Mennonite Mission Network.

When many Radical Journey participants prepare for their first overseas mission assignment, they tend to use words such as “paralyzed” and “blurry” to describe their thoughts. A year later, they use words such as “maturation” and “new perspective” instead.

This is how participants Kate Swartz, Salford congregation, and Paul Dyck of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, described their experiences. Along with Laird Goertzen of Goessel, Kansas, they formed a three-member team that recently returned from a year-long stint in China as part of Radical Journey, a Mennonite Mission Network international learning and service program for young adults.

There, they taught English classes at North Sichuan Medical College and at Sea Turtle, a foreign-language training center for children. They learned Mandarin and connected with China’s culture and people as they explored God’s work in China and ways to join in.

Radical Journey participants are typically divided evenly among recent college graduates, college students, and recent high school graduates. In addition to China, two served in South Africa, five in Paraguay, and three in England.

Swartz, 19, said she was not ready to “jump right into college,” but knew that she wanted to explore mission work at some point in her life.

“I decided to just let them place me where they wanted to,” Swartz said. “I had preconceived notions about all of the places … I just allowed China to choose me.”

Dyck, 19, also found himself in the city of Nanchong in the province of Sichuan without a clear calling to serve in China.

“The only concrete ideas I carried with me were the same blurry and rather idealistic intentions that I had before I signed up for the program,” he said. “I was excited to behold the open canvas that this year could be, and start painting a picture, even if I didn’t know what colors were available.”

As Swartz and Dyck started their assignments, mingled with Chinese neighbors, and explored their surroundings, their minds began to transform.

“I learned that the majority of people are caring, complex, and are worth getting to know,” Swartz said. “The world is huge and infinitely more complex than I originally thought, and (the experience) expanded everything that I think about or perceive.”

Dyck cited an excursion he, Swartz, and Goertzen took during the winter break as one of their more enjoyable and bonding moments. They took the “scenic route” by train back from a conference in Hong Kong, and hiked with a Chinese group to the peak of the Tiger Leaping Gorge. They had to speak Mandarin with fellow hikers.

“China is actually a really diverse place, and it was amazing to see all the differences and awesomeness that is all a part of the culture in China,” said Dyck, adding that the trip was fun and educational. “Living off our wits and with our language skills for a month on the road gave our team lots of challenges and opportunities to bond and grow,” Dyck said.

They also benefited from frequent visits with mission workers Don and Marie Gaeddert of Larned, Kan., who are in the middle of a two-year assignment with Mission Network. Swartz said that spending time with the Gaedderts helped her to feel at home.

“They invited us over for a Western meal with regularity, and that was always really, really appreciated, as it would often be our only spaghetti or biscuits or whatever for the month or so … They were loving and welcoming, and it was wonderful to share portions of our time with them.”

The Gaedderts, who became mission workers after becoming empty nesters, said they were impressed that young people fresh out of high school would be willing to go across the world to serve.

Upon returning to America and Canada respectively, Swartz, whose home church is Salford Mennonite Church, and Dyck of Charleswood Mennonite Church, are still processing their experiences. Both said they’re more open to the unknown of where God is leading and that they’re ready for college. Swartz will attend Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., and Dyck will attend University of Winnipeg this fall.

“Even taking spiritual and personal growth aside, this year was worth it just for the academic onslaught of insights on such an interesting culture,” Dyck said. “When you live abroad, one thing that is really clear is that everyone around the world is the same (sharing similar values such as family, community, and a need for love and affirmation). But the other thing that’s also clear is that everyone around the world is completely different (such as cultural perspectives and approaches to life). In China, everything seemed to have contrast, and it was a great space for us to look at the uniqueness of ourselves as we became more a part of these other people.”

“I’ve grown more confident, more at home with myself, and more at peace,” Swartz said. “I’ve also developed more tolerance and acceptance toward people who are different from me. The two are more likely than not directly correlated to each other. I want to connect more personally with others, as I’ve connected more personally with myself.”

This article was originally posted by Mennonite Mission Network and is reposted by permission.

Bethany celebrates 60 years with stories

August 23, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

On August 12, Bethany Mennonite Church in Bridgewater, Vermont, celebrated their 60^th anniversary. As part of their celebration, people from the church, community, and the conference shared their memories from the last sixty years. The following article is adapted from those stories.

Bethany 60th — Izzy Jenne, Anna Hepler, Annabel Hershey Lapp enjoying themselves at Bethany’s 60th anniversary celebration. Photo by Karen Hawkes.

Sixty years ago, it became a congregation. Three of the four families that came from Franconia Conference to start the mission church gathered for “The Picture.” We all looked so excited and full of energy. This is the look that people get when they don’t have a clue what the future will bring.

I remember some things from those early years, the 50s: sliding down the old stair railing (adults didn’t seem to realize God meant it to be part of the children’s playground); multigenerational church socials in the damp and dark church basement; sitting in the hay wagons every fall eating crisp Macs on hayrides through those dark back roads of Vermont. I learned to keep an eye out for the tree branches that might sweep down and get you.

I remember growing up in two worlds, the church world and the Vermont secular world. They seemed very different. We all kind of learned the hard way, as individuals, families, and a congregation, that transplanting ethnic Mennonites into a “foreign culture” was probably not the best way to plant a church. Hard lessons were learned, maybe too hard sometimes. I saw my parents having to learn and relearn and still remain faithful to their call.

I remember once when we had a “breaking of bread service.” It wasn’t a regular communion service. Each person was given a small bread roll, and we went around and broke off a piece of our roll and gave it to someone else until our roll was gone. That service felt like a great big pair of arms was holding the whole congregation in a big hug.

Summer Vacation Bible School was a BIG, two-week affair. I went door to door asking if families would like to send their children and we drove them every day in a vehicle owned by the church and then the town school bus. When we grew to over a hundred children, teachers came from the other churches in Bridgewater and from the community as well as Bethany.

One year, I had a class of 4-year-olds with six girls and one boy. That boy could swear up a storm. He never had pennies for the offering. One morning he had a jingly pocket. I asked him what that was. He said, “Pennies.” I asked why he hadn’t put them in the box. He said he didn’t have them then. I asked where he got them. He said out of the box. I asked him why he had done that. He said it was because he never had any pennies. “Well,” I said thoughtfully, “you will from now on.”

Bethany worked closely with the other churches in the area, especially with the Congregational Church in Bridgewater. When [Pastor] Nevin had a brain aneurysm, the Bridgewater church was very supportive of this congregation in many ways. They held a fund raiser for Nevin by having a community potluck meal that brought many, many people together.

I saw God’s face in the early morning walks and talks through many back roads with other women through the years. We would gather at the church with our flashlights before our day of work began. We valued friendship, faith, and health.

I saw God’s presence in families from the village who brought their young children to the parsonage for childcare. Conversations relevant to life happened at daily drop-off and pick-up times. I felt joy watching my children play among many others in the field in a safe, open environment.

The first thing that struck me when I came to Bethany for the first time was the beautiful singing with everyone doing harmony and no choir. We were all the choir!

There are many more stories to share. Sixty years of them. And it makes me wonder, “What if?”

What if a group of church leaders from Franconia Conference in the middle of the 20th century hadn’t decided there was a need to start a church in Vermont called Bethany Mennonite…?

On realizing what it means to be a Mennonite

August 22, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

To Mennonite Blog #12

by Aldo Siahaan, Philadelphia Praise Center

In the past week, Muslims around the world ended their 30 days of fasting for the month of Ramadan. It was around this time of celebration, five years ago, that I realized that I am a Mennonite.

The church I pastor, Philadelphia Praise Center in South Philly, officially became part of Franconia Mennonite Conference in the middle of 2007. The leaders and I were still learning to know more about Mennonites that year and what our membership in the Conference might mean.

I am originally from Jakarta, Indonesia, where Christians are the minority. In Philadelphia among Indonesian immigrants, however, there are more Indonesian Christians than Indonesian Muslims; still, I have Muslim friends.

In the month of Ramadan 2006, knowing the feeling of being a minority, I offered the Indonesian Muslim community the use of our worship space for prayer during their holy month. I spoke with one of the leaders but she never called me back with an answer.

A year later, Ramadan 2007, the same leader called me and asked, “Aldo, do you remember that last year you offered us your church so we can pray? Is the invitation still open?” I told her that for me personally the answer would be yes, but that I would need to talk with our congregation’s leaders first.

After I shared my conversation with the leaders and members of the church, no one objected. The leaders and I remembered, though, that we were now part of Franconia Mennonite Conference and we didn’t know if opening our church building would be the right thing to do according to Mennonite values.

In conversation with Conference leadership, I asked carefully, “Is opening the church building to Muslims a Mennonite way?”

Steve Kriss, our conference minister, responded, “Aldo, that’s what Mennonites do. We build relationships with people, our neighbors, even other faiths. We forgive. We share what we have.”

I realized that that this was Mennoniting—following Jesus’ command to love one another (John 15:17).

Next week, Franconia Conference Director of Communication and Leadership Cultivation Steve Kriss will reflect back on the summer of blogs. Have there been any insights that have touched you, made you think, connected with your experience? How do you “Mennonite”? Join the conversation on Facebook & Twitter (#fmclife) or by email.

“God is profoundly at work” in Hatfield

August 15, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Emily Ralph, eralphservant@mosaicmennonites.org

Joint service Plains and Grace — Musicians from both Plains Mennonite and Grace Lutheran lead singing at the joint service. Pictured, from Grace: Lori Pluda, baritone, William Shaffer, trumpet, and Betty Murray, vocalist; from Plains: Dawn Derstine, songleader, and Janet Panning, piano. Photo by Emily Ralph

The story of Jesus calming the storm had special significance for Stacie Dougherty, interim pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, as she shared her message on Sunday during a joint service with Plains Mennonite, Hatfield. “In our lives, too, storms will come along—forces out of our control,” she said. “Things like … a devastating fire.”

This past New Year’s Eve, Grace experienced just that—a fire that destroyed the church’s educational building and left their Stepping Stones Nursery School without a facility. When their proposed new facility fell through, they were left frantically looking for an alternative.

Meanwhile, at Plains, members of the congregation approached the pastoral team. “‘They were saying, ‘We have to do something about this’ and ‘What are we going to do?’” said Dawn Ranck, the congregation’s associate pastor. For her, it was obvious. “[We have Plains Park] because we want to be good stewards of our land and this is another way—we have the space. It’s what God calls us to do.” So the nursery school moved in.

Eight months later, the school is preparing to move out of their temporary space at Plains into a larger facility, the building which used to house the St. Maria Goretti School in Hatfield. The two congregations gathered at Plains for worship and a picnic to celebrate.

Sometimes God uses people to bring calm in the storm, Dougherty said in her sermon. “You, our sisters and brothers here at Plains Mennonite, took the concern and burden for the preschool from us when you so graciously offered your space. . . . And by doing this, you lifted one of the worries caused by the fire and helped us on our way to peace and healing.”

Mike Derstine with Menno and Luther — Mike Derstine, Plains congregation, shares paintings of reformers Martin Luther and Menno Simons with the children during the joint service with Grace Lutheran. Photo by Emily Ralph

The partnership between Lutherans and Mennonites has not always been so easy. The rift between the two denominations has existed since the 16^th century, when followers of reformers Martin Luther and Menno Simons did not always see eye to eye on matters of life and theology. In recent years, efforts have been made at reconciliation between the two denominations on local, national, and even global levels.

“You know what’s a good thing to do. . . when you’re trying to make peace with somebody?” asked Mike Derstine, pastor at Plains, as he showed paintings of Simons and Luther to children from Grace and Plains. “To find out something about that person that you like.”

Both reformers brought important ideas to the church, Derstine said. Simons urged the church to show their faith by helping others and Luther reminded the church that God’s love and salvation are free gifts—these are important ideas to keep in balance, Derstine told the children.

In the same way, even though Plains shared their resources with Grace, the gift was not one-sided, according to Ranck. “It gave us a chance to be a part of something bigger than Plains, something bigger than ‘Mennonite,’” she said.

And she’s going to miss having the children around. “I can’t imagine them not being here,” she said with a sigh. “A couple of the kids, when I talked to them about leaving and I said, ‘I won’t be going,’ they’re like, ‘But there are offices over there!’”

Although Mennonites had been known for centuries as a people-group who kept to themselves, a growing ecumenical emphasis on Christian engagement with their community—which is manifested in programs like Plains Park and Stepping Stones—allows congregations to move past differences, according to Derstine. “I think it’s easier for us [now] because we have a [new] outlook on the world that shapes our relationships across some of these barriers,” he reflected. “We’re united in the same mission.”

Plains and Grace picnic — Joyce and Tom Salter from Grace Lutheran visit with Richard Lichty from Plains Mennonite at the post-service picnic at Plains Park. Photo by Emily Ralph

“When the people of Plains invited us to share in the [worship service and picnic], my first reaction was ‘Absolutely, we need to do this,’” said Frank Stone, congregation president at Grace. “It was such a joy for us to worship with and to meet other believers in our community, especially those who so unselfishly reached out to us in our time of need.”

The joint worship, including a shared Eucharist, was significant for both congregations, added Derstine. “I think our Communion today was a reminder that God is profoundly at work in bringing us together across our differences.”

To "Mennonite" when we're each other's enemies

August 13, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

To Mennonite Blog #11

by Michael A. King, dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary (Salford)

Michael King — Photo provided by Eastern Mennonite University

Pondering what it may mean “to Mennonite” reminds me of a friend who leads a state agency serving persons with disabilities. Just returned from Washington, D.C., he reported a grim picture: the likelihood that a divided Congress won’t get its act together to release funds his agency relies on. Any cuts will hurt people with faces I cherish, because my friend has come to lead this agency as an outgrowth of love for his own children with Down Syndrome.

I found our conversation chilling. Has it come to this? Are we so divided we can’t find common ground even to support persons with disabilities?

This is not to minimize complexities; it’s appropriate to ponder the roles of, say, government versus church in caring for “the least of these.” But my friend works tirelessly to raise funds from church folk—yet they provide a fraction of the needed revenue.

So how have we reached a juncture at which even seeing some role for government to play in funding my friend’s agency—why should my taxes support those takers!—may pull me into the vortex of mutual hate which seems the only thing we now know how to build together?

My point isn’t to argue specifics of one more divisive matter. It’s to grieve what seems our loss of ability to work across legitimate differences to discern solutions. And it’s to suspect that an important meaning of “to Mennonite” in such bitter times is for us to learn and maybe model what love amid division can look like.

From our beginnings Mennonites have sought a “third way,” an understanding of Bible, faith, and life that doesn’t quite fit into Protestant or Roman Catholic categories though it can enrich and be enriched by both. Key to third-way understandings has been unusual passion to take Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount literally. This in turn has led Mennonites to believe that Jesus actually meant for us to love even enemies (Matt. 5:44)—here, now, concretely.

Perhaps our most prominent expression of such love has been through conscientious objection to killing enemies in wartime, and this remains a vital Mennonite conviction. Increasingly, however, I wonder if we risk so focusing on enemies out there that we fail to learn how to love the enemies we make of each other.

When we differ over today’s hot issues we seem ever more inclined not to treat persons who hold different views as fellow pilgrims seeking, with us, to hear God’s voice amid our common finitudes and frailties. We seem ever less inclined to trust that God could be threaded through any view other than our own. Rather, we seem ever more ready to believe that if you hold a view other than mine you are my enemy.

Maybe with so much alienation swirling, the one who is not my friend is, precisely, my enemy. But even if we accept such a troubling conclusion, to Mennonite our way through it may then be to ask what it means to love the viewpoint opponents we have made our enemies.

Amid my own limitations of vision, let me not offer a formula for navigating such complicated terrain. Yet let me at least suggest that to Mennonite our way through a time in which we turn even other Christians and Mennonites—not to mention, say, atheists or Muslims or Republicans or Democrats—into enemies is to find ways to repay even what we consider evil with good (Rom. 12:21).

When I was growing up, I saw my parents model what such Mennoniting might look like: no matter how much they might disagree with a person’s beliefs or choices, precisely because they always took seriously that even the enemy was to be loved, they always spied treasure in the other. It might be tarnished; it might need polishing; the light of Christ might barely brighten it. But it was there—and thus was something even in the enemy that could be cherished, learned from, not merely vanquished. I would like to try Mennoniting like that in today’s world and see where it takes me and us.

Our summer blog series will soon be wrapping up. Have there been any insights that have touched you, made you think, connected with your experience? How do you “Mennonite”? Join the conversation on Facebook & Twitter (#fmclife) or by email.

Learning to listen across generations

August 7, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

by Joe Hackman, Salford (Harleysville, Pa.)

Salford listening — Joe Hackman and Sanford Alderfer from Salford congregation. Salford is focusing this year on learning to listen across generations. Photo by Tim Moyer.

“Thank you for listening!” say several excited young children at the end of every episode of Salford’s Listening Project. Our church has been doing a lot of listening these days.

Last summer we set aside several months for prayer and discerning what God might be calling us to for the next several years. The discernment led us to something pretty basic: learning how to get better at listening to God.

In the next several years we will be learning to listen for God in our personal lives, in our local community, in hospitality, and in difficult conversations. This year we’ve given special focus to learning to listen to God in intergenerational relationships.

One young woman who recently joined our church told me, “The reason I’m drawn to this community is that older people are curious about my family and me. They really want to know who we are and what we’re thinking.”

But trying to get different generations to listen to one another and for God’s movement in those relationships has proven to be a joy and a struggle. Some of our ideas have flourished while others have not.

Salford’s Listening Project invites people from across generations to sit in our old sound booth above the church sanctuary to share and record stories of faith with each other. In a recent episode, two women discussed a time when the church prevented a person in FBI training from serving as a youth sponsor because he was required to carry a gun. For the woman in her 80’s, this was a time when church leadership took a stand and did not compromise on a core belief. For the woman in her 30’s, who was a member of the youth group at that time, the same story created much hurt; she interpreted it as a low point in her experience at Salford. Sharing the story and the different ways it was understood helped both women listen for God’s movement in both the joy and pain of this event.

But intergenerational listening hasn’t always been a success. After Easter we started an intergenerational Sunday school class called “Jesus through the Ages.” We had willing participants (mainly Gen Xers and the Silent Generation) gather around tables and look at scripture passages together, led by a team of skilled facilitators. But, try as we might, the class struggled to thrive.

Why? We’re not completely sure. But we learned that different generations have different expectations for Sunday school and how it should be formatted. We decided to cancel the class after July and encouraged folks to return to their regular classes—which are traditionally split along generational lines.

I remember a few years ago the theme for the Mennonite Church USA Convention was “Can’t Keep Silent,” and I sometimes think of the irony: our congregation believes God is calling us to listen right now! The church is called to offer people a new way of life brought about by the presence of a countercultural, spirit-filled reality. And in a world that is increasingly polarized by talking heads on radio, television, and Twitter feeds, Salford needs to do the hard work of learning to listen to God and to each other; this is a message of good news for our church and our world.

To face the violence in courageous ways

July 19, 2012 by Emily Ralph Servant

Franconia Conference members joined Christians from all over the Philadelphia region for a Good Friday vigil outside a gun shop. Photo by Jim McIntire.

by Amy Yoder McGloughlin, Germantown Mennonite Church

One Sunday night in February, my husband, Charlie, and I awoke to lights flashing outside of our house. We live on a quiet street in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia, and nothing much happens here, so the lights surprised us. We expected to see the fire department outside, but it was the SWAT team.

A disabled neighbor had been murdered by a guest of his roommates. That man was armed and hiding somewhere in the building.

It was unsettling that something like that could happen on our sweet, family-centric block, a place where we knew each other’s names, and shared each other’s stories. But even more unsettling was that the next morning it was as if nothing had happened. No one was talking about it, there was no police tape, and kids played on the sidewalk and porches, just feet from where this man’s life was taken.

Charlie and I couldn’t get past the reality that we had never met this neighbor, didn’t know his name, and couldn’t even contact his family to extend our condolences. Violence in Philadelphia, and in cities all over this country, is swift and deadly. But it’s also quickly erased.

A few weeks ago, a young couple at our church moved onto a struggling block in East Germantown. After spending a hopeful weekend with their neighbors on an adjoining block, cleaning up trash and hanging large pieces of art, they learned that within twenty-four hours a dead body had been dumped there. They could not stop the violence despite their good-faith efforts.

Another young woman from our congregation was recently assaulted at her neighborhood corner store. After being committed to making Germantown her home, she began to have doubts. Could she look this kind of violence in the eye every day and keep her passion for justice and sensitivity towards others?

At Germantown Mennonite, rooted solidly in the Anabaptist tradition, we long for peace in this world, for a day when violence will end. We stand in front of gun shops to protest illegal gun sales, we try to make safe spaces in our neighborhoods, we call our state representatives to let our voices be heard. But we are only human. We grow weary. Violence is overwhelming and we grow tired of hearing the stories. There’s just too many of them. And they can become too heavy to hold.

Inspired by Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), we long to be in solidarity with people who are hurting. But, it’s clear that we do not always have the tools to do this in our own context.

Germantown Mennonite is exploring the possibility of a CPT delegation to Israel/Palestine next summer. We hope to be joined by other Christians from the Philadelphia area who are committed to non-violence in our own communities and throughout the world. Our prayer is that as we look at violence in another place and see how communities of faith face the violence in courageous ways, we will be inspired, encouraged, and given new visions and new tools to answer the violence we see in our own communities.

If you are interested in a Philadelphia CPT delegation to Israel/Palestine, Germantown Mennonite will be hosting Tarek Abuata, the Israel/Palestine coordinator, at our congregation on Sunday, August 5^th. After we worship together at 10am, we will follow with a potluck, then a time to speak candidly with Tarek about interest in a delegation of this kind. All are welcome to join us as we explore this possibility. If you are interested, but cannot attend a meeting, please contact me at pastoramy@germantownmennonite.org or 215.843.5599.

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.”

intercultural

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