March 2009 Archives

Mennonite Church USA

• More than a family event — WE - are - family! I can still belt out the Sister Sledge song with the best of them. I like to think it’s not only because it connects me to my young adult years, but because family is such a basic concept. Of course, family in Mennonite Church USA extends way beyond blood relatives to all our sisters and brothers in Christ.
• Problems subscribing to or accessing Equipping? — An unresolved technical glitch with the Mennonite Church USA Web site has caused some users to be unable to subscribe to Equipping. The problem seems to be isolated to the Internet Explorer Web browser. Other browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Apple Safari, seem to be unaffected.
• Craig Van Gelder to keynote Pastors’ Day at Convention 2009 — On June 30, Mennonite Church USA will host its first-ever Pastors’ Day as a kickoff to Convention 2009 in Columbus, Ohio. Published missional theologian and tenured professor of congregational mission at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., Craig Van Gelder will be keynote speaker for the event.
• Time to appoint delegates for Convention 2009 — Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009 is only months away, and it’s time for congregations to begin appointing delegates for the Delegate Assembly.
• Convention 2009 worship speakers announced — In February, Executive Leadership staff announced the worship speakers and leaders for Convention 2009. Adult worship speakers include: Juanita Nuñez, Jim Schrag, Shane Claiborne and Jim Wallis. Adult worship leaders will be Joel Miller of Cincinnati and Regina Shands Stoltzfus of Elkhart, Ind., with Tim Shue leading music.
• “Generous” stories available for use — A collection of stories featuring people who live a variety of generous lifestyles is available online. As a part of The Generosity Project—a churchwide initiative geared toward creating resources that encourage a holistic approach to sharing gifts— multiple stories were gathered so that they could be used as a tool to help others explore the ways God is calling them to be generous.

Pastors and leaders

• Missional Leaders meeting May 2 to 4 — Come to the Missional Leaders meeting in Denver at the Ramada Inn Downtown Denver. The theme is “Leading by Example,” and the event will include “Dwelling in the Word,” a case study and worship in local congregations on Sunday morning.
• Urban Leaders Network dinner/gathering at Convention 2009 (open to all) — Enjoy the July 1 evening gathering/dinner with urban ministry practitioners in Columbus: Hear stories of church planting and church revitalization, witness the presentation of the 2009 George and Pearl Kauffman Urban Leader Award, and network and fellowship with each other.
• Close to Home pamphlets — Reach out with Close to Home pamphlets: Help Christian caregivers serve people in your congregation or community who may be dealing with difficult personal issues.
• Pax Avalon: Conflict Revolution — If you had something everybody wanted, what would you do? Blessed with an incredible gift, Julianna “Pax” Embry must choose between the glamour of a celebrity and the mission of a peacemaker. A graphic novel.
• Like a Mustard Seed: Mennonites in Paraguay — Edgar Stoesz tells the inspiring story of the Russian, Canadian and Mexican Mennonites who, beginning in 1927, immigrated to Paraguay and made a new homeland out of the jungle wilderness.
• The Dark Night: A Gift of God — Daniel P. Schrock demystifies this quite common phenomenon, which is often confused with depression.
• The Jewish-Christian Schism Revisited — This posthumous collection of essays is arguably John Howard Yoder’s most ambitious project and displays his original thesis that the Jewish-Christian schism “did not have to be.”
• Reasoning Together: A Conversation on Homosexuality — Two theologians, Ted Grimsrud and Mark Thiessen Nation, argue both sides of an issue that is vexing the postmodern church: homosexuality.
• First Be Reconciled: Challenging Christians in the Courts — Through key biblical texts, a historical survey, with a particular focus on the Anabaptist witness, Richard P. Church traces the church’s historic reticence to litigate within the body and with non-believers.

Christian education

• Help kids catch the Spirit! New for VBS 2009 — Catch the Spirit! Join God’s Work in the World! invites children ages 4 to grade 8 to join the movement of the Holy Spirit in their lives, in the church and with God’s people around the world.
• Want to get youth and adults into the Bible? Try Being There! — Designed for youth, but also useful for adult groups, these three volumes of Bible-based simulations can be used in Christian education classes, retreats or special events.
• Discipleship and membership resources:
  • Via: Exploring the Way of Christ: Available in June 2009, this new resource is recommended for new believers.
  • God’s Story, Our Story is for those considering baptism or church membership.
  • Faith for the Journey includes a session on each of the 24 articles of Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, for youth and leaders.
  • Being God’s People, recommended for younger youth, is arranged in six sections and includes Scripture texts from Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective.

Mission, evangelism and peacemaking

• And you welcomed me: a consultation of the people of God on immigration — Plan to attend this Sept. 18 to 20 event in the Dallas, Texas, area.The goals for the national gathering are to network and resource attendees and develop congregational and pastoral solutions to the challenge of immigration.
• Free mission banks! — Now through Mar. 31, Mennonite Mission Network is offering free mission banks to all children in grades K-6 who attend a Mennonite Church USA congregation.
• New mission bank teaching tools — Watch your mailboxes for the newest addition to the mission bank family, Thailand: Sharing the Good News. This resource, for use in worship, Sunday school and by families at home, tells stories from Pat and Rad Houmphan’s work alongside the Isaan people in Borabu, Thailand.

Worship