We can do better
I always write this column with pastors and congregations in mind. I was a pastor for 23 years in two congregations. I have been in churchwide leadership for 12 years. You have been reading of the six-year-review of Mennonite Church USA. The Executive Board has studied many pieces of information and perspective on the state of our church since 2001, the birth date of our church. The board has concluded that we can do better than we have done. Our customs of relationship, the way we use our time and resources, the organizational patterns of our larger church need a second look. The Executive Board is considering combining some boards to gain more focus and more impact in the placement of certain ministries. All this can seem a bit remote a great distance from the ministry, cares and conflicts that congregations experience. We live in a time when the local bodies of the church have lots on their own plates—membership growth or losses, challenges of reaching out to your communities, complications that arise from newcomers and old timers in the congregation, generational changes of style in worship, finding leadership for Sunday school classes and committees, and so forth. So I want to remind you pastors and elders/deacons—whoever might be reading this—that you are the forefront of the future, not only for your congregation and community, but for the body of Mennonite Church USA, of which you are a vital link to the world around us. You are the most influential leaders of our church because you meet the flesh-and-blood needs of people where they are. You extend the Gospel of Christ’s love and transformation that changes lives in ways that make a difference. Congregations are the vanguard of the missional designs and calling of Mennonite Church USA. I pray for you often that you might know the far-reaching impact of your ministry! Pray for the churchwide ministries of Mennonite Church USA now as we reach for a higher expression of stewardship, meaning and effectiveness together.
—Jim Schrag is Executive Director of Mennonite Church USA
Mennonite-Lutheran Connections?
Are you aware of connections between Mennonites and Lutherans (ELCA)?
Joint ministries? Pulpit exchanges or sister congregations? Significant
relationships? Academic or other institutional links? Please take a few
minutes and send the name(s) of people or institutions involved,
several sentences about the relationship or collaboration, and contact
information for someone who could tell us more to Kathryn Rodgers atKathrynR@MennoniteUSA.org or call her at 1-866-866-2872. Mennonite Church USA and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) conducted a formal dialogue between 2002 and 2004. This led,
among other things, to the ELCA Church Council apologizing for Lutheran
involvement in persecution of Anabaptists. In February 2008, a number
of representatives from the ELCA and Mennonite Church USA met in
Elkhart, Ind., to reflect on this new place in our relationship. For
more information about the Mennonite Church USA-ELCA relationship visit www.interchurchrelations.org. One next step is to make an inventory of places where members of
Mennonite Church USA and the ELCA have already been in significant
relationship. Thank you for your help.—Andre Gingerich Stoner, director
of Interchurch Relations, Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership. |
|
Mennonite Church USA 2009 Directory Your congregation recently received
information requesting an update or confirmation of your congregational
listing in the 2009 edition of the Mennonite Church USA Directory.
Please return the paper form or complete the form online as soon as
possible if you haven’t done so already. You’ll find the form online at www.mennodata.org. In either the printed
form or online, please update only those items that are incorrect. The
projected publishing date for the new directory is late 2008. If you
have questions about the form, please contact Doris Schmidt toll-free
at 1-866-866-2872 or e-mail DorisS@MennoniteUSA.org.
All invited to participate in binational event
All members of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada are invited to participate in a binational People’s Summit for Faithful Living July 8 to 10 on the campus of Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, Man. Registration forms are available online at summit.MennoniteUSA.org.
A sense of urgency led planners to name this binational gathering a “People’s Summit for Faithful Living.” The theme will be “At the Crossroads: Promise and Peril,” and participants will focus on the urgent task of being a faithful community of God amidst the many challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. Deuteronomy 4:1-9 will be the theme text.
Plenary worship speakers are Tom and Christine Sine of Seattle, Wash., April Yamasaki of Abbotsford, B.C., and Tom Yoder-Neufeld of Waterloo, Ont. A variety of workshops and activities and time for visiting and recreation will round out the two-and-a-half-day event.
The People’s Summit was announced in July 2007 at San José 2007 at the Mennonite Church USA convention and at the Mennonite Church Canada annual delegate assembly in Abbotsford, B.C. The two bodies last met together at a joint convention in Charlotte, N.C., in 2005 where delegates strongly supported continuing to meet together.
Those who are unable to attend the event are invited to participate by praying for God’s spirit to move among those who have gathered and use the event as a way to further enable Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada’s ability to share God’s healing and hope with the world. |