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March 2009
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. We need connections to other people in our community and in our congregation. We want to be family with each other. Greg Boyd, pastor of a large congregation in St. Paul, Minn., who shares our beliefs and values, recently spoke to a gathering of Mennonite educators. Greg said that Mennonites are at a defining moment in our history. He said that all over the world groups of people are getting a vision for “a beautiful, peaceable, service-oriented, community-based, non-nationalistic, Jesus-looking Kingdom that Mennonites and other Anabaptists have treasured for the last 500 years.” He told us that if we want to be able to embrace these groups, we have to hold on to Kingdom values and let go of the parts of our culture that are not essential to Christian faith. Is this possible for us? Can we cling to Kingdom values and leave culture behind? I think that’s what Mennonite Church USA delegates were asking in 2007 in San José when they passed a resolution on national identity and asked for resources to help us live more faithfully in our nation in Christ-like ways. You may have seen some of these resources in the Feb. 3 issue of The Mennonite (more copies are available for purchase at 800-790-2498). You can find many more resources on our Web site at www.MennoniteUSA.org/identity. The upcoming Mennonite Church USA convention in Columbus is more than a family event. It will give us an opportunity to look more carefully at what it means to follow Jesus in a world that is not. (Register soon for convention on the Mennonite Church USA Web site.) Take a close look at the congregational study on the national identity Web page. Use it in your congregation. Come to Columbus prepared to talk about your congregation’s experiences and the possibilities for Mennonite congregations to work together to join in what God is doing in the world. Ron Byler is associate executive director of Mennonite Church USA back to top 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.
Chris Rahe, Web content manager for Executive Leadership says, “A link has been posted on the ‘Subscribe’ page to my e-mail address (chrisr@mennoniteusa.org) so I can manually add you to the e-mail list if you are having problems.” The problem also affects the login function area conference staff use to update pastorate openings. According to Rahe, “Our IT people have been working on the problem, and we will perform a major upgrade to the content management system running our site in the near future, which we hope will fix the problem.” In the meantime, if you have questions or issues, contact Rahe via e-mail or call toll-free at 1-866-866-2872. back to top Craig Van Gelder to keynote Pastors’ Day at Convention 2009On 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. Other speakers will include Lois Barrett, Jim Schrag and Gilberto Flores. Previously announced speaker Darrel Guder had a conflict schedule and will not be present. The day-long event was created as a means of nurturing, educating and showing appreciation for pastors. The focus will be “Pastoral Ministry from a Missional Perspective” and offer a unique opportunity for Mennonite Church USA pastors and spouses to connect and network with other pastors and spouses and learn from each other and leading theologians so that they can inspire others to receive God’s Spirit and join God’s work in the world. back to top Time to appoint delegates for Convention 2009Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009 is only months away, and it’s time for congregations to begin appointing delegates for the Delegate Assembly. The Delegate Assembly is the decision-making body of Mennonite Church USA and meets every two years as part of Mennonite Church USA conventions. This year’s convention will be June 30 to July 5, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. Delegates will meet from 8 to 10 a.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. daily Wednesday through Saturday the week of the convention. In January, congregations should have received a letter from Jim Schrag outlining the 10 guidelines for selecting delegates. Once the delegates have been appointed, it’s important to turn these names into Executive Leadership as soon as you can and no later than April 1. You can do this by entering your delegates on the Mennonite Directory Congregational Update Web page. See item 20 on your congregational profile and enter your delegates’ names along with their e-mail and mailing addresses. You may update this information through June 15. Once you have appointed your delegates and submitted their names, direct them to the special Delegates section on the Mennonite Church USA Web site. As Convention 2009 and the Delegate Assembly draw nearer, delegates will be able to find important information that will help them prepare and discuss items with others in your congregation. back to top Convention 2009 worship speakers announcedIn 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. June Alliman Yoder and Mandy Yoder Schrock, a mother-daughter duo, will speak for the joint worship with youth and adults. Youth worship speakers include: Brenda Matthews, Shane Hipps, Jessica Schrock-Ringenburg, Leonard Dow, Shane Claiborne and Greg Boyd. Marty Troyer will speak for all junior youth worship sessions. If you’re already on facebook, join the Convention 2009 group and connect with more than 400 others who are among the first to receive convention updates. back to top “Generous” stories available for useA 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. The stories may be used as sermon illustrations, conversation-starters for small groups, inspiration for church committees, as supplements for congregational newsletters or any other way you think they might be useful and inspiring in your congregation. To explore the entire collection of stories, check out The Generosity Project stories here. You also can access the link through the “Members” on the Mennonite Church USA homepage and then choosing “The Generosity Project” under “Get involved.” Here’s a sample story: The gift of “Yes” Perhaps the greatest gift that Ertell Whigham ever gave anyone was the heartfelt “YES” that he gave to God when he gained “a very clear sense” that God was calling him to ministry. The call, says Ertell, came not from a church, not from a personal friend, not from a psychological hunch, but from Isaiah 61. [read more] back to top | |
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