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News archive
Contact: Laurie L. Oswald (316) 283-5100, E-mail: LaurieO@MennoniteUSA.org
1. Philadelphia conference celebrates many
stories, one kingdom.
2. Philadelphia women who are backbone of congregations
share "book" of their lives.
3. 16th-century Anabaptists and modern-day
mentors shape a young man's life, lyrics.
4. 10,000 Mennonites to come to God's table
and invite others to the banquet.
5. Disaster yesterday, award tomorrow for Mennonite
Church USA Great Plains office.
Philadelphia conference celebrates
many stories, one kingdom
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by Laurie L. Oswald
This is the first of several
stories depicting a recent conference, "Philadelphia
Stories: Kingdom Building in the City, sponsored by the Mennonite
Church USA Historical Committee and Archives (a ministry of
the Executive Board) and the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ
churches in the city.
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| The Philadelphia Mennonite High
School choir performs April 4 during "Philadelphia
Stories: Kingdom Building in the City," a conference
held at the Vietnamese Mennonite Church on April 3-5
to focus on the multicultural Mennonite community in
the city. |
PHILADELPHIA (MC USA) -- As Leonard Dow spoke April 5 to
participants at "Philadelphia Stories: Kingdom Building
in the City," he brought the passion and honesty that
conference planners said they hoped and prayed would happen.
Dow, senior pastor at the multiracial Oxford Circle Mennonite
Church in Northeast Philadelphia, challenged 60 conference
participants to examine whether racism lived in their hearts
and to work toward reconciliation. The multiracial Anabaptist
community in Philadelphia -- including 22 churches representing
12 ethnic groups -- brings the promise of a new Christ-centered
community but also the pain of time-worn racism, he said.
Dow shared about how a Caucasian Mennonite who lived outside
the city told him that nothing good has come out of the
mission efforts in Philadelphia. Dow compared this to Nathaniel
asking whether anything good could come out of Nazareth
in John 1:46.
"This white brother told me that people in Philadelphia
were lazy, that the streets were all dirty, that the city
was not any place anyone would choose to be," Dow said
during his presentation at the Vietnamese Mennonite Church,
the site of the April 3-5 gathering. "He said that
we had been given jobs and life skills and he asked, 'Where
is all that now, what did we have to show for all that?
...
"Paraphrasing his words, the question is, 'Can anything
good come out of Philadelphia?' I believe the answer is
'Yes, come and see.' Not because of who we are but because
of who Jesus is."
As Dow ended, the Holy Spirit seemed to move through the
sanctuary of the church, prompting people to share how racism
had wounded them, to confess wrong attitudes and to pray
and to cry together. John Sharp, director of MC USA's Historical
Committee and Archives, a ministry of Mennonite Church USA's
Executive Board, said Dow's presentation and audience response
met an important conference goal.
Breaking down such barriers and building new bridges was
one of the aims of the Historical Committee and Mennonite
and Brethren in Christ churches in the city who sponsored
the conference. It was shaped by a 13-person planning committee,
including Sharp and committee co-chairs Nathan Yoder, outgoing
Historical Committee chair; and Tuyen Nguyen, a research
scientist and leader in the Vietnamese Mennonite Church
and the Vietnamese American Mennonite Church in Delaware.
"From early on in our planning sessions, we felt there
should be a time when we could share some of the hurt and
pain from our past on such issues as racism and see if there
would be an opportunity to journey toward healing and reconciliation,"
Sharp said. "While it became clear to us that we couldn't
complete the journey in three days, we felt we could take
some tiny steps. This time of sharing certainly was one
of those steps."
Conference participants took many such steps, when they
shared stories, scholarly papers, fellowship and worship
to open up a window into the urban experience. Conference
planters integrated the arenas of history and missions by
providing scholarly studies and storytelling that span a
couple of centuries and many cultures, Sharp said.
Since Mennonites first came to Philadelphia in 1683 to begin
Germantown Mennonite Church -- the oldest Mennonite congregation
in the United States -- the community has grown to include
many other ethnic groups. They include English, Spanish,
African-American, Ethiopian, Filipino, Chinese, Palestinian,
Asian Indian, Indonesia, Vietnamese and Cambodian.
"This gathering has given me an enriched pool of other-than-European
stories to help shape our identity and our consciousness,"
Sharp said. "This helps us all expand the sense of
who we are."
Kenyetta Aduma, director of Mennonite Church USA's Executive
Board Office of Cross Cultural Relations, and a conference
listening committee member, said that these stories give
substance to dreams of being a multicultural church but
also bring challenge to her ongoing work.
"We dealt with so many things here -- some of the hurt
and pain -- and we also experienced some healing,"
Aduma said. "But now the real challenge is to take
this to another level and to ask where we go from here and
how we move forward?
"I am concerned about how we get these congregations
more connected with their area conferences and that conferences
work further on racial issues. I would like to see more
urban-rural connections happen with the Philadelphia churches.
I would like to see the rural people coming into the city
and learning to understand some of the dynamics."
Freeman Miller is one such connection. Miller grew up as
an Amish farm boy and is bishop of the 15 congregations
in the city that belong to Lancaster Mennonite Conference.
He's served in the city for almost three decades, including
being former pastor of Diamond Street Mennonite Church.
During his presentation, "Thy Kingdom Come: Resources
and Challenges for Urban Anabaptists," he spoke about
the city's congregations that are part of "Kingdom
Builders," or formerly known as Philadelphia Mennonite
Council. This network is striving to build a bridge between
the first- and second-generation Mennonite churches and
to revive the Anabaptist vision for the 21st- century urban
environment.
"Are we giving our youth something they can live and
die for? Our urban youth may not like shoo-fly pie, but
the one thing that grabs young and old alike is the original
Anabaptist vision of following Jesus as Lord in all areas
of life, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is still
a compelling vision for urban Anabaptists today.
"We no longer plow the ground and milk the cows, but
we have become many kinds of professionals in the city.
And we need to find new ways of engaging the city as salt
and light and yeast. ... As we exercise our citizenship
of the New Jerusalem in old Philadelphia, a dynamic new
community of 'shalom' will rise up."
Miller propelled the audience into the future, while Jeff
Gingerich, doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania
and assistant professor of sociology at Bluffton (Ohio)
College, shared a view of the past in "Mennonites in
Philadelphia: Building an Urban Anabaptist Identity."
Nguyen spoke on "Phases of Christian Identity, Immigrants
and Ethnicity." And Lily Lee, who serves on the pastoral
team at Abundant Life Chinese Mennonite Church in South
Philadelphia and teaches mathematics at the Community College
of Philadelphia, spoke on "Sister Workers and Center
Women Build the Church."
Conference participants also enjoyed workshops, including
such topics as Philadelphia's influence on the Pennsylvania
German Mennonites and women's roles within urban congregations;
a tour of the city; times of worship led by worship teams
from local congregations; a performance by the Philadelphia
Mennonite High School Choir; and a rap song commemorating
Anabaptist martyrs, written and sung by Cruz Cordero, a
young adult of Clearwater, Fla., who is a former member
of Diamond Street.
The Historical Committee plans to publish a book from the
proceedings of the conference and to sponsor a dinner at
Atlanta 2003 in July, during which some of the stories gleaned
during conference will be shared. Photos available.
Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite
Church USA.
Philadelphia women who are
backbone of congregations share "book"
of their lives
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by Laurie L. Oswald
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| Mattie Cooper Nikiema (right), a
member of Diamond Street Mennonite Church in Philadelphia,
spoke at "Philadelphia Stories: Kingdom Building
in the City," a conference held April 3-5 in the
city. She enjoys fellowship with her brother, Raymond
Jackson, and Miriam Stoltzfus, a longtime Mennonite
leader in the city with her late husband, Luke Stoltzfus. |
This is the second of several stories depicting a recent
conference, "Philadelphia Stories: Kingdom Building in
the City, sponsored by the Mennonite Church USA Historical
Committee and Archives (a ministry of the Executive Board)
and the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in the city.
PHILADELPHIA (MC USA) -- When two women in dark cape dresses
and white head coverings came to Mattie Cooper Nikiema's door
to invite her African-American family to Diamond Street Mennonite
Church, she had no idea she'd one day wear the same.
That invitation came in 1951, several years after Nikiema
came rural Georgia to Philadelphia to join her mother and
younger brothers who were living in the city. When Nikiema
was 12 years old, they began attending Diamond Street. That's
where she donned the conservative dress, got involved in youth
group and taught Sunday school, Nikiema told the audience
during a conference, "Philadelphia Stories: Kingdom Building
in the City," held April 3-5 at the Vietnamese Mennonite
Church in Philadelphia.
Diamond Street provided many happy memories, she said. Memories
of when men in the church mentored her brothers, who had no
father at home. Memories of when she absorbed biblical values
that shaped her life choices, such as serving with Mennonite
Central Committee in West Africa. Memories of how she became
a Diamond Street member at 14 years old. She is still a member
there today at 65.
It also provided memories of how God heals wounds. Her mother
was asked to leave the church because some people at the church
thought she was having illicit relations with the boys' father.
He often came to the house to visit them.
"They
asked her to have him meet the boys outside the home, but
my mother felt the boys were too small for that," Nikiema
said. "So rather than do that, and because she didn't
want to cause trouble, she quietly left the Mennonite church
to go to the Methodist church, while my brothers and I stayed
on at Diamond Street.
"About 10 years ago, I
reopened this issue with the former church leaders and said
that I knew what was going on in my house, and that what people
thought had happened is untrue. They apologized on behalf
of the church to my mother, who wasn't a bitter or vindictive
woman. She told them that she had forgiven them long ago.
...
"While struggles existed in Mennonites adapting
to the city, I know in my heart that by and large, the goal
of the church was for our welfare and our good. Love was the
motivating factor."
Nikiema's storytelling about the urban church was only one
chapter of the "book" of stories women shared during
the conference. The Mennonite Church USA Historical Committee
-- a ministry of the Executive Board -- and the Mennonite
and Brethren in Christ churches in the city sponsored the
conference April 3-5.
By inviting many women of color such as Nikiema to participate
in storytelling, presentations and sharing oral history, conference
planners hoped to honor the contributions women have made
to the urban Anabaptist multiracial community in Philadelphia.
It has 22 congregations representing 12 languages and ethnicities.
Many of these women -- designated by conference organizers
as "center women" because of their place in congregational
life -- weren't official leaders. But they organized behind
the scenes, taught Sunday and Bible schools, visited the sick,
hosted the potlucks and served as matriarchs in their communities,
said Beth Graybill, a conference planner and director of Women's
Concerns for Mennonite Central Committee.
She co-led a conference workshop on "center" women
with Kimberly Schmidt, director of a semester of urban experience
in Washington for Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg,
Va., and a researcher and historian in Amish and Mennonite
women. The term "center women" comes from women's
history and community-organizing literature.
"So
often women's contributions are invisible and overlooked,
but if it weren't for them, these churches wouldn't have held
together," Graybill said. "So I was thrilled that
they could be so upfront and center at this conference.
"I was especially pleased with the oral history
project. Many women weren't involved in writing official correspondence
or church documents. ... So when you're sifting through the
historical records and don't come up with much, this project
helps to present a fuller picture of their involvement."
Pat McFarlane, a communication professor, and Linda Christophel,
a social worker, both of Goshen, Ind., are producing a Mennonite
Women of Color Oral History Project to highlight such involvements
of 45 women across the United States. They led a session April
5 at the conference in which five women from local congregations
in Philadelphia who are involved in the project sat in a circle
and shared parts of their life stories for the audience.
Participants were Geraldine Abraham and Hattie Minnis of Second
Mennonite Church; Dorcas Hua of Abundant Life Chinese Mennonite
Church; Barbara Miller of Diamond Street; and Barbara Moses,
principal of Philadelphia Mennonite High School.
Hua shared how she was born and raised in the northern part
of Vietnam, where her mother brought her to the Buddhist temple
to pray with her. "I remember how special it was to be
alone with my mother, since I was one of seven children,"
she said. " I remember having a deep sense of being loved
and receiving a strong self-esteem and self-confidence. She
was a strong person, and my childhood was a great part of
my life."
Hua later became a Christian and now helps her husband in
ministry. "I was never taught that I can't do this or
that but that I should love God with all my heart, mind and
soul," she said. "That's why I've struggled with
the issues people have over women in leadership in the Mennonite
church.
"If we are saved by Jesus and are willing
to serve him, then it doesn't matter if you are a man or woman,
you are called to be a minister. And that's what I am doing
-- preaching, teaching, leading songs, doing visitation, right
along with my husband."
After the oral history project, Miriam Stoltzfus, a member
of Diamond Street, and a longtime church worker with her late
husband, Luke Stoltzfus, shared about the contributions of
many single Anglo women. Lancaster Mennonite Conference sent
many such women to serve in the city -- such as those who
came to invite Nikiema to church.
Stoltzfus' storytelling led into a main presentation by Lilly
Lee, who spoke about the barriers of women to using their
gifts in the church. Lee serves on the pastoral team at the
Abundant Life church and teaches mathematics at the Community
College of Philadelphia. She spoke on "Sister Workers
and Center Women Build the Church."
She shared insights from biblical exegesis regarding women's
role. These findings are in her book, written in Chinese,
Passion for Fullness: Examining the Woman's Identity and Roles
from Biblical, Historical and Sociological Perspectives. She
made a case for recognizing and using the gifts of women in
all places, including pastoral roles and places of authority.
"We don't want to stop with encouraging 'center'
women, but we also want to make space for women in pastoral
roles in the church," Lee said. "Like men, women
were created in God's image. ... They are equally blessed,
gifted, called and sent." Photos available.
Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite Church
USA.
16th-century Anabaptists and
modern-day mentors shape a young man's life, lyrics
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by Laurie L. Oswald
This is the last of three stories depicting a recent conference,
"Philadelphia Stories: Kingdom Building in the City,
sponsored by the Mennonite Church USA Historical Committee
(a ministry of the Executive Board) and the Mennonite and
Brethren in Christ churches in the city.
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| Cruz Cordero (center) of St. Petersburg,
Fla., enjoys fellowship with his spiritual mentors,
Naomi and Freeman Miller, longtime Mennonite leaders
in Philadelphia. Cordero performed an original rap song
about the Anabaptist martyrs during an April 3-5 conference,
"Philadelphia Stories: Kingdom Building in the
City. |
PHILADELPHIA (MC USA) -- Twelve years ago, Cruz Cordero's
felt the fires of suffering, as his family broke apart and
he searched for belonging on the streets of North Philadelphia.
Today, Jesus Christ is transforming those ashes into a life
of beauty, Christian rap music and the testimony of a 28-year-old
young man who finds courage in the stories of the early Anabaptist
martyrs to live his life as passionately as they lived theirs.
When he was a teenager his mother left his father, a gifted
artist who got involved in drugs and alcohol and turned abusive
in the home. That brought betrayal to Cordero, who had experienced
a relatively stable home and a father who cared. His mother
and two small sisters moved to Florida, while Cordero and
his older sister stayed in the city and roamed from temporary
home to temporary home.
Like a prodigal, he searched for a home in the hip-hop culture
and answers to his questions about who he was and why he was
here. But he found no answers, until the day he ran across
a Mennonite girl listening to Christian rap. That's when he
felt for the first time that there was a God who would understand
his songs, his pain, his dreams.
"I was asking
God why I was suffering so much, when I met Rhonda Miller,
a girl at the High School for Performing Arts where we both
attended, who was listening to a head set. I asked what she
was listening to and she told me 'Christian rap.' I didn't
even know such a thing existed.
"She handed
me the head set and when I listened, I heard words and music
that spoke my language, a God who spoke my language. For the
first time in my life, I felt that I had God's undivided attention."
Since that time, God has turned Cordero's trials into a faith
of gold. He is now a rap musician and college student in St.
Petersburg, Fla., and is connecting in good ways again with
his family. His dreams are go to Bible school and into full-time
ministry in Philadelphia, where he hopes to teach at a learning
center being developed by the Cross Movement Ministries. It
ministers to youth and young adults in the hip hop culture.
The transformation began after Miller, the daughter of Naomi
and Freeman Miller, longtime Mennonite leaders in the city,
invited Cordero to the Diamond Street Mennonite Church youth
group. That's where he became a Christian at age 16 and experienced
the love and support of mentors such as the Millers and other
church family. Freeman Miller is the former pastor of Diamond
Street and bishop for the Lancaster Mennonite Conference churches
in the city.
As Cordero spent time in the Miller's home, their mentoring
enabled him to struggle through years of learning difficulties
at school and emotional difficulties in relationships. But
over the years, Christ has helped him to push through these
obstacles and to write the kind of Christian rap music that
reaches the kind of youth he once was, he said.
After he graduated from high school in 1995, he joined the
Cross Movement, a Philadelphia-based Christian rap group that
brings the gospel through rap to the city streets across the
United States and Jamaica. The stories he heard for the first
time at Diamond Street about the early Anabaptists martyrs
have resonated with his own story.
"I draw a
lot of encouragement from those martyrs," Cordero said.
"Whatever I've had to go through, their fires were hotter
than mine. Their lives were a reflection of not only what
we have to go through but also a reflection of what we can
be if we allow those fires to purge us and be a reminder of
the peace that can be ours in Jesus Christ."
The intensity of Cordero's testimony shone bright as gold
the night he shared a Christian rap song, "Onward Martyrdom,"
that he wrote and performed for the audience April 4 at a
conference, "Philadelphia Stories: Kingdom-Building in
the City." As he moved to the strong beat of the music,
people heard his cries and those of the martyrs. He poured
his emotions into pulsating street poetry depicting the lives
of such martyrs as Dirk Willems.
He sang, "Facing execution this man was willing/ to extend
a helping hand to the man pursuing him/ to do him in, so those
rulers can ruin him/'cause was an Anabaptist who was walking
in unison/with the person of Christ, immersed in his life/
obeying His sermon is what turned him into a furnace of light."
Naomi and Freeman Miller were two people in the audience who
felt particular joy over seeing God's love and light burst
into bold testimony through this young man, who has become
their spiritual son. Cordero received a standing ovation at
the April 3-5 conference focusing on the multiracial Mennonite
community in the city.
Cordero is quick to recognize the Millers as his spiritual
parents, as well. "God has used them to reflect his love,
and I am so grateful," he said. "God has bestowed
his love on them, and they have chosen to bestow it on me.
We all need to be embraced and loved by people, as well as
by God."
That love has taken firm root, as he is now an example to
others, Naomi Miller said. "Cruz has an amazing inner
strength and determination -- he never quits," she said.
"We have learned so much from him about perseverance
in difficult times. His unshakable commitment to Christ and
to the Anabaptist vision have grown very deep roots. ...
"He reminds me a bit of an oak tree sapling, which
after a long period of almost imperceptible growth, becomes
an unshakable solid tree. Cruz is like that oak tree. We could
not grow for him. He is the one who did the wrestling with
God, trusted him and kept on going when the road ahead looked
impossible.
"He now mentors two or three young
friends in Florida. They are where he was a number of years
ago and he wants them so badly to see what they need to do
to grow. So the baton is passed on to Cruz, and he is beginning
to mentor others."
Cordero has gained a prophet's voice, as well as ideas for
rap lyrics, from his connection to the martyrs. His mentoring
is full of the passion of someone who has known the emptiness
of the streets and wants people to embrace the fullness of
Christ.
"What people need most is not to be
tutored, counseled or lectured," Cordero said. "What
they need is a conversion, redemption. People aren't wounded
by sin. They are dead in sin. Men and women need a resurrection
if they want a relationship with God.
"And
I think the early Anabaptists have a lot to tell us about
not taking the teachings of Jesus Christ lightly, but applying
the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes. It's not only
a belief in creed, it's a belief in practice." Photos
available.
Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite Church
USA.
10,000 Mennonites to come
to God's table and invite others to the banquet
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| Youth play in the fountain at Centennial
Olympic Park in Atlanta, the site of Atlanta 2003, Mennonite
Church USA's first biennial churchwide gathering at
Georgia World Congress Center on July 3-8. |
by Laurie L. Oswald
NEWTON, Kan. (MC USA) -- When an expected 10,000 Mennonites
meet for Atlanta 2003 in July at Mennonite Church USA's first
churchwide assembly, they will reach far beyond the convention
walls at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Mennonites of all ages will extend the invitation from Atlanta
2003 -- "God's Table, Y'All Come" -- within the
urban community. They will carry God's welcome into the streets
during the July 3-8 gathering when they participate in a March
for Reconciliation to the Martin Luther King Center; a hymn
sing at Centennial Olympic Park; citywide servant projects;
and a Freedom Prayer Walk through the historic Sweet Auburn
district.
Participants will also focus on themes of peace, social justice
and human rights while listening to such speakers as Jimmy
Carter, former U.S. president and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
He's been invited to speak for the opening joint worship service
July 3, but he has yet to confirm his availability.
The table theme for Atlanta 2003 -- with five conventions
including the adult assembly and conventions for young adults,
youth, junior high and children -- is based on Luke 13:29,
"Then people will come from the east and west, north
and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God." This
theme integrates convention goals of sharing God's banquet
both inside and outside the church, said Sue Conrad, assistant
director for the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board Office
of Convention Planning.
"We did such amazing
work at Nashville 2001, and now it's time to see how that
all works, as we come together at one table," said Conrad,
whose focus is the adult assembly and junior high and children's
conventions. As a result of the General Conference Mennonite
Church and the Mennonite Church merging in 2002, Mennonites
from across the United States will come to the table as one
body.
And the theme exemplifies Mennonite Church USA's missional
spirit of sharing God's table with others, Conrad said. "The
theme also works well with this city and what it stands for
historically, with the late Martin Luther King Jr. and others
working for civil rights," she said. "My hope is
that we will grow in unity inside and outside of the church,
as we all share God's welcome."
This vision propelled the convention planning committees to
create the march and hymn sing as joint adult-youth events
for July 6. The march will begin at 5 p.m. at the convention
center and proceed to the Martin Luther King Peace Center
for a short ceremony. The marchers will head to Centennial
Olympic Park by 7 p.m., where during a hymn sing from 7 to
8 p.m., area neighbors and city visitors will be invited to
join.
Up to 4,000 adults and youth are expected to sign up for servant
projects on one of four afternoons throughout the city. They
will volunteer at sites working with the elderly in nursing
homes, playing with children in homeless shelters and picking
up trash in parks.
Participants may also join the Freedom Prayer Walk through
the historical Sweet Auburn district of Atlanta. The avenue
contains a concentration of African-American history, heritage
and achievement. The walk will be held noon to 5 p.m. each
day.
"People in the community are very excited
about this event, as it will integrate a look at history with
people praying about the issues that have come out of that
history and that shape our world today," said Lana Miller,
assistant director for the Office of Convention Planning,
whose focus is the youth and young adult conventions.
Convention goers may focus on social justice issues outdoors,
as delegates to the adult assembly will also have opportunity
to focus on some of the same issues inside the convention
hall. Delegate business includes voting on whether to approve
churchwide statements on abortion, access to health care and
immigration. Delegates are representatives from Mennonite
Church USA's 21 area conferences and 992 congregations with
about 114,000 members.
Mennonite Church USA, largest of several Mennonite denominations,
came from the 16th-century Christian Radical Reformation.
This protest movement, called "Anabaptism," emphasized
believers' baptism on the grounds that only adults can accept
and declare their Christian faith. Many early Anabaptists
were hanged or burned alive because of their beliefs. Mennonites
today continue to disagree with violent conflict and believe
that their chief allegiance lies with the Kingdom of God and
Christ's teachings.
All these activities and more are part of the diversity of
events planned for Atlanta 2003. They include worship services
and Bible studies; exhibits and about 200 seminars on such
topics as spirituality, peacemaking, worship and family life;
recreation for all ages; A-Junction -- the exhibit hall area;
and the performing arts in large and small venues.
The largest performing arts event -- "Many Voices, One
Spirit" -- will be a concert celebration July 4 of worship
through music, drama and voices lifted together in praise.
Solo and ensemble will reflect the diversity of the new Mennonite
Church USA through performances given by Anglos, Hispanics,
African-Americans and Native Americans. The concert -- not
open to the public -- will be at 7 p.m. in the Sidney Marcus
Auditorium at the convention center.
Musical hosts are Doug and Jude Krehbiel, mission musicians
for Mennonite Mission Network, who will share original music
from their new recording, Let It Flow Through You. The concert
is jointly sponsored by the Mennonite Church USA Executive
Board and churchwide agencies: Mennonite Education Agency,
Mennonite Mission Network, Mennonite Mutual Aid and Mennonite
Publishing Network.
Five conventions, one theme
For the first time ever, all five conventions will gather
these events under the same theme -- a theme that incorporates
a table for each group's worship services. Also, Brent Miller
of Goshen, Ind., will create a table during the convention
at A-Junction, the exhibit hall area, so that participants
are reminded each day of the theme.
The youth convention plans to have three tables at the back
of their convention hall, where youth can further work with
the idea of how the table symbol represents Anabaptist ideals
of peacemaking, reconciliation and community, Lana Miller
said.
"What's so incredible about this convention is that
most of our speakers are Mennonite, and so they will speak
passionately about the Anabaptist themes of peacemaking,
community and missions, because they believe in them so
deeply themselves," she said.
Youth speakers include Stanley Green, executive director
for the Mission Network; Chuck Neufeld, co-pastor of Community
Mennonite Church in Markham, Ill.; Michele Hershberger,
chair of the Bible department at Hesston (Kan.) College;
and John Paul Lederach, founder of Eastern Mennonite University's
Conflict Transformation Program, and professor of international
peacebuilding of the Joan Kroc Institute of International
Peace Studies at Notre Dame University.
Other speakers are Tony Campolo, well-known speaker and
founder and president of the Evangelical Association for
the Promotion of Education; Irene Mendoza, licensed pastor
at the House of the Lord Fellowship Congregation in La Puente,
Calif., and a staff associate for the Center for Anabaptist
Leadership (CAL) in Pasadena, Calif.; Luke Hartman, a basketball
coach and professor at Hesston (Kan.) College and retreat
speaker; and Mike Yaconelli, popular author and speaker
and owner of Youth Specialties, an international organization
that trains and provide resources for youth workers.
Ken Medema, a blind musician of San Francisco, Calif., who
has performed at many Mennonite youth conventions, will
be back. He will join Ted Swartz and Lee Eshelman -- also
known as the popular comedy duo Ted & Lee -- to present
Fight for the Blessing, to be performed July 5 and 6. Medema
will portray Isaac, the blind father, of Jacob and Esau,
portrayed by Ted and Lee.
A distinguishing mark of the adult worship services is diversity
and the fact that two of the three worship leaders are under
the age of 26, Conrad said. They are Monica Spory, director
of a before/after school program through Mennonite Voluntary
Service in Winnipeg, Man.; and Hugo Saucedo, program coordinator
for Service and Learning in San Antonia, Texas, known as
SALSA, and a high school teacher. The third leader is Jonathan
Larson of Atlanta, who has served as pastor, peace evangelist,
wandering storyteller and missionary.
"We have a great variety of speakers and a great variety
of gifts and talents represented by our worship leaders,"
Conrad said. "It's so exciting to see young adults
take on that big responsibility and for the church to embrace
their gifts."
Adult speakers will be Addie Banks, who shares pastoral
leadership at the King of Glory Tabernacle, a Mennonite
congregation in the Bronx, N.Y.; Mark Vincent, leader for
Design for Ministry, a creative firm intended to be at the
heart of stewardship education; Joe Manickam, associate
director for CAL; and Dorothy Nickel Friesen, conference
minister for Western District in North Newton.
Young adults -- ages 18 to 30 -- will use their gifts during
a worship service they plan for Monday evening, July 7.
That's when they will invite the adults, who don't have
a worship service scheduled for that evening, to partake
in their service, Miller said.
They will have two other worship services; luncheon discussions;
and a party, including food and square dancing, in Centennial
Olympic Park, on the evening of July 5. And for the first
time, young adults who have chosen as delegates from their
congregations and area conferences can participate in an
orientation and mentoring program called YODA, Young Adult
Delegates to Assembly.
Junior high youth and children also have a full roster of
activities, Conrad said. The junior high convention, coordinated
by Susan Nisly of Hutchinson, Kan., will be held at the
Marriott hotel in downtown Atlanta from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Their activities include worship services, field trips and
a service experience.
Carol Grieser of Goshen, Ind., is coordinating the children's
convention -- for grades 1 through 6 -- that will include
a curriculum designed by Rosemary Widmer, nurture and fellowship
pastor at College Mennonite Church in Goshen, Ind. The curriculum
helps the children understand what it means to be God's
chosen ones.
For more information on Atlanta 2003, go to the Atlanta
2003 Web site at www.atlanta2003.org or call the Convention
Planning office in Elkhart, Ind., at 574-294-7523. Photos
available.
Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite
Church USA.
Disaster yesterday, award tomorrow
for Mennonite Church USA Great Plains office
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| Mennonite Church USA won an award
May 4 from the Newton/North Newton Historic Preservation
Commission for renovation to the front of the Great
Plain offices at 722 Main Street in Newton, Kan. New
brick and large blue signage replaced tin and tiles
that blew off during an April 2001 windstorm. The commission
recognized the effort as one of four outstanding achievements
in 2003. |
by Laurie L. Oswald
NEWTON, Kan. (MC USA) -- Mennonite Church USA staff in the
Great Plains denominational offices discovered that a disaster
yesterday could mean an award tomorrow.
A recently completed renovation replacing storm damage on
the face of 722 Main Street has brought acclaim from the community
and Mennonites who wanted their history preserved. The Newton/North
Newton Historic Preservation Commission recognized the restoration
as one of four outstanding achievements in 2003 during an
awards ceremony hosted by the Newton Chamber of Commerce on
April 4 in downtown Newton.
The denomination received the award for helping to restore
and beautify the community, and MC USA is also receiving thanks
from constituents. The new brick face and royal blue signage
-- with white lettering for Mennonite Church USA and Provident
Bookstore next to the denomination's peace dove logo -- replace
aqua-blue tin and tiles that blew off the building in an April
2001 windstorm.
"We've received a lot of very positive comments, both
from community leaders and constituents," said Larry
Becker, building manager at 722 Main who received the plaque
award on behalf of MC USA. "It makes me realize that
what looked like a disaster on April 11 turned out to be beauty
for downtown Newton and for our church."
Becker -- a supervisor for information technology in the Newton
offices for MC USA and Mennonite Mission Network -- worked
closely with a restoration committee, including Karen Bachman,
an information technology technician at 722 Main for MC USA
and Mission Network. Irma Voran was the exterior design consultant
of North Newton and former employee at 722 Main Street.
"I was at 722 Main when that blue tin went on, which
replaced blue glass tiles that were here before that,"
said Voran, owner of Innovative Interiors, a decorating business,
and a member of Faith Mennonite Church in Newton. "That
was back in an era when people didn't preserve buildings.
They just covered them up and didn't restore them.
"I remember being so sad the day the blue tin went up,
and I was so thrilled when the storm blew it off. So when
they called and asked me to help, I was excited. This site
for many of us became more than just a building. It became
like a second home, a second family. I think this renovation
shows that we care about our heritage ... I hope that all
of the community can catch on to the vision of restoring and
treasuring what we have."
Voran worked for the former General Conference Mennonite Church
from 1963 to 1994. That denomination -- that merged with the
Mennonite Church in 2002 -- first opened Newton offices on
Main Street in the 1940s. The new denomination also has its
Great Lakes offices in Elkhart, Ind.
The new face, besides preserving the past, is also proclaiming
a message for the future, said other staff members at 722
Main. Cindy Snider, director of MC USA's Executive Board Office
of Communications, said the signage, much larger than earlier
signs, shows a transformation of the old into the new. Many
people traveling down Main Street said the bold signage jumps
out at them, where before the signage was obscure.
"Perhaps the beautiful transformation of our building
exterior is indicative of the ongoing transformation within
Mennonite Church USA," Snider said. "We are committed
to being a missional church. .... Who we are, what we say
and what we do -- including being good stewards of our buildings
-- have an impact on those around us, whether across the street
or around the world.
"Mennonites have a distinctive vision of what God's reign
means. Our bold signage leaves no doubt that we are ready
to step out and engage the world in a Christ-like way."
Jim Schrag, executive director of the Executive Board, who
attended the awards ceremony with Becker and Bachman, said,
"Main Street doesn't just belong to us. We are shareholders
in it with others. The missional emphasis in the community
means that we have obligations to do our part to make a good
community."
Those who restored the building to give it the new look were
general contractors Kevin Burch and Jim Yoder from Burch Construction
in Newton; restoration contractors from Mid-Continental Restoration
Company Inc. in Fort Scott; and Wichita (Kan.) Awning Company.
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