|
News archive
| |
|
| Showers of blessing rain on witness against Iraq war |
 |
WASHINGTON, D.C. – “Let’s call them showers of blessing,” Rev. James Forbes, pastor emeritus of Riverside Church in New York told the crowd gathered in the pouring rain on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., March 7, to witness against the Iraq war.
The rains failed to dampen the spirits of those participating in the second annual interfaith witness organized by Christian Peace Witness for Iraq. Green armbands distributed to Mennonites before the witness began were visible throughout the small crowd.
Forbes, one of more than a dozen speakers, including Jewish and Muslim leaders, said that God cares for all people – Americans and Iraqis alike. He said Christians opposed to the war in Iraq should use the national political campaign this year to raise issues about peace.
“Christians need to clarify what we believe about peace and justice, and we need to contribute to the health of the nation,” Forbes said.
Susan Mark Landis, peace advocate for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership, and one of the event’s organizers, said planners also encouraged local vigils and prayer groups throughout the country.
Landis and others met with lawmakers before and after the national gathering on the mall. She said one of Senate majority leader Harry Reid’s aids told them that their phone calls and letters are important in helping to shape congressional opinion about the war.
Earlier in the day, the Iraq witness began with worship services in a half dozen churches in the district. At Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church, Cliff Kindy, Christian Peacemaker Team member recently returned from Iraq, said he came from a land laid waste by war.
“The war comes home, not only in the bodies of U.S. troops, but in the economy and the national debt,” Kindy said.
“We need to say without apology that God’s judgment is on those who destroy societies to gain power for themselves,” added Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, president of Chicago Theological Seminary in her sermon.
Immediately following the national witness, more than 36 participants were arrested inside the Hart Senate office building when they refused to follow orders to end their impromptu worship service. Those arrested included Mennonite pastors André Gingerich Stoner (Kern Road Mennonite Church, South Bend, Ind.) and Karl Shelly (Assembly Mennonite Church, Goshen, Ind.)
About 35 Mennonites gathered later that evening for a presentation by Lisa Schirch, program director for the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding of Eastern Mennonite University. The event was co-sponsored by the Anabaptist Peace Center in Washington D.C. and Mennonite Church USA’s Peace and Justice Support Network.
Schirch said security issues should be reframed to include development and diplomacy before defense. She said Christians calling for the withdrawal of troops in Iraq should also be concerned about U.S. oil interests and military bases in that country.
The weekend witness included workshops focused on helping to end the war in Iraq. The Olive Branch Interfaith Peace Partnership of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders also met.
“We’ve been called to this work for a long time and we’re committed to it for a long time to come,” said Mark Johnson, director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and an Olive Branch steering committee member.
 |
| Youth from the University Mennonite Church in State College, Pa. joined other Mennonites from Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kansas at the second annual Christian Peace Witness for Iraq in Washington D.C. Photo by Ron Byler |
 |
| Mennonites from across the country joined more than 400 people who gathered near the Capitol building in Washington D.C., March 7, to show their support for the second annual Christian Peace Witness for Iraq gathering. Photo courtesy of Terry Foss, American Friends Service Committee. |
| |
|
| Executive Board to strengthen vision |
|
By Gordon Houser
Believing change is needed if Mennonite Church USA is to follow its vision, the denomination’s Executive Board set in motion a process it expects to include “streamlining and consolidation of our churchwide organization” (see statement in box below).
The board met Feb. 8 to 9 in San Antonio, Texas, hosted by San Antonio Mennonite Church. On Feb. 7, board members also took part in antiracism training.
The statement grew out of two closed sessions, then was read publicly on Feb. 9 and passed unanimously. Moderator Sharon Waltner said, “Our passion for [Mennonite Church USA] leads us to take risks.”
Executive Director Jim Schrag said the statement comes out of a six-year review, which has been ongoing. (Mennonite Church USA formed in 2002.) “Current structures,” he said, “do not adequately support our vision.”
The statement is also an outgrowth of conversations between the Executive Board executive committee and the chairs of the four agencies of Mennonite Church USA Jan. 25-26 in Columbus, Ohio.
The board’s action, said moderator-elect Ed Diller, is driven by vision, not by any sense of financial or other distress. It grows out of feedback from delegates to San José 2007, from other constituents and from studying the 2006 Church Member Profile (published as Road Signs of the Journey by Conrad L. Kanagy).
Waltner said the board wants to take its leadership responsibility seriously as it seeks the best direction to fulfill the vision of Mennonite Church USA. Diller added, “We want to do what we can to support the vibrancy we see in congregations.”
That vibrancy was on display in a meeting with “owners” members of the San Antonio church, Comunidad de Vida and DOOR (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection) one evening. At each of its meetings, the Executive Board meets with local leaders. Each meeting is in a different location around the country.
At this meeting, Hugo Saucedo, a church member and director of the local DOOR program, said that Mennonites in San Antonio are known as people who serve others. A former pastor told him, “I wish I could get you people to preach what you practice.”
Saucedo, a longtime Mennonite, said he plans to remain one, even though some people at San José told him he’ll never be a Mennonite because of his name.
The board heard a report from Jorge Vallejos, director of convention planning, that recommended Pittsburgh, Pa., being the site for the 2011 convention, pending successful completion of contract negotiations. Vallejos said that based on many variables, Phoenix, Ariz., was the best option. However, given the low attendance at San José 2007, the likelihood of a larger attendance, given proximity to the largest number of constituents, made Pittsburgh the best value.
The board agreed with the choice and agreed with a staff recommendation that conventions continue on a two-year cycle, subject to further processing at the Constituency Leaders Council. They also adopted a convention purpose statement that includes, “Gather as a body of Christ to experience joy in relationship while building denominational vision and identity.”
The board conducted an evaluation of MMA (Mennonite Mutual Aid). MMA president Larry Miller reported that its board is looking at revising its ends statement to emphasize empowering “persons with Anabaptist beliefs” rather than “the Anabaptist faith community.” Executive Board members expressed some caution about a direction that appeared to focus more on individuals and asked about how MMA has worked at antiracism.
A national identity task group reported its progress to Executive Board members. Its purpose is to “formulate a process that helps the church explore our identity as Mennonites living in what many consider the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth by providing resources that help us live faithfully in Christlike ways.”
The group encouraged Executive Board members to attend the binational “People’s Summit for Faithful Living” this July in Winnipeg.
Executive Board members accepted a budget for fiscal year 2009 of $2,141,378, a 2.9 percent increase over last year’s budget.
| |
|
| Healthcare Access project team working on health plan for pastors and church workers |
|
NEWTON, Kan. In response to delegate action taken at San José 2007, Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership is making progress in a collaborative process across the church to create a health plan that would cover all eligible Mennonite Church USA pastors and church workers with basic health insurance.
Current initiatives on the healthcare access include: a pastors’ survey, the development of options for sharing cost risks, a conference for key leaders of existing Mennonite Church USA insurance pools and a series of regional consultations where funding models will be tested with congregations.
Keith Harder, healthcare access project director for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership, is working with a small team of leaders representing area conferences, churchwide agencies, schools and other related organizations. Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership is the staff of the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board. The Executive Board is the body delegates charged with overseeing the development and implementation of the delegate resolution.
“We are learning about the human cost and the compromised ministry that results from inadequate access to healthcare. We are not content knowing that some pastors in our church are one illness or one accident away from a crushing burden of debt,” Harder says. “Joining together to share healthcare risk for our pastors begins to address the widening gap between those congregations with abundant financial resources and those with less access to financial resources.”
All Mennonite Church USA pastors 64 years old and younger received a survey in early February that gathered information about their healthcare and health insurance needs. As it develops plans for the future, the healthcare access project team assumes pastors age 65 and older currently have access to and are taking advantage of their Medicaid benefits. Findings will be reported to the broader church later this spring.
A conference involving key leaders from Mennonite Church USA’s existing insurance pools will be March 10 to 11 in Middlebury, Ind. Participants will include representatives from Mennonite Church USA agencies, colleges and universities and other institutions. At the conference, participants will receive information to help them assess the possibilities of participating in a new risk-sharing arrangement.
Prior to the summit conference, experts from MMA the stewardship agency of Mennonite Church USA will complete their current work alongside the project team to develop options for sharing health cost risks in ways that are fair and appropriate across the church. The results of this work will be tested at the summit conference and in the regional consultations with congregations.
The consultations with congregations will begin in late March and run through June. Each meeting will involve representatives from several selected congregations, including pastors, financial leaders and other lay leadership. The meetings will include a presentation about the project followed by a discussion among those in attendance. The goals are to share information and to collect feedback and ideas that can serve in the formation of a new healthcare access arrangement in the church.
By late summer or early fall 2008, the healthcare access project team will assess whether a health plan to cover all eligible Mennonite Church USA pastors and church workers with basic health insurance is viable based on the risk sharing model currently being formed with the assistance of MMA staff. According to Harder, Executive Leadership hopes that should a new plan be developed, it would be available for enrollment sometime in 2009.
“This project is about more than insurance,” Harder says. “It is about what kind of church we will be and how we see God at work in our midst. A plan that will provide adequate healthcare access for all our pastors will only come about as a work of God among us.”
Now therefore, be it resolved:
- That we affirm the Healthcare Access work completed since the Charlotte 2005 Delegate Assembly, including the Stewardship of Health and Public Policy Advocacy resources included and referenced in the following pages of this report.
- That, as a denomination, we are committed to providing basic health insurance for all eligible pastors.
- That we request the Executive Board to oversee the development and implementation of a plan whereby all congregations of Mennonite Church USA participate together in an arrangement that covers all of our pastors with basic health insurance.
Special instructions: The role of the Executive Board will be to oversee a collaborative
process including area conferences, churchwide agencies and related institutions and local congregations. This process is expected to result in a plan design and funding mechanism that will be owned by all parts of the church.
| |
|
| New Mennonite Education annual report produced for a wider audience. |
|
(GOSHEN, Ind.) – Mennonite Education Agency (MEA), the education agency of Mennonite Church USA, is pleased to announce that, for the first time, the annual reports of educational institutions and programs, extensive educational statistics placed in tables and graphs, and true-to-life stories about Mennonite education were combined together into one resource, the “Mennonite Education Annual Report Fall 2007.” This report, which provides the latest and most complete picture of what has happened and is happening in Mennonite education, is now on MEA’s Web site, www.MennoniteEducation.org and can be viewed or downloaded (listed under “What’s new …”).
MEA chose to develop the “Mennonite Education Annual Report Fall 2007” and share it to a broad audience to help those in Mennonite Church USA to become more aware of how Mennonite education is transforming lives, training future leaders and encouraging their students to make a difference in the world. MEA believes that it is important that the value of Mennonite education is revealed because of the important role these institutions and programs to provide a foundation, not only for the church of today but, perhaps even more important, for the church of the future.
In previous years, the educational statistics (referred to as the Annual Enrollment Report) were sent to those in leadership positions at educational institutions (which included board members), church conferences and the Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA. This report was also available to those who attended the annual meeting of MEA Board of Directors. By including three types of information in the new report institutional/program reports, statistics, and stories MEA was able to reveal a snapshot of Mennonite education in a way that statistics alone could not.
The “Mennonite Education Annual Report Fall 2007” has been divided into sections with each section focusing on one of the three types of information. Narrative reports, written annually by Mennonite institutions and programs, include a focus on how they are bringing about transformational leadership in their community and its impact. The annual enrollment report reveals interesting data and trends from the preschool and kindergarten classes of the PreK-12 schools through the graduate and seminary programs of higher education. The story section includes the six J. Daniel Hess articles on Mennonite education which are appearing in The Mennonite and several “snapshots” collected from the Education Opportunities Summit held November 2007 from Racial/Ethnic Mennonite schools and organizations.
For more information contact Carlos Romero, Mennonite Education Agency, 574-642-3164, E-mail: carlosr@MennoniteEducation.org
|
|
