Mennonite Church USA News Service

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Contact: Laurie L. Oswald (316) 283-5100, E-mail: LaurieO@MennoniteUSA.org

Mennonite builds houses and friendship with former President Jimmy Carter.

Sidebar: A prayer of blessing for Jimmy Carter

Six tables show where God's people gather, there is God.

Mennonite leaders in Civil Rights era return to Atlanta bearing peace message.

Mennonite builds houses and friendship with former President Jimmy Carter.

by Laurie L. Oswald

LeRoy-Jimmy: Former President Jimmy Carter and LeRoy Troyer, of Mishawaka, Ind., enjoy a small reception with Mennonite Church USA Executive Board staff and spouses and other church leaders July 3, before Carter gave the opening address at Atlanta 2003. Carter and Troyer have been friends since 1986, when they met while volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.

This is the third story in a series about Atlanta 2003, Mennonite Church USA's first biennial gathering, held from July 3-8 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

ATLANTA (MC USA) -- Mennonite architect LeRoy S. Troyer and former President Jimmy Carter -- who gave the opening address at Atlanta 2003 -- have more in common than building houses with Habitat for Humanity.

Besides their common commitment to Habitat, they were farm boys; Troyer grew up on an Amish farm in Indiana and Carter grew up on a peanut farm in Georgia. Their adult lives took different turns -- Troyer became a Mennonite businessman and Carter a Baptist president. Even so, they've forged a friendship today, as they build houses together one week each year and keep in touch by e-mail and phone calls.

This friendship prompted Carter to accept Troyer's invitation on behalf of Mennonite Church USA's Executive Board to give the opening message July 3. In a reception before the joint worship service, Ervin Stutzman, outgoing moderator of Mennonite Church USA -- with about a dozen Executive Board staff members and spouses and other church leaders -- gave a prayer of blessing for Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. (see sidebar).

Troyer's friendship with Carter is built as strong as a sturdy house -- on a similar foundation of faith and a common love of hard work and a desire to serve humanity, said Troyer, founder of the Troyer Group, an architectural design firm in Mishawaka, Ind., and a member of Kern Road Mennonite Church in South Bend, Ind.

"He's about 13 years older than I am, but we share a lot about our growing up years, since we both grew up on farms," said Troyer, 65. "I didn't use electricity until I was married, and Carter didn't have electricity or running water in his home until he was 13.

"I feel this special kinship about our boyhoods while we work together in Habitat. And as adults, as we share a lot of common values. In the South, they are very hospitable people. He didn't just become my friend on the job and then drop me and move on. He's demonstrated true and loyal friendship over the years."

Carter has also modeled true friendship with God and with the downtrodden and disenfranchised, Troyer said. Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 and established the Carter Center in 1986 in Atlanta with Rosalynn. The center is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that tackles disease, poverty, hunger and conflict around the world.

The Carters volunteer for a week each year with Habitat, which since its beginning in 1976 has built 140,00 houses in 89 countries for families totaling about 750,000 people. The Carters are members of Maranatha Baptist Church near their home in Plains, Ga., where the former president teaches Sunday school when they aren't traveling the world.

Spending many hours with Carter has inspired his own faith and service, Troyer said. Troyer first met Carter on Troyer's first Habitat project in Chicago in 1986, five years after Carter's presidency. Carter, so impressed with Troyer's work, asked that Troyer be the crew leader on the houses they jointly build. Troyer is Carter's "boss" on the house they build each year at the Jimmy Carter Work Project for Habitat for Humanity International.

Troyer has seen the grain of the president's character up close, as they've sweated in the hot sun on rooftops, building 19 houses together from start to finish, Troyer said. From Chicago onward to other projects spanning the globe, Troyer and his wife, Phyllis, have seen that the Carters are humble people who serve the poor in Christ's name. The Carters ask for no special favors -- even though others want to grant them -- and share the same kind of quarters as other volunteers, with the addition of Secret Service personnel.

"I was a little nervous the first week we worked together, spending 50 hours in hot and sweaty conditions," LeRoy Troyer said. "But that's when you learn to know a person really well. Working conditions like that bring out the real character of a person, and President Carter has taught me a lot about humility and generosity. ...

"We shared the same old apartment building in Chicago. When President Carter called me to their room to talk about our project, we sat around old milk cartons serving as end tables. ... They are investing their time and talents to help others less fortunate, when they could have the so-called good life. They could do a lot of other things to entertain themselves. But instead, they've impacted and improved peace, health, food and housing for millions of lives through service."

The respect is mutual, the Carters said. During the reception before the joint worship service, the Carters gave tribute to how the Troyers and other Mennonites have inspired their faith.

"I've always been impressed with Mennonites and Anabaptists," Jimmy Carter said during the reception. "I feel I have a lot in common with your view of faith and values regarding community and service. And I'm very proud to see the coalition of the two groups come together and am very pleased with your commitments to peace."

Rosalynn Carter said, "We've met a lot of Mennonites in our community, when they come to volunteer for the Habitat for Humanity headquarters and visit our church. ... Jimmy has always said that if he wouldn't be a Baptist, he'd be a Mennonite."

Whether that ever comes true, the Baptist man has formed lasting ties to Mennonites because of his grace in dealing with removing the barrier walls of this world, Troyer said. He's exemplified that while all Christians don't share one roof, they share one God.

"President Carter has shown me what it means to build good walls to benefit of the economically poor," he said. "And at the same time, he's knocking down walls that separate people in Christ's church, as he works with people of many different denominations." Photos available.

Laurie L. Oswald is news service director of Mennonite Church USA.


A prayer of blessing for Jimmy Carter

Ervin Stutzman (right), outgoing moderator of Mennonite Church USA, leads a prayer of blessing for former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn before President Carter gives the opening address July 3 at Atlanta 2003.

by Ervin R. Stutzman

Loving God,

For too long the world has called us to war,
and our dead lie sprawled across the bleeding centuries.

But you break the bow and shatter the spear,
calling us to sow the seeds of peace in the midst of despair

In tenderness, may we take the tiniest sprouts
and plant them where they can safely grow into blossoms of hope.

We thank you for this our brother in Christ -- Jimmy Carter -- who has sown the seeds of
peace in the desert of despair. May these seeds yield a harvest of righteousness, a field
of shalom that stands for God's in-breaking reign.

May you prosper the work of the Carter center as our esteemed brother attempts to
promote peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human
rights, and to promote economic and social development.

We confess that we are a nation where the rich often get richer and the poor get poorer.
By your spirit help us move from greed and selfishness to generosity.

We confess that we are a nation that readily makes its weakest and newest members into
scapegoats. By your spirit make it possible for us to forsake racial and religious
intolerance to embrace the alien and the stranger.

We confess that we are a nation who is sometimes indifferent to the needs of other
countries. By your spirit release us from the delusion that you love any other nation less
than ours.

In the face of these great challenges, bless our esteemed brother with --
Eyes to see what you are doing
Ears to hear what you are saying
A heart to share what you are giving
A spirit to discern where you are moving
Hands to join with you in serving, and
Feet to follow where you are leading

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.


Six tables show where God's people gather, there is God.

by Laurie L. Oswald

This is the fourth story in a series depicting Atlanta 2003, the first biennial gathering of Mennonite Church USA, held July 3-8 at the Georgia World Congress Center.

ATLANTA (MC USA) -- When Jerry Lapp created the table -- painted with the words "in the mess, there is God" -- for Atlanta 2003's junior high convention, he wasn't only thinking of youth.

In creating this table from an old door, Lapp hoped to show that even when we feel disenfranchised, defeated and depressed, God is with us. That message impacts young teenagers who feel stormy emotions, peer pressures, self-doubts, he said. But it's also an important message to people of all ages and cultural backgrounds who want to relate better to God and to each other. It's the message of the Atlanta 2003 theme, "God's Table, Y'all Come."

"The junior-high planners said that they wanted an 'odd' table, one that depicted how junior high youth can often feel," said Lapp, of Goshen, Ind., a painter and a clay artist. "So on the table edges, I painted those words - 'in the mess, there is God' -- which can be a comfort to everyone.

"It's a reminder to all of us that in our chaos and turmoil, there's a constant structuring going on, and God is in the center of that order. God brings us back ... to that place where even though things look like a free-for-all, they're not. There's an order that brings it to rest."

On first glance, Lapp's table is a free-for-all. It's an old door once pegged for the dump. One day in his shop, Lapp had an "ah hah" moment and knew he would remake it into the table. The Mennonite Church USA Executive Board Office of Convention Planning commissioned Lapp to do the table, one of five others built for Atlanta for the adult, young adult, youth and children's conventions -- and one built during convention week in A-Junction, the exhibit area.

Lapp cut the door in half and put its hinges in the middle of the tabletop so it can fold up and carry easily. He added legs that are like upside-down skyscrapers and spray-painted an abstract image in gold on the table top amidst a cacophony of bright colors.

"I'm an artist and had no interest in building a stocky, utilitarian table to be used for board meetings," Lapp said. "And when I saw this old door, I knew that it stood for something, that like junior high youth can be so beautiful, and yet so unfinished at the same time.

"If people look at the abstract image on the top from different angles, they can see the word 'God,' which I didn't try to do. I didn't try to preach to kids to convince them that God is here. I just threw myself into the word 'odd' and that drove me into creating this from my heart, not my head. And when I let myself go free, that's what came."

Free spirit versus finely-tuned design

If Lapp's table is the epitome of a free spirit, then Thomas Morton's table, created for the youth convention, is the epitome of a finely-tuned design. Morton, a furniture maker of Leola, Pa., and operator of Lancaster County's Morton Fine Furniture, created the table with help from his wife, Joanne, and his son, Tyler.

The table has five sections to represent the five conventions. The sections fit together around a center medallion etched with "God's Table, Y'all Come." Morton made the tabletop from cherry. The legs and apron are made of walnut, and the medallion in the center is made from maple.

As much as the two tables are different in structure, they both evoke a spiritual focus -- a focus that's been transforming for the Mortons, they said.

"As we tried to develop a strategic plan for our small business, halfway through the process we felt that something was missing," Joanne Morton said. "We couldn't put our fingers on what it was." I said, "Tom, for this business to be successful, we need to create something far bigger than us. Something that really makes a difference. So we put our strategic plan aside, and just waited on God to show us what that was."

Soon after that incident, Joanne Morton heard about Atlanta 2003 and looked up information on the Web. "As soon as I saw the site about the convention and the table idea, I said, 'This is it -- this could be how we could make a difference,'" she said. "After a series of phone calls to Lana Miller in the convention office, it all began to happen."

The spiritual depth of the table evolved for Thomas Morton as he created it. "I often talked to God and God talked back to me many a night when I was up late, sometimes until 2 a.m. in the morning," he said. "And when I had trouble with a section I'd say, 'Lord, help this to work.'

"But the most important thing to me is not how this table got made but that the spirit of what it represents -- the bringing together of all kinds of people -- continues to live on. I don't want this table to be tucked away in some dark corner but to be used in a church, a community, another convention."

Children come to table of plenty

Children's ability to relate to God through their table was awe-inspiring for children's convention planners, including Carol Grieser, planning committee chair, and Rosemary Widmer, writer of the children's curriculum. The women, of College Mennonite Church in Goshen, said the children responded eagerly to activities centered around the large oak table, built at Riegsecker Hardwoods of Shipshewana, Ind.

"At the end of the story about the table of plenty, we invited the children to come up to the table and thank God for what God does for us," Widmer said. "We didn't know if anyone would come or not. But so many of them came forward. It was a holy moment, as we sensed God's spirit hovering over us."

Tables make God tangible

Sensing God's spirit in tangible ways was what the table theme symbolized for J. Daniel Hess, an organizational consultant of Indianapolis, and a convention planner who helped develop the table metaphor and to find the table makers. A dining room table built for a voluntary service unit in Atlanta during the Civil Rights era inspired the convention theme.

Other table makers that embodied this theme in their creations were David Roth Sawatzky of Atlanta, for young adults; Ervin Stutzman, outgoing moderator for Mennonite Church USA, for adults; and Brent and Bryan Miller of Creations Custom Woodworking in Middlebury, Ind., the table built during convention week in A-Junction.

Sawatzky's table has become a communion table at Berea Mennonite Church, one of several Mennonite congregations in Atlanta. Stutzman made the adult table 18 years ago as a gift for his wife, Bonita, as a 10th anniversary wedding gift that's used daily by the family. And the Millers sold their table to a family from Hesston, Kan.

Whether the tables were made of old doors or fine woods, taken back home or sent on a journey to find a new home, sold or used for the Lord's supper -- they all helped participants to touch God, to see God, to come to God's table, Hess said.

"Sometimes our convention themes are so abstract, that it's hard to make it tangible," Hess said. "But these tables were something we could bring into our lives. I like symbols when they are symbols that we can see and taste and touch. These tables were that, something real that could help us understand the 'Real.'" Photos available.

Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite Church USA.


Mennonite leaders in Civil Rights era return to Atlanta bearing peace message.

by Kathleen Kern

ATLANTA (MC USA) -- Forty-two years after Mennonite Central Committee sent Rosemarie Freeney Harding and Vincent Harding to Atlanta to establish the first interracial community center in that city, they returned to Georgia as guest speakers at the Mennonite peace gathering July 1-3. Centered around the theme, "When the Saints go Marchin'," the conference was the first peace gathering of the newly-organized Peace and Justice Support Network of the Mennonite Church USA.

At the first session on Tuesday afternoon, Hardings opened by playing a rendition of "This little light of mine." Harding, a professor at Iliff School of Theology, told the group that God gave the Southern Freedom Movement to the people involved in that period of history. "We are open spaces to let this light shine," he said.

At the closing of the gathering, Rosemarie Harding told the participants, "It's been a beautiful time for Vincent and me. Thanks so much for the invitation. You are the ones who are going to sustain this country and this world. There is no other way than peace."

When asked if he had any final reflections for the Mennonite Church, Harding said, "My own major desire for the church to know is that if there is any time that the Anabaptist Movement needs to work it is now. We must not get lost in a vague American Protestantism that does not have the sharpness of the Anabaptist core of peace and reconciliation. This is a wonderful time for Mennonites to be Anabaptists." Photo available.

Kathleen Kern of Webster, N.Y., serves with Christian Peacemaker Teams.