Wheelchair gives chairperson of Seattle Mennonite reflective
perspective
Sandra Richardson, chair of Seattle Mennonite Church,
is an artist and sits next to one of her ceramic pieces.
Richardson, who has Multiple Sclerosis, uses a motorized
wheelchair for mobility. (photo by Laurie L. Oswald)
by Laurie L. Oswald
SEATTLE (MC USA) -- From where she sits, Sandra Richardson
of Seattle Mennonite Church has a different perspective on
what it means to be chair of her congregation.
Sandra, a ceramic artist, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis
in 1990 and uses a motorized wheelchair for mobility. She's
encountered ever-increasing physical losses over the last
decades. But those losses have brought their own perspective
to ministry as chair of the congregation she says. The church
belongs to Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference, one of
21 area conferences in Mennonite Church USA.
Her wheelchair is a symbol for how she sees her role as chair
of the congregation, Sandra says. "This chair places
me in a restful and reflective spot," she says. "But
because it is also a mobile chair, I can also get from one
place to another. It helps me understand that it's not my
job to set agenda for the congregation. I am in a position
to observe, reflect, listen and pray. Just as my motorized
chair moves me from one place to another, so I can try to
provide that service to the congregation.
"And, just as my chair takes me where I direct it to
go, so as congregational chair I try to listen where God is
directing the congregation to go. Thankfully, leadership at
Seattle Mennonite Church is not a solo job. A very capable
leadership council provides wisdom, experience and faithful
oversight of various parts and programs of the church."
Sandra's life, though slowed, is hardly motionless. She lives
in a cooperative housing project near to the church with her
husband, Stan, and continues to create her ceramics with the
help of an assistant. She also sees parallels between this
creative collaboration and her tasks as a chairperson.
"In creating ceramics with help from another person,
I'm not doing a lot of the physical work myself," Sandra
says. "But I have to share with someone else my vision
for a piece and then give feedback to help make it happen.
The person I am working with has to let go of her own ideas,
learn to listen and practically work as my hands. That is
what I need to do for the church as chair."
Helpful to her, Pastor Weldon Nisly and to Seattle Mennonite
is remembering that while their abilities are limited, God
is limitless. And they are striving to build a community in
which people can offer their gifts, be open about their weaknesses
and work together to reach out to their community in new ways.
"God uses all of us together to reach out to the world,"
Sandra says. "Just think about the feeding of the 5,000
with the loaves and fishes. He used what he had to work with.
God works with us because we're all he's got. God makes us
enough."
The congregation faces challenges that depend on God's multiplication,
she says. For example, the largely upper, middle-class congregation
is searching for ways to promote peace and justice in their
community and welcome newcomers of different ethnic, social
and spiritual backgrounds.
"Seattle Mennonite Church brings together people from
various church - or not - backgrounds," she says. "We
want to learn from each other and be together. A paraphrase
of one of my favorite sayings is that my liberation is tied
up with yours.
"We need everyone's viewpoint to understand fully. ...
This kind of community is like sitting around a campfire.
You see the coals. I see the wood. Another person sees the
fire. ... But we still share one circle of fellowship and
are warmed by the same heat."
A little over half the congregation comes from a Mennonite
upbringing in the East or Midwest. They are building a community
that incorporates their Anabaptist tradition with the freedom
to apply that tradition in ways fitting for an urban, contemporary
setting. Sandra grew up in Bally (Pa.) Mennonite Church in
Berks County and attended Eastern Mennonite College (now Eastern
Mennonite University) in Harrisonburg, Va.
From there, she moved to Colorado, where she met Stan. They
moved to Seattle where she received her art education degree
from the University of Washington and then worked as a substitute
art teacher in public schools before she and Stan moved to
the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle. They served as caretakers/directors
at Camp Camrec, sponsored by the Mennonite churches in Washington,
for about three years before moving back to Seattle.
Although she's been part of the congregation ever since, the
call of her as congregational chair surprised Sandra, she
says. It keeps her pushing the edges of her own limitations
and trusting that God uses whatever she offers.
"This is not something that I ever thought about doing,
and it's never been an area in which I thought I had gifts,"
she says. "I'm constantly reminded that it's not so much
my own skill or giftedness, but that it's God's grace.
"And this role has helped me discover resources I didn't
know I had. My disability doesn't mean, 'woe is me,' that
all is lost, that I must give up. Instead, it can constantly
spur me on to ask, 'Now what?'"
Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite Church
USA.
Bethesda
Mennonite Church in Henderson, Neb., assists in "leaps
of faith."
by Tara Swartzendruber
Andrea Friesen
HENDERSON, Neb. (MC USA) -- Facing her biggest fear of being
alone, Andrea Friesen of Henderson took a leap of faith in
July 2002 and left her family and boyfriend to work in a camp
for children within the inner city in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
A generous gift to Bethesda Mennonite Church in Henderson
helped Andrea take this leap of faith. In 1998, through an
estate gift of 80 acres of farmland to the church, Bethesda
created the Mission Inquiry and Emissary (MIE) Fund. The goal
of this fund is to raise the level of mission interest in
the congregation and to encourage young adults to inquire
about and participate in mission projects.
Each year, about $13,000 is available for distribution to
meet these goals. In 2002, some of these funds changed Andrea's
life.
"Most of my life, I've moved one step
at a time on the escalator, facing little changes now and
then, but this trip to Ireland was like jumping a whole floor
at once," Andrea says. Some children Andrea worked with
were abused or neglected by their families. Her job was to
provide a loving, stable environment for the kids during their
time at camp.
Two years later, Andrea credits her experience in Northern
Ireland for giving her the courage to move away from home
to accept a position as director of communications at Western
Mennonite School near Salem, Ore.
"I went to
Northern Ireland thinking I would experience and learn certain
things, but I didn't really know what God had in mind for
me" Andrea says. "When you follow God's call, he
can really blow you away in ways you didn't know he could."
Since 1998, more than 30 young adults along with Andrea have
benefited. The majority have taken a mission trip abroad or
attended national assemblies sponsored by Mennonite Church
USA and global assemblies sponsored by Mennonite World Conference.
As these ventures are costly, participants receive up to 75
percent of costs from this fund.
This gift of money is invaluable to many participants. "I
wouldn't have found this mission experience as possible without
the money from this fund," says Cassandra Friesen, who
recently spent three weeks in Nazareth, Israel, with financial
assistance from the MIE fund.
Cassandra, who attends the University of Nebraska in Lincoln,
says that since her trip, she is more aware of and sensitive
to fellow students from other cultures. Having been immersed
in a culture where she was unfamiliar with the customs, and
did not speak the language, she has a new appreciation for
the challenges others face when they enter the United States.
Cassandra has had a long-term interest in mission work and
wants to act on the lessons she learned. For an independent
study class, she is reading research journals about families
in Israel. She also wants to get more involved in campus groups
in which international students are paired with English-speaking
students.
Cassandra has a new appreciation for the Mennonite Church
USA's emphasis on missions and peace efforts. Even being in
a country facing religious-political conflicts, she never
felt in danger. Instead, she speaks of the grassroots peace
efforts she witnessed.
"It seemed that many
of the people were tired of the conflict and of feeling overwhelmed
by violence," she says. "Many were realizing that
perhaps peace is the only way."
This exposure to global needs and service possibilities in
peace and justice is MIE's goal, says Kurt Goertzen, MIE committee
chair. Given the positive responses from the young people,
he feels it is successful. He finds that many young people
have an interest in doing missions, but need to overcome the
challenges that come with that interest.
"Then
they realize, 'I need to do this,'" Goertzen says. "Sometimes
it's the financial encouragement that pushes them to go for
it," he says.
Tara Swartzendruber, of Henderson,
Neb., wrote this article for Mennonite Church USA news service.
Memories make mission experiences invaluable.
Andrea recalls one little girl who came to the camp in Northern
Ireland dirty and full of head lice.
To give her some special treatment, the staff set up a salon
experience just for her. "You should've seen how
she glowed," says Andrea. "She was so excited and
began talking to everyone, showing off her new hair."
For Andrea, it wasn't easy to come and it wasn't easy to go.
"It still breaks my heart that this little girl had to
go back to a family who didn't love her," Andrea says.
Andrea found joy in showing Christ's love to the children,
simply by praying for them and loving them. -- Tara
Swartzendruber
Retiring Gracefully
From right, Grace Leatherman enjoys serving as a nanny
for her nephew, Justin Weaver, his wife, Lyz and their
children Emily and A.J., of Hesston, Kan. (photo by
Susan Miller Balzer)
by Susan Miller Balzer
HESSTON, Kan. (MC USA) -- You will rarely find Grace Leatherman
ministering from the pulpit. Nor should you expect to hear
her report on a mission experience in an exotic location overseas.
But keep looking and you will find a quiet woman, even now
in her retirement years, generously dedicating herself to
Christian mission.
"I never felt called to be a pastor or a vocational missionary,
but seminary always sounded interesting," Grace says.
So in retirement, she found a way to support the pastoral
aspirations of others while deepening her own understanding
of the Bible and Christian ministry.
Grace isn't sure who had the idea for her retirement ministry
first -- she or her nephew, Justin Weaver, and his wife, Lyz.
But she does remember how excited Justin and Lyz were when
she picked them up from the airport after they visited Hesston
(Kan.) College to explore the Pastoral Ministries (PM) program.
Their excitement was contagious.
Justin, aware that Grace planned to move away from Chicago,
said he joked with Grace that she might like to come to Hesston
with his family. Grace responded that she might come, if she
was asked.
She was, and she did. In August 2001, a Hesston Mennonite
Church Sunday school class helped them move into the home
they had purchased together. While Justin and Lyz began their
studies in Christian ministry, Grace began three years of
voluntary service as a nanny for their children, Emily and
A.J., who were 4 and 2 years old, respectively, at the time.
When asked what they liked best about living with Aunt Grace,
A.J. and Emily both respond, "crafts." Grace shared
her expertise and experience as an artist and teacher with
her two young charges who repaid her with their enthusiasm
and creativity. Emily and A.J. also became wonderful models
for Grace to photograph with her new digital camera.
Lyz and Justin say they are happy that Grace was always willing
to do dishes - something Grace says she was pleased to do
in return for Lyz doing most of the cooking. Their home became
a meeting place as the family extended hospitality, enabling
Grace "to get to know a younger set" of students.
As a nanny, Grace freed Lyz and Justin to serve as interim
youth pastors and worship leaders at Hesston Mennonite. "Knowing
our children were safe at home in bed, enabled us to be more
involved late nights with the college and youth," Lyz
says.
Grace was rewarded with the opportunity to attend college
classes and to be included as a part of the family in the
PM students' social, educational and spiritual events.
"I especially enjoyed Marion Bontrager's and Michelle
Hershberger's Bible and peace and justice classes," Grace
says. Although she didn't talk in the classes, her life experiences
working for peace, justice and civil rights could have spoken
volumes.
As a high school junior, Grace became aware of racial injustice
when her family moved from Pennsylvania to Maryland, where
schools were racially segregated. Grace says she was appalled
by the racist attitudes of her white classmates and she refused
to condone them.
After graduating from Goshen (Ind.) College, Grace moved to
Souderton, Pa., to teach and coach for six years. One summer
she served with the former Mennonite Board of Missions in
the inner city Pruit-Igo housing project in St. Louis and
another summer she volunteered at Concord day camp in Indianapolis.
She then went to Chicago where she helped with vacation Bible
school at Englewood Mennonite Church.
Susie Bontrager and Linda Miller, who were doing lay ministry
at Englewood, encouraged Grace to return to Chicago to work
with the church's youth ministry. When Grace did, the three
self-supporting single women shared a house on Chicago's south
side and volunteered with the church. Grace remembers taking
the African American youth on camping trips around the country.
To support herself, Grace taught art at the 3,000-student
Englewood High School. She taught there for 27 years, coping
with the changes at the school as the community dealt with
civil rights and the economic struggles of the inner city.
"I decided -- in one of my worst problem classes -- to
change my whole attitude and smile and laugh easily, and it
worked," Grace says of her experience as a teacher. Grace
taught her students well. They created murals, won art contests,
and some went on to art school.
"I always chose to sit at the integrated table in the
teachers' lunchroom," Grace says. "For some reason,
I was accepted by other cultures."
After living in the inner city six years, Grace moved 13 miles
to Markham, Ill., where she joined Community Mennonite Church.
She served as an elder, helped provide sanctuary for Latin
American refuges, designed banners for church celebrations
and served on the boards of Mennonite Housing Association
and the church day care. After taking early retirement at
Englewood High School, Grace taught in the day care's computer
lab for two years.
Grace loved the interracial Community Mennonite Church and
was not eager to move away from her church family when she
retired the second time. However, she felt uncomfortable staying
in her apartment, since the renters in the apartment above
her were involved with drugs. Looking back, she sees God's
timing in the invitation to move with the Weavers to Hesston.
Now Grace is living with her niece, Val Culver, and her family
in Goshen, Ind., while waiting for a triplex at Greencroft
retirement center to become available.
When she moves again, Grace will want to serve with people
on the older end of life's spectrum -- something she also
did while in Hesston by befriending artists in their 90s and
encouraging them to keep active by purchasing two of their
works. The quilted wall hanging and Kansas harvest painting,
along with Emily and A.J.'s art projects, remind Grace of
her years in Hesston as she "Grace-fully" moves
into her next opportunity for ministry.
Susan Miller Balzer, of Hesston,
Kan., wrote this story for Mennonite Church USA news service.
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