Come to one of the America1s most scenic tourist destinations in the Blue Ridge Mountains to meet God and fellow Mennonite Brethren believers. Experience the vibrancy of worship and the encouragement of fellowshiPI friends and soul food provided by the Mennonite Brethren churches of North Carolina.
Pastors' Conference
July 26-28
Special features: Comedian Kenn Kington and Samaritan's Purse tour
Worship leaders: Cornerstone Church Worship Band and Conference worship team
National Convention
July 28-30
Keynote speakers: Terry Hunt and Chuck Buller
Worship leaders: North Carolina MB worship team
Special features: Communion service and Sunday worship with local churches
Business agenda: Agency reports and discussion action on USC bylaws
All meetings will take place at Boone United Methodist Church. A full children's and youth track as well as childcare will be offered. A block of rooms will be available at local hotels.
19 > The quest for tomorrow's
> Ministry Quest to continue beyond
Adams MB celebrates centennial
MDS opens unusual project in Louisiana 25
Left alone to sort it out
From dirt to a community playground
Wiebe
FEATURES
10 BUILDING A WORSHIPPING WORSHIP TEAM
By J..aSJ'1!1
Groups of people gather weekly in our churches to prepare for leading us in corporate worship. Joining together to produce quality art is rewarding and intended to glorify God. Are we missing an opportunity to make disciples?
13 WORSHIP AND MUSIC: A JOYFUL SONG
By Kim Bontrager
Music draws us into the worship service. It is a personal and powerful tool in our corporate worship. What do we need to remember about worship and music?
14 WORSHIP AND PRAYER: VITAL SUPPORT
By Carey Gossen
Prayer is a vital part of corporate worship . Apply the apostle Paul's teaching on prayer and you will see your own life as well as your church and community transformed.
15 WORSHIP AND PREACHING: THE CENTRAL ELEMENT By Roger Poppen
Scripture tells us that when believers gather for worship expository preaching must be central. This conclusion is based on three foundational convictions.
16 A NEW TWIST TO HISTORIC WORSHIP PRACTICES
By Wilfred Martens
Corporate worship is a high priority for Mennonite Brethren. Our spiritual forebears have passed on practices, traditions and essential aspects of worship that we enjoy today. But over time we have lost some once prominent practices that would enhance our 2ISt century gatherings. What can we gain by bringing them back?
> F i RST WORDS
(from the editor]
I OFfEN WONDER HOW PEOPLE WITH NO CONNECflON to a Mennonite Brethren church come into contact with our denominational magazine. Most of the time that question goes unanswered. That wasn't the case last month when we received an e-mail affirming Jeff Cowling for his article on the suburban church in the January issue.
The e-mail was from Tim Shey " If we abide in Christ, our lives can only be peculiar in the world's eyes," writes Shey. "If we are conformed to the world we have no witness .. .. We must take up our cross daily and follow him and be conformed to him We obey him and not ourselves."
Shey takes these words to heart. For the last 10 years he has been hitchhiking throughout the U.S . as an intercessory prayer walker who shares his faith with people he meets on the road. 'There are times when I get tired of hitchhiking but it is God's will for my life," writes Shey. 'The Lord always provides for me and gives me the strength to continue in my hitchhiking. A lot of profound things can happen on the road . It is really amazing."
I passed Shey's message on to Jeff Gowling as requested but was puzzled. How did an itinerant prayer warrior come across the Leader? Hoping Shey had not already moved on, I e-mailed him back.
"I was hitchhiking south of Garden City, Kan., and this Christian picked me up and took me home to meet his wife," Shey. "I stayed witn them for three nights. When 1 was at theirhome, 1 noticed JefH iowling's article-the magazine was on their kitchen table. Right now 1 am in Wheeler, Texas with some Christian friends. 1 should be heading south tomorrow. The Lord leads me where he wants
I commend the Leader readers who did not shy away from an opportunity to minister to a stranger. Shey's experience reminds me that we do not always know how we will bless and be blessed by other Christians. -CF
> QUOT ABLE
"Every time 1 go to do something 1 want to do it like I'm working for God. 1 think that pushes me and helps me put in 100 percent effort." -Cindy Klassen, 2006 Olympic Canadian speed skater on the eve of the Turin games. Klassen, a member of McIvor MB Church of Winnipeg, Man. , brought home a bronze in the 3,000-meter race and silver in the 1,000 meters.
> UP & COMING
• March 9-15 - Mennonite World Conference General Council, Peace Council and Faith and Life Council business sessions with "mini-assembly," Pasadena, Calif.
• March 17-18- Southern District Conference Women's Retreat, Wichita, Kan
• July 26-28 - U S. Conference national pastors ' conference, Boone, NC
MANDATE The Christian Leader II SSN 0009- 5149) is publish ed m ont hly by the U S Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches The Christia n Lea der seeks to inform Mennonite Brethren mem bers and churches of the events. activit ies, decisions and issoes-of1heirdenomination-;-amtto-m-strllct inspire and i nitiate dialogue so members will aspire to be taifhTulolSCI ptes of C AS! as evangelicaVAnabaptist theological tra dit ion
EDITORIAL POLICY The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the po si tion of the Christian Leader, the U S Confe r ence Leadership Board or the Mennonite Bre thre n Church Scripture references are f rom New International Version unless otherwise noted The editors invite freelance article submissions. A SASE must accompany articles
READER PARTICIPATION The editors invite readers to share their thoughts and opinions on topics relevant to the Mennonite Brethren Church using letters to the editor and Forum essays. Leiters to the editor should be brief- 300 words or less-and on one subject. Letters must be signed and include the writer's city and state Lette rs will be edited for darity appropriateness and length Leiters will be published as space allows, unless marked - Not for publication .- Forum is open to members or attendees of Mennonite Brethren churches. Essays should not exceed 800 words and shou ld include the writer"s name , address, home church and occupation
COMMUNICATION All correspondence, induding change of address, should be addressed to the Christian Leader, Box 220, Hillsboro , KS 67063 Phone : 620 - 947- 5543 Fax : 620- 947 -3266 E- mail : christianleaderfclusmb org
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POSTMASTER Send address changes to the Christian Leader, Box 220. Hillsboro, KS 67063 Periodicals postage paid at Hillsboro, Kansa s.
CONNIE FABER J UdL'1
By Jared Penrose
The story of an interactive buddy
Thoughts on how young adults can interact with the media
Last semester during finals I discovered addictinggames.com and a simple program called interactive buddy. Once the Internet-based game loads, a marshmallow-like figure appears. Players harass the 'buddy" by clicking on it with the mouse. The more you harass interactive buddy the more credits you eam to purchase items to hurl at the marshmal-
ricane Katrina. I want to cry but I can't. I am not certain what is more depressing. the fact that these are labeled the best photos of 2005 or that my generation is not phased by things like this.
And why not be apathetic? Life goes on. we think, and I don't have to worry about it. But that is the lowman.
Aft e r about an hour of this I start-
; My peers and I have been inundated with impression s of death and negativity to the extent that we have developed what media theorist Michael Benedikt calls a "blase attitude." ed to wonder about the point of a computer program like this. How many times do I have to hit interactive buddy with missiles DefOre fie dies? Why -aoesnf he just get imrated an-cileave?
I often feel like I am the interactive buddy. Media outlets throw their stuff at me all the time, getting more and more money from the more and more outrageous ad campaigns that they produce. And what do I do? I sit here and take it. Just like interactive buddy, I am conditioned to accept that this is the way it is
Flying home for Christmas break I noticed how unbearable media stimulation can be. The inside walls of the jetbridge were covered from ceiling to floor with advertisement signs so huge it was like being swallowed alive. The airline phone on the back of the seat in front of me had an advertisement for cell phones. 1V monitors played commercials. The passenger next to me was looking at a copy of Wire magazine filled with full-page glossy advertisements and the girl sitting behind me was humming the tune to the latest Eminem song.
I respond to this media barrage with apathy. I fear apathy has become the mark of my generation. And isn't such apathy warranted? After all, what can one frustrated college kid do about it?
I think the 9/11 attacks and the culture that developed afterward could be the chief reason that my generation is emotionlessly blah. My peers and I have been inundated with impressions of death and negativity to the extent that we have developed what media theorist Michael Benedikt calls a "blase attitude."
In December. Time magazine published "the best pictures of 2005." The issue was filled with images from the 2004 tsunami of corpses being cooled by blocks of dry ice. an American soldier holding an Iraqi at gunpoint and a decaying dead body floating face down in the flood waters of hur-
point. life does not go on. Life is limited.
If we are going to be the interactive buddies for the media then at least let's be -interaetive dialogue and be passionate. Let's stand up for something. There are things that matter in this life.
In his of the Cave." Plato suggests that reality is only our perception of shadows dancing on the wall of a cave and that we perceive those shadows as reality. My peers and I love that pseudo-reality. We live for the trivialness of Brittany. Paris. Ben and Matt. I was talking with a friend about this and she said. "But Jared, it is so hard to live in the real world, the real world is a nasty and frightening place."
Yes it is. It is probably the most frightening place because we have to take responsibility for who we are and what we do. Choosing to live in the media constructed "shadow world" is nothing more than giving up on exactly what makes us an individual: our ability to act and incite change
I am a junior in college who desires to understand how I can be an active participant in both the reception and creation of media messages. To understand how I can prevent myself from becoming the "interactive buddy" for the media.
I don't have an answer and probably never will. But I hope that I don't stop asking the questions. As a Christian, I am required to model my life after Christ by faithfUlly and carefully interpreting and caring for my world through active engagement with the media.
Jared Penrose of Uzurelglen Bible Church in &kersfield, Calif., is a junior at Messiah College, a Brethren in Christ school located in Harrisburg, Penn. He spent this past summer as an intern at Bridge Bible Church in &kersfield.
If you shoot your hunting buddy
Sometimes confession is the best medicine
I'm sure that many of us found Vice President Dick Cheney's misfortune on the firing end of a 28-gauge shot gun to be interesting, frustrating and even slightly amusing. Certainly Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan
O'Brien thanked their lucky stars on an otherwise slow news weekend. It reminds me of how often we secretly gloat over the misfortune of others, especially notable leaders . The psychology of this is rather simple.
own clay feet and just hope that not too many people notice.
This is why we have taken special care to include in this column a highlighted explanation for why so many of you were asked to return a U.S. Conference survey by Feb 3 that arrived in your mailboxes Feb. IS! Through the years I have found that the best medicine for embarrassment is confes-
sion.
;\ lore th ..m 1.300 households h;.lve returned the C .S. Conlerence sur\,c\ maiku in btl' January. \Ve sa\' thank VOLI times for vour help {n discerning the future of our denomin ..ltion ih ministrOie';.
\Ve al 0 ;'lpotogi:e for the detl5' in gettillg tile survey to many of you. Because we distrihuted 9,700 surveys we chose to mail them J'; economic ..llly as pos ,; ihle. The surveys were mailed Jan . 24;.lS ;.1 third cbss bulk mailing. E;.1Ch post office is given a" m;.my ..lS two days to proces\ thiru mail, and we thou g ht \ve had al10weu enough time tor this process.
t on!ortun ...ltclv. man\' of the survevs were not delivered until well aher the Feh. :) deau1ine hau p;,.lssed: There is no c!e ..lf pattern tor which letters were promptly which ones took JS many a" three weeks to be procc'iscu. \Ve hJve notitieu the we of the e\1remC deby we experienced in some regions. He ;.lgrecs (h;.11 such delays shoulu not have occurred.
\\'e apprcci ...llc the time many of you took to complete and return the e\'en though the de;'ldline had passed. \Ve tahuLlted all SUfreceived through Feb. 15. The number of responses we have received in spite of the mailing complications is very encouraging.
We know that this admission comes well outside of the 18-hour limit for allowed admission of failure and are quite g1adt hat the Today Show chose not to run this as a feature on their morning news magazine Imagine Katie Couric looking at me with those perky eyes and saying something like, "So Reverend Buller, do you think that the best explanation for this survey gaff is ignorance or incompetence?"
Having admitted to a little of both, we are pleased that over 1,300 of you answered the survey. Special thanks go to Donna Sullivan who entered the data into a computer software program
The last weekend
[ new 5 fro m the mennon t e brethren world]
MWC global south delegates face funding and visa challenges
MWC staff working overtime to assist with paperwork
Mennonite World Conference is doing everything possible to assure that delegates from the global South will attend the "mini-assembly" this month in Pasadena, Calif. Those delegates have more hurdles to overcome than patticipants from the
MWC to the meetings in Pasadena is not always adequate North.
Money is one difficulty. Most churches in the global South can't fully fund delegates They need help The MWC "Global Church Congregation" plan has created a way for North American churches to be funding partners The response has been positive and the opportunity to help is still open.
. Getting the required nonimmigrant visa to enter the U.S. is another hurdle. A section of the Act under which the visa application is made presumes applicants are "intending immigrants " Applicants need to prove their intention to return home by providing sttong evidence of economic, social and professional ties to their own country. Presenting a general letter of invitation from
COMS meets in D.C.
WPeople who are poor or who are making a first visit to the U.S. appear to face the biggest challenges, says Ray Brubacher, the MWC associate secretary working from the Kitchener, Ont., office. His staff is working ovettime with embassy and government officials who are offering advice on expediting visa applications and on re-applying when a visa is denied, when that is possible.-MWC
en Anabaptist church leaders gathered in December for the annual meeting of the Council of Moderators and General Secretaries (COMS) , they took advantage of the Washington, DC location to meet with a variety of government and church agency leaders.
COMS members include lead staff members from Mennonite Church USA, Brethren in Christ Church , Conservative Mennonite Conference, U S Conference of MB Churches and the Church of the Brethren. Executive Director Chuck Buller represents the U.S. Conference.
COMS continued an ongoing discussion regarding how to deal with the possible reinstatement of a U.S military draft The group met with Mennonite Central Committee U S staff members and members of Congress and the Selective Service. Their discussions were a follow-up to a March 2005 consultation on alternative service .
"For the second time in less than a year COMS members heard government officials reiterate that the Bush administration does not intend to reconstitute a draft, " says Buller "A commitment to an entirely voluntary armed forces has been the stated position of past and current administrations since the Vietnam War. In the event that circumstances change to such a degree that this commitment can no longer be honored, COMS was able to share ideas of how to mobilize young Anabaptists who would be permitted to choose alternative service."
COMS also met with leaders of the Faith -Based Initiative for the White House and the National Association of Evangelicals .-MCUSA
Insurgents give last chance
Anew video showing four Christian Peacemaker Teams activists being held in Iraq was released Jan 28 on the Aljazeera network. The group claiming responsibility, Swords of Righteousness Brigade, again demands that U.S. and Iraqi forces release aU detainees in their custody and threatens to kill the four CPTers if their demands are not met. The video was the first word of the CPTers since the captor's previous Dec . 10, 2005, deadline . The four menBriton Norman Kember, 74, American Tom Fox, 54, and Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32 - were seized at gunpoint in Baghdad Nov 26 CPT is a peace activist group with Anabaptist roots . Teams of trained peacemakers work in areas of lethal conflict around the world.-MWRICPT
MBBS fills vacancy
David Rose has been appointed as associate professor in the marriage, family and child counseling program at MB Biblical Seminary. Rose will begin his duties June I, 2006, filling a two-year vacancy at the seminary's Fresno, Calif., campus.
Rose is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary and California School of Professional Psychology. For the past three and a half years he has served as a clinical supervisor at Alliant International University in Fresno. Along with having a private counseling practice, Rose serves on the board of directors for Jews for Jesus and is the president of the Western Region of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies.
MBBS faculty published
Ina rare instance, MB Biblical Seminary has announced that one of its recent graduates has had not one but two articles accepted for publication. The seminary also commends six faculty members for their writing accomplishments.
Ryan Schellenberg, a December zoos MBBS-Fresno graduate from Saskatchewan, has had two articles accepted for publication. According to professor John E. Toews, it is unusual for a Master of Arts or Master of Divinity level student to have a paper published in a theological journal. "Seeing the World Whole: Intertextuality and the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21-ZZ)," will be published in the journal Perspectives in Religious Studies in Z007.
Schellenberg's second article, "Phinehas and the Pharisees: Identity and Tolerance in Biblical Perspective," was a collaborative piece with Tim Geddert, professor of New Testament. Geddert was asked to write on the topic for Mennonitsches Jahrbuch, a German publication, and brought Schellenberg into the process as his teaching assistant. The English version of the article was published in the fall zoos issue of Direction, a Mennonite Brethren journal.
Allen Guenther and Elmer Martens, both professor emeriti of Old Testament, also published this past year. Guenther's article, "A Typology of Israelite Martiage : Kinship, Socioeconomic and Religious ·Factors," appeared in the Journal of the Study of the Old
Testament (June zooS), and Martens' piece "Moving frOIP Scripture to Doctrine" was featured in the Bulletin for Biblical Research (Spring zooS).
Pierre Gilbert, who teaches at the seminary's campus at the Winnipeg Center for Ministry Studies, recently concluded a six part series on the book of Isaiah for the Canadian MB Conference's MB Herald. Bruce Guenther, associate professor of church history, published a number of articles, including "The Enduring Problem of Christ and Culture" in Direction (Fall zooS).
"Our mission extends to the wider MB community and to the church in general," says seminary President Jim Holm. "Our faculty members write for the individual believer who seeks to follow Christ in discipleship and for the community of believers who seek insight and instruction for the life we live together "-MBBS
MB FOUNDATION EARNS ECFA MEMBERSHIP
MB Foundation and MB Loan Fund have been approved as members of Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and join over 1,198 evangelical organizations demonstrating compliance with the ECFA Standards of Responsible Stewardship. This nationally recognized designation should give MBF donors and MB Loan Fund investors an increased measure of confidence, says President Jon Wiebe. "Our membership speaks of our organization's integrity and accountability before God and man," says Wiebe. "This is a trust that needs to be carefully guarded." ECFA is committed to helping Christ-centered organizations earn the public's trust through developing and maintaining standards of accountability that convey God-honoring standards.-MBF -
CPS REUNION SCHEDULED
Men who served in Civilian Public Service during World War II are invited to attend an all-camps reunion Oct. 18-20, 2006, in McPherson, Kan. The Fort Collins CPS Camp will hold a two-day reunion prior to the all-camps gathering. A planning committee representing several different CPS camps is organizing the event. Detailed information is being sent to CPS alumni. From 1942 to 1945, 12,000 Mennonite, Quaker and Brethren in Christ men served in one of 151 CPS camps organized by the supporting churches to provide a way for conscientious objectors to avoid fighting but contribute to the welfare of the country.-CPS reunion
PROJECT TO SUPPORT FAMILIES IN KASHMIR
Through the next year, Mennonite Central Committee will support 10 families, or about 100 people, in a Pakistan-controlled area of Kashmir devastated by an Oct. 8 earthquake. MCC is working through JAKCISS Oriental Rugs, an artisan group of Ten Thousand Villages, on the multifaceted project, which includes identifying job opportunities such as woodworking. MCC will also provide aid for food and basic necessities for these families and assistance in building temporary homes, constructing earthquake-resistant houses, evaluating farming possibilities and developing plans for education. In addition, MCC is providing a total of $600,000 to Church World Service primarily to provide temporary housing and food to earthquake survivors in Pakistan.-MCC
B U I L D I N G a worshipping worship team
Artistic ministry teams should be holistic. Beyond producing art, they should produce dynamic followers of Christ.
THE TABOR COLLEGE MUSIC department faculty entertained us at the most recent faculty and staff Christmas party by playing rousing renditions of Christmas favorites on handbells. To close the mini-concert the musical experts invited eight other folks to join them behind the bells
I watched with delight as accomplished musicians took out yellow and pink highlighters to break down the musical mastic for the volunteers.
Hesitantly this makeshift choir began to produce a somewhat recognizable song Their faces showed more confidence and enthusiasm with each attempt. Soon the melody of "0 Come, All Ye Faithful" broke through and we all joined in to sing.
I will not soon forget the image of music experts standing beside bell-ringing novices, attempting to translate the mysterious markings that
make up sheet music and encouraging them to give their best. It was the most memorable worship experience of this past year's Christmas celebration. Not because of the beauty of the music. But because this experience spoke to my heart regarding the power of Christian fellowship to strengthen the church : people at varying points on their journey of faith encouraging each other and striving to do their best to follow the example of Christ.
What about community?
While this handbell choir may never work together again, throughout the world there are groups of people who gather weekly to combine their efforts toward worshipping God. From the choir to the worship band , the dance troupe to the drama team, groups of Christ-followers unite to offer their God-given talents as an act of adoration to God
Over the past 10 years I have worked with many types of groups as participant, leader and pastor. Joining together to produce quality art is rewarding and intended to glorify God . But is that really all that we gather for?
We encourage these artistic teams for what they can bring to the corporate worship experience, but I think we forget their potential to contribute to the spiritual growth of the body. We gather to make artistic expressions while missing the opportunities to make disciples We value artis -
tic exceIlence so highly that we miss the chance to invite the beginner to create for the Creator.
Balance
Very rarely have we been able to sustain a balanced approach - maintaining both relational health and artistic vibrancy In some cases our artistic te ams are
I look for three things as signs of the Spirit's activity in a church body: unity, energy and growth .
Marred unity
We recognize the health of a body by how weIl its parts work together
We need to understand th at no matter their organizational function or ministry goals, Christian teams have an underlying purpose of developing Christian character-building one another up and encouraging each other to be more like Jesus.
shQn on yet big on vision So we sacrifice the relational side of our efforts to spend more time on the creative task at hand. We want our groups to sound, look and perform to their best artistic ability We hope that a quality performance will mask the relational challenges that come over time
In other cases we so highly value inclusiveness that artistic excellence gets thrown to the wayside under the guise of 'This is church so everyone is welcome." Groups that value individual involvement regardless of one's abilities struggle to present art that meets our quality expectations. To make things worse, many talented people disengage from groups with low artistic expectations.
So what do we do when we find ourselves faced with either of these situations? We need to understand that no matter their organizational function or ministry goals, Christian teams have an underlying purpose of developing Christian characterbuilding one another up and encouraging each other to be more like Jesus. Many times in our effort to accomplish a task we lose sight of that fundamental purpose of Christian ministty teams.
Fellowship
Worship teams that stay focused on developing Christian character as the fundamental purpose of their fellowship can help a church to be more successful in its effort to be Christ's hands and feet in this world. By focusing on fellowship, a unified team will develop even in the midst of different artistic aptitudes and personal style preferences.
When worship teams are functioning at their best they contribute to the overall spiritual health of a congregation. To evaluate the effectiveness of a worship team, we must recognize that worship of God is what brings to life the spirit of Christ in our community.
The same is true in the church - a marker of the Spirit' s activity in our midst is unity
Today churches struggle to maintain unity in their worship services . With the variety of approaches in our multicultural, multigenerational world, a united approach to the worship style of a church is a difficult goal to achieve and maintain. Some churches incorporate multiple worship styles in an effort to relieve the tension built up around style preferences.
While multiple approaches to worship style may be necessary during times of conflict, it is not the long-term solution to our dilemma. Ultimately the image of the church as a
and a fresh perspective come to a group. The diversity within a congregation should be valued and nurtured, not discouraged.
Focused energy
We also know a body is healthy when it has abundant energy. Mention ener-
Worship t eam s need to strive to build unity within th eir t ea m and church at least as diligently as they work to perfect their craft.. Within our ministry in the church we should find our most vibrant and rewarding rel ationshipsr elationships in whi ch we share our heart, mind and life.
loving community is marred when we choose to divide over issues of style.
Worship leaders need to strive to expand the artistic taste pallet of their congregation. Christian artistic endeavors should celebrate the diversity we find in Qur world.
Celebrating diversity
Today many people define themselves by their artistic preferences, particularly musical. Therefore we need to place our Christian identity above our artistic identity and strive to be inclusive of others. The church should be a place where we learn to love the artistic diversity of God's creation-not just tolerate it but celebrate it.
Worship teams need to strive to build unity within their team and church at least as diligently as they work to perfect their craft. While this may not mean an equal amount of time spent on rehearsals and relationships, connecting people relationally at significant levels brings deeper purpose to our efforts. Within our ministry in the church we should find our most vibrant and rewarding relationships- relationships in which we share our heart, mind and life.
In working to build church unity, we should strive to include in worship teams, in worship planning committees, etc., the various people that make up the congregation. When we bring together people of different ages, backgrounds, heritage or style preferences, new ideas
gy in worship and many think of the more charismatic expressions of praise such as hand raising or clapping. While this type of energy is easy to identify, it is only a surface level marker of the Spirit's activity.
Like the skilled dancer holding a pose at its fullest extension, silence too requires focused energy. While some might initially mistake moments of sIlence as a lack of energy, when these moments are by the Spirit they can become instances of engagement with God. Both enthusiasm and reverence are evidence of the Spirit's activity in our midst and should be part of a balanced approach to worshipping God.
Growing fruit
\ We also determine the health of a body by its growth. In observing the growth of a church we need to look beyond numerical congregational growth to individual spiritual growth. This is marked by the fruit of the Spirit in our livesthe virtues of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
We need to ask questions about our congregations: Are our efforts in facilitating worship encouraging the growth of the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of our church members? Are we becoming a more loving, peaceful and self-controlled group of people because of our time worshipping God together? If we are not becoming more like Christ, we need to critically examine what we are doing when we are "with" him.
When church leaders and ministry team participants focus on these fundamental aspects of Christian fellowship, we will find that our efforts to create meaningful worship experiences for our congregation serve the bottom-line responsibilities of the church.
We practice life at a deeper level-empowered by the Spirit of Christ, connected with others in a meaningful pursuit of God and experiencing spiritual growth. Our focus is broadened beyond stylistic preferences to see the multifaceted character of God through diverse artistic expressions.
Take a step back to see that God desires to do great things through your involvement in an artistic team-beyond creating quality art to producing dynamic communities of Christ-like people.
Jason Mohn is director of church ministries at Tabor College, the Mennonite Brethren college located in Hillsboro, Kan. He is also the coordinator of the coUege's creative arts ministry team i268 He is a member of Ebenfeld MB Church of Hillsboro
WORSHIP AND MUSIC: A joyful song
I F YOU A'ITEND CHURCH THIS WEEKEND, it's likely th at music will draw you into the worship celeb ration - a piano prelude. a worship team leading a set of songs , a choir's call to worship. Clearly we have heard and taken to heatt the exhortation to come before the Lord "with joyful song" (Ps . 100:2) Reading through the Psalms we see references to music woven into the text as though a life filled with song is a given Were we designed to resonate to music? It would seem so. Throughout history, inside and out-
for a human audience (Eph. 5:19, Ps 9:11). We walk a fine line berween excellence for the Lord's sake and excellence for our own sake. This is an issue of the heart and intent of musicians, leaders and directors. Have we elevated music so highly that we don't notice when our worship services help us feel great about our churches but feel nothing about our God?
"Everything is permissible-but not everything is beneficial" (I Cor. 10:23). Scripture alludes to using music for worship that is new and old. instrumental and vocal, loud and quiet, joyful and sorrowful. choral and individual. We are not directed toward or away from any particular style of music.
Well-planned and performed music is only a tooL; a worshipper must be both prgj:!ared and ill to put it to good use.
side traditions of faith, music has been Period
"Music is transferable. Sounds and words and thoughts that were someone else's creation find lodging in your chest," writes David Crowde r in Pra ising Habit : Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi. "Music speaks of universal things, common experience That's why you r lung s swell and your eyes close and you fo rce as much air as pos sible through your vocal chords whenever you en counter a song that expresses wh at is your life "
So how do we use this very personal, powerful tool in our corporate worship ? This is what I have discovered so far .
M u sic is not always worshi p (Amos 5:21 - 24). Am I autom atically wors hipping when I sing along with everyone else in ch urch ? Th is question points to the bean of the worshipper as well as the heart of the worshipping church - th e hum ility of human souls coming j nto the presence of a holy God Well- planned and performed music is only a tool ; a worshipper must be both prepared and expectant in order to put it to good use
Worship is not limited to music. Worship doesn't only happen wh en we are singing Worship is offere d to God from hi s people as a response to the revelation of his worth and who he is. Scripture says these respon ses are to include th ing s like prayer , obedience, acts of compassion and justi ce- all offered in "spirit and truth" (John 4 :Z4). C lea rl y not all these responses can be confin ed to corpora te worship assemblies, which might b e why music bas taken on a larger rol e in our gatherings. Music used for worship is not a performance
However, music is emotional, and therefore we are very emotional about it. While God alone is the reason for and object of our worship, we cannot remove ourselves from this equation completely. Worship is not for us , but it is from us .
Not every piece of music is going to be an effective tool in the hands of every worshipper There are times when some members of a congregation find expression in a song that others do not. Weaving both old and new expressions of worship into the fabric of a congregation while keeping the experiences authentic and appropriate is challenging and at times frightening. But it seems important, as though wrestling with diversity is necessary for there to be vibrant corporate worship .
Music can exp ress the entire spectrum of faith and emotion In the Psa lms, David opens for us a deep well of emotion from which to sing So we si ng th eolog ic al songs, retelling the story of God's redemption through Jesus' sa crifice , reminding ourselves of who he is and who we are n't.
We sing reflective laments, rec ognizing how small , weak and tarnished we are We sing victorious songs, thanking God for restoring us to be his children We sing joyful songs , praising God for who he is with no mention of ourselves
We sing with expectancy, calling on the presence and strength of God to be among us and change us We sing with confidence, committing our lives to serving with in God 's continuing story. We sing songs that un ify us in ways we could not ach ieve otherwise .
We need these song s when we worship together To connect us to our history to connect us to each oth er, but mostly to connect us to our own heart's respon se to a mighty loving C reator God
Kim Bontrager is di recto r of music at First MB Church in W ichita , Kan
WORSHIP AND PRAYER: Vital support
PRAYER IS SUCH A VITAL PART OF OUR WORSHIP AT GRACE
Bible Church. A group of us meets together every Sunday morning at 8:30 to pray for the activities that go on throughout the Sunday morning service .
We begin with a time of corporate prayer and then divide into small groups, praying over the different areas of the church. We pray for the personal needs of people as well as specific requests that are brought to our attention. Most of all we pray that our hearts and minds will be in tune with our Lord and Savior as we join with other believers to worship, praise and give glory to him. Only because of our Lord and Savior do we come together for wotship.
Some time ago I read the article "How to pray so something happens" by Woodrow Kroll, the director of Back to the Bible, Lincoln, Neb. Kroll's thoughts have helped me develop some of my own thoughts on the role of prayer in the life of believers and the church
Romans 1:9-10 is a scripture that isn't often looked at as a passage about prayer, but it is very helpful. By examining what Paul reveals about his own prayer life in this passage, we can glean four principles about. effective
Paul writes, "God, whom I serve with my whole heart 10 preachmg the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you."
Paul is writing this letter to the church at Rome, Christians he badly wants to visit although many barriers separate them. Paul feels a bond with these Romans. They are his brothers and sisters in Christ, and he longs to see them face to face.
The first principle we can see from Paul's life is that he prays constantly. He is constantly talking to God - much in the same way that you or I would talk to a friend while taking a walk. Paul doesn 't limit his conversations with God to Sunday morning , Wednesday night, mealtimes or just before he goes to bed For Paul prayer is an ongoing process , a very simple but important part of his life
Paul also makes his prayer personal. Rather than just praying generally for the church in Rome, in verse 9 Paul says, "I remember you." One of the blessings I receive each Sunday is that the early morning prayer group specifically prays for me as their pastor. They pray for my personal well -being and that God would use me as his servant to proclaim his Word
The third principle is to pray specifically Rather than praying, "Lord, send me somewhere," Paul prayed specifically that God would allow him to go to Rome. Sometimes we pray so vaguely that those listening to us might be left scratching their heads wondering what, if anything, is really being requested. We need to learn to more
prayed for a male child. Joshua prayed for the sun to stand still. 'The early church prayed that Peter would be released from prison . We should follow these examples and pray specifically.
Paul also prayed submissively. Paul says in verse 10, "al"!d I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you " This is the flip side of praying specifically. There is a huge difference between being particular in our prayers and being demanding in our prayers. Paul wants to go to Rome, and he prays specifically for that. But it is important to remember that Paul does not demand it. He submits his desire to the will of God and he allows God to work out the timing and the details
Our Sunday morning prayer time at Grace Bible is essential. Worship that does not incorporate prayer is as useless as a farmer going to the field without fuel in his ttactor This time of prayer empowers those involved in the morning worship as we ask Christ to be the focus of our worship. It brings unity and a sense of belonging to those who join in praise and worship of our Lord and Savior. As we submissively place our morning worship into God's hands we ask him to meet each individual at their point of need.
Prayer is vital to the life of a Christian and the church. We will make a difference in our worship services, our community, our families and our individual lives by talking to God on a more regular basis. As James says, 'The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).
Carey Gossen is th e pastor of Gra ce Bible Church in Gettysburg, so.
WORSHIP AND PREACHING: The central element
As WE SEARCH SCRIPTURE FOR GUIDANCE pertaining to the worship issues the church is facing today, it is somewhat surprising to discover that the word "worship" rarely occurs in the New Testament letters to the churches Nevertheless, what is communicated regarding the gathering of believers is sufficient to convince me that expository preaching must be centtal when the church assembles for "worship ."
I base my conclusion on three foundational convictions The first is the power of God's inspired Word God's Word is the revealer of our condition (Heb. 4:12), the builder of our faith (Rom. 10:17), the agent of our new birth (I Pet. 1:23 ), the instrument of our growth (I Pet. 2:2), and the equipper of our service (2 Tim . 3:16 - J7)
What power resides in the life -changing word of God It's no wonGer inatPaul tol Ofii s young protegeto,(:levowyoOtself-to th e public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to preaching" (I Tim. 4:13 ; d. 2 Tim . 3:16 - 4 :2).
A second foundational conviction relates to the purpose of church gatherings. Passages such as I Corinth ians II and 14 refer to praying, singing, prophesying, observing the Lord's Supper, etc., as important activities for the gathered church. But the guiding principle for these activities is stated by the command, "Let all things be done for building up" (14:26)
Paul begins I Corinthians 14 by exhorting the church to prioritize prophesy, for "the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation" (14:3) Preaching (or prophesying) refers to that activity of "speaking forth the Lord 's word" and is to be faithfully exercised in the church, for nothing is more effective in building the church.
In his farewell speech to the Ephesian elders, Paul commends them "to God and to the word of his grace, wh ich is able to build you up" (Acts 20 :32) . It is no acci dent that the first description of the early church is that of "devoting themselves to the apostles ' teaching" (Acts 2 l4Z). Expository preaching and teaching are essential for the edification of the Lord's church.
"My third convl<:tion
As I see it worshi p is more a to trutb than it is a. servi ce we attCilia. To worshipis "' present your bbJ! to Q0d»C may
daily presentation of our bodie s in an acceptable way to God. Hebrews 13 :15-16 describes a lifestyle of sacrificial praise in terms of verbal adoration, doing good and sharing what we have with those in need. That's not a worship service but a worship lifestyle
Worship is all that I am, responding to all that God, is all the time Such a response needs to be infonned by the preaching and teaching of God's Word Jesus said that those who worship God must worsh ip him "in spirit and in truth your word is truth " (John 4 :24 ; 17: 17). It's no wonder that Jesu s said to Peter: "Feed my lambs tend my sheep .feed my sheep" (John 21 :15-17) . A major responsibility of the Lord 's under-shepherds is that of feed ing the Lord's flock the Word of God -Some-saY-fOda¥- thauhe-JO=lll.inute monologue called preaching is outdated and doesn 't connect with the posttnodem mindset. Such accusations about the irrelevance of expository preaching are not new Perhaps Paul anticipated that when he said : "Preach the word ; be ready in season and out of season" (2 Tim . 4 :2) . The changing whims of cultural taste should never diminish the pastor's committnent to faithfully proclaim God's Word.
In his book Between Two Worlds, John Stott states it well: "Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the Word are actually indispensable to it The two cannot be divorced Indeed, it is their unnatural divorce which accounts for the low level of so much contemporary worship . "Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor, " continues Stott "But when the Word of God is expounded in its fullness , and the congregation begins to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before His throne . It is preaching which accomplishes this, the proclamation of th e Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God That is why preaching is un ique and irreplaceable,"
May Godtt1ess Our churches with a passion for preaching, wot$hi p .
Worship in the 21st century can be enhanced when we understand 16th century practices regarding mystery, silence and symbols.
CORPORATE WORSHIP IS A HIGH PRIORITY for Mennonite Brethren. Worship is central to the life of the congregation.
MBs have no denominationally dictated order of
mysteries. There is much mystery in the biblical story that our finite minds will never fully comprehend.
In our corporate worship we give little attention to the mystery of God We focus on trying to understand more fully who God is and how
We Limit our w or ship if w e give little attention t o th e myst ery of God, t o th e wonder and awe which we experi ence wh en w e cannot und erstand
worship. Nevertheless, whether urban or rural, contem-
God works in our world today. We want services and sermons to be porary or traditional, free or liturgical, our churches share practical and to apply to daily life. a number of things in common: the significance of Application or awe music, the impottance of Scripture and preaching, the
Emphasizing practical application is not new. It's part of our r ctice of ordinances and the celebration of community "Preaching of all (Anabaptist) in our weekly gatherings. worship. In most instances it was expository preaching from biblical
We can be grateful to the 16th century reformers passages, and a primary role of the pastor seems to have been that of who passed on the practices. traditions and essential being a scholar of God's Word who both through preaching and teachaspects of worship that we enjoy today. Menno Simons. ing applied the meaning of Scripture to daily life," writes James White, when he sensed decay in the historical church, turned to professor of liturgy at Notre Dame, in Protestant Worship. the holy Word to remind the church of its biblical foun-
Expository preaching and practical applications are important and dation. Many early Anabaptists, forced to meet in secret. essential to our worship. But we limit our worship if we give little attenwere martyred because they held firmly to the centrality tion to the mystery of God, to the wonder and awe which we experience of individual and corporate worship. when we cannot understand.
While I am grateful for the positive changes and
In addition to a greater knowledge of God's Word and practical gains we have experienced as worship has evolved and daily truths, we also need to appreciate the mystery of Divine adapted to contemporary life, there are some practices Omniscience-whom we trust and believe but whom we will never that have faded away. We have minimized aspects of fully comprehend. Our services should regularly remind us that we are worship that were once predominant and significant. not gods; we are but finite humans with limited capacities created for Our worship in the 21st century will be enhanced when God's glory. we again incorporate mystery, silence and symbols into
When worship services focus primarily or exclusively on practical our times of corporate worship. application of scriptural truths we leave the service with a downward God is mystery glance at the path we walk during the week. When worship services
A central requirement for participation in worship is conclude with a sense of wonder and awe at the mystery of God we "a sense of wonderment and awe at the mystery of God's leave with an upward look. becoming flesh," says Don Saliers, Emory University
We need both. professor of theology and author of Worship as Theology. Sound of silence Mystery. We are uncomfortable with it because
We are uncomfortable with too much silence so we fill a worship mystery is commonly used in a variety of ways. from service with sound. Even during the quiet of prayer time music is often mystery novels to occult movements. Celebrities testify played to fill in the pauses. We more often take Psalm 95:1 ("Let us to their search for meaning in life through mystery and make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation") as a guide to worship supernaturalism. than Habakkuk 2:20 ('The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth
Yet the Bible refers to the divine story repeatedly as keep silence before him"). mystery, from the beginning ("God said to Moses. 'I am
If we define silence as the absence of sound or as an empty space who lam,"' (Exod. 3:14) to the end ("that the mystery of that needs to be filled we define it too narrowly. Such a perspective God should be fulfilled" Rev. 10:7)·
d· . . h h I f·1 h·
Im10ls es t e va ue 0 Sl ence 10 wors Ip
God is mystery; the incarnation and resurrection are Pierre Lacout, in his book God Is Silence. provides a unique per-
spective on God. "Let us give the name ' Silence' to what others prefer to call 'The Word.' Words split apart, Silence unites. Words scatter. Silence gathers together Words stir up, Silence brings peace."
Silence is part of our Anabaptist worship history. James White reminds us that in addition to verbal prayers. "periods of silent meditation for prayer were also provided" in early Anabaptist worship selVices. While I'm not suggesting we incorporate silence into our selVices to the extent of a Quaker meeting. we should have occasional planned time for silence .
In reality symbols are an important part of our worship: the open Bible. the bread and juice of communion. the cross. the pulpit and the baptistery. They are meaningful because we understand the meaning to be much deeper than the object itself. They are an integral part of the selVice. not intrusive or exaggerated.
Silent eloquence
A symbol can be a source of inspiration and education. It is said that when St. Patrick found it difficult to teach the doctrine of the Trinity to Irish converts. he picked a three-leaf clover and used it to demonstrate the three - in-one doctrine.
I'm not suggesting that we fill our sanctuary and worship selVices Listening to God with objects. statues. icons. etc. It would be inappropriate for us to return Silence provides a time for listening. one of those to the pre-reformation practices. However the occasional use of creative. human traits that is largely ignored. We do a lot of speaking unique symbols can draw us into the worship experience. to and about God. We rarely listen.
One congregation planned a worship series emphasizing God's __ as they grew-in-faith. en worship, notes in Enter His Gates that. "One activity notice - the first Sunday there was a lump of clay about the size of a football on ably absent in open worship is silence. Listening to God. the table at the front of the sanctuary. Nothing was said about it. On each weighing what has been said. allowing a song to 'sink in: of the next few Sundays it took on a different form until the final Sunday developing a sense of ease - all these aspects of worship are when that initial lump of clay was transformed into a lovely vase. It was impossible if a fast pace and verbosity dominate ." a nonverbal symbol. Little was said yet it spoke eloquently to the conSilence can be profound. It's hard to imagine the gregation. impact when the bustling city of London stopped for two Kreider adds a practical note about the use of symbols in worship. minutes at noon last July 14 to remember those who died in "White roses. red roses. a broken length of a prisoner's chain. white popthe bombings a week earlier. If an entire city can pause and pies. a photo of crossed warheads. a tax form, a teacup and saucer. a be silent. isn't it possible for a congregation to listen in lump of yeast. a mortar and pestle-any of these laid on the table beside silence and collectively hear God speak? How profound. the cup and bread reinforce those central symbols of our faith."
The inclusion of an occasional symbol in our worship selVice can Appreciating symbols enhance and enrich a congregation's experience. If given too much Protestant reformers of the 16th century reacted to the attention and explanation it can be a distraction. When used appropriexcesses and misuse of symbols. icons. relics. paintings and statues in the Roman Catholic Church. what Don Saliers ately it can speak to us in silent eloquence. helping us to focus on the purpose of our worship. calls "fossilized symbolization."
Our worship styles may change over time, but the object of our
I experienced just such excesses when recently visiting worship does not change. The book of Revelation describes an eternal St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Budapest. St. worship selVice as a great musical event in which the heavenly choir Stephen, not Jesus, glows above the high altar. Stephen is sings: Hungary's first Christian king whom the church canonized "Great and wonderful are thy deeds. as a saint. But the main attraction is the mummified "holy o Lord God the Almighty! right hand" of St. Stephen in a jeweled glass box in a side
Just and true are thy ways. chapel. When a visitor drops a coin into a slot. light shines o King of the ages! on the relic for two minutes. Such practices cause us to react
Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, 0 Lord? against symbols in our sanctuaries.
For thou alone art holy.
But in reacting against excesses Protestants have sufAll nations shall come and worship thee, fered a loss. Saliers notes. "with little sense of symbol, or For thy judgments have been revealed" (Rev. 15: 3, 4. KJV). even a deep suspicion of the symbolic realm." Over the centuries we have reacted against, but have not developed an appreciation for. symbols. Perhaps it is time for a middle position between the extremes of idolatry of symbols and avoidance of symbols
Wilfred Martens is English professor emeritus at Fresno Pacific University. having retired in 2000 after 3S years of teaching He is an active member of College Community Church of Clovis. Calif.
Your Mennonite Brethren
The quest for tomorrow's leaders
Seminary program encourages high sc hool students to hear the call
Aa Christian, you have been called. Deciphering and answering God's call, however, takes time, patience, nderstanding and faith-filled determination. For many U.S . and Canadian Mennonite Brethren youth that journey has been and continues to be assisted by Ministry Quest.
Ministry Quest, according to its Web site, "is a journey exploring opportunities in pastoral, congregational and missional leadership" and is a major component of Hearing the Call of God, a program operated by MB Biblical Seminary and supported by the Lilly Foundation.
"Ministry Quest is a program helping the church and high school students discern , or figure out, a call to ministry," says Rick Bartlert, Ministry Quest director.
Bartlert says that Ministry Quest is "unique in the midst of
Many times the first Ministry Quest retreat includes a trip to Kings Canyon National Park near Fresno, Calif. This MQ group includes Tyler Prieb .
other seminary programs supported by the Lilly Foundation many of which primarily focus on theological education for high school students." Instead of intensive Bible study, students involved in Ministry Quest are nominated to participate in a program in which they discover God's call on their life first hand and apply that knowledge to their future.
Bartlert says that Ministry Quest is unique in three ways . First, in order for students to attend, they must be "discerned and nominated" by their church as opposed to a program open to anyone.
Secondly, the majority of the program relies on a biweekly mentoring program with a member of the student's church Participants are required to meet for 90 minutes each session to discuss Greg Ogden's book, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ
Bartlett explains that the use of Ogden's book is a sttong mentoring resource for the students. It is an "intensive study that
makes (the mentor) think and gets the students to think."
'We raise the bar pretty high for these students in the program," says Bartlett. "It's a big deal."
Finally, Ministry Quest focuses on calling and vocation, particularly into ministry.
'We really focus on understanding what God wants for you as an individual," says Bartlett .
The program is divided into two sections: Charting Your Course and Setting Your Sail.
Charting Your Course, according to the program's Web site, "focuses on spiritual formation, exploration of calling as a personal theological journey and ministry awareness ."
During this stage, students are involved in a six-day retreat, where they are encouraged to discover their "call stories" and listen to other testimonies, as well as recognize that Jesus is the most important part of ministry, explains
home church where they attend 13 mentoring sessions and three ministry observations with
Ministry Quest to continue beyond grant
Eve n though the Lilly Endowment grant that made Ministry Quest possible expires at the end of this summer, the success of Ministry Quest has prompted MB Biblical Seminary to announce that it will continue the program at least through ZOO9
Four years ago MBBS received a $1.6 million Lilly Endowment grant that enabled the formation of Hearing the Call, a set of mutually supporting programs that equips congregations to "c all out" youth and encourage them to consider vocational ministry Ministry Quest, targeted at high school students, is the largest component of Hearing the Call . Since 2003 , 113 high school students and 106 mentors from 45 Mennonite Brethren churches in North America have participated in Ministry Quest . Two nonMB churches have also taken part Each year-long experience includes leadership retreats , church -based mentoring relationships , opportunities for ministry observation and a short-term ministry assignment (visit www ministryquest.com for a full program
overview) . In cooperation with the two MB colleges - Fresno Pacific University in California and Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan - 59 college students have also participated in Ministry Quest
The benefits for students are immense, according to Ministry Quest Director Rick Bartlett He says that they gain a sense of self that comes from being called out by their home church, have an enriching cross -cultural experience and emerge from the program with a life -long desire to be in mentoring relationships .
The student's home church also benefits in long -term ways as well "Calling out young leaders for vocational ministry is something churches want to do," says Bartlett. "Ministry Quest gives them a way to do that "
MBBS is committed to the ongoing success of the Ministry Quest program No matter what form the program adopts in the future, Bartlett is confident that participating churches have the tools to continue calling out and mentoring young leaders in their congregation " It is our hope," Bartlett
remarks, "through Hearing the Call and Ministry Quest that the culture of the church is changing to take these concepts more seriously."
Hearing the Call was the brainchild of John Neufeld who will transition next month to a new role as emerging leader coach for the Canadian Conference of MB Churches
" I want to affirm everything John has done," says Bartlett. " He did a brilliant job of crafting a program that sets up a natural link with the local church and in doing so, values our Anabaptist heritage ."
In addition to Neufeld and Bartlett, the Ministry Quest staff includes Anne Friesen in Winnipeg , Man , Sherri Eason in Fresno, Calif , and volunteers Cam Prieb, Rhonda Dueck and Mike Rea .
MBBS , with campuses in Fresno, Langley, BC and Winnipeg , Man ., inspires and equips men and women to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, and to serve and lead in the church and the world .- Megan E. Richard for MBBS
church leaders of the student's choice.
Students embark on the second stage, Setting Your Sail, only after the church reaffirms the student's involvement in the program. Like the first stage, Setting Your Sail involves a retreat, mentoring and ministry observation, but adds another dimension: a short-term ministry assignment of the student's choice.
During this session, says the Ministry Quest Web site, "Participants will build a personal profile that integrates spiritual gifts, aptitudes and abilities, character and personality, leadership styling and passions and Bartlett says, "Students come into the program wIth a real passion for God and interest in growing .... We see them grow in their personal life and in their sense of identity and who they are as an individual. They get possibilities for the future and how God can be involved."
For one Kansas teenager, Bartlett's view of student growth in the program proved accurate.
Tyler Prieb, a senior attending Topeka (Kan.) West High School, began the Ministry Quest program at the he..was lU...
"I became involved in Ministry Quest after talking with the director at a leadership summit, and being nominated by my youth pastor," Prieb says.
"Knowing little, I expected little," he says. "My expectations were blown away by the Christ-based community and fellowship, and the insight and wisdom of the leaders. Not to mention the lifelong friendships I established with peers all over the continent."
Prieb is now involved with music/worship ministry at his church, Cornerstone Community Church of Topeka.
"Ministry Quest has probably single-handedly had the largest degree of impact on my spiritual life," he says. " It gave me a passion and direction and allowed me to open my mind to God's heart and will for my life. It helped me make a choice for college and deepened my desire for serving him everyday."
Prieb plans on attending college and pursuing a vocational ministry in the future.
Churches can get involved with the Ministry Quest program by identifying and nominating students with full-time ministry potential, says Bartlett. Nominations can be made on the Ministry Quest Web site, www.ministryquest.com.
"This is the opportunity," Bartlett says, "for the church to call out some of their own students and say, 'Maybe you should consider this.'"
As Ogden says in Discipleship Essentials, "You have a wonderful, painful, delightful, challenging adventure ahead. God bless you as you grow in him." -by Malinda Just , newswriter
Tyler Prieb, pictured above left playing the djembe during the SOAR Montreal mission trip that he participated in as part of Ministry Quest, says he has rethought his college plans thanks to MQ.
Students test-drive church ministry
New POC board focuses on internships
It is common knowledge that the Pacific District Conference holds an annual convention to conduct business. and make decisions. What may not be common knowledge IS that the 2003 PDC convention in Lodi, Calif., was pivotal for potential church leaders
At the PDC convention in 2003, a key vote was cast to establish a Board of Leadership Development. "There was a motion from the floor at the convention to amend the budget to include a small amount to get the board started in its work, " says Gary Wall. district minister for the Pacific District Conference, in an e- mail interview.
1-- Nonmly-inuch-a-board-uniquew-the-POC-;-it-is-the-only-one of its kind functioning at the district level in the U.S. Conference. What sets this board apart from the rest is its specific focus on the identification and training of young people for ministry leadership.
''The PDC mission and vision was clarified by the district executive board in 1999 to include three main components-church planting, church health and leadership development," says Wall. describing what stimulated the creation of the board. 'We had a board to oversee church planting (home missions) and church health (Board of Faith and Life) but needed a conference body to oversee the leadership development piece of the vision."
The Board of Leadership Development made its debut report at the 2005 PDC convention.
Prior to the board's establishment in the fall of 2003, an internship task force existed for one year under the umbrella of the Board of Home Missions.
In the summer of 2003, this task force placed 17 students in the internship program. Wall explains that, 'With the creation of the Board of Leadership Development, the program developed into a strong, well-received ministry of the conference." Following suit, PDC Board of Leadership Development placed 24 students dunng the summer of 2004 and 14 during the summer of 2005.
The board consists of six members, including the chair, Rick Bartlett, dean of students at MB Biblical Seminary in Fresno, Calif. Bartlett is joined by Kelly Thomas of Neighborhood i? Visalia, Calif.; Jason Archuletta of Vinewood Church In Lodl, Calif.; Forrest Jenan of Bethany Church in Fresno; Dina GonzalezPena of Fresno Pacific University in Fresno; and Ken Cross of Laurelglen Bible Church in Bakersfield, Calif.
Bartlett describes the tasks of the board as two-fold. FIrst, the board facilitates the details of each placement. The board's primary purpose is to place interns at church sites within the Pacific District.
'We essentially provide summer internships for college students ... in conjunction with the local church," says Bartlett in an e-
mail interview.
According to the PDC Web site, interns are to have completed at least one year of college. The age range of interns is between 19 and 25 years. Most importantly, interns possess a desire to participate in a hands-on experience of ministry training.
Internships take place during the summer for a period of 13 weeks. According to Bartlett, students choose from a range of ministry areas including children, music, youth , administrative and preaching and teaching. Once interns are placed at a church within the Pacific District, they begin to work closely with an onsite supervisor to test and try out their gifts in a leadership capacity. Organizers hope that interns will d iscover if ministry is something they want to pursue.
The second aim of the board is to provide support to interns as they step out in a variety of ministry-related assignments The board's philosophy of leadership development is to provide safe parameters in which interns can take some risks while receiving encouragement and feedback, explains Bartlett. "It' s that kind of place where you can try some new stuff and test out your gifting," says Bartlett.
The PDC Web site echoes this: "The Board of Leadership Development exists to inspire and challenge emerging and existing church leaders by providing opportunities for gifts to be tested, skills to be developed, character to be strengthened and competence to be increased."
One way this is accomplished is through a 24-hour orientation at the beginning of the internship . According to Bartlett, interns meet with the board for a time of planning and goal setting. Supervisors are also invited to this orientation. This provides interns with the chance to meet one-on-one with supervisors to "plan and dream," explains Bartlett
Support continues for the intern throughout the summer. As Bartlett explains, each host church appoints a mentor for every intern "The mentor is someone the student can meet with who is outside the 'work' situation so they have the freedom to share frustrations , to pray together and to have someone who is concerned about their (the intern's) spiritual growth," says Bartlett.
Wall's goal is to touch base with interns as he travels throughout the summer, to talk with them and "just encourage them," he explains. Bartlett's role is to stay in phone contact with the supervisors . Thus, interns are
surrounded by support from their host church, mentor and the Board of Leadership Development.
During the course of the 13-week internship, participants read three texts related to leadership development . In an e-mail interview, Bartlett says that the goal is to make the reading practical and applicable to the particular ministry area of each placement. Since interns work in a wide variety of ministries each host church is responsible for choosing relevant texts for its interns.
Forrest Jenan, board member and a youth pastor, has hosted several interns during the past two summers and has already chosen interns for the coming summer. He says that internship tasks are characterized by pre-planning, lots of supervision and debriefing. This allows interns to receive feedback and guidance.
Jenan's desire is that interns "get an understanding of what church is all about " Thus the interns' mode of involvement is allencompassing. As a result, interns get to participate i n all aspectS of their particular specialization, " to give them the big picture," says Jenan.
The process of applying for an internship involves both potential interns and churches . "We have the church make an application to have an intern and we evaluate based on what they have written," says Bartlett "However, about 90 percent of our placements are 'homegrown: students who attend the church they intern in."
Because of the full-time nature of the internship, interns are paid a salary of $3,000 for the entire summer. According to Bartlett, the money is provided by a three-way partnership in which the intern, the participating church and the PDC each contribute onethird of the salary The PDC Web site indicates that because of the full-time nature of internships, participants should not be employed in any additional capacity during the summer.
Along with the tasks of placing and supporting interns, the Board of Leadership Development has served as a co-sponsor of the FPU Ministry Forum for the past three years.
The board is currently in the very beginning stages of talking about ways to broaden its ministry. Wall says that the board has begun discussing the possibility of expanding its outreach to include opportunities for adults with already-established careers.
Wall sums up the hope of the Board of Leadership Development on the PDC Web site: "Listening for the call of God should b e one of the top priorities for any young adult. I'm excited about how our summer internship program can help the next generation hear that call."
Applications for summer internships are currently being accepted Students and churche s interested in applying can find information and application procedures, as well as a profile of the PDC Board of Leadership D evelopment, at www pdc mbc orgby Jennifer Brandt, newswriter
Adams MB celebrates centennial
Outreach continues as population shifts
Some 40 years ago a young boy attended Bible school at Adams MB Church, Adams, Okla. It was the first time he'd ever heard about Jesus
The young boy went on to become a minister. He later told his story to a couple he met at Dairy Queen in Guymon, Okla The couple, Jake :llld Mllry i a ne-Fast, are -current members of Adams MB Church.
Jake Fast tells the story of how Adams touched the life of this boy because, he says, it demonstrates one of the top priorities of Adams MB: outreach. Adams MB Church celebrated its rooth anniversary Jan 8.
Currently, the town of Adams is home to 250 people. The majority of the citizens, Fast says , are Hispanic and are employed by feedlots in the area.
While the people "come and go," Fast says Adams MB has "tried hard for a number of years to outreach." The congregation has brought in speakers, conducted Spanish lessons and even held church picnics in hopes of reaching people for Jesus.
"Even though there are people we wish would come to church, we still meet them in social and business ways," says Fast. "When God sends witnesses our way, we are to help them see our enthusiasm and to make use of it."
This is how the congregation has ministered for 100 years, reaching out in the community and sending and supporting numerous missionaries. Currently Adams MB supports two of its members who are international missionaries.
"Our job is to be sort of a lighthouse for the young people from our congregation who are in the mission field in other places," says Glenda Friesen, church secretary. "Just knowing that our church is still here supporting them both prayerfully and financially 1 hope is a comfort to them."
Covered wagons brought the first Mennonite settlers to "No Man's Land" in 1903. They came in pursuit of a home of their own, and with determi -
nation, endurance and a faith in God, they established a life for themselves in the Oklahoma Panhandle. By 1906, after several years of church services in granaries, barns and homes, the settlers erected their first church building.
Adams MB has seen its share of change over the years, including new buildings , numerous pastors, church splits and declining membership numbers But that hasn't stopped the members from worshipping God.
"Just as 100 years ago, together they came,
We gather together to magnify his name.
As many of you know, our numbers are down.
Yet, every Sunday morning the name of Jesus is heard in this town," says Fast in his poem commemorating the looth celebration.
Seventy-seven people attended the celebration, where two former pastors were among the special guest speakers. John F1eming of Com, Okla., and Frank Huebert of Fairview, Okla., shared their memories as Adams pastors .
Steve Fast, a member of the congregation who currently lives overseas and serves in the marketplace, was the keynote speaker.
"I emphasized that we were celebrating 100 years of God's grace to us and not roo years of our achievements," says Fast in an e-mail interview after the celebration weekend . "God intended for his powerful deeds for Israel to be a witness to the whole world Meeting in Adams several thousand years later is the fruit of that witness to the world. God calls us to be a witness to the town of Adams and to the world," says Fast - by Malinda Just, newswriter
Adams Church members and guests enjoy visiting during the congregation's 100th celebration.
MDS opens unusual project in Louisiana
Volunteers will need their survival skills at uninhabited site
MDisaster. Service a proJect In Buras, La., In January. ThIs proJect wtll be only for those who are ready for a challenge such as you may never have experienced before," says Jerry Klassen, Gulf Coast coordinator for MDS 'This means that you will need to call upon your survival skills as well as be available to respond to the needs of a community that is nearly totally destroyed."
Buras is located in far southeastern Louisiana in the Plaquemines Parish, near the center of Hurricane Karrina's wrath Aug. 29. Because of its location between the Mississippi River, the Gulf and two levees, Buras remained waterlogged much longer than some other communities.
Klassen says the remains uninhamr-able and without basic services such as water, sewer or power. The nearest grocery store is about an hour's drive away. The nearest sizeable city is New Orleans, about a 90 minute drive inland.
'We are inviting volunteers to help respond to a community that is still in an emergency phase despite being four months after hurricanes Katrina and Rita," Klassen says. 'This is a community without all the essential services that we are normally accustomed to having at MDS project sites."
While MDS sites are usually supplied with everything volunteers might need, including a bunkhouse, food services, tools and vehicles, volunteers who respond to the call for help in Buras should be prepared to work under more primitive conditions. Volunteers are asked to provide their own housing in the form of a tent or recreational vehicle and bedding. Each group of volunteers is also asked to provide their own cook as well as food, water and camp stove. Since no gas stations are open, volunteers should bring gas in cans.
Klassen says that MDS was drawn to Buras for several reasons. First, the community is in great need. In addition, a small Mennonite congregation, Lighthouse Fellowship Church, is located in this fishing community, so there's a natural connection.
Finally Klassen says, "Our constituency wants to come." Klassen says that even though MDS has established just under a dozen project sites along the Gulf Coast using roughly 300 volunteers at any given time, MDS still has three to four times that many volunteers willing to help. 'We want to do something more," Klassen says, even if that means unusual accommodations for volunteers.
Because the community was so devastated by the hurricanes and because it was flooded for so long, the work will be similar to the response immediately after a disaster Volunteers will start by helping with basic cleanup, then move to repair as needs are determined But the most important aspect of their help, Klassen says, is simply standing alongside and offering hope.
"I don't think we realize the effect that we have when we're just simply there - not doing anything, but just being there," he says. 'That's part of the reason to go into a community like Buras. "
{jenerally, Klassen- says, other Gulf Coast MDS projects are progressing into the long-term restoration phase during which MDS supports the community's efforts at rebuilding and recovery.
Klassen says that, while there is 1 shortage of communities still asking j help, MDS has no immediate plans open more sites like Buras. He says thai MDS responds in other new locations, will likely be because volunteers are I longer needed at some of the current sit< Furthermore, he points out, this sm organization must be realistic about it can accomplish before the next stOt season hits.
As with any project in the eal response stages, both work needs al physical provisions at the Buras site c; change from oayto day. I nterested vol ul teers should contact project director Kei Amstutz at 319-936-7544 for updat< information.-Myra Holmes with M[ news service
Left alone to sort it out
MDS supports longterm disaster recovery
Wen a major storm such as Hurricane Katrina ends and the media moves on to the next breaking headline. the people affected by the storm. especially those without many resources. are often left alone to sort out how they will recover from their losses. Mennonite Disaster Service. the Anabaptist disaster-response organization. works to help with the long. slow process of rebuilding after a disasrer.--- - -
Lenistin Woods. a resident of Brewton. Ala .• is one example.
In September 2004 and thanks to Hurricane Ivan. a branch fell and punched a hole in the roof of her house. Woods used
insurance money to pay a contractor to patch holes in her roof. and she borrowed $1.500 to have a large oak tree removed from the front of her house.
When Hurricane Dennis hit Brewton in the fall of 2005. her roof was damaged a second time. Leaks permirted water to enter her living room every time it rained. She requested money from her insurance company to repair the damage. but they told her she should have repaired her whole roof the first time . No money would be made available to repair her roof after Hurricane Dennis. Water from the leaking roof caused her living room door to swell to the point she could barely open it Mold began to grow. smelling up the whole house
.-. She then received a letter stating that her insurance coverage would be terminated Jan 8. 2006. if she did not have her whole roof repaired. Her bank informed her that they would foreclose on her mortgage if she did not have insurance for her house.
Woods' only source of income was her Social Security check. which covered expenses such as mortgage. utilities. car payment and food. She is retired from her position as a case worker for human resources in Brewton. and her savings are gone . She had lived in this house 45 years and was now facing the possibility of los-
ingit.
She explained her dilemma to a case worker for long-term recovety in Escambia County. Ala .• who determined funding was available but the cost of labor was too high.
Dec. 27. 2005. the MDS office in Century. Fla .• received a call asking if there was any way the organization could help Woods save her house. After reviewing the situation and learning that supplies and funding were available. MDS worker Bob Wyble shared Woods' dilemma with other MDS workers. who all agreed to put other projects on hold to roof Woods' home before the Jan. 8 deadline . By Dec. 29. a crew of 18 MDS volunteers from Alabama. Indiana and Pennsylvania had begun work on Woods' house. "I just want to shout." said Woods when the MDS volunteers arrived
The MDS volunteers were able to get the new roof in place before the Jan . 8 deadline.
When Woods ' friends ask her how she can be ctying one day and wake up the next day still smiling she says. "You can't let people drag you down. My faith in God has made it possible to keep going in spite of all my losses." - Bob Wyble for MDS
Left: The Buras, La., water tower shows evidence of the damage done when the eye of Hurricane struck the community. MDS volunteers who come to Buras will find the city uninhabited and without baSIC services. Above: Lenisten Woods is thankful for the MDS crew that repaired her roof.
body LIFE
From dirt to a community playground
MBMSI workers hope to transform their neighborhood
t started in 2002 with a dream to reach out party- seekers and moms looking to give will provide needed rest stops and that a to neighbors and a patch of dirt When their babies some semi-fresh air, " Kevin fence will discourage abuse of the play area Kevin and Lena H amm, mission associ- Hamm says . The only playground in the " It is our prayer that a well cared for ates with MBMS International in St area was in serious disrepair, littered with playground will be respected by those who Petersburg, Russia, noticed that children in garbage and prone to flooding "Our dream pass by and will become and remain a safe their neighborhood lacked a safe outdoor was to fix up a small, semi -wooded area place to play," the Hamms say on the Web place to play, they decided to do __ about it. In September 2005, their dream of a says.
The Hamms report some difficulties neighborhood playground was realized. In fall 2002 , MBMSI approved the with the play area: the fence gate fell off due
A playground may be taken for granted project for fundraising. Since that time indi- to poor welding and swinging children, by parents in North America, but the viduals, families and churches from across benches had to be cemented in place to keep Hamms say in Russia it's the kind of thing the U S. and Canada have donated money them where they belong, and Lena discovthat might "help ttansform a neighborhood ." to help make the dream of a safe and clean ered a blood-filled syringe inside the play-
On their Web site the Hamms describe place for St. Petersburg children to play a ground the need for a safe play area : ' l\lmost all chil- reality.
But they also report that the playdren in St. Petersburg live in and play in After much research and dealing with ground is making a positive impact in the cramped apartments; they have no idea what a frustrating city bureaucracy, Lena was given neighborhood . backyard is. They cannot play outside without permission to start planning with contrac- "To be honest, we didn't realize how careful supeIVision Their play areas are invari- tors. In August 2004, the city suddenly set many kids lived around here until the playably covered with cigarette butts, garbage, up a playground structure in the middle of ground was finished ," the Hamms say Lena broken bottles and dog feces The playground the heavily-trafficked courtyard Although is organizing games for children Many in equipment outside is in serious disrepair and is the Hamms appreciated the "unexpected the neighborhood have expressed gratitude often outright dangerous to use ." gift," the placement of this new equipment for the project. " Lena told each of them that
At a July 2002 seminar during which forced them to revise their plan this playground was a gift from God and the Hamms were challenged to impact their The new plan consisted of a large play- from his people," they say. "Many shook community with Christ's love, Lena hit ground structure for small children, c1imb- their heads in wonder at such an answer " upon the idea of renovating a local play - ing bars, a teeter-totter, complete resurfa c- For more about the playground project, ground for the neighborhood children The ing, a fence and benches and a picnic table see the Hamm ' s Web site at Web site reports that within 10 minutes of just outside the play area , according to the www.krhamm.com/playground. - from Lena 's idea, they had received confirmation Web site.
MBMSI and the Hamm's Web site in the form of a financial donation toward the The Hamms say benches for p roject resting are especially important
The Hamms estimate that their imme- because many Russians depend diate neighborhood consists of some 800 upon public transit or walk between apartments in seven buildings and is home to destinations. Without benches, several hundred preschool and school-aged passersby would be tempted to use children ''The courtyard near our home was and even abuse the playground an over-tracked area used by passersby, equipment The hope is that benches
A once semi-wooded area in a St. Petersburg neighborhood (left) is transformed into a playground and picnic area (above).
Friesens commended
Neoma and I were moved by the brief account of the untimely death of Paul Friesen in early December. It immediately took us back to the early 70S when our family drove to Paraguay. We made a side trip from Lima to Pucallpa in the Peruvian Andes where Paul and Maurine were then located. They were already at work in the Bible institute at the Swiss Indian mission a short distance from
We spent time with the Friesens and observed how they related to the tribal people who came to the Bible institute to deepen their knowledge of the Bible and faith in Christ. Our children were probably most fascinated by the pet spider monkey that played around the house and rode on the cat's back. But for us the most memorable sight was eight or nine Campa people sitting on the Friesen's floor discussing the BiD e anchhe sweat pouritrg-dowrrPaufsia .
the heat and humidity of that evening. The Friesens related so easily to the pe0ple.
Even though Peru was wracked by Shining Path guerrilla activity much of the time the Friesens worked in the interior. they never moved away. Their involvement continued even after formal retirement. And God blessed it. It was easy to see how committed they were to the Ashaninca people and the welfare of the church in that region .
Some years later I visited the area again. flew into a number of places with Paul and got to see what the Christian community was doing. The growth of the church in that area owes much to Paul and Maurine and others who with them have given their lives to the salvation of the people of that region. If there is a heavenly hall of fame. they belong in it. Paul and Maurine did wonderful. selfless work.
Harold Jantz Winnipeg. Man.
A new view of missions
I found it interesting that there was a warning sign on the cover of the January. Leader. Since the issue focused on the church I had to agree with the _ is!lal ima e. Indeed the church of the future is in danger. As our Christian culture wrestles with what the church is and what It IS to do. what ancontinued on page 32
Health insurance cancelled
Recent attempts to attract new participants to the _ Congregational Employee Plan a health coverage plan sponsored and managed by the U.S . Conference and administered by Mennonite Mutual Aid came up empty. prompting conference leaders to announce in February that CEP will be canceled
No new members were added by the Dec 15. deadline. says USC Leadership Board Chair 3 letter to the 37 households who did reneW d)cl, eE P coverage. In ....;> fact. says Prieb two participating churches/groups totaling 36 uals pulled out ofthe plan
This drop in membership - from 148 live to,liZa is prompting denominational leaders to cancel CEP health benefits. effective I. This decision will also result in changes to the Brethren Employee Benefits Plan . Participants lon,gterm disability policy and the new life insurance 'l'rogram back to the previous term life policy. '\'\ ,,->, \
In his letter. Prieb makes repeated use of the words "unfortunate" and assures CEP participants that the \ Leadership Board is committed to helping those affected by this decision find alternative health coverage
Prieb also repeatedly encourages CEP members to act promptly. 'We cannot stress the importance of beginning to look for other insurance immediately." he writes . .
Former CEP participants have three options They can enroll in MMA's Team Care Vantage health plan, described as "customized. comprehensive medical coverage" available in Kansas, Nebraska. Oklahoma and South Dakota Individuals with significant health conditions who do not qualify for Team Care Vantage may be guaranteed issue into a state -risk pool or other guaranteed-issue options available
in their state . Congregations and employers in Kansas and Nebraska insuring more than one employee may access MMA's ShareNet Employer Plan and may be guaranteed coverage if certain criteria are met
The issue of health insurance has been on the agenda of the two -year old USC Leadership Board almost from the beginning In 2005 the board created a task force to research including the Mennonite Mutual Aid tftat the USC has historically offered MB pastors and conference employees . Joe Johns of Weatherford, Okla • chaired the health insurance task force and has volunteered to work with those who insurance
As a result of the task Board voted .to update the lo -year-old CEP plan IflfcirrnatfOn iabOOt ,&itew Mennomte Brethren Employee Benefits in October 2005
The letter accompanying that while young and healthy pastors can get better premiuin rates. the CEP plan offers two important features: It is pprtable it helps those with preexisting conditions who find it nearly impossible to have affordable insurance on their own .
The packet outlined a new standard package that included health, life and disability income insurance plus a new life insurance plan . Participation in a Section 125 flexible benefits plan as well as dental and vision coverage were optional. Given the lack of interest in the new plan. the improvements were apparently too little too late .
Prieb and other conference leaders are especially concerned about the impact the loss of CEP has on those with pre -existing conditions Prieb encourages individuals and churches to contact USC administrative tant Donna Sullivan at 800 -257- 0515 , executive director Chuck 559- 799 -8964, Joe Johns at 580-819-1772, or their MMA questions about health plans and state-risk pool
>ON THE Journey by
I want it, I need it"
Living a life of voluntary simplicity has payoffs
Rose Buschman
was 10 years old when he found the $100 check that his mother had written in preparation for the unday morning offering at their church. This was the family's monthly contribution in spite of a rather tight budget.
"How can you give all that money to the church when your own child doesn't have what he
'[a king
My challenge is this: How do I put what I read into practice so that it becomes a part of the everyday theology I live by?
An outward expression of my quest towards voluntary simplicity is to "shop at home first" when I need something. I've been absolutely amazed at what I already have if I just take the time to look for it. The other day I needed six gift bags for a church-related project. In the past I would have just gone and bought them and not thought much of it. Now I went looking to see what I might have in my closet and guess what? I found exactly six bags that were suitable for my needs. The bonus was that I saved both money and time as a result of this five-minute search.
Taking a few minutes whenever I can to stop and appreciate the beauty around me is something I do to feed my inner resources. These moments of reflection help me "center down" the pace of my daily life. Today I watched a black and white cat needs?" he demanded. 'That's just not fair " [:] _ His mother thQYght for.a minute and then slowly asked, "Just exactly what do you need that you don't have?"
He was quiet for a while and then in a much softer voice responded, "If I want it, I need it."
This story has come to mind as I've been reading and studying about voluntary simplicity during the past month. The culture I live in tells me that my wants and my needs are synonymous and definitely necessary for a good life. Furthermore, I am told that my value as a person is determined by the things I possess. Advertisers are constantly bombarding me with messages that are supposed to stimulate me to want more and to buy more. After all, the more things you have, the happier you will be, they promise. Yeah, right!
The Bible has the opposite message. Hebrews 13:5 tells me that I should be content with what I have. The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, states, "But godliness with contentment is great gain" (I Tim. 6:6 KJV).
Jesus, when asked to settle an inheritance dispute, says, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot" (Luke 12:15 The Message).
The Shakers sang, 'lis a gift to be simple, 'Tis a gift to be ftee."
Richard Foster in his book The Discipline of Simplicity writes that it is both a spiritual discipline and a gift. He says that "simplicity is a grace because it is given to us by God." Furthermore, he states that there are inner and outer dimensions of simplicity which must be kept in balance. The outer expression of simplicity must flow ftom the inner resources we develop.
a few minutes whenever
I can to st ()P and appreciatemehe-mIn' around me is somethin g I do to fee d my iml e r resour ces.
curled up under a bush in our backyard. She was enjoying the warmth of the sun's rays that shone on her, and I enjoyed observing her apparent contentment.
Throughout the day I often stop to watch the birds that come to the feeders just outside my kitchen window. Some finches have a red crown and breast while others are more golden as their name indicates. There are enough of them that they are constantly jockeying for position on the feeder's perches to get some food. Occasionally, a pair of cardinals comes down to our mini-pond for water. They are quite skittish so I have to be very still as I watch them.
God didn't have to give the male cardinal his distinguished crest and bright red feathers, but he did. He didn't have to provide the drab grey-feathered female with a red beak for contrast, but he did : These brief interludes of time give me much pleasure, a few minutes at a time. Thank you, Lord.
As I read and process what I am learning, I am experiencing payoffs. I find I am more relaxed, with a significant reduction in stress. Furthermore, I have more time. I'm still getting things done but at a somewhat slower pace. For me that's a good thing. Actually I'm also having a lot of fun. Some days it's even like a game-how can I beat the system today?
Each day I wake up to, 'This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it" (Ps. n8:24). The more I learn about and practice voluntary simplicity, the more I enjoy the abundant life that the Bible says we are entitled to.
M iNDS
by Marvin Hein
Capitalizing God in word and deed
How we treat words that refer to God
QWhYin the latest translations of the Bible and in religious literature in general are the pronouns for the deity not capitalized? (Minnesota)
Astand many languages do not have.
One of my editor friends suggests that if one needs theological justification for using lowercase for deity, you do not have too difficult a task. He says the lower case should be as valid as the uppercase.
The inquirer adds to his idea with another question: If you cap ''him,'' God's transcendence might over"Does the lack of capitalization diminish God?" I shadow his immanence too much, says my editor friend. We will admit that I have asked that question myself and might lose the perspective that Jesus particularly came as a still often find myself capitalizing the pronouns for God human and so becomes our brother. Lowercase, in his when I write for Christian periodicals. I do that not so much mind, keeps God incarnational. My friend also admits that, out of conviction but of habit. like most mysteries, the rational argument at this point goes I did a little investigation. It is not only the latest trans- in circles. So he reverts to another rule of thumb: keep a line lations-that-use the-lowercase-"rather than - fewer caps rathertharrmore;referring to God or Jesus. I discovered that the American A former editor of the Christian Leader is said to have Standard Version, the translation preferred by my New commented that capitals are like graphic hiccups and best Testament professor more than 50 years ago in college, does kept to a minimum. When the grammar is clear, which is not capitalize "thee" in the Old Testament when it refers to certainly true in most biblical translations, it should be obviGod or any of the pronouns for Jesus in the New Testament. ous to whom the pronoun is referring. That really is the only
On the other hand, the King James Version always function of a pronoun, in my editor-friend's opinion. uses the uppercase (capitals) when speaking of God in the The Mennonite Publishing Network Supplement, Old Testament (Thee and Thy) and also when referring to which is one major style guide used by the Leader, says: 'i\n Jesus (Him, His, He, etc.) author is seldom more tempted to overcapitalize or an editor
I was a bit surprised upon examining the latest more loath to urge a lower case style than in the area of reliMennonite Brethren hymnal gion. This may stem from an unconscious feeling about (Worship Together, 1995) that words themselves being sacred or from fear of offending a all references to deity are con- religious person or group. Yet the ancient texts seldom oversistently capitalized. There capitalize. We urge a spare, down style in this field. are those who criticize that Capitalize what are clearly proper nouns and adjectives; hymnal for changing some lowercase most other words except to void ambiguity." words in hymns to make Someone has pointed out that some prominent them more contemporary, Christians today who would be among the first to criticize but in the matter of pronouns the absence of capitals for deity in the Bible are among those for the deity the hymnal is who somehow find it rather easy to disregard some of the very traditional. commands of Jesus when it comes to practical matters of I would find it difficult discipleship. Perhaps the lesson we need to learn is that folto argue against not capitalizing such pronouns when I lowing Christ is more important than how we treat prorecall that in my study of biblical Greek all letters in the orig- nouns referring to him in the Scriptures. inal Greek manuscripts were in capitals of the same size. My conservative, traditional upbringing will probably They were called "uncials," which means something close still cause me to notice that pronouns for to "inches." The same is true of the Old Testament Hebrew the deity in the Bible are not in uppercase. language. In one sense then the use of capitals for deity in However, both my heart and my head tell the English language is almost a quirk-one that I under- me that it is vastly more important to keep
Have a question about a Bible passage, doctrine, conference policy or other spiritual issue? Send your question to "Inquiring Minds," cia Maroin Hein, 3036 East Magill Avenue, Fresno, CA 93710 or e-mail Maroin at maroinhein@sbcglobal.net.
JESUS capitalized in my daily actions. I suspect we will be judged not by our lower and uppercases but by our lower and upper behavior.
BAPTISM/MEMBERSHIP
new women's Bible study series with a dinner Jan Topeka, Kan. (Cornerstone Communityl-Steve and 29 Kirkie Morrissey, author of the book study At April Benne were received as members Feb 5. Jesus' Feet, spoke Clovis, Calif. (College Communityl - David Aston was Olathe, Kan. (Community Biblel-The men's minreceived as a member Jan. 22 istry organized a "Game Day with the Guys" Jan. 22. Rapid City, SD (Bible Fellowshipl - Jeff Vahrenkamp was Men gathered at the church to watch the NFL conbaptized Jan 15 ference football championships, eat pizza and share Ferndale, Wash (Good Newsl-Ron and Pat Buchinski ideas for future men's events. were received as members Jan. 15.
Bakersfield, Calif. (Heritage Biblel - Jan 22 was the Fresno, Calif (North Fresnol - Bill and Anne Barcus, first of periodic "name tag Sundays." Members were Dave and Kathryn DiPalma, Cindy Harton, Audrey asked to wear name tags in an effort to help them Hindes, Dianne Reimer, Krystal Rodriguez and Judy get to know each other better Willems were accepted as members Jan. 15. Denver, Colo. (Garden Park, Ethiopian CELEBRATIONS Evangelicall - The children from both congregations -program--at--E-thiopian Evangelical Church Dec. 18 The two congregations gregations held a joint worship service Jan 29 to celeshared cookies after the program brate Calva rio 's new status as a free-standing congregation of the Pacific District Conference The evening serv- MINISTRY ice included worship led by Calvario's worship team, a Fairview, Okla.-The church commissioned six review of the church 's history, a look at their vision for Stephen Ministers Jan. 22. These volunteers comthe future and prayer The service was followed by pleted 50 hours of training in providing emotional dessert. Dinuba MB helped start Calvario in 1963 and spiritual care to thqse experiencing difficulties in Edmond, Okla. (Memorial Roadl- The church celebrat- their lives Fairview hopes that this ministry will help ed its 40th anniversary each Sunday in January The final them provide a higher level of care to individuals and service Jan. 29 focused on vision for the future and was families within their church and community followed by a brunch Reedley, Calif.-A team of 26 people from the church FELLOWSHIP went to Swaziland with "Dream for Africa" Jan 11 -
Dinuba, Calif. - Dinuba Men 's Challenge, a community Okla. (Pine Acresl - G.O. (Gone Outl is men 's ministry, hosted a community Valentine 's Day a new monthly ministry in which church members, banquet at the church Feb 14 In 2005, some 135 people attended this meal. including children elementary-school age and older, bake, pray, write, call, canvas and visit the communiReedley, Calif.-The church 's seniors held a party Jan. ty in order to reach out to those beyond the church 31 to honor all birthdays. The event included clowns, walls An orientation for GO was held Jan 15 A games and food Seniors were invited to bring a birthday group of about a dozen college -age students meet gift in the form of school supplies for Mennonite Central Committee school kits weekly in a home for a late-evening meal followed by Littleton, Colo. (Belleviewl - Church women kicked off a a Bible study Currently they are studying world religions
ITulsa, Okla. (The Heartl-The church plant marked its third highest attendance ever in December, with 128 people attending the Dec 18 worship service In addition, attendance was up during June through November.
PROCLAMATION
Henderson, Neb.-The church is exploring the question, "What on earth are we here for T during a "40 Days of Community" campaign Feb 26 -April 9. Participants attended a kick-off breakfast Feb 19 will listen to seven weekly sermons, read daily devotions based on the "one anothers " of Scripture, and join a Sunday school class on the topic.
Littleton, Colo. (Belleviewl- The church focused on missions during the month of events included a focu s on 'the persecuted church, a movie night featuring "Beyond the Gates of Splendor, " a "live " conversation with Darren and Shahna Duerksen, MBMS International missionaries in Delhi, India, and a cross-cultural potluck with members of Ethiopian Evangelical Church of Denver:
Bakersfield, Calif. (Heritage Biblel - Feb 25-26 was a mi$sions emphasis weekend to challenge members to think" out of the box" for world missions. Planned events included a Saturday afternoon service project for the youth and their families, Saturday evening family barbecue and Sunday guest speaker.
Ulysses, Kan. - Pastor Nate Gift preached a series of sermons on family relationships, titled " Extreme Makeover: Family Edition ," beginning Jan 29. Sermons focused on specific rooms of a home, such as the master bedroom (marital intimacyi, kids' room (training childreni, dog house !conflict resolutioni and closet (problem avoidanceL
Enid, Okla.-Lynn Jost, Bible professor at Tabor College, and a group of Tabor students were guests in both services Feb 5 They shared about their recent trip to India as part of the church 's mission focus on India
Shafter, Calif. - The congregation hosted Wayne Rice,
Enid musicians head to the recording studio
n November a group of musicians from Enid (Okla ) MB Church headed to FTM Studios in Denver, Colo., to record a CD project titled "Unexpected " C hris Regier, associate pastor of worship and church family care at Enid MB, is lead vocalist for the project Other musicians include Angela Brown,
Jason Teeter, Ben Leroy. Doug Stouffer and Dave Roberts.
The project consists of 13 tracks, including five written by Regier and two written by Brown . The CD will have "something for everyone," according to Regier. with well-known worship songs, some "upbeat stuff with edgier electric guitars" and an arrange-
ment of "It Is Well With My Soul" with smooth saxophone accompaniment.
Tyson Wiens, who is from Enid MB and was studying music and sound recording at Colorado Christian University, was the sound engineer for the project, which also served as his senior thesis Wiens graduated from CCU in December. "Unexpected" should be completed and available for purchase this month Regier also recorded a CD with Wiens in April 2004, titled "Celebrate His Goodness ." Those interested in more information about either project may contact Regier at chrisr@coxinet.net.
nationally-known speaker, author and co -founder of Youth Specialties, for a Jan 26 sem inar on understanding teenagers Bakersfield, Calif. (Laurelglenl - Vision 2010 is a church-wide focus on the futu re of the congregation with an emphasis on bringing "far more glory" to God Jan. 21-22 was a celebrat ion of what God has done, is doing and will do through the congregat ion Jan 29 featured an even ing of praye r. 'Victory" weekend, Feb 4-5. focused on financial comm itment. and "Announcement weekend. Feb 25 -26 celebrated the grand total of commitments received Freeman, SO (Salemi - Pastors from area Mennonite churches participated in a pulpit exchange Jan 15 Pastor Will Fadenrecht served at a local Evangelical MB Church, while the EMB pastor, Ken Dalke, preached at Salem San Jose, Calif (Lincoln Glenl - Loren Kroeker director of Lincoln Glen Manor, was the guest speaker for a combined worship service with the church members and manor residents Jan B The service focused on the ministry of the senior care cefltel:-and-indudecLan update prayer and dedication of staff members. Tours of the center followed the service for those interested. Reedley, Calif. - The congregat ion began the new year with an emphasis on prayer. Pastor Dennis Fast preached on "How to Pray with More Power" Jan. 1 Prayer gatherings were offered daily at two locations for the first week of the year. In addition, the chapel was open for prayer during the days, and prayer guides were available
TEACHING/NURTURE
Wichita, Kan. (Firstl - Members were invited to a "First Serve" ministry fair Jan. 2B-29 The fair encouraged members to become involved in the ministries of the church in keeping with a sermon series on "Living Beyond Myself. "
WORKERS
Kingsburg, Calif. (Iglesia Agua Vival-Alfred and Beatriz Foth are the new pastoral couple beginning March 1
Ferndale, Wash. (Good Newsl - The church filled two part-time staff positions in early January. Kevin Pentz is youth team leader, and Derek Pahlka is small group coordinator.
WORSHIP
Fresno, Calif. (North Fresnol - The church's Art Commission is compiling a list of artists in the congregation in order to support them and to look for ways to use their gifts in the church
Weatherford, Okla. (Pine Acresl- The congregation began a new two-service format Jan. B. Sunday school for children and adults now runs concurrently with each worship service, instead of sandwiched between the early and second services.
YOUTH
Huron, SO (Bethesdal - Youth invited church members to a Super Bowl party at the Souled Out Cente r Feb. 5 Area Youth Ministries, led by Bethesda youth directors Adam and Barb Harringto n, brought
a group of athletes known as "Power of Choice" to the community in February The group performed feats of strength in 10 school assemblies, leading up to a youth gathering Feb 15 . Bakersfield, Calif, (Laurelglenl-High school students spent Dec. 27 -31 in Draper, Utah, for a missions trip supporting South Mountain Community Church, a young MB church led by former Laurelglen staff member Paul Robie. The students served as counselors for a Christmas vacation Bible school and learned how to better evangelize those with Mormon beliefs
wife Susan of Hillsboro ; one sister, Adena Schmidt of Fresno, Calif , three grandch ildren, and four greatgrandchildren ISAAC, ANN WILLEMS, Reedley, Calif , was born June 17,1914, in Inman, Kan , to George D and Anna Block Willems and died Jan 5, 2006, at the age of 91 In 1940 she married Jake Isaac, who survives She is also survived by two sons, Wes and wife Marlene, and Leon and wife Carol ; one daughter, JoAnn and husband Eldon Loewen; three sisters, Eva and husband Andrew Classen, Martha and husband John Klema, and Esther Willems, nine grandchildren and 12 great -grandchildren.
DEATHS KLiPPENSTEIN, SELMA, Reedley, Calif , was born May DUERKSEN, MARIE HULDA SIEMENS, Fresno, 10, 1917, in Collinsville, Okla , to Jacob H and Anna Calif , a member of Butler Avenue MB Church, Penner Loewen and died Dec 2B, 2005, at the age of BB. Fresno, was born Sept. 30, 1914 , in Kansas and died In 1946, she married John Klippenstein, who predeDec 26, 2005, at the age of 91. On March 24, 1935, ceased her in 1997. She is survived by three sons, John she married Elmer Franklin Duerksen She is sur- and wife Francine of Reno, Nev , Richard and wife Joyce vived by two sons, Bill and wife Charlotte, and David of Reedley, and Paul and wife Joyce of Springville, and wife Sharon; two daughters, Barbara Parrott Calif.; one daughter, Lallie and husband Norm Willems and Kathy and husband Darell Kroeker, nine grand- of Squaw Valley, Calif ; one sister, Martha and husband children and 1B Vic Klassen of Lodi, Calif.; 13 grandch ildren, 43 greatECK, GUSTENA F., Emct, 1Ykla., a memller orEilj(J- grandchildren and one great-great -grandchITd MB Church, was born Feb 5, 1912, to Dave and LEWIS, ELIZABETH FLAMING, Turlock, Calif , a charter Susie Becker Penner in Goltry, Okla , and died Nov member of the former Cliffwood Heights MB Church, 13,2005 , at the age of 93. On Sept. 20, 1931, she Soquel, Calif , was born Jan. 29, 191B, to Peter and married Roy Eck, who predeceased her. She is sur- Elizabeth Goertzen in Chinook, Mont., and died Oct. 14, vived by five sons, Eugene and wife Anesha, Edwin 2005, at the age of B7 She married Jake D Flaming, and wife Shirley, Richard and wife Myrna, Eldon and who predeceased her in 19BB On July 17, 1992 , she wife Lavon, and David and wife Kathy, all of Enid ; one married James C. Lewis She is survived by one daughdaughter, Linda and husband Victor Neufeld of ter, Barbara Neufeld of LaQuinta, Calif.; one sister, Abbotsford, BC; one sister, Nora Sm ith of Helena, Margaret Goertzen of Clovis, Calif.; one stepson, Jerry Okla., 1B grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren, Lewis of San Jose, Calif. ; and one stepdaughter, and four great-great -grandchildren
Barbara Lewis Forester of Watsonville, Calif GOERTZEN, ADELLA, Sweet Home, Ore , was born MARTENS, BESSIE PEARL, Fairview, Okla , a member May 24, 1930, to John P. and Anna Loewen Winter in of Fairview MB Church, was born Sept. 3, 1913, to John Kansas City, Mo , and died Dec. 15, 2005, at the age J and Susan Kliewer Hein near Fairview and died Jan of 75 On Aug 3, 194B, she married Merle Goertzen, 25, 2006, at the age of 92 On Oct 1, 1933, she married who survives She is also survived by three daugh - David P. Martens, who predeceased her in 1991 She is ters, Frances Mae Wilson of Sweet Home, Beverly survived by many nieces and nephews. Ann Valentine of Aurora, Neb , and Sharon K. Becker PENNER, LILLIAN LEONA, Reedley, Calif., was born of Post Falls, Idaho; one brother, Vernon Winter; one Dec. 6, 1915, in Ernfold, Sask. , to Jacob and Emma sister, Genevieve Abrahams, four grandchildren, Kunkel Loewen and died Dec. 22, 2005, at the age of 90. and several great-grandchildren On Oct. 23, 1938, she married Menno Penner, who surHEIER, FRANCES JOST, Reedley, Calif , a member vives She is also survived by two sons, Ken and wife of Reedley MB Church, was born April 25, 1922, to Georgia of Reedley, and Bruce and wife Diana of George and Marie Huebert and died Dec. 29, 2005, at Acworth, Ga.; one daughter, Darlene and husband the age of 83. On June 23, 1946, she married Paul Verne of Fresno, Calif ; two brothers, Clarence and wife Jost, who predeceased her June 7, 1986 On June 8, Mary, and Marvin and wife Betty of Salem, Ore. ; one sis2002 , she married Paul Heier, who survives She is ter-in-Iaw, Leona Penner of Reedley, eight grandchilalso survived by one son , Steve Jost and wife dren and 23 great-grandchildren. Tomoko of Kingsburg, Calif ; two daughters, Patti THIESSEN, ARTHUR, Hydro, Okla., a member of Corn and husband Craig Jacobson of Reedley, and Janet 10kla ) MB Church, was born May 15, 1926, to Henry J. and husband Ralph Hildebrand of Van couver, BC ; and Anna Heinrichs Thiessen in Colony, Okla , and died one sister, Bonnie and husband Ed Toews of Jan 22, 2006, at the age of 79. On Sept. 21, 1946, he Surprise, Ari z. , and six grandchildren married Evelyn Wiens, who survives He is also survived HEIN, HILDA, Hillsboro, Kan , a member of by three sons, Tim and wife Beckie of Canyon, Tex , Dan Hillsboro MB Church, was born May 5, 1924, to and wife Judy and Jim and wife Marcie, all of Austin; Edward and Martha Seibel Suderman near three daughters, Nancy and husband Russell Regier of Hillsboro, and died Dec 22, 2005 , at the age of B1 Henderson , Neb , Johanna and husband Orville On March 14, 1944, she married Ira Hein, who sur- Flaming of Weatherford , Okla , and Lillian and husband vives She is also survived by one son, Rodney and Merlin Schantz of Hydro; one sister, Ella and husband
Herb Vogt of Corn, Okla., 22 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
UNRUH, HERBERT H" Newton, Kan. , a charter member of Koerner Heights MB Church, Newton, was born June 11, 1905, to Henry and Anna Just
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III II1II
CLeari n gHOUSE ··"
Lead Pastor: The Buhler MB Church in Buhler, Kan , Unruh in Major County, Okla., and died Dec 2, 2005 at the age of 100. On Aug. 16, 1925, he married Alma is looking for a lead pastor to be part of our four person pastoral team We are an active, healthy, 500Reimer, who predeceased him July 24, 1988. He is member small town church that believes Jesus su rvived by one son, Kenneth and wife Ann of Christ is Lord of our lives. Buhler MB is committed to Mountain Lake, Minn ; one daughter, Shirley and being a sending church to the pastorate and missions husband Ronald Hiebert of Olathe, Kan.; one broth- and feels called to fulfill our Christ-centered purpose er, Bill Karber of Marlow, Okla ; one sister, Clara I'n th
Ican
Loewen of Montezuma, Kan., nine grandchildren, 22 ing and belief in Anabaptist theology, preferably with great-grandchildren and four great-great-grand- children. five years experience in a lead or associate pastor
YOTH, DANNY, Enid, Okla , a member of Enid MB position in a multiple staff setting. We are looking for Church, was born Aug 27, 1959, in Enid to Robert P. a man with demonstrated gifts for leading, preachand Carol H. Epp Voth and died Jan. 15, 2006, at the ing, teaching, caring, communicating, developing strong staff, and vision for the future Resumes may age of 46. On Sept. 8, 1978, he married Rhonda be sent to the Search Committee at Buhler MB Sharleen Lowe, who survives. He is also survived by Church, 415 N. West Street, Buhler, KS 67522 or etwo sons, Daniel and wife Chrissy of Norman, Okla., mailed to infolilbuhlermb.org (4/121 and Joseph of Stillwater, Okla.; one brother, Dean and wife Jacque of Kremlin, Okla ; one sister, Donna Lead Pastor: Corn MB Church is seeking a senior and husband Lynn Jost of Hillsboro, Kan., and two pastor to join a youth pastor to lead approximately granddaughters 225-250 committed believers on a weekly basis in _____ --VOGT,- VERNON W" -eeff -'C,LoUJrn14,.l.JO!I\Jkllda...uWeare.arural,.outreach.mindedcoogre--Koerner Heights MB Church, Newton, was born gation that is very mission oriented. Our farming June 13, 1922, to J W. and Martha Wiens Vogt in community of about 550 draws members from a 15 Bessie, Okla., and died Jan. 28, 2006, at the age of 83. to 20 mile radius of larger towns We require a masOn Aug 24, 1944, he married Mildred Harder, who ters degree and would prefer a man in the 30 to 50survives. He is also survived by one son, Richard and year-old-range We require previous experience in wife Natise of Newton; two daughters, Janet of senior or associate pastoral work. We currently offer Wichita , Kan., and Joyce and husband Dennis Wahr a blended style of worship Primary responsibilities of Minneapolis, Minn.; two brothers, Harold of include: Preaching and teaching, visitation, provide Wichita, and Milton of Savanna, Okla , and five encouragement and input to various boards, comgrandchildren mittees and office administration. Resumes may be WINTER, SARAH, Hillsboro, Kan , a member of sent to the Search Committee at Corn MB Church, Hillsboro MB Church, was born May 8, 1913, near
Lehigh, Kan , and died Dec 22, 2005, at the age of 92 She married Harry Winter, who predeceased her in 1996. She is survived by one son, Charles; one daughter, Carol; two brothers, Victor of Tacoma, Wash , and Harold of Fullerton, Calif.; two sisters, Edna Wed mer of Julian, Calif., and Elsie Young of San Diego, Calif , and three grandchildren
Balko MB Church Centennial Celebration Sunday, April 30, 2006
9:00 am - Fellowship time
10:00 am - Worship service
Noon - Meal
1:30 pm - Afternoon service
Pastor James Epp: 580-381-2255
Box 66, Com, OK 73024 or e-mail to stacycarmenlilitlnet.net - Stacy Reimer, Search Committee. (1/61
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New Mennonite Sunday School Curriculum: Gather 'Round : Hearing & Sharing God's Good News Fall high- · .school, as well as year-round multiage resources and a class for parents and caregivers. All ages study the same Bible text at the same time. Bible outlines, free sample sessions, online ordering and more at www.gatherround.org (1/11
SOC Women's Retreat, "Discovering Our Treasures," at the Airport Hilton, Wichita, Kan , March 17-18. For information and registration go to www.retreat.comerstonetopeka.com or call 785-478-2929
Readers SAy cont. from Page 27
opportunity the Mennonite Brethren have to be crystal clear on their belief and mission of the church.
I appreciate the articles that focus on the church in different cultures. Truly there are issues that we are facing that must be dealt with if the church is to be successful in its mission to proclaim Christ and disciple believers. However I am wondering if perhaps another word needs to be rethought and discussed. This word is missions.
I would guess that there would be a variety of answers given to anyone who asked MB churches in the U.S. and Canada about missions. It seems that to many in our conference missions is still overseas, third world and very rural-jungles and unreached tribes
And yet the worldwide movement to cities necessitates quite a different view of missions. Add to this Christ's emphasis on the poor and proclaiming God's kingdom to them.
If we believe this then our missiology will consider more movement to the world's citieslike Mexico City where nearly 9 million youth live in desperate poverty.
So I ask : How will Mennonite Brethren deal with missions in the future? The conference has wonderful ministries in a variety of contexts However, with missions funding already struggling at home and abroad, will missions be able to survive and even thrive with multiple targets and ministries? Would it be wise to narrow that target to the greatest need and greatest opportunity for church explosion?
As the cities of America and the world continue to grow and as the massive urban poor communities multiply, I believe sooner or later it will force our attention upon the concenttated urban centers.
Daren Busenitz Wichita, Kan.
Get with the times
Can the church impact today's culture with life-changing power?
Recently I read an article in one of my office's trade journals that alarmed me very much. It was about the need for archiving strategies to keep pace with new digital record-creation techniques. And before you say, "Dude, you need to get out more," let me explain. In an eerie, metaphorical way. the article
seemed to capture some of the struggles of today's church.
At a National Archives conference last year.
Bob Horton of the Minnesota Historical Society said of his profession, 'We have collectively experienced a technological revolution in the past decade We have not experienced the corresponding and overdue institutional and professional revolution that is the appropriate and necessary response."
I think something similar could be said about the church in America. But in my experience it has now been over three decades since a revolution began to sweep the spiritual landscape. Sometime in 1974 I walked into a big green tent where a thousand worshippers were singing along with a rock band. The music and teaching I heard that night and in subsequent months began to change the way I thought about faith and worship and outreach.
Yet here I am. over 30 years later, watching many of the same controversies go on and on regarding worship style and ministry focus.
Though American culture has changed dramatically during the past three decades, the church in general has not been quick to make appropriate and necessary adjustments. Certainly there are exceptions. but churches that truly impact the surrounding culture with life-changing power and effectiveness are less common than churches that seem a bit stale and out of touch.
The author of my trade journal's article. Richard Pearce-Moses of the Arizona State Archives, suggests ways that archiving professionals need to address the challenges of the digital records revolution. Some of these suggestions translate well into the current church landscape.
Pearce-Moses writes, "Foremost, we must recognize the urgency of the problem." This is critical for us Christians too. Among many churchgoers today there is not a great sense of urgency regarding the need to wholeheartedly worship God. grow in faith. witness to others and be involved in discipling relationships. If little passion is evident in' these areas. there is no way we can be effective in reaching our culture for Christ. If churchgoers themselves are indifferent about their faith.
why should the general culture care?
The author also says that if archiving procedures aren't updated immediately for acquiring digital records. many of them will be lost. How true in the church too. If we keep dragging our feet about adopting real. here-and-now styles and strategies for reaching our culture, we will not only lose more members from our congregations. we will also miss opportunities to gather today's many spiritual seekers into God's kingdom.
In his article Pearce-Moses does acknowledge attempts by archivists to meet the new record-gathering demands of the digital age. However. "much of the profession's response has come
indifferent
hou1d the gen eral culture caT e? -
s
from academia and has been conceptual and theoretical." This can also be a problem in the church. We spend a lot of time talking about how to be growing. outreaching Christians, but not so much time actually doing these things.
It's not a bad thing to discuss and strategize on an intellectuallevel. but at some point there needs to be action. In regard to meeting new archival challenges. the author writes, "I believe that the next step requires us to shift our attention from the conceptual to the practical and empirical, to pay more attention to what must happen in the trenches."
The challenges of this new age seem huge in the world of records management. This is no less true for the ministry and mission of the church. It often seems overwhelming. Today's culture needs reaching. but how? Must we throw out everything we've ever learned and start from scratch?
I don't think so. Pearce-Moses writes that the digital age does not suddenly require archivists to become something completely different. Rather, they need to add "parallel skills" to their basic training to make working with digital materials a natural outgrowth of dealing with physical materials.
In a similar way. ministering effectively in the current culture does not require Christians to become something other than Christians. Yet some churchgoers fear that the world is changing so quickly they need to hold tightly to old familiar ways. Some of these can hinder outreach in this new time.
The core realities of God's grace and salvation through Jesus have not changed. But if we're unwilling to embrace new, effective methods to share these things, then we're going to end up like the archivists who won't get with the times: alone among stacks of musty old memories that no longer interest anyone.
Whirling churches
Churches need to address busyness epidemic
My husband and I suffer from busyness, considered by some to be an "epidemic" in Christian circles. Using a common definition of "epidemic," Michael ZigarelIi of Regent University School of Business, writes in an article posted at FaithlnTheWorkplace.com, "It's no overstatement to say that legions of Christians are infected by an 'outbreak of a contagious disease: a disease that seems to be spreading 'rapidly and wildly' through the cul-
One trend that Popcorn tracks she calls cocooning. Cocooning is to retreat from the world because of a perception that it is distracting, unfriendly, dangerous or in some way unwelcome. My friend suggests that this trend is affecting people's interest in church involvement. Church is fast becoming another unwelcome busy place just like everyplace else in life.
o II hu sy j"l normal. \vhy don't we agree that J\'lennonite Brcthren churc hc"i will ratchct down husvn es "I ,
ture." For Christians, Zigarelli says, busyness often entails a '1ifestyle that crowds out God."
We Americans live in a world that encourages and values busyness, that specializes in speed and time saving technology and that bombards us with endless opportunities to be busy. While we often complain about being so busy, what's really crazy is that we like it this way. "My candle bums at both its ends;" writes Edna St. Vincent Millay. "It will not last the night; But oh, my foes, and oh, my friendsit gives a lovely light."
, Pages and pages of stuff have been written defining busyness, explaining and justifying it and offering tips on how to overcome it. Experts-both secular and Christian - agree that busyness will be conquered only when we make different lifestyle choices. That's a tough message we surely need to hear.
But I ponder a question that few writers address: Where is the church in this whirlwind of busyness? According to some, it's whirling with the rest of the world.
'The busy church is the norm in America," writes Kirk B. Jones in a Leadership Journal article featured in the Spring 2001 issue that identifies key issues with which pastors and their churches wrestle . "It almost feels wrong if the church calendar has a little empty space, if members aren't involved in three or more ministries, or if we don't sense a quickened pace in our conversations, meetings and even worship "
If busy is normal, why don 't we agree that Mennonite Brethren churches will ratchet down busyness. No more loading church calendars with events that we've done for the last 10 years even though attendance has dropped steadily for the past five. Let's declare a moratorium on activities and committees-no matter how established or how popular in other congregations-that do not meet identified needs .
But it seems that if we want to really address the busyness epidemic, churches need to do more than tinker with event calendars. We need to tackle the deeper issue of how we "do church." In talking with a friend about this he referred to the research of Faith Popcorn, a marketing consultant and author. While Popcorn is not particularly interested in Christianity, her work has caught the attention of Christian leaders .
I see evidence of cocooning in my own life. "If I weren't married to you, I don't think I'd be going to church right now," my husband said one Sunday last
month
Why would my husband, who has gone to church his whole life, consider becoming a church dropout, even temporarily? He was tired, he said, but not the type of tired that requires more sleep. It was the kind of weariness that comes from being busy at work, at home and at church . Wouldn't it be refreshing to spend an entire Sunday at home doing nothing? Maybe even an entire month of Sundays?
, Listening to his explanation I had to agree. If I weren't the "me" in his sentence I would probably stay home with him.
I wish I knew how churches could become places of retreat and havens. I don't, but I do have an observation I think that when it comes to creating church space we need to think more like the popular bookstore chains and less like the church.
Borders and Barnes and Noble sell books. But it appears to me that these stores are also places of retreat. They are so comfortable and homey that people spend hours curled up in a chair or at a table reading, studying or even working. These retail stores may be selling books but they do so by providihg a haven from the busyness of life.
In Hebrews 4 the writer repeatedly speaks of obedience as "entering God's rest." May we be obedient churches that serve as doorways through which people enter into God's rest .
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" the Hebrew word for 'word,' dabar, eventually began also to signify 'event.' Do we realize, as well as do the Jews, that our words become events, that how we speak influences what we become and how we behave?"
- Marva Dawn, in Talking the Walk
"'Bidden or not bidden, God is present.' ... If we do believe (these words), then the workplace becomes just one more place, one more opportunity, where the divine reality can be encountered in a tangible way."
- Gregory EA. Pierce, in spirituality@work
" when we take Christian theology out of the context of its narrative, when we ignore the poetry in which it is presented, when we turn it into formulas to help us achieve the American dream, we lose its meaning entirely, and the ideas become fodder for the head but have no impact on the way we live our lives or think about God Perhaps if we stop reducing the text to formulas for personal growth, we can read it as stories of imperfect humans having relations with a perfect God "
- Donald Miller, in Searching for God Knows What
" a book is an inevitably misleading All of the sentences end with a period . ... All the pages are numbered in sequence .... All of the chapter titles unfold before you in an orderly fashion It's all laid out nice and tidy for you.
But life is not that way. . .. Life is full of starts and stops, blind alleys, disappointing detours, and bad guesses. Eventually, by God's grace, we find our way into acts of obedience, acts of praise."
- Eugene Peterson, in The Unnecessary Pastor (written with Marva Dawn)
"In order for a no to be effective, it must be put in the larger context of a life-affirming yes."
- M. Shawn Copeland, in Practicing Our Faith
In Touch is a twice-annual publication of MB Biblical Seminary. MB Biblical Seminary heartily embraces the goal of inspiring and equipping men and women to be disciples of Christ, and to serve and lead in the church and the world. As a part of that vision, In Touch strives to help bring faith to life.
Editor: Brad Thiessen Design and layout: Brad Thiessen
ow Can a Servant of MB Biblical
Seminary
The mission statement of MB Biblical Seminary declares that the seminary exists to "inspire and equip men and women to live as disciples of Jesus
Christ and to serve and lead in the church and in the world." All the words in that statement were chosen carefully, but two stand out in relation to the subject of this issue of In Touch. Those are the words "serve" and "lead." Our goal as a seminary is to prepare pastors, Bible teachers, church planters, missionaries, counselors and others who know the meaning and the practice of those two words.
We have intentionally avoided using the popular phrase "servant-leadership" in our mission statement - not because there is something wrong with it, but because-sometimes familiar words lose their meaning with overuse. By separating the two words "serve" and "lead," our intention is to emphasize each of them.
Our goal is to graduate students who know how to lead. These will be men and women who know the Gospel, who have a firm and deepening understanding of the scriptures. They will be people who love the Church, and who
"Sometimes familiar words lose their meaning with overuse."
believe that God has chosen the church to be his instrument in the Kingdom. Finally, they will be people who have the tools necessary to understand the culture in which they minister. They will be equipped to bring the message of the Gospel through the vehicle of the Church in order to impact the culture. That is the role of leaders.
However, beyond that, our goal is to graduate students who know how to serve. We do not forget Jesus' words that those who would be great are the ones who learn to serve. We are not in the business of training CEOs, but rather in the
ministry of equipping people with an attitude of service. It is service, the giving up of oneself for others, that will build the church.
Examples of service abound in Scripture: Abraham was willing to give up his son, and he became the father of a people. David laid his life on the line before Goliath, and became the king against whom all other kings were compared. Paul the Apostle gave up his life in oreier to serve the Lord who sfl0ke-t0 him-en the road to Damascus, and he set a foundation for the church that has persisted to this day. Those stories of service could be repeated over and over again during the two thousand years of the church's ministry.
Beyond all other examples in scripture is the ministry ofJesus himself. There is no question that he knew how to lead. People followed him everywhere: across lakes, over hills, into villages. His leadership was so appreciated that he had to leave the country when he wanted rest and relaxation. At the same time, Jesus was a model of service. He was the one who had no permanent place to lay his head at night because he was involved in proclaiming the Kingdom. He was the one who patiently healed person after person even when they interrupted him at his busiest times. Finally, he was the one who laid down his life, willingly, so that he could serve the will of his Father. Jesus knew how to serve.
That model of Jesus is our mandate. As this issue of In Touch demonstrates, we are committed to help our students learn to serve and to lead. My thanks to you for joining us in prayer as we contemplate this mission.
Do you have thoughts in response? Share them with Jim at jimholm @mbseminary.edu.
l}he New Church ... in YOU I
Idropped into my local Christian bookstore the other day. It was going to be a casual visit, you understand, nothing more, just a little browsing. I had no intention of making a purchase. After all, Christmas expenses had taken care of all the extra cash in the house and my wife's mandate was clear: "No book purchases in January, Ray!"
But what I found on the shelves of my local bookstore changed my mind (Sorry dear!). I went home with a box full of books about "church" with titles like this: Future Church, The Emotionally Healthy Church, Unlearning Church, Break-Out Churches, Organic Church, Church After Christendom, Emerging Church, The Chu:rc:h-iflthe Emerging-Culture, Makmg$ense 6t -Church, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, Emergingchurch.intro, and The Shape of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21 st Century Church. Frankly, I could have filled a second box of books on this subject of church because there's no shortage of new publications on ecclesiology. So what's going on?
Well, fresh expressions of church are popping up all over the Western world. Innovation is the norm, not the exception. Personally, I found the British and Australian perspectives on the
"What I found on the shelves of my local bookstore changed my mind, and I went home with a box full of books about 'church.'"
twenty-first century emerging missional church to be the most interesting and innovative of the bunch I had picked up. So let me tease you into reading one or two of them.
I especially enjoyed Stuart Murray's book, Church After Christendom (Paternoster Press, 2004). Murray is the chair of the UK Anabaptist Network. As a church planter, Murray is a tested practitioner, theologian and mentor. He is especially curious about how the Western church will negotiate the demise of Christendom. He asks:
"Can (the Church) rediscover its primary calling, fe-cover its -aulnErific etnos and-regaiilits -herve?"
He surveys the "emerging church" scene in Europe and America with all of its disturbing, energizing, and intriguing qualities. He provides a helpful analysis of the emerging and evolving churches but he also listens closely to the many who are joining and leaving the so-called "inherited 'church."
Church After Christendom describes a way of being church that is truly healthy, sustainable, liberating, peaceful, and rnissional.
Murray's first chapter should interest every church leader struggling to sort out the relationship between "belonging, believing, and behaving." When sociologists examine the relationship between what people believe and their participation in religious institutions, they discover two common patterns - "believing without belonging" and "belonging without believing." He notes that "churches that have historically applied a 'believing before belonging' approach (Le., Mennonite Brethren) report increasing numbers wanting to 'belong before believing.'" If that's your church scene, you might want to check out what Murray says about the relationship between "belonging" and "membership."
I could be wrong, but I think we North Americans need to read about the church scene in Europe today. As one reviewer states: "It may be the European church's call and destiny at this time to discover how church recovers and survives in an
lookstore?
by Raymond Bystrom
alien environment, and that our journey will be important for the church's future in those places where it is currently in numerical growth mode." If you are interested in learning more about the European church scene, check out the website www.anabaptistnetwork.com/AfterChristendom.
Another exciting read was Emergingchurch.intro by Michael Moynagh (Monarch Books, 2004). This is quite possibly the best book I have read on the emerging missional church movement. Again, it's written from a British perspective. Moynagh writes "for people who are aware that fresh expressions of the church are in the air and want to know more, for those who understand the concept but want to tease out the implications and for those who want to get started." He teaches at St. John's College, Nottingham.
I especially liked his first chapter entitled, "Goodbye Models, Hello Mindset." Most existing churches operate with a "come to us" mindset whereas emerging churches embrace a "we'll come to you" mindset. Moynagh demonstrates that emerging churches are not just new churches, church plants, cell churches, or alternative worship centers. He claims the essence of emerging church is its heartbeat rather than its formula. Emerging churches flee franchised, look-alike church in favor of more culturally authentic expressions of church. Emerging church is a mindset ("we'll come to you") rather than a model to be replicated elsewhere. What prevents traditional church from becoming emerging church is the outdated mission assumption - "Come to us as we are." Moynagh notes that many churchgoers in the United Kingdom have begun to embrace the idea of emerging church. But he believes the next big hurdle will be much harder- ''Are we willing to pay for it?"
Two Australians, Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, wrote The Shape of Things To Come (Hendrikson, 2003). They argue for a revolutionary approach to being church. They present a number of principles and suggestions for church leaders wanting to morph into what is now called the missional church. Building on the twelve hallmarks of a
missional church as articulated by the Gospel and Our Culture Network (GOCN), Frost and Hirsch describe three more features that characterize missional churches. First, the missional church is incarnational, not attractional, in its ecclesiology. That is, it does not create sanctified spaces into which unbelievers must come to encounter the gospel. Rather, the missional church works its way into the cracks and crevices of its society in order to be Christ to those who do not yet know him.
Second, the missional church is messianic, not dualistic, in its spirituality. That is, it adopts the worldview of Jesus the Messiah. Instead of seeing the world as sacred or secular space, like Christ it sees the world and God's place in - it as more noTistic and integrated. Finally, the
"Fresh expressions of church are popping up all over the Western world. Innovation is the norm, not the exception."
missional church adopts an apostolic, rather than hierarchical, mode of leadership. Apostolic leadership recognizes the five-fold gifts of Ephesians 4: 11. It abandons the triangular hierarchy of the traditional church (bishop, elder or pastor, deacon) and embraces a biblical, flat-leadership community that releases the gifts of evangelism, apostleship and prophecy as well as pastoral and teaching gifts.
All three books call the church to recalibrate and rebuild from the roots up. They build their case around real-life stories gathered from emergent church projects from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. I can only commend these books to every church leader who loves the church and wants to know how it can thrive in an alien environment.
Raymond Bystrom is Professor of Pastoral Ministries and Biblical Studies at MB Biblical Seminary.
ill Closer Look at Servant· .
The first followers of Jesus assumed that leadership meant power and glory, positions of honor. One day two of them explicitly requested positions of authority at Jesus' left and right. Jesus used the occasion to clarify to the disciples that greatness is not defined as "lording it over others" but as serving others, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve " (Mark 10:45). Jesus modeled the style ofleadership he taught when he washed the disciples' feet and called them to play the servant role for others (John 13:12-17).
If the term "servant-leadership" had been born in reflection on the nature of Christian ministry, that should not have surprised us. In fact, however, the term originated elsewhere.
The term "servant-leadership" finds its genesis in the North American marketplace of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Earlier pressures in the marketplace were met by tighter management, more demands on employees, stronger unions, more clearly defined jobs, and stiffer regulations, all of which resulted in greater output and a greater share of the global marketplace. These measures, however, were no longer having their intended effect. Mechanistic systems and hierarchical institutions were not thriving. Dissatisfaction with traditional command-andcontrol leadership was rampant.
"While the phrase "servant leadership" found its
way into the vocabulary of the Christian community, it is not widely understood."
Robert Greenleaf and George McGregor Bums, among others, suggested the need for a new kind of leadership that would place greater value on autonomy and human dignity. The personal integration of higher order complex values was needed, creating environments with self-initiating and self-responsible leaders and followers. The phrase that eventually
came to mark the paradigm shift was "servantleadership."
Servant-leadership, as Greenleaf and others defined it, involves interdependent governance by teams of peers who reach shared decisions based on agreed-upon values. Servant-leaders transform independence into interdependence, so that working within narrow silos of responsibility gives way to working in interdisciplinary environments. Servant-leaders understand that trust and appropriate intimacy encourage synergy and inspiration. This model became common place in many organizations.
Not just a type of leadership
While the phrase "servant leadership" found its way into the vocabulary of the Christian community, it is not widely understood. It is typically thought of as nothing more than a particular style of leadership-that is, at points one is or ought to be a (non-servant) leader, whereas at other points one is or ought to be a servant leader; the context determines the requisite kind of leadership. Christian leaders often make the mistake of dropping the hyphen, making servant an adjective, not a noun. The result of this error gives license to two kinds
Idership
3eddert, Lori James and Ron Toews
of leadership: one a dominant, geHhings-done kind ofleadership, and the other a submissive, passive, acquiescing leadership.
However, inherent in the phrase servantleadership is an understanding that presents the words as connected, with equal weight. Put this way, servant-leadership is a culture-shaping belief that invites relationships, community, interdependence, caring, and risk-taking. It creates environments unfettered by rigid formal structures, distributing power, authority, and accountability.
Servant-leadership is more that just an attitude; it is a form of radical
- disciplesliip, -a choic e to be made in terms of how we live our lives based on the model of Jesus Christ in relationship both to God and others. In other words, it is a pervasive mindset that guides one in terms of how they live all aspects of their lives, regardless of whether or not they are in a formal leadership role.
What does it look like?
In a community-based environment, servantleaders investigate, listen, and guide community members. They promote commitment and are conscious of community surroundings such as values-based factors of
the past, present, and future. The structures of a servant-leadership environment are nonhierarchical, warm, inclusive, and instrumental; "we" and "us" is the norm, not "I" or "my." Ownership of the organization's mission, vision and values by everyone in the organization promotes responsibility and accountability. Communication is open and honest, and is marked by a sincere desire to understand colleagues. A commitment to employee competence is achieved through an institutional commitment to lifelong learning. Conflict is invited and expected in servant-leadership
The term "servant-leadership" was born -not in refleetiofl on the nature of Christian ministry, but in the marketplace.
environments, with a view to continual personal and organizational improvement.
The preceding paragraph could apply in any social or business setting. Yet in the Christian church additional factors come into play. The primary focus of servant-leadership involves the equipping of God's people "for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up" (Eph. 4: 12). Thus Christ, the head of the Church, and the entire church body is served in the act of providing leadership.
Servant-leadership is conscious of the fact that all people in the church (leaders no less than all other participants) stand at a level place at the foot of the cross. Jesus is Lord of the Church; we submit mutually to Jesus' Lordship just as Jesus modeled submission to his Father. Servantleadership from a biblical perspective models relationships that are free from abuse of power, free from coercion, and are based in mutual respect for the other.
attitude, or a way of ltionships?
ecific set of skills?
The servant-leader does not view him/herself as the final authority, the one with all the answers.
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Rather a leader has the ability to ask thoughtprovoking questions, and to encourage followers' growth through the discovery process of seeking out answers and solutions to their problems/questions.
Servant-leaders of the church do not demand compliance or motivate through guilt. They model service in the body and they aim to practice kindness and patience as they motivate and encourage others. Positions of leadership involve the granting of authority and thus also influence and power. Servant-leaders recognize that they have been entrusted with authority by Christ and by the church, and that this authority can be removed if it is used for personal benefit or practiced in a way that harms others.
The servant-leader models radical followership in his/her relationship with God to those whom he/she is leading. Thus, the leader does not flaunt his/her position or authOrity, but rather seeks to invest him/herself into the lives of other followers in radical discipleship so that as a community, they may be challenged to grow to be more like Christ.
One way to identify servant-leaders is by their ability and willingness to demonstrate a significant investment into the lives of those who are following their leadership, in the form of mentoring, discipleship, and education. Another way to identify servant-leaders is when their goals and agendas are not concerned about personal gain, success, notoriety, or public recognition.
Servant-leadership will not always look the same. Its form will vary according to the context in which it is practiced; the personalities, experience and giftedness of the leaders; and the needs of the Christian community.
While leadership skills can be taught, choosing to live one's life as a servant-leader cannot be forced or coerced. In the end, as Max DePree says, servant-leadership is a calling to "design, build, and serve inclusive communities by liberating human spirit and potential" ("Servant-Leadership: Three Things Necessary," Focus on Leadership (Wiley and Sons, 200 1).
Tim Geddert is Professor of New Testament at MB Biblical Seminary's Fresno CA campus. Lori}ames is Registrar. Ron Toews is Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies at the Langley, B.c. campus.
W recked for N I
FollowingJesus has its consequences. When Jesus said "take up your cross and follow me," I am quite certain he didn't think the disciple's life would be "normaL" When the angel's opening line to Mary was "Do not be afraid," she could be reasonably certain that she was wrecked for normal. When Peter had a vision inviting him to eat animals considered "unclean" by the Jewish law, I think he was wrecked for normal. We commonly use the word normal with the following meaning "conforming to a standard, conforming with a social norm, being approximately average or within certain limits"
Normal is also a carpentry term that has fallen into disuse - normal is when something is standing at a right angle; when it is "made according to a carpenter's square." Surely Jesus, a carpenter by trade, had a clear sense of what was normal, what was according to the carpenter's square.
So what does it mean to be wrecked for normal? I often think the Lord's word to Isaiah: "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts'" (Is 55:8-9 NIV).
As we realign ourselves with God's plan, we
y John Neufeld
find our selves "out of square" with our world
The apostle Paul says it this way: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2 NIV)
The story of Ralph and Chris is the story of life on life transformation. As I am touched by the lives of students and mentors participating in ministry quest, I am jarred into awareness that they have been wrecked for normal. They no longer conform to our culture's expectations; rather, they are being made according to the carpenter's squarE.
John Neufeld was the first Director of Ministry Quest, a program that nurtures young people who are affirmed by their churches as potential future leaders On April 1, John will assume a new role, as Coach of Emerging Leaders for the Canadian Mennonite Brethren Conference. Rick Bartlett has assumed directorship of the Ministry Quest.
"Normal is when something is standing at a right angle; when it is 'made according to a carpenter's square.'"
2 Sides of Mentoring
By Chris Schindel and Ralph Gliege
Chris Schindel is a student participating in Ministry Quest, a program that helps youth explore God's call on their lives. One element of the program is that participants find a mentor. Here are two perspecitives on the mentoring experience : one from Chris, and one from his mentor Ralph Gliege.
Chris's Viewpoint
I got hooked up with an awesome mentor by the name of Ralph. It was around the time that I got the job of being a paperboy; so once a week at 4:45 a.m. Ralph would help me do papers and we would go to Tim Horton's (Coffee Shop) for our mentoring session. As we continued to meet weekly early in the morning we also met a homeless man named Hans. Hans would show up at Tim Horton's for coffee at around 5:30 in the morning and we got to know him. We got to learn more about this man and his life and I also watched Ralph as he communicated and just loved this man.
Ralph's Viewpoint
In our first session at Tim Horton's (Coffee Shop) we met Hans, a homeless man. Chris and I have become friends with Hans - he is a Christian . We meet him every week. Chris really has had a burden for Hans because of his terrible living conditions. Just before Christmas, Chris, all on his own and with his own money, bought Hans $10 of gift certificates at Tim Horton's. This touched Hans ' life very much. Hans told me later how he has been touched by the kindness of young Chris.
Any investment made into Chris's Christian life will pay high dividends for the Church and for the cause of Christ. There is no doubt in my mind that Chris has the potential to be greatly used by God and that he will be called to some form of full-time Christian ministry. My life has been very enriched through this experience. Sometimes I wonder if I might have benefited more from this mentoring relationship than Chris.
The Fine Art o t
Asearch to find the word "mentor" in the Bible is over before it starts. The word isn't there. But the concept is. Everywhere. Here are a few examples: Jethro and Moses, Moses and Joshua, Moses and Caleb, Samuel and Saul, Samuel and David, Jonathan and David, Elijah and Elisha, Jehoiada and Joash, Barnabas and Saul, Barnabas and John Mark, Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos, Paul and Timothy, Paul and Titus. All these examples have a few things in common:
• •
intentionality relationship, often initiated by the older of the two a genuine interest in the being of the younger encouragement spiritual guidance, often initiated by the older of the two accountability, perhaps even correction
This list outlines the kind of impact you as a mentor can have on another person. Sometimes called mentorees or proteges, younger Christian
"Younger Christian women and men are looking for a relationship with someone who will provide wisdom, insight, encouragement, and accountability."
women and men right around you are looking for a relationship with someone who will provide wisdom, insight, encouragement, and accountability.
What would it take for you to be a mentor? Keith Anderson & Randy Reese, in Spiritual Mentoring: A Guide For Seeking And Giving Direction (InterVarsity, 1999), suggest that becoming a mentor requires three capacities:
Holy Listening: Giving attention, developing companionship, enjoying friendship, traveling the road together with the protege while being aware of the Holy Spirit in all places.
Holy Seeing: Observing the other with love, compassion, genuine care, and with concern for the development of the protege.
Wholly Listening: Being fully and authentically present to the mentoree and the Holy Spirit, displaying a humility and vulnerability that appropriately to the protege.
The Power of a Question
I know a little boy who is five years old. When he sees me working in my garage, he comes straight over. He is curious, as any should be, and asks questions incessantly. His favorite is "why?" When I answer his question, his next question will be, "why?" And when I tell him again, his next question will be you guessed it-"Why?" My little friend and I can have long conversations; he asks why, and I tell him why.
"Why?" really is a good question. It invites new learning, exploration, and It gets beyond facts and explores feelings. It assumes a position of ignorance, that the one asking really is in need of a thoughtful response. "Why?" is which means that the one asking the question is very much open to any and all responses that it might generate.
Of course, there are other questions that one learns to ask beyond "why?" How, when, where,
.istening
by Ron Toews
what, and who are all acceptable ways to invite deeper reflection. And it is with that in mind we have developed questions for mentoring at www mentorwise.ca. Good questions are like keys that open locks, paving the way for new insights and discoveries, in both the one asking and answering the question.
When Jesus was the one asking the question, the answer was going to be worth searching for. Here are but a few questions he asks in Matthew's gospel: If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? If you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Is not life more important than food, and- the- b-ody more impd ftafiC tnan clothes? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Why are you so afraid? Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? To what can I compare this generation? Why did you doubt? Who do you say I am? In each case, the question was an invitation to deep and careful reflection, to a new level of knowing and understanding. Very often a good question led to the discovery of a new and rich insight.
So, mentor, please ask your protege why, and how, when, where, what, and who! And when you run out of good questions of your own, it is our hope that one or more of the hundreds of questions built into mentorwise.ca will allow you to keep plying your protege with meaningful questions in search of new discoveries and insights.
Ron Toews is Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies at MB Biblical Seminary's Langley, B.c. campus. The above article was adapted from www.mentorwise.ca.
Some books I read OD Sabbatical, from Mark D. Baker. Mark is Associate Professor of Mission and Theology at MB Biblical Seminary.
Sensual Orthodoxy by Debbie Blue (Cathedral Hill Press, 2003). A refreshing and engaging book of sermons. Blue uses concrete images to bring the text alive in new ways. A quote from the preface: "If God is in any meaningful sense alive, then the Word of God wouldn't be like an untouchable repository of facts about God that you must handle barely and gingerly, but something true you could crash around in, actually wrestle with."
More Ready Than You Realize: Evangelism as Dance in the Postmodem Matrix by Brian McLaren (Zondervan, 2002). This book critiques many current approaches to evangelism, but more importantly presents alternatives. It has a positive, encouraging feel. I was pleasantly surprised that this book was as, engaging and easy to read as his more explicitly narrative books.
Thxts Under Negotiation: The Bible and Postmodem Imagination, by Walter Brueggemann (Augsburg Fortress, 1993). This required text in Tim Geddert's class is a concise and clear discussion of modernity and postmodernity and their relation to biblical interpretation. This work both added to my understanding of the topic and provided me some helpful ideas on how to better communicate things I already understood.
7b End All Wars, by Ernest Gordon (Zondervan, 2002).
An autobiographical account of a Scottish P.O.w. who became a Christian while in a P.O.w. camp. The book describes the transformation of the camp from a place where death ruled-not just in the sense of captors lacking respect for life, but the way the prisoners themselves lived and treated each other-to a place of light and hope through the Spirit of Jesus even while remaining a death camp in the literal sense of that term.
The Brothers K by David James Duncan (Dial, 1996).
Although the title refers explicitly to baseball strikeouts, The Brothers Karamozov has clearly influenced Duncan and this novel. It is a profoundly book. {Here I am using the word "religion" to refer to a negative human construction.} In the beginning its critique is focused on fundamentalist Christian expressions of religion, but by the end Duncan has also exposed the alienating forces of Buddhist/Eastern spirituality and hippie radicalism. Duncan treats his characters with compassion and respect and includes characters who have sincere connection and companionship with Jesus in the same church context in which others are clearly enslaved by religion. If understood broadly, GodtJesus breaking into characters' lives is present in a variety of ways.
