WHEN WE TALK ABOUT WORSHIP, our conversations usually seem to focus on worship styles, music or preferences. While these issues are relevant, it also important to look at worship itself. What is it? What does God expect? And how can we reflect that in our corporate worship services?
The majority of our feature articles in this issue deal with those questions. Jeanne Williams looks at Scripture to find out what God wants from worship and then relates that to our experience today. Two shorter articles list what we can do to prepare our hearts and our children for worship services. And Myra Holmes challenges us to incorporate the public reading of Scripture in our worship services. Our last feature focuses on what we can do when we disagree about worship styles or face other church conflicts.
In BodyLife, we take a last look at the MB summer conventions with reports from the Canadian and international ICOMB gatherings. In addition to our regular columnists, this issue also includes a Forum essay written by one of our readers.
Blessings. -CA
• NOVEMBER 1-3-eentral District Conference convention, Grace Bible Church, Gettysburg, S.D.
• NOVEMBER 8-9-Pacific District Conference convention, North Fresno MB Church, Fresno, Calif.
• NOVEMBER 22-23-Board of Church Ministries meeting, Wichita, Kan.
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ART CREDITS: Cover photo, PhotoDisc; pages 4-7, PhotoDisc; pages 8-11, Digital Stock; pages 12-15, PhotoDisc.
The
SCHMIDT
BOARD OF COMMUNICATIONS: Harold Loewen, cochair; Kathy Heinrichs Wiest, co-chair; Peggy Goertzen, Phil Neufeld, Moises Tagle, Dalton Reimer.
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BY WORSHIP JEANNE WILLIAMS
lARGE CONGREGA TION of faithful believers for a festival of worship. No clocks are The people spend hours reading and from Scripture. They lift their hands to the :fOrd in fervent prayer. When it is time for the offering, there is a steady stream of people coming down to participate, and what they give represents the best that they have.
And the singing! Trumpets blow in exaltation, punctuated by the clash of cymbals and the steady beat of the tambOUrine. People dance in ecstasy, bringing praise and thanksgiving to God. Slowly, a symphony of strings transforms the music into an atmosphere of reverence and deep worship. Now the people are on their knees, heads bowed and hands raised.
Then God responds:
I hate, I despise your worship. Your singing makes me sick. Even though you bring me Offerings, I will not accept them; I will not even look at them. When you lift your hands to me in prayer, I will turn my face away. I cannot bear your "worship" any more! It is a burden to me (Amos 5:21-24; Isa. 1: 11-15, paraphrased).
This is a true story, set in the eighth century B.C. and recorded by Old Testament prophets. God actually said those words and worse, using words like "whore" and "murderer" to describe his own people (Isa. 1:21).
Where did this anger come from? What was it about the people of God that drew such bitter words in response to their acts of worship?
The prophets Isaiah, Micah, Hosea and Amos were contemporaries who were called by God to prophesy to his people. These were the descendants of Abraham-the people that God had promised to bless and make great (Gen. 12: 1). They had settled in the Promised Land and over several generations had grown and prospered, developing politically, culturally and financially. However, money and power had brought corruption and disregard for others. A large and successful business class was getting richer by oppressing the poor and stealing their land.
The people of Israel at this time had a lot in common with many of us in the United States today. They had similar divisions between the aftluent and the needy and similar temptations that drew them away from God. Like us, they lived in a world filled with war and violence.
The people of Israel also gloried in their religiosi. ty--often traveling great distances to express their devotion to God. And yet, God was sickened by their expressions of worship. This vehement response from God is worth looking at more closely. Is it pos-
sible that God's words of anger and reproach could apply to the church in America today? Even to our own Mennonite Brethren churches?
Survey says .
When you sing with the congregation dUring Sunday morning services, are you:
• Worshipping God
• Thinking about other things
• Singing mindlessly
A friend of mine presented this survey to a large middle-class church recently, as part of his senior thesis and was not surprised to find that worshipping God was the least picked answer.
A colleague who plans worship services for her church laments that, while sometimes people seem to be "into" worship, more often than not she looks out onto a sea of blank faces during congregational singing. Why is it thaJ sometimes our Sunday mom· ing worship time truly brings us into the presence of God, while at other times it seems to be no more than mindless motions that we go through as part of our Sunday morning routine?
Even when our worship time seems to go well, we still have to ask what is it that would bring a passionate and heated response from God such as that recorded in the prophets of the eighth century B.C.? We might ask, along with Micah (6:6-7), what can we bring to God that will please him in worship?
What are God's concerns?
When we pray, sing about God and put money in the offering plate, is that not worship? Is that not what God wants from us?
Not according to Isaiah, who completely redefines worship for the people of Israel-and for us.
According to Isaiah, true worship is to be found in humbling oneself, repenting, fighting injustice and taking care ofthe needs of others (1:12-17; 58:5-8). Specifically, Isaiah called worshippers to share their food with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into their houses, clothe those who are naked, and not tum away from their own flesh and blood. At the same time, worshippers are to stop oppressing the poor and bring an end to quarreling and fighting among themselves.
An important part of Amos' message was that the comforts that his listeners enjoyed came at the expense of the poor and oppressed (Amos 2:6-8; 8:4-6). As (mostly) middle-class American Christians, we need to ask the difficult question: In what ways do our comforts come at the expense of those who have less, both here and around the world? No amount of activism will make this a perfect world-it will take the return of Christ for that to happen-but
When we pray, sing about God and put money in the offering plate, is that not worship? Is that not what God wants from us? Not· according to Isaiah.
the word of God makes it dear that in the meantime, we are still expected to actively work for justice for those who are disenfranchised and powerless (Amos 5: 15, 24; Micah 6:8).
Reading Isaiah, we realize that a family today is
worshipping when they open their home to a foster child in the name of Christ or to a young pregnant teen who has no where else to go. Retirees are worshipping when they spend their days tutoring neighborhood kids on welfare who cannot keep up in
More than showing UP on Sundal
.tHE ENGUSH WORD "worship" means "to worth" to someone or .something. Worship, then, i$ our active response to God when we declare his worth. It 1$ par1lclpatoty; It is celebratiO.,:)t i$ thoughtful. Worship is'the essence of life.
Most Christians know and understand the reason for corporate worship. While we may disagree on styles of worship, few disagree on the need for Christians to worship together. The response and desire is understood. What is not often understood is attitude.
"Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds" (Heb. 10:23-24). Worship involves coming before God with a sincere heart, desiring to be close to him. Worship Involves coming before God with the assurance that our sins have been forgiven and our focus is no longer on our own guilt but his grace. Worship is holding fast to the hope we profess and knowing that we will not be disappointed.
Worship is more than tradition or trend. It does not begin on Sunday mornings
at 10:00 a.m. but in the hearts of those who come to worship. It is ongoing, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is life. Since worship involves coming into God's presence, it will help to develop habits that build an attitude of worship. Here are a few suggestions:
•R God's Ward. While this may seem an obvious way to develop an attitude of worship, how many of us truly set aside time to meditate on God's Word before coming to the Sunday morning service? We all know the routine. The alarm goes off late, the kids have to eat breakfast and get dressed. By the time we leave for church, most of us are under an excessive amount of duress. Just a few minutes of meditating on a Psalm or a verse from Proverbs can change an attitude. The reading of God's Word helps prepare us; it gives us additional time to search our own hearts and make any needed adjustments.
• LIsteII .. RIUSk:. Listening to sacred music, whether contemporary or traditional can help us look forward to our time of worship and help foster a sense of expectation. Some good friends get up at 5:30 a.m.
on Sunday just to walk with their headphones and listen to Vineyard praise music from Australia. The music ministers to them and prepares their hearts to minister to their own congregation. Going to church Sunday with a heart full of praise helps us accept the ups and downs of the day.
.Pr87. Take some additional time for adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. It will be time well spent and It will also help keep your attitude in check. Communication with God is vital in worship, 50 make the time. We have a tradition in our house that each Sunday morning I pray with my three girls and "bless" them with a passage out of Deuteronomy.
• ....., .Too often our focus is on what we hope to experience rather than what God offers. We want a certain type of music or a different style of preaching. We get upset because someone Is sitting In "our" pew or the service
runs an hour and ten mi,,utes. These issues can talce our focus off God and steal our joy of being with him.
As Christians we need to remember that worship is more than just showing up on Sunday. Worship is showing up with attitude, or in the words of Oswald Chambers, '"Worship is giving to God the best he has given us." Come prepared, come with an attitude of gratitude and enjoy.
-by Michael Herring. Reprinted from the Church Herald, October 2000. Copyright @ 2000 by the Church Herald Inc. Used with permission.
their classes because they cannot read. Churches are worshipping when they choose to put up with their old, hard pews, and spend their money instead on outreach programs that provide food and clothing to needy people. An individual is worshipping when he or she seeks reconciliation with the person that made him or her mad instead of burying the hurt and letting it simmer or lashing out in anger.
Worship refleding the real world
So, how can we incorporate or reflect this in our corporate worship on Sundays? How can we make sure that our worship and offerings are sweet scents to God rather than the sickly smell of empty motions?
Old Testament scholar M. Daniel Carroll Rodas notes that according to Amos, one thing that made the worship of his time so abhorrent to God was that it presented such a striking contradiction to the harsh realities of hunger, thirst and death in warfare that surrounded his people even as they worshipped (Amos 4:6-11). The people were gathering together for marathon festivals of praise and thanksgiving, clothed in comfort and luxury, while around them there was hunger, poverty, violence and bloodshed.
Not only did worship have little to do with real life, but the people of Israel also refused to look for connections between the tragedies around them and God's desire to bring them to a proper view of reality and of himself. This blindness to God's work showed just how far Israel was from the one whom they claimed to worship.
Does our worship today reflect the harsh realities of life around us? The events last year on Sept. 11 have certainly been reflected in worship services around the nation, but mostly in the fonn of patriotic songs and sennons. How much do our worship services honestly reflect our fears and our anxieties; and how well do they proclaim that it is God, and not our nation or our annies, who has been our help in ages past and is our hope for the years to come? And why did it take something as big and as close to home as Sept. 11 to bring a realization of the harsh realities of the world into our worship?
Sometimes I stand with a group of hand-clapping Christians, singing hearty praises to God, and wonder: is there any awareness of the homeless families this morning who were turned out of the shelter a couple of miles away to wander in the cold wind until their shelter reopens after dark tonight? Is anyone thinking about the children from Somalia or Sudan who have been kidnapped from their families, and are now, as we sing, being forced into slavery miles from their homes and loved ones?
Not that our services have to be completely
somber occasions. As children of God, we certainly do have a lot to be thankful for, even in the midst of pain. But the message of the prophets is that if we have no concern for the hurt and the hungry of the world, then we cannot truly be worshipping God, because true worship means that his concerns are our concerns.
The very structure of our Sunday services offers us a way to reflect God's concerns. Often, our readings of Scripture are sanitized, only expressing love, joy and positive feelings for the future. Perhaps we could make a point of incorporating Scripture readings and sennons that speak realistically of the pain that is a part of this fallen world-Psalm 88 is one of many possible examples-and the hope that Christ brings in the midst of this pain. In addition to songs that express joy and praise, there are many songs that cry out to God for his intervention and express our trust in him to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death.
Some churches include a sharing time in their worship services, a kind of "open-mike" time, when members share their own personal concerns as well as the concerns of others in the community. This time of sharing brings keen awareness of the harsh realities of the world and our utter dependence on God in every situation. After such a sharing time, followed by heartfelt prayer for God's intervention, songs of joy and praise come from hearts that are aware of God's presence in the midst of pain and not out of minds that are ignoring the hurt all around us.
Feel-good worship?
The worshippers of Isaiah's time questioned why God did not respond to their fasting and praying. God's answer, through Isaiah, was that they were too busy pursuing their own interests on the day of worship (Isaiah 58:3). Amos, with cutting sarcasm, cried, "Go to Bethel [a place of worship] and sin; go to Gilgal [another place of worship] and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Bum leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings-boast about them, you Israelites,for this is what you love to do" (Amos 4:4-5).
Amos describes the nation's religiOUS expressions as being characterized by celebration, grounded in thanksgiving to and relationship with Yahweh. There is a notable absence of any expression of confession or repentance. The primary focus of worship for these people was doing what they "love to do." Their worship was more about feeling good, or as Isaiah put it-pursuing their own interests-than it was about pursuing the interests of the God they
The message of the prophets is that if we have no concern for the hurt and the hungry of the world, then we cannot truly be worshiping God, because true worship means that his concerns are our concerns.
claimed to worship.
Relationship with God is crucial to our worship, and Christians do have a lot for which to be thankful. Celebration is an important part of the worship experience. That celebration will be incredibly richer and deeper, however, when it comes in the context of heartfelt sorrow for the sin both in our lives and in the world around us. In that context, we can joyfully celebrate a God who forgives, redeems and reconciles.
Too many churches today spend big money on comfortable seating, plush carpeting and professional musicians while arguing about what music style is most acceptable to their own musical tastes. We have to ask ourselves, how much are we pursuing our own interests on Sundays and ignoring the very concerns of the God we claim to worship?
One example of worship
Garden Park MB Church, a small urban neighborhood church in southwest Denver, invites their community to join in a free hot breakfast every Sunday morning. This breakfast attracts low-income families in the neighborhood, as well as a handful of homeless men, some who show up once and are never seen again and one or two who have been coming regularly for several months. After scrambled eggs
and conversation with a smelly, scruffy man who has just spent a frosty night on the banks of the Plane River, your worship is a lot less likely to about pursuing your own interests and a lot more likely to reflect the compassion of God. This is one way that Garden Park responds to the call of the prophets.
Following the prophets' admonitions for true worship is going to look different for different churches in different contexts. They are not easy admonitions to follow. It is never easy to choose not to pursue our own interests. But the rewards are great. According to Isaiah, when you worship the way God calls you to worship, "then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I" (Isa. 58: 8,9) .•
Jeanne Williams is part of a lay team that plans and leads worship at Garden Park MB Church in Denver, Colo. She also has a part-time therapy practice for low-income clients in the Garden Park neighborhood and is an adjunct professor of counseling at Denver Seminary.
bcite children about worship
PARENTS l1li0DEL worship for theIr children. If it sometimes is difficult for adults to get excited about church, Imagine the trouble cblldren may have in swallowing the "medicine" of worship. Here are some ways to get started in "sweetening up" a Sunday morning.
Worship at home
• Find a quiet, reflective place at ho""e for prayer.
• Read Scripture aloud to your child and encourage questions.
• Pray. Write out lists of prayer concerns with your child. Memorize the Lord's Prayer together
• 51ng before bed or at mealtimes.
• Cultivate your child's Imagination. Ask your child to draw pictures of Bible stories.
• Give a modest gift allowance that can be given to a cause of the child's choice.
Explain ......1.. of worship
• Worship as a conversation between God and God's people: Ask your child to describe who is "speaking" during each aspect of your worship service, including songs.
• Worship as a gift exchange: Explain how the congregation offers God
glfts-like songs of praiseduring worship and how God offers us gifts, too. Giftwrap a Bible to symbolize Scripture as God's gift to his people, and ask your child what things he or she would wrap as presents to God (for example, a hymnal, a musical instrument, tithe).
• Worship and community: Children and adults are part of the body of Christ and worship involves everyone. To help your child better understand this, focus on shifting your child's prayer from singular to plural. -adapted from A Child Shall Lead: Children in Worship, by John D. Witvliet (Coristers Guild)
CONSIDER THE LAST worship you attend/'"
.., ed •. lt may·.flave In.clu.ded-beautiful-music, an Inspir. mg, and -thalJenging and' times of . ptayer•. Ov.rall, a great WQrship.. ser': did include. a time for the pubJic
readin9 of not, 11 was missing a rich .; and' ,e.his pow9.r.
Public reading of Scripture helps us know God because the Bible is our primary source of revelation from God.
IN (illS HEARTFELT LAST SPEECH to the Israelites, Moses said of the Scriptures, "They are not just idle words for you-they are your life" (Deut. 32:47). If we believe this, we will not only give the Scriptures 'il place of importance in our personal lives but also in our corporate worship. We will make sure we are taking to heart the word of God-the words of life.
Reading Scripture in worship
Public reading of Scripture is commanded and modeled in both the Old and New Testaments:
• Old Testament. The Israelites are instructed repeatedly to gather together for the public reading of the Law. Before entering the Promised Land, for example, Moses instructed the Israelites to do so every seven years (Deut. 31: 10-13). Many of the great characters of the Old Testament led such public readings of Scripture: Joshua, who led the people in conquering the Promised Land; Ezra, the priest during Nehemiah's time; Josiah, Judah's boy-king; and the prophet Jeremiah. The hope was that those who heard would "listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law" (Deut. 31:12).
• New Testament. Jesus himself gives us an example of public Scripture reading in Luke 4, an event that began his public ministry. Later, Paul instructs Timothy in a letter to "devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching" (1 Tim. 4:13). We know that many of the early churches passed Paul's letters (now our Scriptures) from congregation to congregation, reading them aloud in each (Col. 4:16).
Unlike the ancient Israelites of the early church, we have ready access to Scripture, thanks to inexpensive printing techniques and freedom to practice religion. But like them, we can benefit greatly from public reading of Scripture. When we include Scripture reading in our worship, we open ourselves to revelation and renewal.
The Word and revelation
Public reading of Scripture helps us know God because the Bible is our primary source of revelation from God. In times past, God revealed himself to humankind through general revelation (the order and beauty of the natural world that points to God), various supernatural experiences (audible voice, miraculous signs, visions, etc.) and his full revelation in Jesus.
Of course, we still have the order of nature to point us to God. And God is still capable of showing himself through visions and other supernatural experiences. But he also trusts us to avail ourselves of the specific revelation provided in SCripture.
Through these divinely inspired words, God shows us his character, his dealing with humanity and his plan of salvation. Through Scripture, we know God. It's fine to talk about God and about what we've learned from our experiences. But if we stop there, we will never truly know God. It's right and good to praise God in our worship services and to talk about how the Bible applies to our lives. But if we fail to hear the content of Scripture, we miss a critical and direct connection with God.
Consider anticipating a blind date and then meeting the date in person. No matter how much you know about the potential date from friends or family, you can't truly know him or her until you meet face-to-face. Our relationship with God is too important to risk basing it on third-party information. Let's go directly to the source. Let's include public reading of Scripture in our worship.
The Word and renewal
When we include Scripture reading in our worship, we open ourselves to God's life-giving power in our lives and in our churches. Scripture is called a fire that consumes (Jer. 5:14), a hammer (Jer . 23:29), a light (Ps. 119:105), a sword (Eph. 6:17) and a living, active double-edged sword (Heb. 4: 12). These are images of power, not merely of "idle words."
In Isaiah, God promises that his Word will bring results: "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isa.55:10-11).
Consider two examples of this power from the Old Testament.
• Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones (Ezek. 37). God set Ezekiel in the middle of a valley full of bones. When Ezekiel spoke aloud the Word of God, the dry bones "came to life and stood up on their feet-a vast army" (verse 10). Then God told Ezekiel to prophesy in a similar manner to Israel, and promised that he would make Israel live again, just as he had the bones: "I will put my spirit in you [Israel] and you will live" (verse 14). Renewal followed close on the heels of hearing the Word.
• Ezra reads the Word to the returned exiles (Nehemiah 8). After a long period of exile from Jerusalem, the Israelites who survived returned to Jerusalem. But they were discouraged and in "great trouble." At one point, Ezra read the Word of God to them. When the people heard and understood
the Scriptures, the result was revival. The people wept and celebrated (Neh. 9:12), they reinstated the Feast of Tabernacles, they confessed their sins and participated in genuine worship (Neh. 9:3), and they renewed their covenant to God (Nehemiah 10). It was a very powerful revival.
God could use his Word to spark such renewal in our lives and our churches, too-but only if we open
it and read it. Reading Scripture in worship doesn't have to be complicated, energy draining or time-consuming. It's simple and powerful. How can we fail to include these "words of life" in our worship? •
Myra Holmes is a freelance writer and member of Belleview Community Church, an MB church in Littleton, Colo.
Using the Bible in.orshlp
GEmNG TO know God's heart through Scripture will help us become grounded in God and in faith. At the htl.rt of God's revelation is an invitation to a special relationship with God. The Holy Spirit uses the Scripture to build us up in faith and to expose things in our lives that need to change.
The Lord Jesus made the reading and of Scripture the starting point of his ministry. As a boy in the temple, Jesus was disputing with the teachers of the law about its interpretation (Luke 2:46-49). As he opened his public ministry in the synagogue, Jesus interpreted his mission by reading Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:1819). On that occasion Jesus was concerned not only with the reading of the text but with its dynamic fulfillment in his ministry. In his disputes with the Pharisees and priests, Jesus showed great facility with the Hebrew Scriptures. His ministry was capped by a daylong walk with two disciples in which Jesus used Moses and the prophets to interpret hislife. Jesus modeled the centrality of Scripture in community life and worship.
The Written Word of God
We believe that the entire Bible was inspired by God through the Holy Spirlt. The same Spirit guides the community of faith in the interpretation of Scripture. The person, teaching and life of Jesus Christ bring continuity and clarity to both the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament bears witness to Christ, and Christ is the one whom the New Testament proclaims. We accept the Bible as the infallible Word of God and the authoritative guide for faith and pradice.
-excerpted from Article 2: Revelation of God from the Confession of Faith of the General Conferen(e of Mennonite Brethren Churches
The New Testament church made the reading and interpretation of Scripture a central component of its worship gathering:
• In the book of Acts the sermons of Peter, Stephen and Paul are marked by Scriptural citations and interpretation.
• The believers at Berea received special commendation for their eager examination of the Hebrew Scriptures (Acts 11:11).
.In Rom. 10:17, Paul reminds us that faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the words of Christ. The emphasis is placed on hearing the message, a good reminder of the significance
of audible expression.
.In 1 Cor. 14:26 Paul instructed the Corinthians to be orderly in their worship, using among other liturgical elements "a word of instruction." Based on what we know from contemporary Jewish worship, it Seems most likely that the early church depended on individuals to use Scripture readings in their informal liturgy.
• To the Ephesians Paul wrote that they should sing psalms (Eph. 5:19), another creative use of the Bible in worship.
Traditionally Mennonite Brethren have used the liturgical element of Scripture reading to encourage the broad use of gifts bychurch
members. Often church leaders whose capacity for proclamation is limlted have been asked to read the SCriptures and pray. Young petsons with potel'ltlallp biblical proclamation been invited to make brief comments aboutthe sage they are about to read. With proper Instruction SCripture can dev.... op gifts in proclaiming the gospel.
Worship planners- are -encouraged to make Scripture reading a key part of worship gatherings. Lectionary readings are one method being used to introduce the voice of God into congregational worship. The common lectionary, available in the Book dfCommon Worship, offers a planned three-year reading schedule. Each week readings from the Old Testament. the psalms, the episttes and the gospels are suggested. Worship leaders- may wish to develop their own systematIc plan fQr reading the Scriptures in public worship. Public reading of the Bible is not to be neglected .....-excerpted from Confession of Faith: Commentary and Pastoral Application
BY JAN SCHMIDT
HEA THER: Wowl1bat was some choir song.
Jeremy: -.that was some choir song all rightl
Heather: 1 haven't heard such music for a long time.
eremy: Me eitherl What emotional drivel.
Heather: Emotional drivel? That's the best music we've had for months.
jeremy: What? The words were shallow cliches, the theology was flimsy and the melody could have been composed by a five-year-old.
Heather: How can you say that? The musk worked peifeetly with the text. I was deeply moved. God really touched me this morning.
jeremy: Well, I was totally turned off. In fact, it wrecked the whole service for mel
Heather: I can't believe it. What kind of an attitude is that? You certainly are narrow-minded.
jeremy: Narrow-minded? I am not narrow-mindedl Last week's music was extremely meaningful for me. Now that was music for the soul.
Heather: You've got to be joking. I came out of that service just steamingl How could that possibly be worshipful for anyone?
jeremy: It was worshipful for me!
Heather: What kind of a Christian are you? Can't you even tell the difference between music that glorifies God and music that is purely entertainment?
jeremy: Obviously I have a better sense of that than you do.
Heather: I don't need to take that.from youl You don't even know what you're talking ahout.
Why do we fight?
None of us enjoy these kinds of disputes and quarrels, and yet they exist. Church conflicts may seem no different from the conflicts in the rest of the world, but there are some differences. Some of us working in the conflict resolution field have often reflected that, next to conflicts in academic institutions, church conflicts are the most difficult to resolve.
If I get called into a church conflict, I know that I'm in for the long haul-there is probably a lot of blood already spilled. I also know that the people are probably not willing to spend the focused energy required to resolve the longstanding issues and would rather have the hurt and pain slowly eat at them over the years to come. It is also interesting to note that the more evangeli«;al the church community, the more likely this prediction will be true.
Maybe if we could understand church conflict to be fundamentally different from conflict in the rest of the world, it would make sense why we find conflict so difficult. For the most part, what we fight about in. church and how we .fight looks very similar to what happens in the rest of the world. However, as Brian
Mclaren in A New Kind of Christian observed, "Church people tend to use more religious language to define their problems" and "their problems are fur· ther complicated by guilt for having these problems in the first place." I would add that church people also tend to recruit God on their side, thereby ensuring that in their minds they are right and others are wrong.
Thus, the way many of us Christians currently practice our beliefs is detrimental to dealing with differences--and tends to ensure that things are going to get worse. Given our deadly track record-how many church splits have occurred in history?-our best option appears to be to stop trying to resolve conflict and just pretend that everything is okay, to pretend that the differences are not that important or don't even exist. But because we are hurt, and we want to protect ourselves from further hurt, the obvious con· sequence of that approach is that the relationship changes. No one learns or grows from the experience, and the relationship becomes distant and cautious-which, of course, reinforces the idea that conflict must be avoided at all cost.
Church members are predominately good people, who seek to do good, foUow Christ and not cause others pain. So, why do these things happen?
Let's take another look at what just happened in our story. First, Jeremy assumed that Heather would have the same taste in music as he had, but »eather loved the music. Jeremy was surprised and maybe even slightly embart'llSsed. Instead of stopping there, he continued to try to support his point of view, and Heather continued to defend her experience. The stage was now set for them to shift from attacking the point of view to attacking the person. Attacking the perSon often feels good at the moment but is perfectly destructive.
We don't always verbalize the whole conflict as Jeremy and Heather did. Most of us have enough control, at least at church, to stop ourselves before we go that far. We call it maturity, and yet the conversation continues in our minds in the same direction-negatively judging the other person.
Let's see how this problem between Heather and Jeremy continues to unfold.
jeremy: She's so stubhorn! She even told me I was narrow-minded. Can you believe itl?
Agnes: So there areactually two things: the initial disagreement about the music and then some of the things she said.
jeremy: Yeah, I guess so.
Agnes: So what do you want to see happen?
jeremy: I'd like to work it out, but I'm not sure how. We are both too involved in church to avoid each other---and anyway, avoiding-never Works.
Church members are predominately good people, who seek to do good, follow Christ and not cause others pain. So, why do these things happen?
It is often our fear of broken relationships that keeps us from talking about our differences.
Agnes: What do you think will work?
jeremy: Well, I thought I would ask her out for coffee and then explain to her how I see music.
Agnes: You talked earlier about saying some things you regret. Where do you think that should fit in?
jeremy: I guess I should start by apologizingfor referring to her music as emotional drivel.
Agnes: I think she would appreciate that. Another question: How do you feel when other people start with their perspective and opinion?
jeremy: Good point. I guess I should start by asking questions and making sure I understand her before I share what is important to me.
Agnes: That sounds like a good idea.
Agnes provided some hope in what was a pretty dark state of affairs. IfJeremy had not found Agnes, who knows how many other people Jeremy and Heather would have talked to along the way? I can imagine the other kinds of advice they would be getting:
"That's just the way jeremy is!"
"You should have known Heather was from the old school!"
"It is better to keep your mouth shut. Don't worry. This will blow over, and you will feel better in a few days. "
What James says
James asks, ''What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God" Oames 4:1-2).
Let's see ifwe can understand what this passage means and how it relates to our story. What were the "desires" and "wants," and what was being "coveted"? What is it that Jeremy and Heather were actually fighting about anyway? What is it that they needed to ask God for? And what would be the right way to ask God for what they needed?
Here is a possibility. Jeremy and Heather both need to have worship bring them into an encounter with God. This does not always happen for them. When it doesn't happen, they are disappointed. When it does happen, they are elated. And they can easily assume, like us, that all or at least most enlightened Christians will experience worship the way that they do.
The problem is that in focusing on what they need, they have lost sight of the diverse needs of the community. Maybe it is because they don't spend enough time with people who think differently than they do. So when Jeremy and Heather pray, they ask
God for what they want, not for what is good for the whole. Their request is not in any way mean or devious.
Yet, the problem is that if God gives them what one of them wants (a church experience that meets their needs), then other people's needs will not be met. Their approach is understandable because we should try to have our needs met, but getting my way all the time is ultimately at someone else's expense.
The problem is that most of this is happening at levels of consciousness of which we are generally not aware. One of the wonderful things about my work as a mediator is that I get to talk to both sides. I have yet to have someone say to me, "I have desires that battle within me" or "I covet that person's job or friends." What I see is that all the people that I work with are generally hurt and confused and often completely unaware of their contribution to the conflict that has brought them to me.
What this text is saying is that at the unconsdous level our desires are often selfish and exclude others, and as long as we are unaware of those motives, we will be driven by them. But when we do try to verbalize our motives, we use God talk to explain why we are right and others are wrong. For most of us, motives are mixed. What we tend to focus on and be consdous of is our pure motives--and no one can argue with those. But this blocks our willingness to look deeper to see what other motives could be behind our actions.
Now some people hate conflict-so much that if they do think of the other person, they will deprive themselves completely of having their legitimate needs met. They will frame this as being Christ-like, but there will be a voice saying inside of them, ''Why should I always give in?" What is even more frustrating is when they give in and others don't even recognize the sacrifice they have made. What often happens is that these people eventually become so disenfranchised that there is no reason for them to remain in the community. They may continue warming a pew-after all, it takes a lot of energy to move onbut for all intents and purposes, they are not part of the community.
It is often our fear of broken relationships that keeps us from talking about our differences. What I have observed in my work is that it is not the difference in tastes, understandings and perspectives that is so hurtful and results in broken relationships. Rather, it is the hurtful things we say and do when we do have a discussion about these differences that keeps us awake at night and results in our stomach dropping or our throat tightening every time we see each other. The negative consequences are the direct result of the way we respond to differences, not the
result of the differences themselves.
What Agnes was able to do for Jeremy was to help him out of the confusion of conflict and begin to isolate the different pieces that needed to be addressed. In Central America, one of the words for conflict is translated "a tangled net." In order to untangle a net, we need to pull at the appropriate strands. Agnes was able to help Jeremy see that there were two things that needed to be separated. The first was the disagreement about music, and the second was what he thought and said to Heather.
Finding our way
So what is the way forward? The church is a community of people who have diverse needs. Some of these needs can be met completely. At other times, we need to negotiate the meeting of our needs and preferences. We need to see and value the different parts and the ultimate strength of the whole. We need to be clear about what we need and yet listen intently to others' needs. We need to trust each other enough to share what our needs are and allow each other to meet our needs. If I hide my needs from you, I also am contributing to the weakening of the community. It really doesn't have to be as hard as we have imagined it to be. Let's see what happens when Jeremy fol· lows through on his discussion with Agnes.
jeremy: Hi, Heather. I'm glad you could come.
Heather: I wasn't sure I wanted to.
jeremy: I feel really bad about the other day and the things I said. I apologize. My language was inappropriate, and I realized I hadn't heard you out at all I'd like to understand why you feel so strongly about the music you love.
Heather: You would?
jeremy: Yeah.
Heather: Well, you see, that's the kind of music I grew up with. It was the music of my first church experience, and there are so many rich memories attached to it. When I heard that piece last Sunday, I just felt overwhelmed by the presence of God.
jeremy: Really? So when you hear that kind of music, you feel closest to God?
Heather: Yes. It means a lot to me. That's when I worship best.
jeremy: That's helpful to know. Can I share my experience with you?
Heather: Okay.
jeremy: I grew up being exposed to many kinds of music and experimenting with all kinds of styles. In a way, the more complex and rhythmiC the music is, the more I am awed by the creativity God has given us. For me, that's what leads to worship.
Heather: You can worship with all those rbythms happening at once? I didn't even know that was possible. I guess lowe you an apology too. You obviously aren't narrow-minded.
jeremy: You realize this still leaves us with a musical challenge, doom't it?
Heather: You're right. But just by hearing each other, it already feels like we've made significant progress.•
jan Schmidt provides training and intervention services in the area of conflict. This article is adapted from a sermon preachedjan. 20, 2002 in River East MB Church in Winnipeg, Man. The skit sections of this article were created by Connie Epp. The article first appeared in the May 3, 2002 issue of the MB Herald, a publication of the Canadian MB Conference.
AcommonllV 01 peace
THE CHURCH is called to be a community of peace, providing an arena where the healthy exchange of differences is encouraged, supported and resolved. Unfortunately, the church has too frequently been the place of bitter disputes and hurtful battles, harming its witness to the world.
Jesus taught that those coming to worshipshould
first ensure that relationships with others are reconciled (Matt. 5:23-24). Before approaching the Lord's Table, we examine ourselves, seeking to determine whether our relationships with God and with our brothers and sisters are open and clear (1 Cor. 11:27-34}.ln the past, some churches established peace committees designed to
help fellow members resolve disputes-a decision which stands in contrast to our prevailing tendency to "mind our own business. II When we disagree within the Christian community, we should strive to do so as graciously as possible (Rom. 14).excerpted from Confession of Faith: Commentary and Pastoral Application
Written from his heart .
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What happened to footWashing?
BY ARTHUR FLAMING
IN THE SUMMER OF 1944, my family and I moved to Lustre, Mont., where I became tht; first full-time pastor of this lovely 120 member congregation. On the third Sunday in October, we had a communion and foot-washing service. It was during the foot-washing service that I noticed two church brethren washing each other's feet, then embrace and kiss each other. When this was going on I noticed that about half of the congregation was weeping and crying.
I did not know what was happening. So, after the service I asked one of the deacon brethren what had happened.
"Pastor," he said, "these two iDen hated and despised each other. In fact, it was so bad that one of the men told me about a year ago that the best music he would ever hear would be when he heard the dirt clods fall on the casket of [the other]."
The process of the foot-washing service gave evidence to the members of the congregation that reconciliation had taken place. Both of these men have since passed away, and as far as I can recall, they remained close to each other for the rest of their lives.
The 1976 edition of the Confession of Faith of the General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren states, "By washing the feet of his disciples, the Lord Jesus admonished his followers to practice personal humility, seek continuous cleansing and render loving service. The practice of washing the saints' feet can be a meaningful reminder of our continuous need for cleansing and mutual admonition to serve one another" (Christian Nurture and Discipline).
While serving as a pastor in Henderson, Neb., and Bakersfield, Calif., I saw evidence of reconciliation on several occasions. But to my knowledge, there
Forum is a column of opinion and comment on contemporary issues facing the Mennonite Brethren Church. Manuscripts expressing an opinion for Forum should aim for a length of 800 words. Authors must sign articles and identify their church home and vocations.
IWOW that I, your Lord and have washed yourleet, you also Should wash one I have set you an
master, not;.1s tNJ"'s8enM" - i greater .than ". w.bo 6ent1:llpJ. tlqUJ t/!at ),ou lmow 'flnng" . you will1.?e li!e\sed do t1Rup.""
is only one congregation left in the Southern District tl)at still practices foot-washing once a year.
My question is this: What are the occasions and services where we are privileged to witness reconciliation and forgiveness? When and where do we witness reconciliations and forgiveness, love and acceptance of each other?
I personally miss the foot-washing
services we used to have where the opportunity was given to witness the ongoing process of the Holy Spirit at work in forgiveness and reconciliation .•
Arthur Flaming is a former pastor and the first district minister in the -U.S. Conference, serving the Southern District.
BY PHILIP WIEBE
Too much time
FOR YEARS I'VE BEEN whining about modem culture's time crunch. There always seems to be too much to do in too little time. I have this piCture of today's typical mom or dad driving the kids to practice while jotting notes for a meeting while talking on a cell phone while munching dinner from a drive-through window. Many parents will tell you this isn't far from the truth.
But lately a strange thought has been circulating in my head. Are we really a society short on time, or could it actually be that we have too much time on our hands?
Cruising through news web sites in the morning, I have to wonder. Along with the usual bad news, there are lighter stories that get me thinking, "People have time for this?"
For example, Finland recently hosted the Seventh Annual World Air Guitar Championships. When I saw this, I began to ponder how such an event might come together. First you'd need a lot of folks who have spent considerable time pretending to play guitars that don't exist. Then you'd require a bunch of judges who are well studied on the artistic guidelines for contestants not playing guitars. And you'd need the logistical people helping to gather all these guitarless folks in one place.
It amazes me that enough people could find time to plan, practice and put on an actual world event in this genre. Though I suppose one thing that would save time is the lack of musical equipment to haul around.
Another thing I read on the web is that pop singer Britney Spears decided to take a leave of absence from touring. That didn't particularly interest me, but the accompanying inquiry
did. A readers' poll asked for opinions about what kind of career move Spears should make next. I wondered: Don't people have their own career moves to worry about? Why would anyone spend a moment's thought on the path of a stranger who likely employs a flock of career planners?
Yet these kinds of polls are everywhere on the web. So users must have plenty of time to waste, I mean spend, answering them.
Something else that fascinates me is the large quantity of dreadful movies coming out all the time. These are films that look terrible in the previews, get terrible reviews, then proceed to draw huge crowds. If you mention to someone who saw one of these films that it didn't look very good, they're likely to answer, "Well, it wasn't." Then they'll head to the theater to see the next awful movie.
It occurs to me that a culture with no need to be selective about entertainment choices has far more free time than appearances might suggest.
I joke about the silly things people spend time on, but underneath lies a serious question. In taday's society, is being time crunched more a matter of perception than reality? In many concrete ways we have much more time than people used to. Employees spend less time at work than when jobs were primarily in the fields, fuctories and mines. The work week once was six days rather than five. Modem appliances have transformed hard household labor into ease and convenience. And for all the complaining about getting places via roads and airports, these are simply pieces of cake compared to previous modes of travel. Only 150 years ago there was not even a railroad across the United States. The average travel time
from New York to San Francisco by land or sea was six months.
Given all this time we've gained, where in the world does it go? I think there are three things about modem culture that slyly tum time surpluses into time deficits.
First, many of us own too much stuff. Just last week I spent a Saturday and several evenings sorting through piles of items to prepare for a garage sale. When we do this periodically, it astonishes me how much unneeded stuff we accumulate without even trying.
It's a fuct that the more things a person owns, the more time, effort, maintenance and organization those things demand. That's why Jesus talked about riches being a hindrance to following him. If our treasure is in things, our hearts can't find time to be fully with the Lord.
Second, our culture is saturated with too much entertainment. People claim to be short on time, yet manage to find plenty of extra hours for watching movies or TV or surfing the web. It's easy to get sucked into the entertainment vortex, watching simply because it's there. Wholesome entertainment can be enjoyable and instructive-but only if we know when to tum it off.
Third, we've become a society with too many options. In the past people worked, went home, went to church and that was about it. Today many of us have two or three activities we could attend every night. When my wife and I fuce this dilemma, we don't often choose to ignore everything and stay home for some quiet fumily time. We should do that more.
Too little time? Maybe it's time to clear out the unnecessary stuff and take some time back.•
BY MARVIN HEIN
Questions about faith &life
Responding to war with Iraq and tbe pastor's role on the church board
QWe've heard much about sending troops to Iraq. For those who embrace Jesus' teaching on peacemaking, what can we do? How can we respond? (Kansas)
AThe concern is legitimate. As I'm writing this column, National Security Advisor Condolezza Rice has declared that a war on Iraq is imminent. She maintains there is a strong moral case for a change in the political regime in Iraq, saying ''we certainly do not have the luxury of doing nothing."
But what should we be doing? My friend, James Schrag of Mennonite Church USA, says that war will cause enormous suffering (both in our country and surely in Iraq), war will not sow seeds of peace and security and there are alternatives to war that could increase security in the Middle East and for the U.S. It's a little like a friend told me recently: "For every terrorist we kill, we generate 10 more."
Aside from these practical arguments against war, more important is our biblical faith that asks us to seek peace-not just for ourselves but for all people. A recent letter to President Bush from the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board said: "The Mennonite world community of faith works daily to plant peace and nurture justice in contexts of tension and violence. These global relationships, along with our 475 years of history as a Christian church, confirm our conviction that war is not the solution to our present stormy relationship with Iraq."
One thing I appreciated about this letter was the admission that we have no naive solutions. However, we do have historical precedents that show that nonviolent solutions can bring substantive change, including the U.S. civil rights movement, the fall of the Berlin Wall, a
change in government in Poland and the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa.
We have no guarantee that nonviolence will always win. Demonstrating a commitment to the rule of law as a nation, using international tribunals to address war crimes and demonstrating our concern for human rights and human suffering will not always be accepted. But war is not the solution either. Interestingly enough, many people outside the church, including people who are among the president's closest advisors, are resisting the idea of war with Iraq.
But the question of what to do is a haunting one. Perhaps we need to begin within the church. Maybe we should start talking to each other about our unholy alliances. Michael J. Gorman, a Catholic, has suggested that "the time has come for the centuries-old marriage between the church and the military to end in divorce." In an article in Christianity Today, Gorman bravely wrote: "Powers, great and small, have subtly seduced the church into marriage with the military." John Drescher, a retired seminary professor, follows those words in a recent issue of Mennonite Weekry Review: "It's time the church declares the military's fulse gospel as incompatible with the church's calling and the true gospel of Christ. We cannot seek and save while we search and destroy. We cannot obey Jesus' command to love your enemies and obey the nation's command to kill."
What can we do? I will continue to pray for our president, though I differ with his apparent plans. I may plead with him and others through letters to consider the ways of peace. I will try to make my suggestions in humility, confessing that I don't have all the answers. And I will speak openly and lovingly within the church to share my views that the Bible teaches that violence solves no problems,
Have a question about a Bible passage, doctrine, conference policy, or other spiritual issue? E-mail Marvin at mheinl@/resno.edu or send your question to "Inquiring Minds, "c/o Marvin Hein, 4812 E. Butler, Fresno, CA 93727.
nor does it allow for a close alliance or marriage between the church and the military.
QShould the pastor be the chairman of the church board?
(California)
AIn my early pastoral days, churches knew no other way. I was the council chairman. Even in my last pastorate of 11 years, I served as chairman of the Administrative Board. But is this wise? It depends--on the personality and gifts of the pastor, the personality and character of the congregation, its experi. ences historically with leadership and a great many other factors.
There are advantages to having the pastor lead the board. He can more easily set the agenda and voice his vision for the church. He does not always have to call a meeting to arrange for the agenda. He may be the most knowledgeable person about the agenda, probably knows as much as anyone about how to lead a meeting and probably will be the person most likely assigned to implement many of the board's decisions.
There are advantages to having a layperson serve as chair. There are usually very capable leaders in the congregation. A sense of congregational involvement is created when laypeople lead. A wise and capable lay chair can assist the pastor in forging a vision for the church, and the congregation will not so quicldy assume everrthing is pastor-driven. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably opt for the latter. Especially in multistaff churches and in an age where many churches are staff-driven, lay involvement in leadership might well be a way of ameliorating the feeling in the congregation that everything is always "cut and dried." •
BY ROSE BUSCHMAN
Give a gift to Jesus
Operation Christ111as Child puts new meaning into Christmas celebrations
WHAT DO YOU GET when you take some toys (such as small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, yo-yos), school supplies (such as pencils, crayons, writing pads), hard candy, gum, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste and pack them all into a shoe box covered with Christmas paper? You have a gift that will be distributed to a needy child as part of Operation Christmas Child. This world-wide international project is sponsored by Samaritan's Purse, an organization headed by Franklin Graham, son of Billy and Ruth Graham.
The Christmas 2000 campaign collected more than four million boxes which were distributed to children in over 75 countries around the world. In 2001 the numbers increased to over five million boxes distributed in 95 countries. For this year the goal is to do even more.
Donors choose an age category (two to four, five to nine or 10-14). They are then encouraged to fill a shoe box (cardboard or plastic) with small toys, school supplies, hygiene items, hard candy, small picture books and other items that are age appropriate. All items must be new. Boxes should not include wac toys, perishable foods such as chocolate, liquids that might spill and mess up the entice gift, medicines or breakable items.
To be distributed for Christmas 2002 all gift boxes must be at their pick up points by November 25.
Boxes are collected in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. They are then distributed to orphanages, refugee camps, schools, hospitals and even garbage dumps, wherever there are children in need.
These boxes send a message of
hope to children who have suffered so much as a result of war and civil strife or natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods.
Last year Operation Christmas Child sent 120,000 shoe box gifts to Mghanistan. Stories told on the organization's web site are heartwarming. In one refugee tent-camp, a convoy of buses and trucks brought 3,500 shoe boxes filled with toys and other gifts for children who had lost everything as a result of wac and spent their days playing with rocks and rubbish. In another town, which just weeks before had been on the frontlines of the fighting, 650 children broke out into big smiles as they received their shoe box gifts. Aid workers report that many parents were in tears as they saw their children's smiles. At still another site; the provincial goventor explained that the gifts had come from New York City children who had also as a result of terrorist attacks there. He told "is Muslim audience that these gifts came from Christians who wanted to share God's love with them. "They want you to know that God has not forgotten you," he said.
This program reaches many: children in Uganda who have lost their parents to AIDS and may be infected with HIV themselves, children in southern Sudan who know nothing but civil wac, children in Mozambique who have lost everything to catastrophic flooding, children in the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific who are shell-shocked from yeacs of ethnic fighting, children in Indonesia whose families have had to flee their homes and cities as a result of persecution because they are Christians, children living in poverty in the slums of Mexican and Central American cities, children living in Romanian
orphanages, children who live in the famine stricken country of communist North Korea.
These Christmas shoe boxes are used as an evangelistic tool to bring the message that Jesus loves them. Wherever possible they are distributed through the cooperation of local Christian churches and/or nongovernment relief agencies. Christian literature in the child's language is included.
In northern Guatemala there was a 14-year-old boy who had a bad attitude and veryfew friends. He was constantly fighting. After receiving a gift box someone noticed he was crying. When asked why, he replied that he had never received anything this nice before. As a result, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and now helps bring other children to Christ.
Families, couples, singles, teenagers, children, empty-nesters--all are urged to get involved. Jesus said that when we feed, clothe, give a cup of cold water, visit the sick or those in prison, we do this for him. "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matt. 25:40). The Bible also says that the "religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress" 1:27).
This Christmas help your children and yourself focus on what is really important. Children need to learn that "it is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). When we realize that our gift to Jesus on his birthday has eternal implications and rewards it puts new meaning into the Christmas celebrations.
For more information visit the Operation Christmas Child web site at www.samaritanspurse.org.•
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from experience
Henry Schmidt is "forever grateful for this job" as M BBS president
BY DARREN DUERKSEN
Henry Schmidt is one person many Mennonpastors, mlSSIOnarteS, counselors and Christian workers from North America have as a common figure in their training. He has been on the MB Biblical Seminary faculty for 34 years, and for the past 10 years has served as MBBS president. He recently announced his resignation as
president, effective June 15, 2003.
Schmidt is also known among MB churches in the U.S. and Canada for his evangelistic rallies in the mid-1970s and for his pastoral leadership in rural MB churches in the mid-1960s. Among North American MBs, he is a prominent leader with a wide range of experience and impact. Schmidt's credentials, along with his 6'3" frame, long wavy white hair and dignified seminary presi-
dent expression, could easily intimidate a person.
Imagine then the surprise of seminary students, staff and faculty when Schmidt recently talked about the roller hockey game he and his grandchildren had played in the street in front of their house the previous weekend. While relating the exploits of the game, his dignified face lit up with a gleam in his eyes and a smile that identified another side of this man.
Schmidt's point in telling this story, however, was not to display his youthfulness and continuing love for hockey. Rather, Schmidt went on to tell about how he had inadvertently marked up a neighbor's lawn during the course of the game. What was the lesson and point of the story? He had to ask for his neighbor's forgiveness and repair his lawn.
Such openness and humility, even in front of those whom he is leading and training, is characteristic of Schmidt. With over 35 years of experience in MB leadership, Schmidt chooses these days to talk mainly about those lessons that stem from his own experiences, including the successes, the difficulties and the failures.
Some unrolling scrolls
"How has God led me, and how does God lead and teach leaders?" asks Schmidt. He has three answers. "Through inner intuition, godly people and the school of hard knocks.
"For me," says Schmidt, "God's will is not the blueprint of a house, but it's a scroll that unrolls or it's the headlights of a car-you walk in the light that you have, and you walk by faith."
Upon finishing his studies at MBBS in 1972, for example, Schmidt had planned on returning to the pastorate. Toward the end of his studies, however, several people, including ].B. Toews, independently spoke to him about beginning an evangelism ministry. Sensing God's leading through these conversations, Schmidt began a five-year ministry of traveling to many MB churches preaching in revival meetings. He also took seminary students along to serve in prayer, music, children's features and evangelism training.
At the end of this time, however, Schmidt became disenchanted with the impact his ministry was having. Though many came to the Lord and rededicated their lives, Schmidt lost faith in mass
evangelism as an effective strategy for creating change and renewal in churches. The basic problem, says Schmidt, was that "I was getting to pastors too late."
About this same time MBBS invited Schmidt to join as a full-time faculty member. Schmidt decided to dedicate his full energies to leadership training through the seminary. After completing his doctorate at the University of Southern California in 1979, he began teaching missions, evangelism and church-plantingatMBBS.
He did not, however, become an aloof academic. Rather, Schmidt sought to anchor what he taught in the life of the church and to teach from his experience. For example, Schmidt says, "I have always tried to live by the principle that I would not ask others to do what I was not willing to do myself." Since one of his subjects was churchplanting, Schmidt decided to gain more personal experience by joining Harold Penner in restarting Fig Garden Bible Church in 1982.
Leading with skillful hands
In 1993, Schmidt experienced God's leading through the MBBS board, who invited him to assume the presidency of the seminary. This was a difficult decision for Schmidt. Characteristically open and expressive with his opinions, Schmidt realized this position would reqUire something different. While considering the post, confesses Schmidt, he would sometimes stand in front of the mirror shaking his head. "I would say to myself," says Schmidt, "I can't do it. I'll lose my integrity-I can't speak freely. I'll get muzzled. I'll end up becoming a church politician."
Eventually, however, Schmidt sensed God's leading in the invitation. Psalm 78:72 stood out to him and became a guiding theme for the assignment: "And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them."
"The latter has perhaps been the most difficult," admits Schmidt. "When you're in this office it's the denominational politics that are the greatest challenge. Frankly, it's the greatest hazard of the job. [But] I don't think I've betrayed my own values in this job. The positive is that it's helped [me] to train my tongue. You don't have to verbalize every thought that comes into your head or give everyone your opinion. People like me easily
bum bridges and so I've leamed in this job that it's best not to bum bridges. You don't have to correct every person or defend everything."
Measuring success God's way
"God often teaches us through our weaknesses," says Schmidt. Though quite open about mistakes and lessons from earlier in his life, it's the most recent lessons that Schmidt most wants to talk about, though they are also the most difficult.
"For the first five years in this office I didn't guard my own spiritual life enough," says Schmidt, "and I came to a point of exhaustion. The sixth year was a critical year for me because 1 just had no energy and I had nothing left. I'd given everything."
The critical day came when Schmidt simply did not want to get out of bed. Analyzing his life, he couldn't think of a reason why he should be down or tired. He reffeets, "I wasn't facing [difficult] issues in my marriage, our kids, grandkids or the school. I didn't have people on my case. 1 didn't have bad relationships."
Schmidt soon went to his doctor and a counselor and was diagnosed with major depression. After much counseling and reflection, Schmidt has come to a deeper understanding of the cause of the depression. Schmidt explains, ''What I realized was that the stress was not imposed by other people. It was self-imposed. 1 was just driven. 1 at best lived for years with a distant relationship with God, not paying enough attention to my soul. I was always willing to care for others but not willing to care for myself."
Schmidt continues, "I also have to admit that a lot of the motivation in my ministry was not motivation for Jesus but it was motivation that was driven more by inseCUrity and fear of failure. And those aren't good motives to have in this kind of work, because you look at achievement by certain measuring sticks, [and these] are not the ones that God uses."
With the help of God and others, Schmidt has been able to walk out of the depression. But the experience has left him with an important lesson, one that he readily wants to pass along to young leaders. "I didn't want to talk about my depression initially," explains Schmidt, "but [lately] I've talked about it and I will talk about it increasingly
more openly. It's the plague of [people] and pastors who get isolated in a role and who have no deep friendships and who have no safe place to go."
A fresh message for leaders
The lessons learned from his experiences with depression have increasingly come out into Schmidt's teachings and sermons. Recently Schmidt has teamed up with Michael Regier, a Christian psychiatrist in Fresno who also wants to encourage leaders to cultivate a healthy spiritual life. Together they have taught seminars for pastors and students on the need to develop one's "soul health."
"[I] realized," says Schmidt, "that the most important thing in life is for people like me to set boundaries and cultivate my own soul."
The experience has also crystallized a message Schmidt has regarding obedience. "The bottom line of my life has been a heart [that says] I want to obey God. I haven't always done it, and I've had to pay dearly for that at points, but I just have come to realize that God will honor obedience. He doesn't have to honor it, but he does."
In addition to giving helpful insight to pastors and students, Schmidt continues to help lead MBBS into new territory. He has helped to establish a sister seminary campus at the Associated Colleges and Theological Schools in Langley, B.C. Schmidt has also helped to lead MBBS through fresh challenges, such as the divestiture of the General Conference. After a busy and at times difficult two years, Schmidt feels positive about where the seminary is at and the direction it is going for the future. Enrollment is the highest it has been in many years, and a new grant by the Lilly Foundation will enable MBBS to facilitate leadership development training among younger students.
In the midst of these and other positive developments, though, Schmidt remains most thankful for how God has used the president's position to shape him. "I will forever be grateful for this job because the one thing that it has done is that it's revolutionized my prayer life. My own personal walk and relationship with Christ has turned around in a major way, and [I] will forever be a better person for it. I think I hear people better today because I hear God better. And I wouldn't have said that 10 years ago before taking this job." •
Last look at the MB summer conventions
While u.s. MBs met last summer, Canadians debated proposals and a global fellowship drafted a confession
Fred: Did you go to the big Mennonite Brethren convention this year?
Beth: Which one?
Fred: lbe one at the end ofJuly in Abbotsford, B. C.
Beth: But which one?
FRED AND BETH'S confusion is understandable. The big MB conven· tion for 2002 was actually a cluster of conventions, which operated almost independently of each other.
• The U.S. MB Conference convention was held during the day July 25-27 in Bakerview MB Church.
• The General MB Conference con-
vention, held each evening July 25-27 in Central Heights Church, was largely a celebration of North American MB ministries over the past century.
• Seminars by outside experts were held July 25. In the morning, U.S. and I Canadian delegates heard from futurists Tom and Christine Sine in a workshop that dealt with "intentional" living and reinforced the Anabaptist aspect of , MB theology. That afternoon while the U.S. delegates attended their first business session, the Canadian delegates heard from Pastor Wayne Cordeiro of Hawaii, who reinforced the evangelical I aspect of MB theology in a seminar
sponsored by the Canadian Board of Evangelism.
• The Canadian MB Conference convention held during the day July 2627 in Northview Community Church dealt mainly with business matters of the conference.
• The annual meeting of the International Committee of Mennonite Brethren was held July 28-30 at Columbia Bible College
The August issue of the Leader reported on the first three events. This issue of the magazine concludes our coverage of Celebration 2002 with reports written by the MB Herald staff on the Canadian Conference convention (see "Restructuring proposals prompt debate, " this page) and ICOMB (see "Global fellowship continues to mature, "page 27). The MB Herald is the publication of the Canadian MB Conference.•
ALL MAlOR PROPOSALS PASS DURING nGHTLY SCHEDULED CANADIAN CONVENTION
Restructoril1!J;Proposafs prompt debate
IF AifE.cte'firi'ed
of time constraints. toward as movill9 fast, then the the end of the convention; Oilnadlan ConferenCe bust- For example. the list 9f ness sessions July2647 nominees for conference were youth-<nictlrted1 boards in delegate packets Ida" repQrted only one nolnlrree using a variety.f via for every and 1M power point prese, nominees were never visuat aids. Delegates .introduced. When #Ie wer. rafltJy borecl. nominating
Yet.. with only two asked delegates tq fill in mornings and an aftef';. the ballot affirming each noOn SCheduled 16r the name indlvidually•.asslsconvehtiof.'l,tanCI 'tant moderatotaa1ph Whh cotlsaderibte Clint Gljege Instead asked d8!e* 4taken up with pr'eMnta- gates to simply accept the tiGRiS end celebrations, the that then. W8!* major approved more quickly and whole list by standing. buSIness was Is pit the with less process than In ·Slnce th, nominaiin9" sched\lled. not the past. This was partly by consl5t$ with pFoposals -deslifn and partly ,because conference secretaty and
the provincial moderators (all members of the Executive this 'Seems to be the culmination of a trend building pver the last several years to the point that conference boards are now virtually self-perpetuating," writes MB Herald editor Jim Coggins in' his report of convention proceedings.
In a flurry at the end of the convention, moderator JaScha Boge rushed through five recommendations in about a minute, induding the reappointment of executive director Dave Wiebe by applause. Even more unconventional was the declaration that •two recommendationsthe appointment of Stewardship Mlrlistrles representatives Ross Hardy and Henry Neufeld-had been approved by the applause given them during the Board of Management r.eport some time earlier.
The delegation was not intimidated by the tight SChedule .and insisted on discussing -some items at length. They succeeded in throwing the convention schedule behind, but in the end did not succeed in changing much. Every proposal presented passed without amendment.
MOUs ..........
The Executive Board, with 10 recommendatior'ls, many of them major, doml'nated the convention agenda. Prominent among them were recommendations to accept three Memoranda of Understanding negotiated with the U.S. Conference on how the two national conferences would take responsibility for the last three ministries of the General Conference,which is. disbandilig. 'Delegates dis-
cussed and eventually passed til, MOUs.
The MB Biblical seminary MOU generated considerable discussion. The MOU recommended that MBBS become an agency jointly operated by the Caf'!adian and U.S. conferences. The conferences would jointly fund a central organization, and the national conferences would be responsible for funding and operating the teaching centers in their countries.
I er in Canada and the semi-
Inary raises about.$400,ooo a in additional money in Canada.
Under the new proposal, the Canadian Conference would give no money to MBBS directly but would ask local churches to pay a $15 per member per year norm to support the seminary, and MBBS would be free to raise additional money in Canada. All of the
money raised in Canada, by the norm and by other
be $125,000 and by the seminary to be considerably more.
The new norm could generate up to $510,000 a year. But delegates pointed out that currently churches are only giving about twothirds of the Canadian Conference and that many' churches will give nothing since they have already established their budgets for this year and have not Induded any money for a seminary norm. Concem was expressed that there might not be enough money raised to fund the central administration and that the seminary could die, like a tree with healthy branches but a rotten trunk.
There is currently a main campus in Fresno, Calif., the campus which is part of the ACTS consortium in langley, B.C. and a "developing" campus in Winnipeg.
There seemed to be general acceptance of the new structure, but considerable concem over the funding arrangements, since they envision a massive funding cut to the seminary by the I Canadian Conference. Cur- . 'rently the Canadian Confer': I ence gives a guaranteed annual subsidy of $464,000 (CA), the Canadian Conference pays $35,000 a I support an MBBS fundrais- .·1
fundraising, would go first to the Canadian regional centers, then to a matching grant program and then to the central administration. If any of the Canadian money was left over, it could then be used to fund the Fresno campus.
Delegates were totd It currently costs about $300,000 to operate the Langley campus and about $37,000 to operate the campus. General administration costs were not mentioned at this convention but had earlier been estimated by Canadian Conference leaders to
The Canadian Conference leadership responded that the canadian Conference norm Is being reduced by $13 this year, so churches should have some left· over money to contribute to the seminary norm; that none of the..other Canadian Conference boards has guaranteed funding; and that the new system will force MBBS to relate more closely to the local churches. Moderator Jascha Boge ruled that the MOO could not be amended, but that the budget could be changed when the canadl· an Conference budget was discussed.
Various suggestions were mad for the Canadian Conference to guarantee the $15 norm to the seminary and for the seminary norm to be increased from $15 to $20 or $22. In the end, no one made a formal motion to amend either the MOU or later the recommendation on the seminary norm. The MOU passed,-but with some opposed.
The Canadian conference moderator mistakenly reported that the U.S. Conference asks its churches to contribute a norm of $22 U.S. to the seminary, but that $7 goes to reduce tuition for U.S. MB students. This is not correct. The U.S. asks for $22 per member for MBBS but does take $7 for a tuition grant plan.
The MOU for Board of Resource Ministries/Kindred Productions, the MB book publisher, was approved with little discussion except for some expressions of concern that MB books and curricula are not being used widely enough in MB churches.
According to the MOU approved by both the U.S. and canada, Kindred Productions will become a Canadian Conference agency, with the U.S. Conference using and selling its products and givinjJ a small subsidy ($7,500 a year) for the first five years. The agency ccpmes to the Canadian Conference with no operating debt and with virtually no 1asSets (its inventory of books balanced by printing debts owed to the canadian Conference).
Under its MOU, the Historical Commission will now be a separate commission, directly responsible to the (:anadian and U.S. MB conferences and receivjng an annual subsidy of $15,000 from each conference.
Delegates approved a proposal to help MB stuClents pritpare for ministry. Under the Leadership M.tching Grant program, qualified students will pay only one-quarter of their tultlon, their local church will pay one-quarter, and
the Canadian Conference will pay half. Only students In the fourth year of an undergraduate program at a canadian MB school and students at MBBS will be eligible.
For students attending MB Biblical seminary, the canadian Conference portion of the matching grant will come from the $15 seminary norm that churches are asked to contribute. For students attending other MB schools, the matching
Iflexible, creative and , responsive, with staff workI ing together cooperatively in teams. Unlike other Canadian Conference boards which have some members elected at provincial Conference conventions, this board would be entirely elected at the canadian Conference convention.
The discussion included strong affirmations of the new direction, but also concerns. Comments included I concern that the new struc-
.......
A number of follow-up recommendations were passed without comment, such as recommendations to disband the Boards of Communications and Christian Education Ministries. Also passed was a recommendation to change the canadian Conference constitution to agree with the structural changes already approved. It was Implied that this would allow the conference to make the changes now even though they will be In violation of the constitution until the constitution is changed. Because the changes have been so major, it is expected that the process will involve rewriting the constitution rather than amending it.
I The new constitution will be presented for approval at the next Canadian Conference convention, in Ontario, July 8-10,2004.
.......
grant will come from the general canadian Conference budget or possibly be covered by private fundralsIng.
DIsd........p ....b ...
The other Executive Board propc>sal that stimulated major discussion was the proposal to create a Board of Discipleship Ministries by merging the Board of Communications, the Board of Christian Education Ministries, the church resourcing component of the Board of Evangelism and the former General MB Conference Board of Resource Ministries. The design team said the new board would be efficient,
ture might limit the ability of the MB Herald to be a "free press;" that important aspects of the publications were not included in the "equipping and resourcing" focus of the new board; and that the change was being rushed through without due constitutional process and that there was no need for haste due to financial reasons. A delegate pointed out that instead of cutting the overall conference budget, once MBBS funding was included, the conference is actually increasing the amount of money that it is asking from the churches. In the end, the recommendation passed, with some opposed.
In order for the new structure of agencl,. to start with a clean balance sheet, the Board of Management said Stewardship eamings would cover the deficit. A budget of $1.7 million was recommended, down from the 2001-02 budget of $2,034,000, and approved with the understanding that no board funds are guaranteed. If funds do not come in, the budgets will be (\ft. Moderator loge stated that I the norm of $94 was just $2 more than the previous biennium and woulC! Include the $15 MBSS norm. Nothing would be greater than coming to next convention with a surplus," he said.
$pi................
One board report generated considerable debate. The Board of Faith and Ofe
presented a document called "Spiritual Warfare Ministry Guidelines," based on the findings of the 2001 Spiritual Warfare Conference. The document was handed out at the beginning of the board's report.
Some delegates objected that the document took too limited a view of spiritual warfare, for Instance, by saying that Christians could not be demon-possessed. Others objected that they wanted time to study the document before giving approval. There was
confusion over the extent to which the document, if passed, would be binding on pastors and churches.
A motion was made to refer the paper back to BFL However, BFL member
I Mark Johnson said that while the board was not unanimous on the statements of the paper, it had reached consensus, and "that every viewpoint expressed had already been expressed by the board." It was noted that the provincial Boards of Faith and Ufe had received
ICOMB DRAFTS CONFESSION, CONSIDERS STAFF
summary statements prior to the convention and very few responses had been received from them. The motion to refer was defeated, and the motion to accept the document was accepted by a ballot vote of 157-80.
other .........
Two recommendations from the Board of Evangelism passed with little discussion but considerable enthusiasm. The first was approval of Rendezvous Montreal as the third Key
City Initiative. The second was the reappointment of director Ewald Unruh.
At this convention, the Canadian Conference welcomed 17 new churches that had joined provincial MB Conferences In the two years since the last convention (five in Ontario, one in Saskatchewan, four In Alberta and seven in British Columbia).•
-From reports by Susan Brandt and Jim Coggins for the MB Herald
Global fellowship continues to mature
IF THE DEVELOPMENT of the International Committee of Mennonite Brethren were measured on a chUd's growth chart, the decisions made at the 2002 ICOMB gathering may mark the start of a significant growth spurt.
Representatives of 13 of the 18 national MB conferences around the world gave provisional acceptance to a global confession of faith and formed a committee to develop a proposal for hiring a staff person. The I(OMB representatives also participated in the closing -ceremonies of the General Conference convention. The "passing of the passion" candlelight ceremony signified the passing of the vision of the North American conference to the rest of the global MB family as well as the next generation of leaders.
The 2002 ICOMB decl,ions continue the growth of this organization, formed 12 years ago at a meeting held in conjunction with the
Mennonite World Conference assembly in Winnipeg, Man. ICOMB meets annually to conduct business and for mutual fellowship and support. This year the meeting was held in conjunction with Celebration 2002, the occasion that celebrated the General Conference and during which both the U.s. and Canadian conferences held their conventions.
ICOMB is made up of national conference moderators andlor leaders. The
I 2002 executive committee includes chair Alexander Neufeld of the AMBO in Germany, vke<hair Maximo Abadie of the Spanish Conference in Paraguay, secretary David Wiebe of Canada and treasurer Rolando Mireles of the U.S.
As part of the agenda, each ICOMB representative shared about the progress and struggles within his own conference, and the representatives spent time praying for each other. The
group recognized the challenge of meeting together when several members were unable to obtain visas.
Considerable time at the 2002 meeting was spent trying to refine the vision for ICOMB. There is a growing sense that If ICOMB is to continue to develop, it will need to hire staff, probably beginning with a half-time executive secretary. There was some hesitation to
move in this direction until ICOMB has a dearer understanding of its vision and what a staff person would do. It was also evident durIng the 2002 financial discussions that an executive secretary would be helpful in monitoring the accountIng of various ICOMB funds.
After considerable discussion, ICOMB's executivewas commlssloried to develop a proposal for hiring a staff person and to report at the 2003 meeting.
01 .....1...........
ICOMB gave provisional acceptance In July to a global Confession of Faith just a ' century after the creation of the first MB confession In 1902. The intent of the global confession Is not to replace the national.confes- . slons. The purpose Is to write a shorter confession that" will focus on central dOC\rin.s, guide national ecmfefe"ces in writing or revlslng-the1r tnore detailed national confessions and sta1c:Jard for othtr-conferences which might want to apply for ..membership in ICOMB. \Q. .An example of bow-the might be.u5efuI.
"Was ott.rW "'.S. commlttett member lynn Jost, who sU$Jgested that the other i)ationaf conferences might help the canadian and U.S. conferences remain faithful to tHe accepted MB position on baptiSm the Lc>rd'.s Supper.
A\ the 2001ICOMB meeting, a seven-member , committee was fcmned to .fcx>k at the vadousG:mfesslOnf of Faith fr"om MB c0nferences around the world and'to write a global MB· confession.
At.the 2002 meeting, the committee presented a draft confession. After con-
slderable discussion, ICOMB members made some revisions and gave it provisional acceptance. Wh.en It has been translated, the global confession will be sent to all of the national MB conferences for feedback. with the hope that a final draft can be offioally accepted as the global Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith at the 2003 kOMB meeting.
C•• p ...I1_ werk
ICOMB accepted an Invitation from International, the North American MB mission agency that· planted many of the other national conferences, to nominate a member to the MBMSI made the request in recognition of the fact that national conferences outside of North America are -.nding out missionarIes, .often with MBMSI assistance. Japan was the first conference tc;» do so. The . Congo Conference now has missionaries in several countries. ar-d other conf,rences are sending missionaries.
As it is doing with North American chur.ches, MBMSI nc;» longer plays the role of dedding where all mission efforts will take place but Is assisting churches and con ferences in carrying out their own dreams and plans. The need for coordination between ICOMB and MBMSI is illustrated by the desire within both ttle Congo and. Uruguay conferences to plant churches in Mozambique and Morocco.
ICOMB representatives welcomed the invitation to nominate a member to the MBMSI board, but felt that the best nominee might be the ICOMB executive secretary, who has not yet been
.I hlred.-In the meantime, it was decided to nominate ICOMB chair Alexander Neufeld to sit on the MBMSI board as an observer.
An example of the developing' partnership between ICOMB and MBMSI relates to Mexico. At its 2001 meeting, ICOMB commissioned Maximo Abadie of the Spanish Conference in Paraguay and Victor Wall of the German Conference in Paraguay to visit the'Mennonite Brethren churches In Mexico. The churches there, started by MB mission efforts, are scattered, disorganized and often struggling.,Thelr visit was warmly received. At-this 2002 meeting, "COMB commissioned the two men, along with Rolando Mireles of the U.S. Conferenee, to work with MBMSI to assist in the revitalizing of the MB churches.
...... CM ........
One item that proinpted discussion was the funding of national conferences. The comm(Jn practice In many , of the national confereoces is for the local churches to give to the national conference a '"tithe,· a of the contributions they themselves receive, often, but not always, defined as 10 percent. This practice interested the U.S. and canadian conferences ICOMB members, since considerable numbers of chLirch,s do· not contribute to the budgets of these two national conferences•.
ICOMB's own finances are stable. The national conferences are required to cOntribute one percent of their annual budgets to ICOMB. In the case of the smaller and poorer conferences, the contribution is less than the cost for the
conference's representative to travel to the annual ICOMB meeting. Travel expenses for all representa'tives are covered by the ICOMB budget.
The treasurer reported that ICOMB cummtly has a balance of just over $70,000 . U.S. However, expenses for the Confession of Faith Committee, the Involvement in Mexico and the ty of hlrihg staff could reduce this considerably.
Of the $70.000. about $20,ooo-belongs In a separate global relief fund. set up to assist countries cope with natural and other .dlsasters. It was dedded that some overdue assistance to the Congo Conference be sent out . from this fund as soon as possible.
ICOMB finances are handled by the U.S. Conference because ICOMB Is not yet a legally'lncorporated organl'zatfon and because It Is ier10 tran.act1ntemetional exchanges in V.'S. dollars. Even so. the dlfficu,,,, of> -tran$fen1ng money .between<ountries rematns a maj. problem.
. At this4Jiee\intJ, Ii<oMB alsO die.Iogt.ied with Mennonite World Conference repre$8ntative Wemer Kroeker. He outlined some questIonS about how ICOMB relate to·MWC.
1be next meeting of will 'be field in .August 200J in Zimbabwe, in -conjunCtion with 'the MenncmlteWorid (onference 8$S8mbly••
Written by Jim Coggins. edit.or of the MB Herald, a periodical of the Canadian MB Confererice, for MB_. Reriodicals around the world. Edited byteader staff.
MCC worker gives back
Young mother returns to Teen Moms program-this ,. time as an MCC Summer Service worker
Ylma Espinoza, of Reedley, Calif., grabs a slice of pepperoni pizza and joins the girls trickling in for a weekly meeting of teen moms. Typical Californian teenagers in many ways, they chatter in English and Spanish about music and clothes. But their conversations also turn to daycare, diapers and teething. Many are struggling to make ends meet and to overcome cycles of abuse.
Some onlookers might be tempted to dismiss these girls as immoral, or as helpless victims. But Espinoza knows better. As a Mennonite Central Committee Summer Service worker with this local Teen Moms group, she's supporting a program she credits for much of her own success. While she still has a hard time thinking of herself as a role model, Espinoza knows what it's like to be young, pregnant and scared-and to find a path to a happier life.
"HI did it, they can, too," she says. Espinoza, now 22, became pregnant when she was 16. The situation seemed to confirm what she had heard constantly while growing up in a family where love was rarely expressed: She was worthless, and she'd never amount to anything.
She found out about the Teen Moms group, a program of Community Youth Ministries, at the alternative high school she attended after giving birth to her son. CYM director Sheri Wiedenhoefer is also a West Coast MCC staff member.
Espinoza was one of the first participants in the fledgling ministry, which receives much support from local Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren congregations. Teen Moms includes weekly meetings and a "mentor mom" program.
"I would show up like an hour early for the meetings," she remembers. "I was lonely at home, so 1 kept on coming."
In the program's leaders, Espinoza found a listening ear.
"I had so much anger and bitterness, especially toward my mom because of how she attacks me verbally," she says. "But [the Teen Moms leaders J hugged me and prayed for me My desire to
get rid of the hate kept on growing."
They also provided practical advice. Espinoza's mentor, Merilyn Hertzler, explained the importance of telling her son that she loved him, of reassuring him of her love even when she disciplined him.
Eventually, the peace Espinoza saw in Hertzler's and others' lives convinced her that she also wanted a relationship with Jesus.
"And then it was like-'I'm free!'" Espinoza says, her face radiant.
As she talks, it's hard to imagine that this articulate and confident young woman was ever the angry teenager she describes. She is now the mother of two and is married to the children's father, who has also become a Christian. They attend Reedley MB Church, Hertzler's home congregation.
The MCC Summer Service position has increased her confidence further. Her assignment through this program includes managing the stock of clothes, toys and baby equipment available to the
teen moms; helping carry out a survey to improve the program; and contributing to the weekly meetings.
Marriage was the topic of conversation at a recent gathering. Boyfriends and husbands were invited to this meeting, too, but only one showed up. Many, Espinoza says, work in the fruit and vegetable fields that surround Reedley and can't get away in the summer.
Sandy Reimer, a mentor mom, and her husband David, an ordained MB minister who is also the CEO at Reedley's Palm Village Retirement Community, presented a biblical view of marriage and
spoke from their own experiences. They bound their arms together with duct tape, drawing giggles from the girls, to illustrate how marriage is intended to bind two people for life.
Sandy Reimer has been a mentor mom since the program began. She came in with the idea that she would "set those girls straight," she says with a chuckle, but instead found her empathy increasing as she saw the obstacles of abuse and poverty that many face.
Reimer adds that the girls' low selfesteem is reinforced in everyday life. She describes taking one the girls she was mentoring to have pictures taken of her baby. The photographer's treatment of the girl was "appalling," Reimer says. His condescending attitude didn't change
until Reimer, an obviously middle-class white woman, stepped in.
Espinoza can relate. She remembers finding out that her high school principal had been overheard saying that the teen moms at the school would never go on to college. She's proving the principal wrong. She recently began taking a college class in secretarial skills; her plan for the fall is to work part-time with Teen Moms and attend college part-time.
"My goal is to work in an office where 1 can help people," she says. "I'm bilingual in Spanish and English, and 1 see how much of a need there is for that."
She and some of the other original participants in the Teen Moms group,
who continue to support each other, are also exploring the idea of a daycare cooperative.
Meanwhile, Espinoza is happy that she can help young mothers who are searching, as she was, for a listening ear and a solid faith.
"I was a toddler taking steps, and my mentor mom was there to hold my hand," she remembers. "Now 1 want to give back."
Now celebrating its 20th year, the MCC U.S. Summer Service program helps young people of color work with a church or agency in their home communities for 10 weeks. -Rachel Beth Miller, MCC Communications
Itinerary and Invitation 4ij:,
r:J1CPE , under the sponsorship of MBMS International, invites born-again Christians to serve as volunteers for its evangelism outreach to:
NOTE: Dates may be subject to some changes, pending further confirmation of some campaigns.
• Team up with national Christians and witness for Christ door-to-door.
• Some knowledge of the language of the country is helpful.
• Between 800 and 2800 persons have prayed to accept Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord during a two-week CPE campaign. Come and be part of an enriching spiritual experience--discover what God can do through you.
For further Infonnatlon, contact:
Church Partnership Evangelism office: telephone/fax: 604-864-3941
Peter Loewen (residence) fax: 604-853-6482
Church Partnership Evangelism is a "church-to-church" effort that involves all bornagain Christians in personal evangelism worldwide. Your application to participate will be forwarded to the CPE Executive Committee for processing.
Whether it's a professional visit or a friendly chat, the residents in independent and assisted living know Goldine is always there as a confident and friend. Palm Village offers all residents a caring, personal and loving environment.
For more information, call (559) 638-6933
Goldine Pankratz, RN, visits Anne Neufeld,
CHURCH PARTNERSHIP EVANCELISM BEGAN IN 1993
Short-term evangelism program joins MBMSI
MBMS International and Church Partnership Evangelism and Discipleship announced this summer that the two agencies have joined together. The announcement was made at the conventions ofthe Canadian and U.S. MB conferences held in Abbotsford, B.C., in July. CPED joins Youth Mission International as a central short-term ministry of MBMSI, the global mission agency of North American MB churches.
MBMSI also announced the appointment of James Nikkel as the new director for CPED, starting March 1,2003. This month, Nikkel will step down from the position of executive director of Church Extension for the British Columbia MB conference. He has been a pastor, is past president of Bethany Bible Institute and was instrumental in founding Youth Mission International 14 years ago while serving as executive
director for Evangelism Canada, a ministry of the Canadian MB Conference.
CPED sends adult volunteers overseas for two to three week terms. Participants travel alongside Christian teammates from that country, who translate as the North Americans share their faith testimonies door-to-door. The teammate invites the hearer to accept Christ as Savior and attend the local church. The local church commits to disciple people who make a commitment.
CPED began with three campaigns in 1993, as a vision of Peter Loewen and King Road MB Church in Abbotsford, BC. Last year 41 campaigns were held in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, and thousands of people responded positively to the Gospel presentation by praying to receive Christ.
"It's truly a joy to celebrate today the coming together of Mennonite
MDS' RESTORINC HOPE P OJECT SPONSORED EVENT
NY congregations
commemorate 9/11
A WORSHIP service in Midtown Manhattan combined the music and reflection of 20 New York Mennonite and Brethren in Christ congregations that joined together Sept. 14 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on that city.
Titled "A Day of Remembrance: This is
Brethren ministries," MBMSI general director Harold Ens told convention delegates. "We look forward to working more closely together as a family of faith, following the passion God has placed on our hearts through shortterm ministries, career missionaries, local churches, and international partners." -MBMSI
Our Story, This Is Our Song," the anniversary service included singing, sharing, guest musicians and a reflection by city resident John Rempel, Mennonite Central Committee liaison to the United Nations. The service was coordinated and sponsored by the Restoring Hope Project. The project began last Septem-
ber as Mennonite Disaster Service and Mennonite Central Committee looked for opportunities to address the emotional, economic and community damage felt by city churches and individuals after Sept. 11.
A video of the service can be requested from the MDS office in Akron, Penn., by calling (717) 859-2210. The video includes footage from an extended time of sharing and reflection by city residents. -MDS
TRUE LIFE STORIES: Swimming with children at a local pool was part of Elizabeth castillo's assignment this year as a Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Summer Service worker. Pictured with Daisy Nunez, Castillo and her sister helped run an activities program for neighborhood kids at their church, La Paz MB Church in Orosi, calif. (For more information on the Summer Service program, see article on page 29.) -MCC
MORE NEWS
Choice diredor
-Ken Becker of Bakersfield, calif., has been hired as executive director of Choice Books of West Coast. the new california independent regional distributorship of Choice Books. Becker and his wife Joan were recently commissioned to this ministry in a dedication service at Rosedale MB Church of Bakersfield. They will be headquartered in Bakersfield. Choice Books of West Coast grew from servicing only three displays in its early months of operation in 1997 to 111 displays today, mostly in the greater Los Angeles area. Choice Books of West Coast joins eight other regional distributors committed to sharing the "good news- of Jesus Christ in the general marketplace through inspiring and wholesome reading material. The organization, headquartered in Harrisonburg, Va., sells about 4 million books annually. -eS
Singing for funds
'-A group from the Kansas Mennonite Men's Chorus raised over $12,000 (Canadian) for Mennonite Central Committee during a tour of Western Canada Aug. 3-13. The 47 singers performed three concerts in Alberta and three in British Columbia. The full 300-voice chorus directed by Ron Garber will be performing Nov. 1 at the Oklahoma MCC relief sale. This year's concert includes a German number, selections from the Mennonite heritage, hymns, gospel songs, anthems and spirituals. Offerings taken at the concerts support the world relief and community development work of MCC. Each singer donates all travel and other expenses. -KMMC
THOUSANDS FORCED TO EVACUATE HOMES
German MBs help flood victims
MBMS INTERNATJONAL is asking North American MBs to support the MB congregations in Germany that are involved in flood relief work. Germany and other parts of Europe including Austria and the Czech Republic experienced drastic flooding in late August. Reports to MBMSI say it is the " biggest emer· gency operation since World War II."
The three German MB conferences are requesting prayer and financial help from congregations in their
country, as they help church members and people in their communities.
cost will also reach into the billions of dollars.
"We are asking Mennonite Brethren churches in North America to join your brothers and sisters in Germany through prayer and financial giving to assist in the cleanup and rebuilding efforts," says Matt Wall of MBMSI communications. Funds can be sent to MBMSI and designated to project P-0140, German Flood Relief. MBMSI will continue to funnel donations to the German conference as they are received.-MBMSI
GM FOOD DEBATE AFFECTS MCC'S AFRICAN AID
Biotech debate affects aid
Arguments over genetically modified (GM) food are complicating the distribution of humanitarian aid in southern Africa. Despite severe food shortages, Zambia has rejected recent shipmentsofGM com from the United Nations Worid.Food Program. Mennonite Central Committee Is also wrestling with the Issue and has decided to mill a September shipment of com bound for Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The shipment of
Thousands of people in Germany have been forced to evacuate their homes, including a dozen families from the MB church in Dresden. Record high waters have killed close to 100 people across Central Europe, reported Newsweek magazine in September. Cleanup and rebuilding costs are estimated to reach about $20 billion across Germany, and in other regions of Europe the 3.760 metric tons of corn comes from the Canadian foodgrains Bank and. like most commercial corn I supplies in canada, 15 a mix of GM and conventional varieties.
MIlling the \ corn will address concerns about theGM corn being used as seed but not health concerns raised by zambia. Genetic modification includes inserting genes with desirable traits -such as high crop yield and resistance to pest5-into
seeds. Modifications raises questions about patenting, ethics and the natural diversity of plants.
"When pe0ple are starving, we must respond and provide appropriate food,· says Willie Reimer. director of MCC's food. disaster and material resources programs. • At the same time. we need to listen carefully to partners In Africa and look at the longer-term imp1ications. • To date, most agencies and
countries have not set polic.les concerning biotechnology and genetic engineering. That seems subject to -change, however, as the technologies (ontinueto draW both entidsm and praise. Mec will continue to face this issue. Reimer says. MCC ships between '$5 and $7 million worth of North American-grown food each year. At least 40 percent of com currently grown In. the United States andeanada comes from GM seed.-MCC
CHURCH
NEWS FROM OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
Baptism/membership
Hillsboro, Kan. (Parkview}David Loewen and Clay Shewey were baptized Aug. 25.
Yale, S.D. (Bethel}-Andrea Wedel, Natalie Wipf, Kristi Wallman, Tyler Glanzer, Ivan Hofer, Keith Waldner and Michael Wurtz were baptized Aug. 18 in the James River. They were received into membership Aug. 25.
fairview, Okla.-Becky Ratzlaff was received as a new member Aug. 18.
Weatherford, Okla. (Pine Aaes}-Mark and Caren Edwards, Connie Felder, Pattie Gubitz and Tim and Terry Rickel were welcomed as new members Aug. 11.
Lustre, Mont.-Eleven young adults were baptized in Fort Peck Lake July 28. Seth Burns, Tony Fast, Craig Fast, Sarah Zerbe, Katherine Zerbe, Casey Toews, Olfert, Luanne Toews, Roni Reddig, Grady Toews and Rylan Nichols were then welcomed into membership the next week along with Dana and Christian Burns.
Draper, Utah (South Mountain}Forty individuals, including 10 former Mormons, were baptized this summer. Stephanie Gerke and Autumn Jennings were baptized May 10. Alan Russon, Rhebecca Schafer, OJ. Schafer, Brian Schafer, Jimmy Schafer, Gail Galyean, Tearyn Lee, Ryan Erickson, Karin Karamura, Bob Stewart, Carolyn Stewart, Jessica Johnson, LuAnn Martinez, Mike Fargo, Debbie Vileen, Jared Musser, Mark Russel, Jim Murray, Tracy Murray, Mike Jennings, David Askvig, Melissa Askvig, Adreienne Haskins, Michelle Haskins, Scott Larson, Don Jones, Joyce Jones, Kathy Jones and Heather Martin were baptized May 19. Eric Baker, Jenn Carrizal, Linda Shipley, Riley Lavery, Monique Leon, Larry Tewell, Nicole Griggs, Jenny Jessop and Joe Madden were baptized Aug. 18.
Indiahoma, Okla. (Post Oak}Stacia Kassanavoid, Bethany Richardson, Taylor Yackeyonny and Gary Yackeyonny were accepted into the membership following
their confession of faith and baptism August 4. The baptism service was followed by a fellowship meal. Communion was obsrved during the evening service,
Fellowship
fairview, Okla.-The congregation hosted the annual Oklahoma All-Mennonite Women's Meeting Sept. 10. The speaker was Cheryl Hershberger.
San Jose, calif. (Lincoln Glen}The congregation met for a "retreat at home" Sept. 6-8 held on the church campus, The weekend included a Friday night barbecue, video and ice cream; discussion groups, games and lunch on Saturday and a Sunday morning
breakfast followed by Sunday school and the morning worship service,
Visalia, calif. (Neighborhood}Women of the congregation and their daughters were invited to an evening program Aug. 20 called "Oops! Did I do that right?" with Cookie Wagenman of Fresno who spoke about etiquette.
Shafter, calif.-A potluck and "old time gospel sing" Aug. 4 featured musicians from the congregation and the opportunity for all present to sing.
Newton, Kan.-An Anabaptist singles group is being organized for adults between post-eollege and retirement. The group will meet regularly for social activities
Got news to Sh8re7
0Iun:hes are invited to semi dudI buIIetinI or newsletters to Auodat! Editor Connie Faber in our HIllsboro office. Each we-.et news from 1M bulletins of Me churdIes from around the couiItIy to print in the CIu'dI News"'" NotI!J'sectlon. Mail your churdi. buIetin or news Idea to 220, Hillsboro, Kan. 8706J, or IS lit torOusmb.org. 0bituMes can aIIo be sent to the'HilIsbOro office.
LINCOLN GLEN HOSTS EVENT OCT. 11·1:2
Church hosts annua1 Gift Faire
FOR A WEEK in early October, the fellowship hall of Lincoln 61en Church in San Jose. Calif., becomes a festive world bazaar. bustling with vQlunteers unpacking and displaying handicrafts from 30 Third World countries.
For the past 14 years this congregation has provided facilities for the lnternational Gift Faire; Ten Thousand Vil· lages' second largest consignment sale in the U.S. A job creation program of Mennonite Central Committee. TTV, through stores and consignment sales. put more than $7 milll<m into the hands of poor but talented artisans during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2002. In 2001 the Faire returned $57,200 to TTV.
Some 150 volunteers-many from' Lincoln Gten. and others from areachurches and a world hunger class at San Jose State University-will make the Faire happen again Oct. 11-12. Loyal customers who believe "it matters where you shop" will-come from the wider South Bay to support the project.
Three 6ift Faire volunteers have per·
sonally met some of these Third World artisans and have heard firsthand how the TTV program positively impacts individuals and communities. (andi Smucker. on a Ten Thousand Villages leaming tour, visited basket maker Abdul whOse village has no running water. electricity. schoolS or medical fac;tities. His family Ocf five lives in a on....oom hut with a mud fIOor4 Abdul says his children eat twice a day now. thanks to the nv orders.
'Indian artisans who traveled all night by train to meet volunteer Linda Sekiguchi in New Dehli report that TTV orders have made it possible for their village to build a medical clinic, hire a part-time doctor and build a school.
Volu.,teer Rupa Rahman. visiting her native Bangladesh. met women crafting handmade paper. Sitara. who cares for , her daughter, milks cows, cooks. cleans and daily crafts 60 sheets of paper-in her "spare time." told Rahman that without her craft work she would have to resort to begging or working as a farmhand. -LGC
and held their first gathering Sept. 2. One of the organizers is Laurie Oswald from Koerner Heights MB Church.
Ministry
Newton, Kan. (Koerner Heights)-The congregation was encouraged to invite unchurched friends to the worship service and noon meal Sept. B. That evening a concert was given by Ginger Millermon, a songwriter and recording artist from Hutchinson, Kan., who travels extensively with her husband holding concerts to encourage Christians and share the gospel.
Enid, Okla.-Alyssa Gossen was commissioned Aug. 18 for a yearlong assignment with Mission Year, an inner city ministry. She will be working in Atlanta, Ga., with an inner city neighborhood congregation.
Rapid City, S.D. (Bible Fellowship)-For the third year, the congregation hosted Youth Works Mission teams. For seven weeks groups of junior highers from the Midwest came to the city to work at service projects. The teams stay at the church. This summer, 10 BFC high school youth and three sponsors went to Cairo, III., Aug. 3-11 as part of the YWM there. They worked with 40 other volunteers in inner-city projects painting homes, teaching kids clubs, visiting nursing homes and helping pick and distribute fresh vegetables.
Garden City, Kan. (Garden Valley) - GVMBC members Dan Hopkins and Bob Allen, spent their vacation time putting their electrical talents to use in Honduras. They helped build three and one-half miles of line to enable a school to connect to the national electrical system. A meal was served Aug. 4 for a donation to help defray some of their expenses.
Yale, S.D. (Bethel)-The youth group traveled to New Jersey in August to work with World Impact, an inner-<:ity ministry. The group painted, cleaned and did some roof maintenance on a four-story building which houses a Christian school, office space for the ministry and a church; helped with a day camp, helped to upgrade the school library system and played basketball with local youth.
Wolf Point, Mont. (Gospel Fellowship)-Members of the congregation worked together with another local congregation and missionary Mary Johnston of Pennsylvania to lead vacation Bible school July 15-19 for 72 kids. Sev-
eral families built a float promoting VBS for the local parade. It won second place for creativity.
Hillsboro, Kan. (Parkview)-Sixteen teens and four sponsors were in Denver the week of July 14 to participate in DOOR, an inner-city ministry.
New Hope, Minn.-ehurch and community children were invited to attend the annual vacation Bible school. Enrollment was 47, with 40 children coming from the community. A free church picnic concluded the week. The outreach project was undertaken with help from the Mennonite Mutual Aid sharing grant program.
TeachingINurture
Rapid City, S.D. (Bible Fellowship)-Sunday school teachers and their families were invited to a tailgate party Sept. 6 in the church parking lot. Teachers were asked to wear their favorite football team jersey. The evening included a meal and a seminar for the teachers on creative ways to teach children.
Corn, Okla.-Lynford Becker and Jon Wiebe of MB Foundation led a stewardship seminar Aug. 16-17 based on the Good Sense budget course that emphasizes managing financial resources according to God's principles and purposes. Aug. 18 Becker spoke at the worship service and Wiebe led an afternoon estate planning workshop.
Workers
Omaha, Neb. (Millard)-Interim pastor Thorn Justice and his family have accepted the call to serve as senior pastor. He was commissioned Aug. 18. A potluck meal welcomed the family.
Garden City, Kan. (Garden Valley) - Tim Davis has accepted the call to serve as the senior pastor beginning early this month. He and his wife Charlene are moving from Broomfield, Colo., where he served as a pastor and public school teacher. They have two adult children.
Blaine, Wash. (Birch Bay)-Rick and Esther Eshbaugh have accepted the call to serve as pastoral couple. He has been a consultant with Church Resource Ministries and prior to that was pastor of Topeka (Kan.) MB Church. The Eshbaughs began their ministry Oct. 1.
Hesston, Kan. - Brad Burkholder has accepted the call to serve as
associate pastor with an emphasis in youth and outreach. He and his wife Sally and their two children moved from Huron, S.D., and began their ministry in September.
Fresno, Calif. (North)-Loren Dubberke has accepted the call to serve as pastor of adult ministries. He began serving Aug. 5.
Worship
Delft, Minn. (Carson)-MB Biblical Seminary faculty member Nzash Lumeya of the Congo was scheduled to be the speaker at the annual mission Sunday Oct. 6.
Fresno, Calif. (Japanese Chapel)-The congregation hosted a trumpet concert Aug. 24 by Yutaka Tobe, currently professor at Musashina Conservatory. He is an accomplished musician having served as first trumpet in the Tokyo Symphony, the Japan Philharmonic and the Japan Orchestra.
Freeman, S.D. (Salem)-Herb Schroeder preached July 28. He is currently involved in a discipleship ministry at Lincoln Hills Bible Church in Sioux Falls, S.D., and has served as pastor of three MB churches.
Deaths
ENSZ, MAE MAGDAUNE HUSS, Reedley, Calif., a member of Reedley MB Church, was born Nov. 6, 1922, at Pawnee Station, Kan., to Harry and Helma Martinson Huss and died Aug. 21, 2002, at the age of 80. On June 11, 1949, she was married to Adolph Ensz. She is survived by five children, Paul, Mary and husband Brad Fast, Lois and husband Dean Parento, David and wife Toni, all of Reedley, and John and wife Dawn of Templeton, Calif.; two sisters, Dorothy Boyd of Glen Avon, Calif., and Lucille Sandberg of Costa Mesa, Calif., and 15 grandchildren.
GRUNAU, JOHN T., Reedley, Calif., a member of Reedley MB Church, was born Oct. 18, 1910, to P.e. and Sarah Koop Grunau and died Aug. 2, 2002, at the age of 82. In 1932 he was married to Linda Bartel. He is survived by one son, Bart and wife Suzi of Reedley; one brother, Frank and wife Ruby of Fresno, and two granddaughters.
HOFER, MELVIN S., Bridgewater, S.D., a member of Salem MB Church of Freeman, S.D., was born at Corsica, S.D., to Jospeh and Anna Wipf Hofer Oct. 20, 1915, and died July 31,2002, at the age of 87. On Oct. 5, 1940, he was married to Emma Hofer, who sur-
vives. He is also survived by two daughters, Ruby of Dell Rapids, S.D., and Donna and husband James Glanzer of Madison. S.D.; one brother-in-law, Menno and wife Marcella Hofer of Bloomington, Minn.; three sisters-in-law, Lydia Pullman of Mitchell, S.D., Ella Hofer of Henderson, Neb., and Mary Hofer of Bridgewater, four grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
HOOGE, GERTRUDE, a member of Kingwood Bible Church of Salem, Ore., was born May 5, 1908, to John and Katharina Hooge near Windom, Minn., and died Aug. 26, 2002, at the age of 94. She is survived by numerous nephews and nieces.
KLAASSEN, ROLLAND, Wichita, Kan., a member of First MB Church, was born May 1, 1920 near Whitewater, Kan., to Abraham and Margaret Wiebe Klaassen and died Sept. 3, 2002, at the age of 82. On May 4, 1944, he was married to Mildred Kaufman, who survives. He is also survived by four children, Duane of Denver, Sandra and husband Joe Beck of San Diego, Calif., Calvin and wife Joann of Whitewater and Myron and wife Susan of Wichita, and 10 grandchildren.
PAULS, JOHN R., Inman, Kan., a member of Zoar MB Church of Inman, was born Feb. 1, 1923, in McPherson County, Kan., to Jacob and Anna Regehr Pauls and died Sept. 1, 2002, at the age of 79. On Oct. 24, 1944, he was married to Frances Dirks, who survives. He is also survived by two sons, Keith of Topeka, Kan., and Mark and wife Miriam of Inman; two daughters, Lorene and husband Steve Hunt of Cornelius, Ore., and Judy and husband Brian Gallagher of Inman; one sister, Anna Ediger of Inman; one brother, Dan of Parsons, Kan., eight grandchildren and one great grandchild.
THIESSEN, WALTER A., Fairview, Okla., a member of Fairview MB Church, was born Feb. 18, 1922, near Colony, Okla., and died Aug. 7, 2002, at the age of 80. On April 10, 1964, he was married to Mabel Flaming Kliewer, who survives. He is also survived by one son, Randy Kliewer of Fairview; two daughters, Eileen and husband Charlie Atkins of Oklahoma City, Okla., and Sonya and husband David Vann of Tahlequah, Okla.; one sister, Verna Ford of Waynette, Okla.; two brothers, Dewey of Houston, Tex., and Willis and wife Alma ofTahlequah; eight grandchildren and their children. •
Clearinghouse
Have a position to fiJI? Looking for a new employment or ministry opportunity? Have a gathering or celebration to promote? Reach U.S. Mennonite Brethren through a Clearinghouse classified ad. The charge is 53 cents per word, with a $15 minimum. Withhold payment until an invoice is received. MB institutions advertising vacancies or position announcements may be eligible for a no-cost ad. Contact the editor for more information.
EMPlOYMENT--eHURCH
Senior Pastor
Vinewood Community Church of Lodi, CA is seeking a Senior Pastor. We are a congregation of about 350 members, seeking a Pastor who provides a strong Bible-centered pulpit ministry and who is a motivationally talented team builder. Applicants should have a sincere love for Christ and a burden for those who do not. A seminary degree and previous pastoral experience is assumed. Interested persons may direct confidential inquiries and send resumes to: Bryan Hyzdu, Search Chairman, 1927 Lakeshore Dr., Lodi, CA 95242; (209) 644-7807; e-mail bhyzdu@service1stbank.com. All inquiries should be received by Nov. 30 .•
Promote your values through a sales career
Mennonite Mutual Aid (MMA) has opportunities for highly motivated individuals interested in a full-time career in insurance and financial services. Candidates will need to become licensed to sellllfe and health insurance as well as securities. A training allowance, plus bonuses, is available to qualified applicants. Opportunities exist in many areas of the U.S.
MMA is a church-related organization that helps Anabaptists practice biblical stewardship. MMA offers expertise in pursuing stewardship solutions through insurance and financial services as well as charitable-giving programs and fraternal benefits.
Send resume to: Joy Liechty P.O. Box 483 Goshen, IN 46527 (BOO) 348-7468 Ext. 202 joy.liechty@mma-online.org www.mma-online.org
Assisting in Faithful Stewardship
Whether you represent a ministry or are a donor wishing to benefit a ministry or agency; we can be of assistance to you ... encouraging and assisting in faithful stewardship.
Contact one of our advisors today: Lynford
Hallmark vs. the real world
THE DA YI FOUND OUT I WAS PREGNANT with my now four-year-old daughter, I lay blissfully on the couch with a goofy smile. I fantasized about happy mothers, smiling fathers and Baby Gap-clothed babies lying on blankets in grassy meadows. Every magazine or 1V image I'd ever seen of soft, clean babies being kissed by well-groomed, happy mothers paraded through my mind. Motherhood, I decided, would be one Hallmark moment after another.
Nine months later, I had my first labor pain-and my first 'lesson on being a mother in the real world.
Labor (the memory of which somehow faded until I recently shut a door on my index finger) W:JS excruciating. And no number of Lamaze films, mothers' testimonies or birthing books could have prepared me for delivery and the hours after giving birth
And it didn't stop there. When I left the hospital 12 hours later, life accelerated at whiplash speed. Dirty diapers, spit-up and sleepless nights cascaded into endless hours chasing after toddler legs much faster than my own. Now, in between work hours, I am a chauffeur to ballet classes, preschool and church activities. And let's not forget the constant boundary pushing, not-so-cute-anymore "why" and let's-try-out-the-new-behaviorI-Ieamed-in-preschool-on-Mommy moments.
Don't get me wrong. Our life is so much richer because of Lizzie. She makes us laugh more than cry. Her giggles are infectiOUS, and the world is one big adventure through her eyes. There's nothing that compares to watching her sleep-my heart aches with an unbearable awe at such God-created beauty. And sometimes the words that come out of her mouth are pure wisdom from above.
But I've yet to find myself in a green meadow filled with white butterflies flitting around my daughter's golden ringlets whilst I and her daddy eat brie cheese and crackers (though once she did chase fireflies with fingers sticky from the marshmallows we roasted over a campfire). '
Images-good or bad-affect us more than we realize. Without really realizing it, 1V and magazine images affected the way I anticipated metherhood.
Dallas Willard in Renovation of the Heart says that images are powerful. "Images in particular are motivational far beyond our conscious mind and they are not under rational control," he says. An image-good or bad-works "in the depths of our soul and body as an instrument of forces beyond ourselves."
In other words, images are not neutral. They carry values and power. Most of us readily acknowledge that 1V and film images of violence and sex are harmful. But, as I found out after I a baby in the real world, images that seem relatively benign-like 1V commercials-<:an also do damage,
Willard points out that businesses know the power of images. They "pay millions of dollars to show us something for 30 seconds on television. They do that because they know that what we repeatedly see and hear affects what we do. Other-
wise they would go out of business."
Images in magazine ads and 1V commercials do more than sell products. The blue jean commercial with the beautiful, thin young woman dancing is not only telling us to buy jeans. The ad with the content-looking man driving the sleek gray "affordably-priced" car is doing more than selling cars. These ads set the standards for the "good life" as defined by our modern culture: beauty, thinness, wealth, status, possessions, etc. And this good life comes by bUying more and upscaling.
The idea that modern culture values are dominated by consumerism and materialism is old news to most of us. But I wonder if we truly realize how much we have been affected. Commercials, ads, billboards, Internet banners and pop-up windows constantly bombard us. Can we walk through this onslaught untouched?
Christian futurists Christine and Tom Sine say we are more affected by consumerism and materialism-what they call "Boom City"-than we think. "We seem to be largely unaware that many of us, including very sincere Christians, have allowed Boom City instead of our faith to define what's best for our lives and families," they write in Living on Purpose.
I personally learned this when Lizzie started preschool this fall. My husband and I, who have gotten along with one car for several years, realized we would need a second vehicle. Immediately, I wanted an SUV. They are safe and the family car of the century, I quipped. I sounded good but hate to admit that in the back of my mind I was relishing all those 1V and magazine ads with families riding happily along in an SUV or minivan.
Luckily, I have a husband who thinks outside the box. He coaxed me to look at a variety of used vehicles. When I began pricing SUVs, I realized that with our income even buying a used one would require a loan. On the other hand, my husband found out that some used luxury car models are safe, roomy, reliable and economical-and they could be bought for a quarter of the price of a used SUV, which meant we could pay cash.
Our new "previously owned" car doesn't look as nice in the preschool parking lot next to all the SUVs and minivans. But we don't carry a car loan, and the car meets all my safety standards for a vehicle that carries my precious daughter.
Now, there's nothing wrong with owning a SUV. For me, however, it would have been a bad choice, While on the surface I wanted an SUV for practical and safety reasons, underneath I associated an SUV with status and the "good life." And where did I get that idea? From the culture around me and the ads I see on 1V and in magazines.
The underlying messages of our culture creep in on us and warp our view of reality. The images in ads or commercialsand the values and ideas they carry with them-sink deep inside and affect us without us even knowing it. Images are powerful. They are almost never neutral. Knowing this can help us separate the Hallmark moments from the real world and God-reality. -CA
