AVE YOU HUGGED your pastor lately? I haven't hugged mine. But if I can overcome my deep-seated emotional inhibitions, I just might. God knows he deserves it.
Pastoring isn't an easy calling these days. We parishioners tend to be picky and pretentious. We want strong leaders, but not too strong. Change our church, but don't mess with anything I like . Keep us moving, but if I don't like the direction we're heading, I'm outta here. Or, pastor, you're outta here.
My church is fortunate. Our pastor is among those who contributed to the article on longevity in the pulpit (page 4). Are there "secrets" to nurturing durable pastorates? I don't know, but you'll find a lot of helpful insights in the observations of these faithful servants The article is long, but jump in according to the questions that interest you. It'll be worth your while.
Our conference has endured its share of "mismatches" lately. We hope this article contributes toward more pastorcongregation matches that are made in heaven-and faithfully cultivated on earth.-DR
COMING
• OCTOBER 27-29-Central and Southern districts meeting jointly for their annual convention; hosted by Tabor College
. JULY 26-29, 1996-u.s. Conference biennial convention, Colorado Springs, Colo.
QUOTABLE
"The Church today is speaking and writing more words than in the history of mankind and no one is listening. The Church is not penetrating the culture, it is mimicking the culture. It is time for the Church to rediscover the power of words, the power of its faith vocabulary, the power of the Living Word. Let the Church 'kindle the light in our words'so that our culture may be able to 'behold the riches they contain. ' " - MIKE Y ACONELLI IN THE
J ULy/ A UG UST ISSUE OF THE DOOR MAGAZINE
TO OUR READERS: Randy Friesen's Forum article in our August issue included a request to receive funds through Youth Mission International for the evangelical Christian community in Iraq In response to inquiries from constituents, MB Foundation followed up on the request and discovered that contributions for this project do not qualify for a charitable tax deduction Apparently, the project has not yet been formally adopted by any of three bodies that sponsor YMI (MB Mis sions/Servi ces and the U S and Canadian conferen ces) The IRS requires such approval before contributions for non-profit (charity) funds can be accepted for project use . We will let you know if the status of this project change s .- The editors
FEATURES - Theme: Healthy pastorates
4 Longevity: The fruit of effective ministry
Why do some pastorates endure and others crumble? We asked pastors in our conference who have served in pastorates of at least 10 years to tell us what has "worked" for them. Their answers may surprise you-and energize your church .
DEPARTMENTS
• Fat Man, Little Boy and me
• 'Made up' Bible stories
• Belief and salvation
• Jesus and 'new wine'
• Random thoughts
• The Mireles family : Reaping the miracles of summer
by Jim Holm
• Scratching the itch
• Congregational profile: A way station in Western Kansas 19
• MBM/S board sets goals for 7995-96 21
• The seminary's new satellite program 22
• MCC responds in Bosnia 22
• Rwanda : War and hunger 23
• Central District welcomes first Slavic church 24
• Clymers 'smitten' with MDS spirit 25
• Bethany youth focus on community needs 26
• Identity in the balance
ART CREDITS: Cover, photo of Black Canyon courtesy of Colorado Travel Section; page 22, MCC photo by Howard Zehr; page 23, MCC photo by Jon Warren.
EDITOR Don Ratzlaff
INTERIM ASS'T ED. Aleen Ratzlaff
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Connie Faber (on leave)
BOARD OF COMMUNICATIONS : Ron Braun (chair), Noelle Dickinson, Jeanie Klaassen, Herb Schroeder, Kathy Heinrichs Wiest
MANDATE : THE CHRISTIAN LEADER (ISSN 00095149), organ of the U S Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, is published monthly by the U S Conference Board of Communications , 315 S lincoln , Hillsboro , KS 67063 The Christian Leader seeks to inform Mennonite Brethren members and churches of the events, activities, decis ions, and issues of their denomination, and to instruct, insp ire and initiate dialog so that they will aspire to be faithful disciples of Christ as understood in the evangelicalf Anabaptist theological tradition
EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions of our writers and advertisers are their own and do not neces sarily represent the position of The Christian Leader, the Board of Communications or the Mennonite Brethren Church The editors invite free-lance article subm issions, but ask that each submission be accompanied with a SASE The editors reserve the right to edit, condense or refuse all copy submitted for publication; anonymous contributions will not be published
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PASTORS
N THE LATE 1930S AND EARLY 1940S MENNONITE BRETHREN
churches in the United States switched from an unsalaried multiple lay ministry to the theologically trained and salarie d pastor. Factors pushing for the change were the rise of the educational level of church members and the steady shift from German to English. Congregations feared the loss of their young people if services were not conducted in English. Better-trained ministers would result in better preaching.
But many objections to the change surfaced also. Mennonite Brethren would suffer great loss by adopting mainstream Protestant patterns of church leadership. Every three to four years the churches would have a pastors' fruit-basket upset. The gifts of the laity would remain unused.
Now, 50 years later, where do we stand? The Christian Leader invited a number of senior pastors who had been in the same congregation for 10 or more years to reflect on their long tenures. What keeps them from church hopping? They responded with many valuable insights of which we can bring you only a small part.
Our panel of persevering pastors...
Ron Seibel
• Henderson (Neb.) MB, 1977-87
• Silver Lake MB, Freeman, S.D., 1987present
Phil Glanzer
• Salem MB, Bridgewater, SD., 1975-93
• New Hope MB, Minneapolis, Minn , 1993-present
Dennis Fast • Hillsboro (Kan.) MB, 1981-present
Jim Weems
• Carson MB, Delft, Minn., 1983-92
• Grace Bible, Gettysburg, S.D., 1992-present
Bob Vogt
• Dinuba (Calif.) MB, 1984-present
and the eternity that lies beyond that. That's the way God sees people and we should try to do the same. If we did that then the length or brevity of our stay wouldn't really matter so much .
MARVIN HEIN: I was just glad to receive a call after going through seminary and winding up broke.
CL: What are the advantages of remaining in the same pastorate for a time?
Many responses pointed to the advantage the pastor has to watch the church family grow and mature, and to become involved in all aspects of the members' life cycle from birth, entry
to remember those high schoolers-85 of them on Wednesday evening all by myself-for what they were when I first came. I now see them as mature persons who have become active in the service of the church. I would hope long pastorates enable church members to learn to know their pastor in a way that is not possible during a short period.
PHIL GLANZER: By staying longer the pastor is not always in the getting-acquainted mode in the church and community.
JIM HOLM: You are able to develop your dream for the church and to see some of its implementation. For example, in Lodi, we instituted an evangelism ministry and into school, graduations, conversion and baptism, career choices, short
anniversaries, illness, financial loss and success, death and grief. Another decided advantage is the opportunity to become knowledgeable of the community infrastructure and mores and involved in community affairs.
and long -term service, marriage and tried it over the long haul. Also, you learn to know what it is to feel loved The congregation cares for you and your spouse and family and shows it. They learn to relax, to know that their pastor will be there Sunday after Sunday , year after year They can count on pastoral visits in the hospital or at other times of need. They can depend on
pastor sows he reaps ifhe stays long
HENRY DICK: Whatever a pastor sows he reaps if he stays long enough.
the preaching and feel the freedom to invite others.
DENNIS FAST: In both churches enough. Today, 36 years later, I meet couples in their 40s who say to their children : "This is Pastor Dick. He baptized me, married us,
-HENRY DICK where I have served something significant in acceptance of leadership and dedicated you." It is rewarding to hear that. It is also scary to think of the pastor' s influence on the people.
MARVIN HE IN: A long term allows the pastor to see the young and rebellious, and sometimes the old and rebellious, develop and mature into productive, happy persons. I'm glad I don't have
took place about the fifth year. I would have missed much of what God has done if I had left then or before that fifth-year mark. Pastors who stay for long terms witness their goals completed and new goals set and attempted. I can share a sense of gratification and accomplishment with our people because I have been here with them through goals we have attempted.
Paul Klassen
• Edmond (Okla .) MB, 1983 present
Phil Plett
Jim Aiken
Elton Berg Bob Kroeker
• Community Bible, Olathe, Kan ., 1982-95
• Bethany, Fresno, Calif , 1983-present
• Bethel MB, Yale, SD, 1978-1995 (retired this summer from full-time pastoral ministry)
• Madera Ave Bible, Madera. Calif., 1974-79 and 1986-95 (retired from full-time pastoral ministry this summer)
BOB VOGT: It takes several years for people to adjust to a new pastor and for the pastor to adjust to the people. A long term aUowed me to purchase a house and get some equity in it . It helps missionaries from the church have a sense of continuity with the pastor.
PAUL KLASSEN: A long term allows for a deeper trust to develop between pastor and congregation and for relational networks, both within the church as well as in the community, to grow. It also allows for an opportunity to flesh out some of the "enduring qualities " of love.
RON SEIBEL: Longer stays are valuable if one has children. They can have one place they feel is home . You become one with the people , not just a temporary employee who
from just switching the inventory around or putting in new window dressing, like introducing new programs, etc There is time to really think about who we are and how we can, in a natural way, glorify God and make disciples. For example, we can learn together about the difference between confrontation and fighting We can examine our attitudes toward other races and cultures In the community we have the opportunity to make non -Christian friends and not just see them as objects of our evangelism.
PAUL KLASSEN: A healthy church family makes a long-term commitment possible This means a church in which both pastor and people exercise the grace of forgiveness
WERNER KROEKER: comes and goes and whom the people don't have to take seriously. Peo-
I f
you
want
to pie of the community develop respect J
for a long-termer. You grow with the children and youth, but also age with
the older ones-and come to identify with them more and more .
PHIL PLETT: You have the ability and maturity to resolve conflicts, not to expect perfection, to always look for the good in people, and to offer gratitude freely.
CL: What factors in church and community make a long-term pastorate a
positive experience for the pastor? for the church?
remain a long
time in a church,
arrange for many funerals
and weddings.
Our respondents agreed strong supportive lay leaders helped the pastor to consider a long stay. Other factors tipping the scales in favor of a long stay were a financial commitment that allowed the pastor to adequately care for his family, a supportive, affirming congregation not threatened by the possibility of change . A supportive, even sacrificing, wife and family when financial arrangements are inadequate , makes a long term possible . Opportunities for selfimprovement with financial support, through short or long sabbaticals and continuing education opportunities, are added incentives to stay. "Preaching that meets the people's needs covers a multitude of sins," said one pastor. Having a tradition of long pastorates in a particular congregation means people do not have to be persuaded about the advantages of longevity.
HENRY DICK: A long -term pastorate helps pastor and people to "change their inventory "the way they think about God, themselves, Christians and th e community It keeps the pastor
Always when I was involved in a structured continuing education program I went back to the church with new energy and anticipation of good things to come . Flying solo doesn't seem to fit the nature of pastoral ministry. I have attempted wherever possible to have peer relationships in which I was held accountable for my life and ministry and could in turn be accountable for others Having
-MARVIN HEIN other pastors or lay friends who understand you , care about you, help you to discern strengths, weaknesses, gifts, and provide a forum for testing ideas and refuse to allow attitudes and actions that diminish effectiveness, can all be enormously helpful.
MARVIN HEIN: If you want to remain a long time in a church, arrange for many funerals and weddings. That's a more serious comment than it sounds. I really think my longevity was largely due to the fact that with about 30 funerals and weddings annually, I got inside the lives of almost every church family in a way you can't do very well otherwise . After 350 funerals, people were able to see I wasn't the unrelational person I often appeared to be when I spoke with a big voice behind a big pulpit in a big church.
RON SEIBEL: A long term is helped by a willingness to compromise some things to fit in . Also needed is a sense of responsibility for the ongoing life of the congregation
DENNIS FAST: What has kept me at the same congregation? Signs of change, a fe w people here and there who grab hold of a new idea, who agi-
tate for change that turns the church from being inward looking to being outward looking. Also, the joy of a good working partnership with associate staff members, a strong support base of praying encouraging people , a lay leadership that understands-these reflect, or at times compensate, for the pastor's theology/ philosophy and giftedness.
JIM AIKEN: What helps me stay? Honest dialogue with leaders, evaluations, accountability.
PHIL GLANZER: Long terms help the congregation get over the paranoia that pastors only come for brief ministries and that while we are serving a church we are always looking for a greener pasture.
ELTON BERG: Keeping good relationships with the church leadership is the key. They will promote good relationships with the rest of the church by their attitude.
CL: What are the forces that make it highly unlikely a pastor will stay in the same pastorate a long time? What pitfalls should a new pastor avoid?
A frequent response was making too many changes too soon, developing the idea that the pastor is indispensable. It doesn't help
doesn't, or vice versa.
MARVIN HEIN: A pastor may enter a pastorate with ideas of change and be so enamored of those possibilities that he forgets to listen to the people. Impatience probably hinders longevity as much as anything. Too many changes too quickly, before there is credit in the bank, can be fatal. Closely tied to this is an exaggerated sense of "strong leadership" that alienates the pastor from people .
BOB KROEKER: A critical attitude within the congregation, especially the lay leadership.
WERNER KROEKER: A seminary professor warned us students that we must never allow (arbitrary three-year terms and anonymous congregational votes) to influence our approach to ministry because to do so would leave us feeling always on the outside rather than as an integral part of the family of faith.
DENNIS FAST: A barrier to a long term is the status quo oriented church that does not want change, which opposes any change, no matter how slowly it is instituted or how carefully it is explained. After a few years of straining against the status quo, you begin to say, "It must be easier somewhere else ." Of course, that is false hope . The status quo mentality is present in any conservative church . if a spouse doesn't fit in Autocratic leadership, taking on too many of OnepitFall is the administrative duties, ensures ':I'
HENRY DICK: Pitfalls? Lack of communication, insisting the church go your way. Not seeking wisdom and patience from God while trying to lead and persuade people. Not allowing the moderator to be an advocate for the pastor. Not being willing to apologize, to humble oneself, when the situation calls for it. Exhibiting a the stay will not be long.
BOB VOGT: A congregation has a history, and as pastor, I must learn that history. One pitfall is a lack of patience and the need to bring about immediate change . The greatest pitfall is not taking time to relate indepth to the leadership of the
making specific issues equal to or even bigger than
"don't-disagree-with-me" spirit. the total ministry PAUL KLASSEN: Power strugchurch and building a base of to the church. support among the lay leaders. gles and unresolved interpersonal struggles.
JIM WEEMS: We get comfort-
PHIL GLANZER: One pitfall is making specific issues equal to or even bigger than the total -PHIL GLANZER able falling into a rut.
ministry to the church Then, if a congregation fails to buy into a specific idea or to make a certain change, the pastor feels defeated and his leadership rejected It helps to focus on the broader picture of ministry in church and com· munity.
RON SEIBEL: I can see a number of pitfalls: the unwillingness to accept the ways of the peo· pIe and community, a pastor who feels strongly about conference and a congregation that
JIM AIKEN: Growing, unre-
solved conflict between pastor and leaders, moral failure, lack of finances or external crises.
CL: How do you know when to leave?
No pastor endorsed the vote of confidence as the best way to know when to exit. Annual evaluations seemed a better solution, but knowing when to leave also had to do with the leading of the Spirit and a general feeling that the time had come. Our panel
of pastors could give us no precise answer, but here are a few of their responses
RON SEIBEL: For me it hinged on a particular problem of restlessness in the congregations that gave me the sense that this was maybe it. I felt the people took me for granted and I grew slack. Being a new pastor generates a lot of interest . Attendance increases in various settings, but after six to eight years, interest
ity is not very strong, it is probably time to think of leaving.
ELTON BERG: By keeping open to people's suggestions, especially the leadership , and by having an evaluation .
CL: Modern trends point to large, one-person kingdoms developing in some pastorates. What keeps you from developing a "king wanes. Maybe this is unique to small churches, or maybe small
Short-term
rural churches. of the castle" complex?
MARVIN HEIN: In the old days the confidence vote, as much as I hated it, was an indicator whether a person should stick it out . I generally took the view that I was staying until I felt there was good reason to leave . As long as I was satisfied I was fulfilling my role in the church adequately and the ministry was being received, I would not even consider a move.
pastorates make it easy to runfrom problems.
DENNIS FAST: I have been the only one present at enough prayer meetings, seen Sunday evening service attendance drop , struggled to keep a midweek prayer group going and started enough new Sunday school classes that didn't grow to know that just because my name is
attached to something does not guarantee that people will follow . These are the things that test your
-ELDON BUSENITZ effectiveness, put you on your knees, purify your motives, cause
ELDON BUSENITZ: Shortterm pastorates make it easy to run from problems. A long-term pastorate is more demanding because it takes extra commitment to stay fresh with preparation of sermons and working through problems and difficulties.
DENNIS FAST: At some point every year your frustration over the slow pace of change will slam against your dreams and expectations. For several years, you will deal with the frustration by being optimistic, assuming that just one more race down the runway will give the aircraft enough speed to take off. If that change happens, you stay.
HENRY DICK: I knew it was time to leave when it really hurt to resign. I left the Shafter church with a mutual feeling of love, respect and afftrmation .
PHIL PLETI: A sense from God, the people and self that "It's time," as well as diminished effectiveness coupled with restlessness.
PAUL KLASSEN: We simply try to listen to the people, to the church leadership, to ourselves, and to the Lord's promptings
JIM WEEMS: When you've brought or led the people as far as you can.
BOB VOGT: It is probably time for me to think about leaving if I no longer have dreams for the church for the next five years I have also asked myself "Am I still willing to work hard at pastoring in this place?" When a pastor's credibil -
you to evaluate your call, and let you know you are not the head of this church. The church belongs to Christ.
JIM HOLM: Prayer Whenever there is a success, you remember that all success, indeed, aU good things, come from the Lord and not because of your own efforts . In addition, there are enough failures to keep you humble.
PHIL GLANZER: A strong congregational spirit in church government
ELDON BUSENITZ: To prevent over-attachment to the pastor, equip people to do the work of ministry so they are not dependent on a oneman show. Delegate ministry to others.
BOB VOGT: Have an open relationship with other staff members. They and the church council are all leaders. I need lots of help from staff and leadership.
PAUL KLASSEN: Making time to attend conferences, workshops and seminars, and to read, having denominational or community involvements that take me outside "my" church. The ongoing demands of life have a way of humbling us and of reminding us of our limitations
MARVIN HEIN: I chose for my life verse the 1 Corinthians passage that suggests there is nothing we have that we have not been given.
RON SEIBEL: Trust others with ministry Be sensitive to the ideas and input of the leaders and members Don ' t think your ideas are the only workable ones
CL: Do long terms necessarily mean repetition of sermon themes and dullness in preaching? How do you keep your preaching fresh?
The most common answer was read, read, read-all kinds of literature, including books on preaching, novels, history, as well as the Bible
RON SEIBEL: Get out of the office and visit people, share in their daily life . Study . Don't just throw words together around an idea that pops into your head. Address life
situations and not just doc- I trinal facts and exegetical
don't
not jealous of pulpit time for guest speakers. Nothing like two guest speakers in a row to have the people call for the pastor to preach again.
ELTON BERG: Be willing to change when necessary to maintain freshness.
CL: Are pastors ever discouraged? What do you do when you are discouraged that might help others?
believe detail. Begin sermon prepa -
Taking time for personal spiritual development was a frequent answer, but taking time off for other activities was also deemed important. ration early in the week. Spend time with the Lord apart from study.
MARVIN HEIN: Never finish a sermon without asking "So what?" Speak simply enough so the young person can understand . Preach well enough so that the intellectual will listen.
ELDON BUSENITZ: Take a day a week to get away from church-related ministry .
JIM HOLM: Love to preach Realize that handling the Word of God, explaining it to people, is an awesome responsibility.
HENRY DICK: Thank God for sermon preparation interruptions . I was preparing a sermon on "The joy of the
messages can come alive
unless they are conceived
within a vital
relationship
with the living Lord.
-PAUL KLASSEN
Lord is my strength" when a mother came in who had just learned her teenager was on drugs. She was crushed. On Sunday morning when I preached on joy, the mother's pain was an important ingredient in the sermon
PAUL KLASSEN: I have a fear of being sterile. I don't believe messages can come alive unless they are conceived within a vital relationship with the living Lord.
BOB VOGT: I am constantly on the alert for new contemporary illustrations, which I think should be personal and certainly not from old books of illustrations I make it a point to listen to good preachers on Sundays when I am on vacation. I discuss my sermon with my associates before and after preaching it.
JIM WEEMS: Have the worship committee and leaders suggest topics or themes for sermons .
DENNIS FAST : Periodically I listen to my tapes to evaluate voice , style , flow, content. I am
BOB VOGT: I'm discouraged nearly every Sunday evening or Monday morning. I always know I could have done better. Focusing on my personal relationship with the Lord has brought stability and consistency. I also make sure I spend time with friends who can bolster my ego and keep me laughing.
ELDON BUSENITZ: My wife supports, encourages and lifts me up.
PHIL GLANZER: Something good is usually going on in the life of the church or in even one person's life to give reason to praise God and to be encouraged.
DENNIS FAST: I get out of the office and into the hospital, retirement home or together with someone in need. I end up being blessed . I journal to keep track of what God is doing . I pause to evaluate whether I contributed to the lack of
effectiveness or lack of success through poor planning, lack of delegation, or failure to follow up on lay leaders. I collect a list of "confessions of faith" that express my convictions about God's authority, sovereignty and dependability.
JIM AIKEN: Once you've been in a church for 10 or more years, perspective helps you read the seriousness of a conflict more accurately.
JIM WEEMS: Talk to a close friend. I mow lawns for other people and work in my garden to release tension.
PAUL KLASSEN: Sometimes I think discouragement is my middle name. I simply do what the psalmist did: Bring my lament to the Lord. I also have to remind myself that the Lord spells "success " by faithfulness and service rather than by results
HENRY DICK: I deal with discouragement by being married to a person who doesn't always agree with me and helps me to get off my "ideal-
istic horse" and face reality . One evening I said to my wife, "I would like to excommunicate 90 percent of the members." She responded with a smile, "The problem with that, Henry, is that you would have to be the first to go."
MARVIN HEIN: If results alone were the determining factor in staying or leaving I might have pastored 200 churches. All churches have problems. Most pastors repeat their mistakes after they move. Most churches, unfortunately, repeat their frailties as well.
RON SEIBEL: I am often discouraged because nothing is happening, at least not in terms of numbers being added The elderly move to nursing homes and eventually die and the youth graduate and leave for good Decline has come in spite of seeking to be enthusiastic, creative and fresh. In a previous church, what helped me most was an elderly couple who sensed I was down, saw through my smile, and asked, "How are things with you?" I thought, Oh, I'm caught. I can't hide my discouragement Yet their personal interest in me beyond surface matters caused things to turn around.
CL: What one piece of advice would you give a beginning pastor?
RON SEIBEL: Start where the people are and not where you wish they were; show them you really love and accept them
MARVIN HEIN: Always remember that the church belongs first to the Lord, and then to the people. They will be there long after you depart You are important to God, but you aren't indispensable. The kingdom will go on in spite of you
BOB KROEKER: Spend time with your peo· pIe
JIM AIKEN: People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
ELDON BUSENITZ: Major on tending to your own spiritual health, so that your personal growth is evident to all
JIM HOLM: Get a mentor. Every pastor needs someone to be accountable to, someone to encourage and to give you a well-placed kick. If I had had a mentor sooner, I'd have been a better pastor sooner.
HENRY DICK : Be a leader, plan, implement , review, take corrective action, and re implement. Respect Christians and non·Christians .
PAUL KLASSEN: Make sure your family , espe · cially your wife, is fully committed to ministry be cause ministry places great stress on relation ·
ships. It is vital to stand together in the commitment to serve Pay attention to your family They are your most important parishioners
BOB VOGT: Be willing to admit mistakes, especially to your staff members.
JIM WEEMS: Don't take away the leadership of the congregation. Don't worry about who gets the credit. Don't run over people to carry out what you think is God's will. Don't use your message as God's whip.
DENNIS FAST: Be yourself Don't try to mimic some other popular or successful preach· er This world doesn't need two Swindolls, Luca· dos, Grahams, Henry Schmidts or Edmund Janzens . 62
We want to hear from you ...
HERE ARE SOME que stion s the se long -t erm pastors rai se d and t o w hic h we wo uld like yo u, as rea de rs, t o respond:
• How do church leade rs and member s feel abou t a pa sto r w ho stays on for decades? Do the y pre f er pa storal changes eve ry four or fi ve yea rs?
• What is t he effect of multiple pa sto ral st aff on the iss ue of longevity?
• What is t he wi fe 's ro le in the pa storate? How import ant is her se nse of God's leading in staying or leaving?
• How can we convince church lea ders t ha t pa stor s ne ed at least one week to plan the i r preac hing year and do ba sic re sea rch f or the se rie s of se rm ons that w ill be preac hed ?
• W ha t is the greate st ne ed wi thin t he church today ?
• What role doe s the loca l chur ch and it s leadership play in long pa sto rate s?
• Pa stor s do not serve to ga t her bouqu et s of appreciation , bu t w ithout apprecia t ion and he lpfu l f eedback the gea rs of mini stry run dry . What does yo ur co ngrega t io n do t o support the pastor?
Se nd brie f res pon ses t o any or all of th ese question s to W hat Reader s Say, Ch ristian Leader, Box V, Hill sboro , KS 67063 We reserve t he right to edit fo r clarity and length.
Fat Man, Little Boy and me
BY KATE WENTLAND
My GRANDFATHER fought in World War 2, Pacific Arena. It was, he reports, the high point of his life. My father chose to become a pacifist, a Mennonite and a conscientious objector. He died before my birth, so I never had the opportunity to hear his reasons. I've heard my grandfather's often. I am seeking my own
This year I chose to research and write on the dropping of "Fat Man" and "Little Boy," the two atomic bombs, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I hoped reviewing the historical data could help me form my peace convictions. I received no guidance in that regard from my Mennonite Brethren church or youth group. The peace issue was never discussed and was considered unimportant. I was left to discover for myself where I stood.
Probing the use of the A-bomb on Japan immediately thrusts one into the controversy between two sides. Those who believe the bomb actually ended the war say it was necessary for Japan's surrender, that the war would have dragged out for several more years. The veterans rejoice in the sparing of American lives, including their own, even though the bombs massacred hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.
Those who question the use of the bomb point out that the Japanese were preparing to surrender before the bombings. The war would have lasted only a few more months at worst. En route to Pottsdam, Truman and Secretary of State Byrne themselves wrote, "It is clear that the Japanese are seeking peace."
Many allied leaders suggested a
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, identify their church membership and vocation, and include a clear photo of themselves .
Itanyone is to take his hard words seriously with some integrity, it should be the historic peace churches. Why are we so silent?
demonstration with a group of international observers. An A-bomb exploded on an uninhabited New Mexican desert could shock the world with its horror. Japan might surrender and avoid devastation.
The notion of an arrogant military demanding the use of the bomb dissolves upon close inspection. Chief of Staff Adm William Leahy stated, "the use of this barbarous weapon on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender." Gen. Dwight Eisenhower said, "Dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary. Japan was already defeated."
Why weren't other options considered? Why did the majority of cabinet members and the Joint Chiefs unanimously demand we use the bomb?
A crescendo of events contributed to the lack of imagination for considering alternative paths. Our fear of the RUSSians, our hopes of defining the post-war peace accelerated us to a nuclear climax On the eve of the ftrst atomic attack, Truman said of the Soviets, "If it explodes as I think it will, I'll certainly have a hammer on those boys."
The use of atomic weapons was an unprecedented act of war taken with a thin justification, typical of so many decisions made in the heat of war. It reveals how politicians have found it possible to order the deaths of multitudes of anonymous people for their own ends and how willingly we lay aside our own principles. The Christian and Jewish political leaders rationalized their own moral and religious traditions and failed to apply the criteria for a just war which they pro -
fessed. The Jewish concern for justice, the Christian commitment to love the enemy was now irrelevant.
Having reviewed the issues, I have come to believe the burden of proof rests on those who support the use of atomic weapons. Seventy thousand civilian deaths in Hiroshima and 40,000 in Nagasaki immediately resulted from this decision, along with 2,000 in long-term consequence. We Americans deny the awful memory of the bomb just like Germans deny the Holocaust. We dare not forget them, even to ease our national conscience.
"Fat Man" and "Little Boy" not only affected those they killed, it affected the whole world. For 40 years, people lived in fear of the bomb, governments greedily accumulated insane stockpiles of nuclear weapons, and the East and West were divided in a Cold War.
Jesus opposed all violence, even to secure safety. We Christians focus on his teachings that ftt our lifestyle, even though nonviolence was one of Christ's most clear words. If anyone is to take his hard words seriously with some integrity, it should be the historic peace churches. Why are we so silent? We have some simple yet crucial things to share with our nation. Our hope must be in negotiation, not nuclear force, in diplomacy, not death.
Although I've heard my father's convictions only by report, I've come to believe he was right. As Mennonites we are a historic voice of peace in the world. If we don't oppose the desecration of innocent civilians, if we do not call for the stubborn pursuit of peace, who will? 62.
Kate Wentland is a Mennonite Brethren high school student now living in Claremont, Calif.
Is Forest Gump a hero?
Finally I got around to viewing "Forest Gump," the movie everyone has been talking about. I had looked forward to seeing the movie event that historians will cite as the moment when America regained its sense of virtue and simple morality
Simple, certainly. Virtuous, per· haps. But, oh how I found myself wishing it lasted only moment.
I expected a cinematic statement of America's intention to return to the virtue and morality that our country was purportedly founded on-which the Hollywood culture has, by all accounts, done so much to destroy. Perhaps, I thought, Hollywood had begun to atone for its sins by producing this icon of simple selflessness for us to emulate.
What I discovered, though, was the appropriate thing to do when faced with the problem of violence and abuse against a friend: beat the snot out of the responsible party. But that's OK. This is Forest Gump championing the underdog with his simple virtue and morality.
I wasn't surprised when 1 found that our hero had impregnated his girlfriend prior to achieving matrimony. But that's OK. This is Forest Gump who mostly does the right thing.
Sex and violence. Where have I seen these themes before? Only this time, presented in such a wellwrapped package surrounded by holly and tinsel, they're just little things. Minor slipups. Hardly Arnold wasting somebody's army single-handedly or a steamy, gratuitous love scene Surely they're OK, so long as most of your life is pretty good.
Did I hear somebody say this is basically a Christian film with Christian themes? How about this dialogue: "Hey, Forest, have you found Jesus yet?"
"I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him . .. . But I'm still goin' to heaven."
Christian themes? Hmm .... And these are just the superficial elements. At its core, this movie takes a fatalistic view of life that is less Christian than
it is a subtly adapted form of Eastern religious thOUght.
Satan masquerades as an angel of light. Sex, violence and New Age outlooks on life are all OK so long as they come from a nice, simple young man paraded through the media as our new standard of morality and virtue.
I wonder if that boffo special effects team could insert a couple of tiny horns on some of those scenes?
Brad Kunkel Fresno, Calif.
Living by law or grace?
Jim Holm's July column, "Conditional forgiveness," underscores that wrong premises lead to wrong conclusions. If we approach the Christian life from a "works of the law" premise, naturally we will come to Holm's conclusion. But approaching the Christian life from the new covenant, the gospel of grace, leads to the opposite conclusion.
I would ask Holm to reexamine Matthew 18:21-35. If we accept his conclusion that God removes forgiveness if we are unforgiving, then we are forced to accept other conclusions too.
For instance, Ephesians 1:7 -8a makes it clear that forgiveness is part of the indwelling life of Christ in us. If God would have to remove forgiveness from me, he would have to remove the life of Christ from me. This would negate the doctrine of eternal security an 5:24, 10:28-29; Rom. 8:38-39; 1 In 5:11·12).
Conditional forgiveness also negates 2 Corinthians 5:18-19. It negates the book of Hebrews, a better covenant. It negates "all" in 1 John 1:9. It negates Christ's fmal words on the cross, "It is finished" On. 19:30). It negates Paul's proclamation to the Colossians (Col. 2:13-14).
Now let's read Matthew 18 through the eyes of the new covenant, the gospel of grace . First, Jesus tells Peter he should forgive others 77 times . Then Jesus offers a parable to illus· trate whether we will follow the law and work for forgiveness or accept the Father's offer of total and com·
plete forgiveness.
Here are the facts of the parable: A king wanted to settle accounts. A servant owed him several million dollars and had no money to pay it back. The king commanded that the servant, his wife and children be sold, making it clear that he expected the huge debt to be repaid. The servant fell on his knees and told the king he would repay him. How? The passage goes on to tell us: By shaking down other people who owed him money. But the servant got off to a poor start-his debtor owed him only a few dollars. So the king threw the servant back in prison. Why? Because the servant had refused to accept the king's offer to cancel his debt; he wanted to pay it off through his own efforts.
What's happening here? The king offered to forgive the debt, just like Christ forgave sins "once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous" (1 Pet. 3: 18). But we can refuse to accept Christ's finished work on the crosstotal and complete forgiveness-and try to work out our own forgiveness. However, if we want to be under the law, then we must fulfill all its requirements. Otherwise, the wages of sin is death. If we accept God's complete provision, then his gift is life that he offers to us (Rom. 5: 10).
Whether God's forgiveness is conditional or unconditional depends on whether we accept the grace of God or live under the law of God. As Paul wrote in Galatians 3:2b-3, "Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"
I would suggest that Holm offer these words of Paul to unforgiving people who claim the name of Christ. I need to hear them myself I must go to my Christian brother who I've failed to forgive and forgive him as Christ has forgiven me. Where does this position take me? That I need to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Charlie Sauerwein Cimarron, Kan.
B Y MARVIN HEIN
QIn the midst of talk about the inerrancy of Scripture, I haven't heard anyone discuss whether all the stories in the Bible actually happened. Did jesus or other biblical sources sometimes "make uP" stories to illustrate their teachings? (CALIFORNIA)
AThe question is a dangerous one to answer in that I could be interpreted as not believing in the Bible. So let me preface my answer with this : I believe the story of Job and his troubles was an actual occurrence. Ditto for Jonah and the whale. I'm even more convinced that Jesus was literally raised from the dead and I have little patience with socalled contemporary theologians who are trying to determine which words in the gospels Jesus really said.
I do believe, however, that it may be entirely possible that Jesus constructed parables for his purposes and they may not have been actual events. Since most of those stories were designed to embolden the Pharisees' unbelief, I have no problem thinking he may well have used stories that were not literally true. Nor do I think that has anything to do with our views on inerrancy or the inspiration of Scriptures.
Perhaps a better case can be made for "imagined" stories when we look at the book of the Revelation. I really doubt there has ever been a woman with child standing on the moon and clothed with the sun, as stated in Rev 12: 1-2 And I'm not at all certain the animals with all those heads and tails really existed. It's OK with me if they did, but I can imagine they might be used simply as figures of speech to make certain points.
David Chilton, writing recently about one of his favorite biblical passages, suggested it would be rather farfetched to believe Judges 9 :7 -15 was a literal event. That passage tells about the trees of the forest gathering to elect a king. Interestingly enough, like we sometimes do in a democracy, the trees chose the least qualified, the most unproductive candidate . Their
choice for king then proceeded to tyrannize them. The whole story is couched in rather ridiculous terms only to make a pOint I doubt it actually happened
I've never made a practice of telling stories in sermons that I conjured up in my mind. I always used real experiences But there is a
place for imagination in Christian literature. Such tales can produce a spirit of wonder and point to fundamental truths that underlie reality.
In preaching I think such "fairy tales" should be preceded with a statement about their fictional nature . But I would grant Jesus and others in the biblical record the privilege of using stories that are obviously not historical. But if you want to believe they really happened, go ahead . You have my bleSSing!
QI have a friend who grew up in a Christian home where he heard all the stories of jesus and sang the appropriate songs, etc. He has always believed the stories to be true . Does he have a ticket to heaven? He has never doubted them to be false. (MINNESOTA)
ASo far as I know, the Bible never says that if you've heard all the stories and believed them, you shall be saved. I'd like to think that such a person, believing the stories of Jesus, would respond to the call of Jesus to repent and follow him. And who am I to say that such a person has not done that? However, simply believing the stories sounds a lot like those of whom James wrote : "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder" (2:19).
I'm willing to grant that the setting is a bit different in James. In that instance, it was a matter of persons saying they had faith but had shown no works. Perhaps that is also the test for the person who has heard and believed all the Jesus stories . Is there a life of Christ-like living generated by
Do you have a question about a Bible passage, doctrine, conference policy, or other spiritual issue? Send it to "Inquiring Minds, " c/o Marvin Hein, 4812 E. Butler, Fresno, GA 93727.
that belief? John 15 suggests that the "proof of the pudding" is in a fruitful life.
Qjesus, after suggesting his gospel was the new wine, said that "no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better. ,,, Is he contradicting himself? (CALIFORNIA)
AThe verse in question doesn't appear to be a proof text to defend an old version of the Bible, an old method of evangelism, an old form of worship, or anything else that may be a part of the "oldtime religion." Jesus was not necessarily endorsing this statement. He simply said that many people have a preference for the old, established, familiar ways .
A lot of the resistance to Jesus's message was not just hostility. The opposition often came from wellintentioned people who, like many of us today, preferred old, familiar ways and old, proven ideas Those ways and ideas had stood the tests of time, but they became a barrier.
The preference for the old is not totally regrettable. It can be a safeguard against the tendency to fall for something new just because it is new. It is certainly not honorable to embrace novelty for novelty's sake. But when God does a new thing, this most normal response can become a hindrance.
Ultimately, the question to ask about any teaching or practice is not "Is it old?" or "Is it new?" but "Is it true?" Old wine has a goodness of its own, and new wine does too . tf2
BY PHILIP WIEBE
Random thoughts
IOFTEN CARRY around a notebook to jot down random thoughts and queries-and believe me, many of my thoughts and queries are extremely random. "Why concentrate on one thing," is my motto, "when I can obsess about II?" Take dating services, for instance. Any normal person would correctly wonder why I've been thinking about dating services. My wife is probably wondering right now .
Let me explain. A couple of times lately I've received (or should I say "Occupant" has received) heartfelt letters from matchmaking conglomerates promising to help me, as a single person, find my ideal mate. That I haven't been single for a solid decade clued me in that hey, maybe this was a form letter Write down random thoughts and queries for awhile, you get pretty smart.
Anyway, it seemed strange to get a directmail offer to help me get a date. Then, after some random thinking, maybe it didn't seem so strange. In a day of musical marriages and revolving live-ins, why not try mass-market matchmaking? For every married person like me, there's probably someone in that hot new demographic category, "between relationships."
Speaking of marriage, in a recent newspaper I read a piece titled "Making Marriage Last " One of the couples interviewed had been hitched for the unbelievably long period of (gasp) 10 years. It floored me that in the context of the article, 10 years seemed like such an eternity. Kim and I are on the verge of 10, and it seems like we're just getting started. Apparently that's become a rare sentiment.
On the subject of media, I've noticed that various print and broadcast outfits have been coming out with segments on the subject of media responsibility. "Has the media become a circus?" asked one blurb. I don ' t know, somehow the media examining their own credibility comes off like senators or baseball players scrutinizing their own salaries. A media mogul saying, "We're dumping sex and violence in favor of wisdom and intelligence," would be just as shocking as a baseball player declaring, "I think I should only make $30,000 a year like normal folks."
Speaking of self-examination, sometimes it seems like everyone is trying to figure out what's wrong with themselves, but nobody really wants to hear what 's wrong with themselves We analyze ourselves to distraction, but at the slightest criticism from the outside, we
strike back or shut down. Even as media examine their own credibility, for example, they regularly ignore criticism from that lowest of all life forms, the average citizen.
We all can be that way, even in the church There's a tendency in today's church to assume that everyone is against us, that every criticism is a form of persecution . Yes, we are called to stand firm against genuine persecution, but never to ignore legitimate criticism I remember when the pro-life movement was gaining momentum a critic said, "Apparently for Christians the sanctity of life begins at conception and ends at birth." That hurt , but there was truth there. It was and is a reminder that prolife reaches beyond anti-abortion to embrace the poor and oppressed, the sick and neglected, the abused and needy in our world.
On the subject of standing, I wrote in my notebook, "To succeed as a writer, you have to be brilliant, lucky or stubborn " Since I'd never been particularly brilliant or lucky, that left stubborn. Hanging in there Which, of course, is the key to success in most things. Not getrich-quick success, but quiet, responSible , everyday success An old literary saying goes, "Everyone wants to be a novelist, but few want to write a novel." In a time when people seem to want everything now, I think it also could be said, "Everyone wants to have a successful life, but few want to live a successful life. "
Speaking of success, I recently visited the office of someone with How To Be Successful books, tapes and other materials lining the walls. For years, I reflected, this person's outlook had been , "When this or that happens, when this or that comes together, when this or that pans out, then I'll be successful."
It's frustrating to realize that I often think the same way. That success is "out there" rather than "in here." I once read an encouragement to stop thinking of life as a goal to be gained and start living the life I wanted to live right now. At the time I passed it off as positivethinking drivel , but more and more it makes sense. Rather than dwelling on some great future life that will someday make me happy, I should dwell in the great life I already have.
But contentment doesn't mean entrenchment Scripture encourages us both to be content with the present and to strive for the prize. As for how to do that. let me jot it down in my notebook and get back to you . $?
A media mogul saying, "We're dumping sex and violence in favor of wisdom and intelligence, " would be just as shocking as a baseball player declaring, "/ think / should only make $30,000 a year like normal folks."
Philip Wiebe lives in Salem, Ore.
Reaping the miracles of summer
FOR ROLANDO and Lucila Mireles of Grulla, Texas, summer is a season of miracles. For the past 13 years, the Mireles family has traveled the 3,000 miles from the southern-most tip of Texas to work with migrant children and families along the northern border of Washington State.
The investment of time, energy and resources has paid great dividends-not only for the migrant children and the Mireles family, but also for the Miereleses' home congregation and a Christian Reformed church they've "adopted" in Lynden, Wash.
Rolando and Lucila eagerly share stories of their summers in Lynden because they know their family has been led by the hand of God. They don't attribute their experiences to luck or being in the right place at the right time.
"Through all these years we know it's of the Lord,"
BY CONNIE FABER
family made their 13th trip to Washington to work with migrant children. God's hand has been in it from the start, they are convinced The miracles began with a housing problem that first summer. Rolando chose to work in the Lynden migrant program
Aid representative traveling through the Grulla area. As the two men were saying good-bye, Schmidt discovered that the Mireles family would be working near Bellingham, Wash., for part of the summer. "Lamont gave me a real funny smile and said, 'You're kidding,'" Rolando recalls.
Schmidt had grown up in the Bellingham area and his parents still lived there. Schmidt immediately called home and his parents offered their home for the first three weeks of the Mireleses' stay while the Schmidts were on vacation.
"The Lord just opened up that door," says Rolando . And then opened another one . Three days later Rolando received a call from Harold Schroeder, pastor of Good News Fellowship (MB) Church in Ferndale . Rolando was surprised by the call because he thought Schroeder and his wife, Susan, still lived in California. He also didn't know Rolando says. "It helps us spiritually. The Lord uses to reenergize us."
Their trip north offers a break from responsibilities in their community and from denominational work. Rolando is moderator of the Latin America MB (LAMB) Conference, a member of the Tabor College Board of Directors, a regular on the national youth conference planning team, and a member of the U.S Conference Board of Church Ministries.
In 1981, Rolando was one of three teachers from the Rio Grande City school system in Texas who toured Washington State at the invitation of the state's migrant worker program. The purpose of their visit was to see the schools, migrant camps and fields where the workers from Texas spend their time.
The next year, Rolando was invited to spend four weeks of his summer in Washington teaching in the migrant program This summer, the Mireles
because its location, just five miles from the Canadian border, fit his criteria: it was as far away as possible from Grulla, and no one there knew his family.
Migrant families coming to Lynden arrive in mid-June for strawberry season About two-thirds of the migrant students who come are from the Rio Grande City schools, where both Rolando and Lucila teach in the middle school.
Rolando, hired to teach junior high math, was put in contact with Lynden's migrant program director, Steve Langkhaar, who arranged for Lucila to work as a teacher's aide. Housing was the couple's biggest concern since they wanted their three young children-Rolando Jr., Patricia and Isai-to accompany them.
Three days before the family was scheduled to leave for Lynden, they still had no place to stay. At the time, Rolando was acting as a translator for Lamont Schmidt, a Mennonite Mutual
that his two friends, Lamont and Harold , were cousins and that news of the Texas family's trip to Washington had spread through the extended family. The Schroeders were going on vacation after the Schmidts returned, so Harold offered his home to the Mireles family for the remainder of their stay.
"With three days left before we were to leave, the Lord had provided housing for my whole family for the whole summer. Incredible!" Rolando says.
A fter the family rented various r\..houses for three years, Rolando's principal offered to rent them his house in Bellingham while he and his family lived in their Birch Bay summer home. The two families developed a friendship and because their new friends have also invited them to stay in Birch Bay, the Mireles family now enjoys clam digging and crabbing.
The annual trip to Lynden for strawberry season has been an important
Lucila and Rolando (front) as members of the Estes '95 planning team: Always ready to serve the church and community.
event in their family life. "For our kids, going to Washington has really enriched their lives," says Lucila. "They have gotten to know other people their same age who love the Lord. We live in an area where the kids are a minority as a Christian when they go to high school."
While in Washington, the Mireles family worships at Good News Fellowship, which is currently pastored by Skip Suess The children have developed friendships there also.
Rolando and Lucila are committed to making the trip only if their children are with them. "We enjoy it so much. But we always wonder how many more years we can go," Rolando says . Last summer, another miracle enabled them to come back once again. Rolando Jr , a Tabor College freshman, needed to enroll in summer school to meet his academic goals. With the help of his Tabor advisers, Rolando Jr. was able to take the classes he needed from Western Washington University in Bellingham. It was a convenient arrangement since the university campus is located just five minutes from the Mireleses ' summer residence. Rolando Jr. had been helping as a teacher's aide in the Lynden program. Last summer he was able to share the position with his 16-year-old sister, Patricia.
Their second summer, Rolando and Lucila were given new assignments which they continue to hold. Lucila is a kindergarten teacher during the day while Rolando works at night as a counselor in the high school program . This arrangement has allowed their children to be under the care of one parent or the other Migrant families from South Texas leave their homes as early as April so children do not receive credit for their courses, Rolando says. Because both parents work in the fields, state and federal programs provide child care for infants as well as educational programs for school-age children during the day. Since high school students work in the fields during the day, they complete their school credits through night-school programs. Rolando's job involves enrolling students in the appropriate courses and helping with administration
Through Rolando's job in the high school, he and program director Steve Langkhaar developed a close friendship based on their teaching bond and mutual love for the Lord. The friendship has extended to their families.
Three years ago, the Langkhaar family spent their spring break in Grulla with the Mireles family. When he visited the Grulla MB Church, Langkhaar fell in love with it, says Rolando. A youth worker at Second Christian Reformed Church in Lynden, Langkhaar began pursuing the idea of having his high school youth group travel to South Texas to help with various maintenance projects.
That summer the Lynden congregation approved Langkhaar's idea and the first trip south was made in spring 1993. Langkhaar hoped to bring a dozen teenagers to South Texas When almost 40 people signed up to make the trip, the task of hosting such a large group seemed formidable . "We were scared," Rolando admits. "What were we going to do now?"
The Washington youth group began raiSing funds for their trip south. "The Lord answered prayers for them," says Lucila. In the end, the group raised significantly more than expected.
While the Lynden church raised funds, the Grulla congregation began making a list of maintenance projects. One of the projects involved purchasing and preparing an additional parking area for the Grulla church. After the Grulla pastor negotiated with the landowner to reduce the asking price from $20,000 to $7 ,000, the generous Christian Reformed congregation
raised the entire amount.
The Washington group worked hard during their week in Grulla, Rolando says. By the time they were done, the church had been repainted, new carpet had been laid, the new parking area was cemented, and play equipment and a basketball court were ready for use.
The Lynden youth, their 15 host families and church members gathered for a final evening together in the newly painted sanctuary. Lynden sponsors and youth shed tears as they recounted their experiences. "Something has happened," said Langkhaar to Mireles in amazement at the response .
"The frosting on the cake was that when they returned to Washington, four of their kids accepted Christ because of their experience in our homes," Mireles says.
This spring a group of 41 youth and sponsors returned to South Texas. They helped build a two-story building that will house a social room and nine classrooms for the Grulla MB Church .
Fourteen years ago, Mireles wondered what the Lord had in mind for him and his family as they made their first trip to Lynden. Today, when he reviews their experiences, he is amazed.
"It ' s been a beautiful experience for us," he says. Not only have the lives of their family been changed, but the relationships Rolando and his family have developed with people in Washington now extend to their church family too ef2.
Members of the Lynden youth group painting the Grulla church in April.
BY JIM HOLM
Scratching on the itch
EVERYONE KNOWS the importance of scratching on the itch. When the mosquito bites, or the wound heals, we have this itching sensation. We want to scratch where it itches. It doesn ' t do any good to scratch someplace else. The only way the itch is relieved is to scratch right on it. The same is true in dealing with the needs of people. People in our church's neigborhood have all kinds of needs, which are like itches that drive a person to satisfy them. In the church we believe everybody has an itch for Jesus, even if they don't always know that is why they are itching.
One of our goals as a church is to scratch people where they itch. We don't put it in those terms in our mission statements-we talk about being evangelistic, or sharing the good news, or making disciples. We use a variety of terms, but what we really mean is to scratch people where they itch. The Apostle Paul had something like that in mind in 1 Corinthians 9 when he said. "I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible .... I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some" (19, 22).
We must be aware of two fundamental principles. First, every church is responsible to reach its community. When Jesus talked to his disciples on the Mount of Olives and informed them they would be his witnesses, he told them they would begin in Jerusalem (Acts 1:8). They would touch their home community first.
Second, corporate and personal outreach must go together. Personal outreach refers to our individual attempts to forge relationships with colleagues at work or with neighbors on our street . Corporate outreach means the church as a whole develops ministries that help to bring the good news of Jesus to itching people.
Those two principles can be stated in another way. First, believers must go out to meet unbelievers; second, unbelievers must come into the church In the past, these two principles worked together fairly well. But today neither of them is very operational in many churches. For one thing, believers are kept so busy with church work they don't take time to meet unbelievers. Whenever I have a night off, I like to go for a long walk with my wife, or read a good book, or rent a movie , or pay bills and balance checkbooks . The last thing I want to do on a night off is have contact with more people.
The church needs to face this problem squarely It is time for us to say that a person should not come to a church-related meeting directed primarily to Christians more than once or twice a week If someone attends a Sunday morning service, and goes to choir practice, that should be enough. They should not also serve on a board or be involved in youth ministry Or, if youth ministry is more vital to the church than choir practice, they should choose that instead. But we need to come to the point, now, where we free people from expected attendance at lots of church meetings. There is no excuse for the church to keep people so busy with important things that they can't do the essential thing that Jesus told us to do: be witnesses.
The second principle is that unbelievers must come into the church. In the past this happened in revivals and special evangelistic meetings. Those things no longer work well in our churches. When we have revivals, Christians come, but they don't bring their friends . I think at the root we are embarrassed by what our friends would think of our revival meetings, so we don't invite them. But we still have to find ways to attract unbelievers to the life of the church.
We're trying some new things at our church. One of the tools that God has raised up for reaching unchurched people at the end of the 20th century is for a congregation to go to multiple worship services For years our congregation has had one worship service for everybody, sort of one size fits all. But we have come to realize that while that service is comfortable for us, it isn ' t comfortable for unchurched people. So we are trying, as an experiment, to go to multiple services, to add a contemporary form of worship to our traditional style Our goal is to reach unchurched people
In our world people are used to looking for options. Whether buying a car, a dishwasher, a color TV, or a bottle of aspirin, we seemingly have an endless variety of options from which to choose. The time has come for our churches to recognize that to fulfill Jesus 's Great Commission, we have to provide choices.
These changes are troubling for us. As someone said, "Everyon e is in favor of progress . It's change we don't like ." But we are trying to reach people. W e 're trying to scratch on the itch . It doesn't work to scratch anyplace else . f§2
There is no excuse for the church to keep people so busy with important things that they can't do the essential thing that Jesus told us to do: be witnesses.
Jim Holm is from Reedley, Calif.
response that draws people into participation, and above all, to make the service relevant to the worshipers.
Reaching out
The congregation ministers in the church and the community through support groups (for example, alcohol addiction and divorce). "In some ways," Ediger admits, "this is how we get people through the front door."
The Wednesday afternoon Pioneer Club program is designed to introduce children (ages 4 to 10) to God through games and stories . Ediger believes this program "establishes a network to which the unchurched family can relate comfortably." Summers find many North Oakers investing their time and energy in the vacation Bible school program as well.
North Oak members ministering at the Fort Hays State University campus have fostered an international Sunday school class at the church and parachurch Bible studies in homes. Ediger admits he has prayed for the North Oak congregation to develop a heart for missions and to identify missionaries willing to go to other countries.
Missions opportunities are exploding at North Oak. Within the past several years, several young people and adults have participated in short-term missions. These ventures, in turn, have encouraged fmancial and prayer support for missions in the church body. Eleven percent of the church offering is given to support conference work.
Thirteen of NOCC's young people participated in Estes '95. NOCC's goal is to send at least one new person to each Southern District Conference convention and a full delegation to the U.S. Conference convention. The church encourages members to attend General Conference conventions, but the distance serves as a deterrent for some.
Team evangelism
North Oak's most effective form of reaching others is what Ediger calls "team evangelism." He believes most non-Christians coming into meaningful contact with five or six Christians are more likely to move toward a decision for Christ than if they have only one contact.
June Zhou and her daughter, Jamie, were guests at a baby shower hosted last year by Noee women . The shower was one of several ministries to international students.
In his opinion, the least effective tool of evangelism is bringing people to the church without continuing the people connection. He does not give an invitation at the end of his message very often; it is his experience that the invitation itself is not an effective evangelistic tool. It generally draws those who have already made a conscious decision as a result of relational evangelism.
During the 17 years NOCC has served the high plains, it' has seen only one pastoral change. Steve Fast, the first pastor served for 10 years. His father, Chester Fast, and Gary Wiebe, both from Hillsboro, Kan., alternately shared the responsibility of interim pastor until Ken Ediger joined the staff.
Multiple-cell congregation
After Ediger's arrival and months of praying and discussion, he and the elders drafted statements of NOCC's mission and strategy, the expected commitments, and the goals to be reached incrementally. Last fall, North Oak added an associate pastor, Pat Coyle, to its staff. During his first year, Coyle's primary mission has been to facilitate small-group ministries .
Says Ediger, "North Oak has grown from a single-cell to a multiple-cell congregation. If we have a growth mindset, growth is not mechanical, but planned and provided for under God's direction."
Change sometimes comes with adversity. NOCC experienced a period when significant health problems affected members of the church family. Within a short time , three persons
found themselves fighting serious illnesses. The church family united to carry the burdens of these families through caring and prayer.
Though the church has no membership classes at present, the pastoral staff and leaders guide seekers toward membership. A membership committee meets with those who have expressed interest in joining North Oak Community Church and hears their testimonies.
Ediger says, "I don't stress membership in the church organization, though I believe in it, but I do emphasize the importance of becoming a member of God's family. I am wary of putting ritual or ceremony above the real decision of the heart . I am more interested in sealing a commitment to Christ."
In his sermons, Ediger tries to deliver a biblical concept from the Scripture text "applied to myself first, then to listeners. The purpose of my preaching is to persuade others to align themselves with God's truth and respond appropriately."
Why is he in the ministry? "Because I was called. 1 try to practice what I preach and God equips. God's fingerprints on my life clearly indicate that pastoral ministry is where I should be."
If he were to change anything at North Oak, it would be "to see more testimonies in services that affirm the application of God's Word to hearts and lives. Real life should show conversion." He would like "more people to develop a desire to minister to peers, have a greater awareness of mission, a passion for world evangelism and a desire to pray for both.
"North Oak's strength has been a willingness to work through conflicts within the body," Ediger says. "I have an appreciation for this congregation and the stand they take on issues regarding the Bible and their personal commitment to Christ. Social issues are not pivotal in this church."
As a way station in western Kansas, the North Oak Community Church is "believers together ... reaching out," offering the Bread of Life .
joyce Parker is a former teacher of English as a Second Language at Fort Hays State. She enjoys working with international students.
IN BRIEF
• Th e f orthcomi ng merger of th e t wo larg es t Mennonite group s in North A meri ca wo n' t ha ve much imp act on Mennonit e Br eth r en, acco rd i ng t o Marvin Hein , executive sec retar y of th e Ge n eral Con f erence of MB Chu rche s. Delegate s from th e Mennonite Church an d Gene ral Con f erence Mennonite Church vot ed in July t o me rg e th eir co nf erences at a date ye t t o be decided Whe n united , th e new entity w ill ha ve in excess of 150 ,000 memb ers " Th e sa d truth is that most Mennonit e Br et hr en a r e n't eve n awa r e th ere was a move to w ard integration by th e M Cs an d GCs," Hein says. Menn oni t e Br ethr e n ha ve abou t 4 5,0 00 m em b ers in North A m erica , w h ich makes th em th e th ird largest Mennonite bod y Until th e merger is f o rm alized , Mennonite Bre thr en remain the larg es t wo rld wi de body , wi th abou t 2 12,000 members. (Meeting house)
• Fres n o Pa ci f ic Co ll ege is th e recipien t o f a maj o r land gi ft , a ppra ised at $ 1 86 m illi on Th e property , donated by loca l land deve loper Charles Ashley and hi s wi f e, JoAnn , is th e largest si ngle don at io n eve r gi ve n t o the co llege . Pre sident Richard Kriegbaum sa id th e gift, 11 acres loca t ed near th e Fresno airp o rt , w ill b e u se d t o fund future ca mpu s fa ciliti es and bu ild the co ll ege's end owmen t The land may be sold o r leased f or co mm ercial deve lopm e nt , or it may be u se d t o h ouse adjunct co ll ege program s. La st year , th e As hl eys dona t ed a fi ve-ac re plot t o th e co ll ege, apprai se d at $ 1 m i lli on, w hic h was th e larg est single donation th e co lleg e had recei ve d (FPC)
• Danny Wedel , 17 , Ing all s, Kan., receive d $500 as a bro nze aw ard w inner in an essay con t est sponso red by Mennonite Mutual A id We del, a member of Garden Valley MB Chur ch in Garden City, Kan , w as one of nine students se lect ed f or awa rd s. As part of MMA' s 50th an ni ve rsary cele br at io n, high sc h oo l stud ents we re in vit ed to subm it ess ays w ritten o n th e th eme, " Using M o ney Res pons ibl y." The firstpla ce essay w ill be pr inted in th e wi nt er issue of Sharing maga zine w hi ch is se nt to all MMA members. (M MA)
TRAINING
New B.C. Centre marks new era for seminary
• Satellite program first of several envisioned
ADIFFERENT p ar a d igm fo r teachseminary students is e volving at MB Biblic a l Seminary in Fresno, Calif. The B C. Centre, a future-oriented gradu a te-level church leadership training program , is beginning classes in September.
Located in Abbotsford, the B.C Centre is a satellite program of MBBS According to Ron Geddert , director, this is the first of such centers MBBS plans to establish "Other centers envisioned include Winnipeg, Wichita , and Lo s Angeles," he says.
The B.C. Centre program, which will lead to a 90-unit (three-year) master of divinity degree, includes several unique features Reflecting the seminary 's partnership with the B C. Conference of MB Churches, the churchbased program will combine classroom instruction with a rigorous supervised ministry component in the churches.
"Students will receive a significant portion of their credits through ministry assignments under the supervision of a qualified and trained senior pastoral mentor, " Geddert says_ "This aspect will make it possible for persons already in pastoral ministry to earn their M.Div. while serving their churches. "
The program combines the strengths of two other seminaries, says Geddert . Students will be able to earn one -third of their credits from the ACTS consortium in Langley, B.c. , or Regent College in Vancouver.
Another third of the credits will be earned through the supervised ministry component and MBBS courses taught in various Mennonite Brethren churches. Professors, drawn from both the local area and MBBS faculty , will concentrate their courses into short time blocks rather thim the traditional 15 -week sequence. The final third of the credit units will be a residential component in Fresno . Henry Schmidt, MBBS preSid e nt, says the program is in step with the direction seen for the seminary of the future "Today's church leaders must be fixed in their theology but very flexible in their methodology , " he says "The bottom line is a new partnership with the seminary and the church_" -from a news release by Ron Geddert
RELIEF
MCC responds to need in Bosnia, Croatia
"We don't know where to go, nor how to go on. We don 't have anything to go back to either, because everything has been destroyed," says Snezana Harambasic, pictured here_ She, her two young children, Bozidor (right) and Bojor (on lap), and her husband fled fighting in Croatia, arriving in Serbia with just one suitcase This refugee family, as well as some 1,500 others, received food , clothing and other assistance from Bread of Life, one of Mennonite Central Committee's main partners in the former Yugoslavia. MCC is sending canned beef and chicken, layette kits, school kits, soap, detergent and bath towels to another partner agency, Duhovna Stvarnost, based on Zagreb, Croatia Duhovna workers will truck the supplies, worth $100,000, to recently displaced people in Bosnia's Tuzla area_ Working with a United Methodist relief organization, M CC will also ai rlift 10 tons of clothing and 3, 500 pounds of school supplies to the Zenica region of Bosnia Kevin King, MCC staff person, says requests for material resources are "overwhelming coming in much faster than expected." The summer heat has not wilted MCC supporters' generosity, however The Mennonite constituency is r esponding enthusiastically to MCC's r equests fo r soap and school kits (MCC)
Central District welcomes first Slavic church
• Russian-speaking group includes about 250 persons
THE RUSSIAN Evangelical Church (REe) of Minneapolis, Minn., was provisionally accepted as a member of the Central District Conference July 29. The Russian-speaking congregation, with about 250 persons, including 100 children and youth, is the 13th Slavic group to affiliate with the Mennonite Brethren since 1992. It is the first in the Central District.
Twelve members of the REC met July 29 with five members of the Central District Ministries Council in Minneapolis to process the congregation's request for membership. With
the help of a translator, both sides exchanged questions and information. Loyal Funk, U.S. director of church planting and liaison between the Slavic churches and the conference, was on hand to help facilitate discussion.
The Ministries Council's recommendation to receive the church into the district will be presented for ratification at the annual convention in late October. The provisional action by district leaders, though, allows the U.S. Conference and MB Foundation to help the congregation secure a per-
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manent meeting place by Sept. 1.
The people of the REC come from different parts of the former Soviet Union, according to Ron Seibel, CDC chair. Some came five years ago, while others have arrived within the past few weeks. The church officially began in January 1995.
The group has been meeting on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons. "If they had their own facility, they would meet more often," Seibel says. "They are also eager to evangelize other Russian immigrants and have the desire one day to send some of their youth back to Russia as missionaries. "
Pastor Vladimir Sharikov was ordained by the congregation during a two-hour service July 30. The congregation presented Sharikov and his wife, Dina, a picture, a candelabrum of three candles and a bouquet of gladiolus. Seibel and Clint Grenz, district minister, participated in the service.from a report by Ron Seibel
AN INVITATION TO CELEBRATE
The New Hope Church of Minneapolis will be observing its 85th year of ministry and 40th year of service as an organized church Oct 14-15 The work began in 1910 as the first city mission effort of the Mennonite Brethren Church of North America and was called the South Side Mission In 1955 a charter membership was opened and a meetinghouse was built in the suburb of New Hope
Those interested in attending the celebration or anyone with photos, information or personal reflections relating to the ministry of the mission of church are encouraged to contact Phil Glanzer, 4217 Boone Ave N , New Hope MN 55428; (612) 533 -2994
Leaders of the Russian Evangelical Church pose with leaders of the Central District and U.S. conferences. The congregation met for a brief time in the facilities of New Hope MB Church.
Couple 'smitten' with MDS spirit
• Clymers appointed as codirectors for California
Jim and Elaine Clymer have contracted an infectious condition: excitement for the work of Mennonite Disaster Service The Clymers recently were appointed MDS California unit co directors. Jim recently described their experience in their home church newsletter, College Community Church, Clovis, Calif.
ICAME HOME from the 1994 annual all-unit Mennonite Disaster Service meeting in Homestead, Fla., tremendously inspired and challenged. I also came home with a sense of "calling" and told Elaine I wanted to get more involved with MOS. She was mildly interested (and amused) to see me so excited.
Elaine began going with me to regional MOS meetings and predictably started to get excited herself In 1995 we both attended the annual meeting in Saskatoon. I must say she was totally smitten by the infectious MDS spirit and she too left the meeting feeling a "calling."
While in Saskatoon we met as a region to discuss the ongoing search for a new California unit director. Several persons had been contacted and had declined Suddenly everyone in the room was looking at me and I was "encouraged" to give the appointment serious consideration.
Elaine and I met with the regional director and the MOS executive coordinator and also talked, prayed and talked some more. During our discussions the concept of "codirectors" emerged This concept proved agreeable to everyone and this February, Elaine and I were approved as the new California unit directors.
We have a few visions for MOS California . We would like to revitalize MOS awareness at the congregational level. We hope to get youth groups excited about MOS and we believe this excitement will spread through the congregation
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OUTREACH
Bethany youth lead 'boot camp'
• Group focuses on local ministry this summer
A T 0 : 900 HOURS, soldiers aged .l"l..three to senior citizens, gathered to do battle at Bethany MB Church in Fresno, Calif., June 19-23 They infiltrated the area-gathering at the baseball diamond, rappelling from the church balcony, competing in the tugof-war zone and singing the victory chant in surrounding neighborhoods. Boot camp, a.k.a. vacation Bible school, focused on training 150 children to put on God's armor and resist the devil's schemes.
In late March, the Bethany high school youth group came back from Estes '95 motivated to share Christ with others. Realizing that Fresno Pacific College would not offer the usual Baja missions trip, they looked for other avenues, according to Brenda Davis, youth ministry intern at Bethany.
"If they weren't able to run a VBS for children in Baja, Mexico, why couldn't they organize a local VBS right here in Fresno?" she says . So they put together Bethany Mission Outreach, an in-town outreach to churched and unchurched families.
The high school students camped out the entire week at the church. Mornings included boot camp briefings-quiet time devotions, boot camp training-VBS, and afternoon recreation
"In the evenings, the high school troops were back on the battlefield, involved in inner-city ministry throughout Fresno," Davis says_ "You could find them anywhere, from serving dinner to the homeless at Poverel10 House to leading another VBS ministry at Storyland Inn motel where poverty-stricken families live in tiny motel rooms."
Still others took a prayer tour of inner-city Fresno.
"As a result of the body working together, 13 children accepted Christ as their personal savior," Davis says. "God is good! "
The Bethany congregation supported the high school students' efforts by baking cookies, praying, contacting
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unchurched families and assisting in boot camp "Even the high school students noted how God used people of all ages within the church to proclaim his gospel and were so thankful for the intergenerational ministry that was possible," Davis says .-from a report by Brenda Davis
. CHURCH NOTES
• Baptisms/membership
GRANT, Neb. (New Life)-John and Lau· ren King, Jerry and Sand Velte, and Terry Wendell were received as new members June 15
EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. (Village Com· munity)-Tom Ahrens and son Ryan, and Marian Davies were baptized July 16. Tom and Marian Ahrens, Tony and Julie Daugherty, Treasure Winkler and Lucinda Parks gave testimonies and were received as members Aug 13.
BUHLER, Kan.-Jessica Boswell and Grady Wray were baptized July 9.
REEDLEY, Calif.-Welcomed as members July 16 were Mark and Judy Jost, who were baptized . Also received as members were Russ and Sherri Hajik, Gerhard and Susan Kroeker, Scott and Lori McClatchey, and Greg and Lynnette Rhames.
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (Garden Valley)Cecil Wissink, Harvey Drake, Cheri Van Vleet, Mark Van Vleet, Arlie Hagen, Claudia Wissink, Dixie Drake, Amber Van Vleet , Joshua Van Vleet, Carol Hagen, Vera Schmidt, Mia Allen and Eri Van Vleet recently joined Garden Valley through testimony and transfer.
HILLSBORO, Kan.-Bob and Helen Fenstermacher, Melissa Jost, Christine Crouse and Kim Kirton joined the church through testimony or transfer in July
GETIYSBURG, S.D. (Grace Bible)-Roxie Ripley and Sandy Fasse, who were baptized, and Linda Urevig were received as members July 23.
• Ministry
INMAN, Kan. (Zoar)-Don Willems reported July 23 about his experiences in Ukraine, where he worked with maintenance at a Bible college.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Laurelglen)-An I I-member team traveled to Bucharest , Romania , Aug. 2-14, where they worked at an orphanage The team presented a VBS program , brought food and medical supplies, and ministered to the orphanage staff. The team, led by Ken McDuff and
GOOSEN, ARON G., Huron, S.D., a member of the Bethesda MB Church of Huron, was born on Oct. 7, 1899, to Gerhard and Gertrude (Plett) Goosen near Freeman, S.D., and died on April 24, 1995, at the age of 95. On April 26, 1926, he was married to Sara E. Wipf, who survives He is also survived by four brothers and one sister.
JUST, MARVIN, Reedley, Calif., a member of the Reedley MB Church, was born on Jan. 25, 1909, to Henry M. and Eva Unruh Just at Fairview, Okla., and died June 7, 1995, at the age of 86. On Dec. 19, 1931, he was married to Emma Unruh, who survives. He is also survived by a son, Marvin Jr. and wife Tips of Reedley; three daugh· ters, Carolyn and husband T e. Moshier of Kingsburg, Calif , Janice and husband Marlin Fridolfs of Dinuba, Calif , and Connie and husband Roger McCahill of Reedley; a sister, Pauline and husband Bill Bartel of Reedley; 12 grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.
KIRSCHENMANN, IRENE, Lodi, Calif., a member of the Vinewood Community Church in Lodi, was born on Dec 11, 1920, in Eureka, S.D., and died on June 22, 1995, at the age of 74. On Oct. 26, 1941, she was married to Emmanuel Kirschen-
mann, who survives. She is also survived by a son, Ken of Livermore, Calif.; and two sisters, Doris Schnabel of Lodi and Marge Wacker of Crystal Lake, Ill.; and one grandson.
SUDERMAN, MARTIIA, Hillsboro, Kan , a member of the Hillsboro MB Church, was born Sept 25, 1896, near Hillsboro and died Aug 13, 1995, at the age of 98. On Aug. 4, 1918, she was married to Edward Suderman, who preceded her in death. She is survived by two sons, Leon and wife Ruby and Leslie and wife Rubena, both of Hillsboro; three daughters, Adena and husband Roy Schmidt of Fresno, Calif., Hilda and husband Ira Hein of Hillsboro, and Ruby June and husband James Hefley of Halstead, Kan.; 11 grandchildren, 21 great· grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
THIESEN, HERMAN JOHN, Shafter, Calif , a member of the Reedley (Calif.) MB Church, was born on May 29, 1909, to Jacob and Katherina Fast Thiesen in ReedIey and died June 13, 1995, at the age of 86. On Nov. 2, 1933, he was married to Elizabeth Kliewer, who predeceased him in 1992. He is survived by a son, Ted and wife Marylene of Bakersfield; a daughterin-law, Audrey and husband Jim Sager of
Cupertino, Calif.; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
THOMAS, ELMA MABLE UNRUH, Marion, S.D ., a member of the Silver Lake MB Church of nearby Freeman, was born Nov. 3, 1913, to Peter and Katie Boese Unruh in Hutchinson County, S.D., and died May 23, 1995, at the age of 81. On June 18, 1937, she was married to Ferdinand E. Thomas, who predeceased her in 1991. She is survived by one son, Arlyn and his wife Jeanine; one daughter, LaDona and her husband Bruce Vincent; two Sisters, Vera and husband Erwin Schmidt and Esther and husband Clifford Wentzel; a brother-in-law, Ed Deckert; six grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
WARKENTIN, PETE D., ReedIey, Calif., a member of the Reedley MB Church, was born Feb. 14, 1911, to Dietrich and Anna Warkentin in Com, Okla., and died July 4, 1995, at the age of 84. On Dec. 17, 1936, he was married to Marie Janzen, who predeceased him in 1994 He is survived by three children, Ken, Larry and Dona, and their spouses; two brothers and two sisters; 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
CLEARINGHOUSE
POSITIONS AVAILABLE
CAREGIVER NEEDED: Single person or adult couple with primary responsibilities of general household duties and caring for a legally blind person with other limitations. A live-in arrangement preferred. Salary negotiable If interested, please call (701) 475-2203 for more details.
MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE is accepting applications for SelfHelp Crafts media coordinator (Akron , Pa.). This two-year position is available October 1995. Qualifications include a commitment to Christian faith, active church membership and nonviolent peacemaking. Applicants must have working knowledge of MCC and SelfHelp Crafts goals and merchandise, corporate communications training and experience and writing, research, photography, audiovisual and graphic experience. Interested persons should contact Goldie Kuhns, 21 South 12th Street, P O Box 500, Akron , PA 17501-0500, phone (717) 859-1151 Applications due Sept. 22, 1995
MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE is accepting applications for store manager for the Ephrata, Pa , SelfHelp Crafts corporate store. This two-year position is available November 1995 Qualifications include a commitment to Christian faith, active church membership and nonviolent peacemaking. Applicants must have working knowledge and support of SelfHelp Craft's missions, retail sales and management experience, and experience in merchandise display and store layout. Interested persons should contact Goldie Kuhns, 21 South 12th Street, P.O. Box 500, Akron , PA 17501-0500, phone (717) 859-1151. Applications due Oct. 2, 1995.
MAINTENANCE/CUSTODIAL POSITION - The trustees of the Shafter (Calif ) MB Church are announcing a full or part-time pOSition that can be combined or separated into three positions They are: repair/maintenance, gardening and custodial Housing available For further information on requirements and salary , contact Bob Wiebe, board of trustee chairman, (805) 746-5417
COMMITMENT
Our service to others blooms brightest when we give of ourselves. The Palm Village Living Legacy Fund provides support for residents who have outlived their resources. Thanks to your generous gifts, more than 150 residents receive assistance each year For more information, call DAVID REIMER EXEClITIVE DlRECfOR (209) 638-6933
Through New Eyes
Off the fann, thrust into a complex world. This 23-minute video shows how North American Mennonites, through Mennonite Central Committee's 75-year history, discovered new answers to the questions, "Who is my neighbor?" and "How can we serve God together?"
Send Thro ugh New Eyes for free loan for (date). Send personru copy for $25 Cdn./$20 U.S. Enclosed $
Send my church a free copy for our church library.
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CHURCH PARTNERSHIP EVANGELISM (CPE) INVITATION
King Road MB Church in Abbotsford, B.C., is seeking volunteers for its Church Partnership Evangelism outreach to PERU, Chiclayo October 3-19, 1995 INDIA, Gadwal area.
NICARAGUA, Managua ..
November 13-30, 1995
January 9-25, 1996
MEXICO, Baja California February 27 - March 14, 1996 NICARAGUA, Managua April 30 - May 16, 1996
June 10-28,1996
July 2-18,1996 FIJI ISLANDS
August 13-29,1996
July 15 - August 2, 1996 PERU, Trujillo, Chiclayo
• Team up with national Christians and witness for Christ door to door
• Some knowledge of the country's language is helpful.
• Each participant must raise or contribute half of the cost; the trip to Nicaragua and Peru requires $1,000 for each volunteer, Mexico is $700 per volunteer, and the rest of the trips are $1,500 per volunteer.
• Similar campaigns have resulted in 200 to 400 conversions .
• Come and be part of an enriching spiritual experience, discover what GOD can do through you.
For more information, contact:
Evelyn Unruh, 604-852-5744 or CPE 604-864-3941
Peter Loewen , 604-853-3173 or FAX 604-853-6482
Peter Huebert
Missions Committee President
Peter Loewen Promoter
RESEARCH
The evangelical truth
A recent Barna Research Group poll found the following to be true regarding evangelical Christianity in America:
• Four years ago, 53 percent of the people attending church services on a given weekend were not born-again Christians; that proportion has dropped to 45 percent, suggesting that churches are less effective in reaching people who don't share core Christian beliefs .
• Baby Boomers are the generation most likely to hold to "born again" beliefs. However, they are also increasingly inactive in their faith, demonstrating declining levels of church attendance, Sunday school
participation and Bible reading.
• Although evangelicals get a lot of media attention, they represent only about 6 percent of the adult population; this is a 50 percent decrease in magnitude since 1992 .
• Church attendance, which crested at 49 percent per Sunday in 1991, has leveled off at 42 percent , the lowest level since Barna began tracking this in 1985
• Bible reading during the week is lowest among the Baby Busters generation. Currently under 30 years of age, only 21 percent of the Busters read the Bible during the week, just half the level of people 65 or older
• Only half of the people who attend church services during the week also read
Wonderful words of life ...
PEOPLE WHO READ the Bible regularly have a "higher overall satisfaction with their lives" than those who never read the Bible, according to a survey commissioned by the American Bible Society The surveyof 1,212 people in the U.S. found that the average American goes to church about as often as he or she goes out for dinner, and more often than she or he reads fiction, goes to movies or plays sports. The survey also found that Americans are comfortable using Bible quotes to describe their personal values. More than 85 percent of participants found the "Golden Rule" useful. A minority of 26 percent said that the best rule for life was "Iook out for number one." The study found that African-Americans are more frequent Bible readers than either whites or hispanics, and that women read the Bible more often than men. (EP)
the Bible during the week, other than while they are at church.
• An increasing number of Catholics are born-again Christians Some 22 percent of those who call themselves Catholic fit the born-again criteria used in Barna's survey
Barna's survey was conducted among a random sample of 1,006 adults, and has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. (EP)
ETHOS
Acynical public
CyniCism toward government and church leaders is greater among the general public than among media workers, according to a poll conducted by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press The poll found that more than half of national journalists and one-third of local media workers believe that Washington politicians are honest and ethical, compared with just 18 percent of the general public. Religious leaders were described as highly ethical by threefourths of the national press, compared with 55 percent of the public (EP)
ETHICS
Clinic is snuffed
Jack Kervorkian's dream of opening an "obitorium"suicide clinic came true in late June, but only until the first customer had been killed . Officials immediately shut down his Margo Janus Mercy Clinic after the death
of 60-year-old Erika Garcellano, a Kansas City woman suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease. Kervorkian's landlord gave him 30 days to vacate the former hardware store, which he had rented. Garcellano was the 24th person to commit suicide in the presence of Kevorkian, who advocates physician-related suicide for people who are suffering or dying. (EP)
ABORTION
Legacy of loss
Russia still leads the world in number of abortions performed every year. Demographic experts claim that 3.5 million abortions are performed every year, or 98 for every 1,000 women of childbearing age. Statistics also show that 225 abortions are performed for every 100 births in Russia . (EP)
DIVORCE
Parted pastors
Pastors are just as likely to be divorced as lay persons, according to a national survey of Protestant clergy conducted in 1993 and 1994 by Hartford Seminary. The study found that 25 percent of clergywomen and 20 percent of clergymen have been divorced at least once According to the Census Bureau 's most recent figures, 23 percent of women and 22 percent of men nationwide have been divorced . The study covered a wide range of Protestant denominations . On the high end was the liberal
Unitarian-Universalists, where 47 percent of women and 44 percent of men reported having been divorced. At the low end was the conservative Southern Baptists, where 4 percent of men and 17 percent of women had been divorced (EP)
HEALTH
Sanitary sacraments
Individual communion cups are an entrenched practice for most Mennonite Brethren churches , and now a microbiologist offers additional evidence for keeping it so. Anne LaGrange Loving of Felician College in Lodi, N.]., reported to the American Society of Microbiology in May that the use of a common cup is a ritual filled with opportunities for the spread of infectious diseases. Sipping from a common cup can be hazardous for people with cancer or AIDS who have weakened immune systems. Dipping a communion wafer into a common cup is marginally safer, she says. Loving emphasizes that no evidence exists of sickness caused by participating in communion, and that bacteria found in her study are spread many other ways Healthy people can handle exposure to common bacteria (EP)
TRANSLATIONS
Sensitive Scriptures
Priests for Equality are promoting a New Testament translation they say is "scrupulously faithful to the original Greek texts, yet sensitive to modern sensibilities, scholarly yet eminently readable ." The Inclusive New Testament
is intended to be a "nonsexist and non-classist" translation of original Greek Scriptures A comparison of Colossians 3: 1821, as translated by the New International Version and the Inclusive New Testament :
NIV: "Wives , submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged."
INT: "You who are in committed relationships, be submissive to each other. This is your duty in Christ Jesus. Partners joined by God, love each other. Avoid any bitterness between you. Children, obey those responsible for you in everything, for this
is what pleases God the most. And if you are responsible for children, don ' t nag them, lest they lose heart." (Priests for Equality)
APOLOGETICS
Truth in the details
Arguments for a scientifically accurate Bible were bolstered this spring by two independent inquiries German biologist and theologian Reinhard Junker has verified that rabbits are correctly referred to as "ruminants" in Leviticus. Ruminants digest their food more than once . Rabbits do this by eating part of their excrement, and thus can survive lengthy periods of fasting during bad weather. According to Idea, the news service of the German Evangelical Associa-
tion, Junker contends that because rabbits eat their excrement, they can be correctly identified as remuninants, and therefore zoology supports the biblical claim.
Studies of a part of the male sex chromosome in 38 men from around the world found a surprising lack of genetic variation, suggesting that all modern humans may have descended from a common ancestor, according to a study reported in the May 26 issue of Science . The study appears to provide independent confirmation of the "African Eve " hypothesis, which suggests that modern humans are descended from a common female ancestor. The fmdings appear to refute opposing theory that modern humans simultaneously evolved in different regions of the world. (EP)
MB circles by Lorlie Barkman
"STRAIN OUT A GNAT AND SWAllOW A CAMEL".
. Jesus
Strain out the long hair and lose a teenager. Strain out the grey hair and lose the wisdom of life.
Strain out the necktie and swallow the jeans. Strain out the jeans and swallow the suit.
Strain out the drum set and lose the youth. Strain out the hymn hook and lose the elderly.
Strain out the handelapping and lose the enthusiasm . Strain out the solemnity and lose the balance.
Strain out everything and lose everybody'
Identity in the balance
!wAS ON HAND as an observer when the two largest Mennonite bodies in North America, the Mennonite Church (MC) and General Conference Mennonite Church (GC) , voted in late July to work toward integration. Though this was an historic event for the broader Mennonite community, you wouldn't know it from our coverage of it: a brief news note on page 22.
Like most periodicals, we editors evaluate a news event by the degree to which we feel it impacts and interests our readers. While many of us in conference work value our inter-Mennonite connections and experiences, frankly it's our sense this action by MCs and GCs does not rate highly on the impact or interest scales of most Mennonite Brethren congregations and homes.
rhetoric, we have espoused a wholistic gospel. My hope has been that we Mennonite Brethren could hold the vertical and horizontal emphases of Anabaptism together to form a truly biblical faith model.
I am less hopeful these days that we are accomplishing that . As an observer at the MC/GC joint convention, I noted our similarities and differences. Frankly, their high-proltle attention to peacemaking and social-political issues sometimes made me uncomfortable . Maybe they overdo it-or maybe we Mennonite Brethren should admit that we are uncomfortable mostly because we avoid that domain altogether.
We like to revel in worship and major in evangelism, but our preaching and teaching pay little heed to the social implications of
in worship and major in
evangelism, but our preaching and teaching pay little
The candid assessment of Marvin lV7 Hein, our General Conference execu- W e like to revel Jesus's gospel. Kate Wentland's experience (Forum, page 12) in a Mennonite Brethren church is, I fear, more the rule than the exception. tive secretary, is mostly accurate: "The sad truth is that most Mennonite Brethren aren't even aware there was a move toward integration ." Hein, himself a veteran of many inter-Mennonite encounters, would emphasize the word "sad " So do I. The chasm that exists between our groups says more about us than about them. And what it says I find disheartening.
The chasm has historical roots . The Mennonite Brethren Church was formed in 1860 after renewal erupted among Mennonites in Russia. The "renewed" group saw the rest of the church as unspiritual and separated
heed to the social implications of Jesus's gospel.
from it. The mother church saw the new group as acting "holier than thou" and reacted indignantly. Both camps had good reason to feel the way they did . Those basic stereotypes have carried through to this day-long after the Mennonite Brethren became institutionalized and the mother church experienced regeneration.
Today, our history is not irrelevant, but the primary reason for the distance between our groups is theological. Our basic doctrines are almost identical, but Mennonite Brethren, born in a pietist revival, continue to emphasize the vertical dimension of our Anabaptist faith-personal conversion, piety and evangelism. MCs and GCs generally place more emphasis on the horizontal dimension-structural sin, community and peacemaking/justice.
For me, the issue has always been emphasis I have felt good about being Mennonite Brethren because I believed that while we emphasized the vertical dimension, we also valued the horizontal. At least in our
I unapologetically place priority on
evangelism because I believe God wants above all else to reconcile sinful people with himself. But biblical evangelism is more than saving souls. Conversion from sin must also include a conversion to kingdom ethics. Jesus wants to save us from hell, but also to save us for a life of discipleship on earth.
Biblical evangelism is the ultimate subversive activity of a faithful church, particularly in our society. It undermines mindless loyalty to nations, economic systems
and cultural values. When people truly give their lives to Christ, the Sermon on the Mount supersedes the U.S. Constitution, costly discipleship is more valued than free enterprise, and servanthood is more desirable than rugged individualism.
Perhaps we Mennonite Brethren have been too concerned to establish our uniqueness in the Mennonite community. Or maybe we have become too enamored of numerical growth. But I fear we have tipped the theological scales too far We still mouth the rhetoric, but in practice we have embraced a one-sided evangelical gospel that plays well in the American mainstream, but has lost its prophetic edge.
I want to believe we can rediscover balance To a large degree, it will take God's initiative to move us But we can help ourselves by walking toward, not away from, our Anabaptist-Mennonite connections. Yes, we still have something to offer the broader Mennonite community But in these times we would do far better to learn from it instead -DR
