Place of Meeting December 2013

Place of Meeting

Entering the mystery Marking the end of the Christian year with Eternity Sunday, and beginning the new one with Advent, we enter into a time of waiting –– anticipating the “mystery of God’s dwelling” among us.

Toronto United Mennonite Church December 2013

Place of Meeting

Edible creativity

is the meaning of the Huron word “toronton,” from which our city gets its name. Fittingly, it can also mean “plenty” or “abundance.”

Place of Meeting is also the monthly newsletter of Toronto United Mennonite Church. May you find plenty here to enjoy and ponder. Opinions expressed are those of the writers and not necessarily of the congregation as a whole.

Contributions of all kinds are enthusiastically received, through the mail folder in the lobby or at dmartens@pathcom.com Next deadline Dec. 31, 2013 Have you discovered the allcolour online version of Place of Meeting, complete with live weblinks? Check this month’s issue out here: issuu.com/pomeditor/docs/ pom_dec_2013l You can also request an email subscription to the colour version in PDF form or a monthly link to the current online issue. Please send a request to dmartens@pathcom.com Editor: Doreen Martens

Place of Meeting page 2

Even Pastor Marilyn got in on the act when the TUMC Tots recently held a cookie decorating party. Thanks to Shauna Heide for the photos.

A year-end look at our finances

By Bob Tiessen, Treasurer

D

ecember is a good time to review TUMC’s financial position as the church board and the Spending Plan team plans for next year. There have been several trends, from earlier in the year, that have continued.

Both donation levels as well as expenses have been less than planned. Expenses are lower due to a later start for the Associate Pastor, lower pastoral travel and hospitality expenses and lower facility costs. Donations where we had planned a 3% increase now look to be 6% lower.

The Spending Plan team has produced a draft plan for 2014 that will be presented in detail at the AGM, but a summary is given below. Because the Associate Pastor position will be for 12 months next year, expenses in the “For Those who Serve’ category will increase by a significant amount.

Also for the 2014 plan, Giving to Others was increased for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, Lazarus Rising and by setting aside funds for future refugee sponsorships. This resulted in the “Giving to Others” segment percentage increasing slightly from the 2013 to the 2014 Spending Plan. Another increase was to provide $2000 for travel support to send youth to Peace It Together.

Based on current trends and these changes, I expect that we would have a surplus this year of about $18,000 after funding our benevolences at the full Spending Plan level and a shortfall next year of $28,000 if we achieve a 3% increase in giving. Previously our practice was to distribute any surplus in the year it was achieved to our benevolences; similarly, shortfalls were also shared among most benevolences. Because of the large swings expected, based on current trends, the church board is recommending a change in this practice that will be brought to the AGM. The change is that after funding our benevolences to 100% of the current spending plan that any surplus be carried forward and used next year. This will provide our benevolences with support levels that are less variable.

Bob Tiessen reviews the current building plan configuration during the Nov. 10 congregational meeting. The congregation subsequently voted to put forward funds to cover the early stages of professional work on the plan and to initiate needed projects (a ramp to the front door and an audiovisual system) that are considered doable and necessary even if the building project does not go ahead.

Other financial items • TUMC related expenses should be submitted by Dec 22.

• Donations should be made by Dec 29, the last Sunday of the year. Postdated cheques can be used.

• You may wish to start donating by preauthorized bank withdrawals, made weekly or monthly. If you already use this method you may wish to review the level for your giving next year. Please ask me if you need a preauthorization form.

• Charitable receipts should be ready by the middle of February.

Place of Meeting December page 3

A year-end look at our finances Draft Offerings Program

!

Facilities For those who ho S Serve Giving For Othe hers Total Spending Surplus/shortfalll Program Facilities For those who ho S Serve Giving For Othe hers

Spending Plan 2013

Projected 2013

Spending Plan 2014

279,494

262,187

270,052

16,750

13,197

18,750

30,750

25,548

28,332

150,645

133,427

173,194

72,000

72,000

78,300

270,145

244,172

298,576

9,349

18,015

(28,524)

6.0% 11.0% 53.9% 25.8% 96.7%

5.0% 9.7% 50.9% 27.5% 93.1%

6.3% 9.5% 58.0% 26.2% 100.0%

Changes inn 2014 from 2013 Plann Added $2000 0 for Youth PIT T travel scholarships Added $3000 for TUMC refugee fund support Added $1000 for TMTC Increased MC CEC $2000 as previously agreed Increased Laz zarus Rising since amount ffrom Bequest Fund will reduce Salaries incre eased since Associate Pastorr is full time fo or 12 months Reduced Pasto toral travel allo owance We will need added $12,00 00 for refugee es sponsorship ps outside Spending Plan n The $3,000 fo or refugee sup pport is to pro ovide a base so we can reac ct quickly in fu uture situations.

Capital Fund may need siza able amounts in 2013 and 2014 2 plus future years

Moderator Doug Pritchard leads the congregational meeting on Nov. 10.

The next church business gathering is the Annual General Meeting, slated for Saturday, Feb. 1. The church board is urging us to put this on the calendar now, as this will be an exceptionally important meeting.

Place of Meeting page 4

Seeking peace in divided Korea

By Kap Jin John

A

bout five months ago I sent a letter to the Mennonite Central Committee head office in the United States and received an answer from MCC Northeast Asia. Then I sent an encouraging letter to the president’s office of South Korea, including the MCC letter, introducing MCC’s activities in Korea after the Korean War of 1950, and what they are doing for North Korea and to encourage world peace today.

In September, I received an appreciation letter from the office of the president of South Korea.

Total positive prayer and whole-hearted cooperation from all countries of the world are needed to bring peace to the Korean peninsula.

An edited text of the letter to MCC: President Park Geun-hye of South Korea, in a visit to the United States, made a speech before a joint session of Congress, suggesting a “peace garden” in the “demilitarized zone” (DMZ), in a 4 km by 250 km sized area along the DMZ between South and North Korea, which was decided as the border when a ceasefire was declared 60 years ago in 1953. The “peace garden” is not only meant (for peace between) humans and humans, but also between humans and the natural environment, and for the peace of South and North Korea and all the nations of the world. The burnt ground left by the war 60 years ago has returned to life by itself without any human interference. The environmentalists of the world today are watching with deep concern the ecosystem in the DMZ area. Pray for this great idea for peace.

MCC’s response: Thank you for your letter of concern and prayer for peace on the Korean Peinsula. MCC shares your desire to see a peaceful resolution to the longstanding conflict. This is indeed a significant year, as the 60th anniversary of theend of the Korean War is marked.

You may be interested to know that MCC continues work with partners in both the ROK (South Korea) and the DPRK (North Korea), including but not limited to supporting a Northeast Asia peace camp for youth in Japan, China, and Korea, and a Northeast Asia peacebuilding institute that both involve ROK partners as well as others in NE Asia and a conservation agriculture project and humanitarian assistance in the DPRK. MCC feels privileged to engage partners on both sides of the border in conversations about the importance of dialogue and peaceful resolution to conflict. Recently MCC also helped to sponsor an ecumenical conference in Atlanta, Georgia, that focused on peace on the Korean peninsula. You may also be interested to read a prayer for peace on the Korean peninsula, which you can find included with this correspondence.

We encourage you to continue your prayers, along with us, for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict, as well as for other ongoing needs for the people of North Korea.

Best regards, Kathi and Rod Suderman MCC NE Asia Representatives

Kap Jin John Toronto United Mennonite Church Soldiers patrol the fence along the Demilitarized Zone, a no-man’s-land that for 60 years has separated North and South Korea, which are still technically at war.

To learn more about the peace park proposal, watch an excellent recent news video at youtube.com/watch?v=nycKFglA0js

Place of Meeting December 2013 page 5

What’s the Korean peace garden idea all about?

T

UMC member Kap Jin John, a tireless booster of MCC and wholehearted proponent of peace in his homeland, has drawn our attention to this idea, which was a campaign promise by South Korean president Park Geun-hye.

The South Korean government in September set aside $37.8 million U.S. to establish a jointly created peace park inside the Demilitarized Zone between the North and South, who have lived under a ceasefire for 60 years. It is envisioned to become a symbol of reconciliation, cooperation and conservation. The DMZ is a place of rich biodiversity, harbouring 2,153 animal species, some of them endangered). Song Sok-rok, a security studies professor at Kyungdong University, expresses hope for a “green detente” in which “the two Koreas build up environmental cooperation through a DMZ peace park, which will serve to lay a foundation for their reunification and further ease tension in Asia.”

Park made a formal proposal to North Korea in an August speech. “By making the DMZ a peace zone, I hope we will remove memories of war and threats of provocations left in their consciousness and take on a new start to make the Korean Peninsula a place for trust, harmony and cooperation,” she said.

A policy plan for inter-Korean relations proposed by the Ministry of Unification and pending final approval also calls for the creation of a peace park, or as some would prefer, a “peace garden.” Unfortunately, not all lawmakers have welcomed the idea, one recently complaining that the North’s regime “is anti-nationalistic, anti-democratic, anti-unification and anti-peace, ... so how will a global peace park be built?”

Here are details cribbed from the website Korea.net: North and South Korea entered into a state of armistice in 1953. In the same year, the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) was formed between the countries and the DMZ was also established based on the location of the MDL. As the DMZ symbolizes provisional peace, it is valued and recognized as a tool or symbol for maintaining peace.

Starting from the bottom of the Imjin River, the 248-kilometre MDL continues to Goseong in Gangwon-do (Gangwon Province). The DMZ is two kilometres wide on each side, with south and north making a total width of four kilometres. In the DMZ, no troops or weapons are allowed. In this 907-square-

Place of Meeting page 6

kilometre no-man's land, no one has been allowed to enter for more than 60 years; its natural ecosystem has been maintained as it was for over a half century. The ecological value of the Korean DMZ has been highly praised worldwide.

The DMZ is also one of Korea’s most-wanted tourist destinations. The area bordering it welcomes around 6.2 million visitors a year, more than a million of whom are foreign tourists.

From May 19 to 21, six cities around the DMZ held the International Peace and Life Festival, organized to promote the importance of life and peace in the demilitarized zone. The festival included such events as the Peace & Life Concert, the DMZ Peace Bike Competition, and the DMZ Eco-Tour Program.

Hoping for peaceful reunification of the country, more than 2,000 participants including foreign nationals enjoyed the meaningful festival. Since 2010, the Gyeonggi Provincial Government has been working on the Pyeonghwa Nuri-gil Trail, a hiking path near the DMZ. Connecting the four cities in Gyeonggi-do, the Pyeonghwa Nuri-gil (‘peace world path’) is being built to represent Korea’s wishes for a peaceful world and an end to the war in the nation. Along the trail, visitors can appreciate the natural environment around the DMZ and witness historical sites that show the tragic national division such as fortresses, columnar joint cliffs, and ancient ferries.

IImjingak, only seven kilometers from the DMZ, symbolizes the realities of the divided Koreas. It is frequently visited by Koreans cut off from their hometowns in the North following the war. Imjingak Pyeonghwa-nuri was constructed in 2005, with some parks and structures as part of the Global Peace Festival held in the same year by the provincial government.

The Ministry of Environment is planning to build a DMZ Ecology and Peace Park in Cheolwon. Starting this year, it will arrange routes and locations for the park and in 2013 it will establish facilities such as accommodations. With the participation of local citizens, it will also prepare detailed measures such as securing the safety of visitors and making reservations for visits. “We’ll build an observatory that enables viewing of the DMZ or trails that allow ecological hiking so that the DMZ Park can be a world-renowned place for national security and ecology,” an official from the ministry said.

As 2013 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the DMZ, local governments in Korea have been conducting various projects to transform the DMZ area into a place that people from all around the world can visit to wish for peace.

Imjingak will be equipped with more facilities for foreign visitors, and one of the surrounding villages of the DMZ will be selected to offer an ecological education program.

Milestones

Proud parents Brad and Jana Lepp look on, left, as Pastor Marilyn offers a special blessing to son Sebastian at his parent/child dedication on Dec. 1.

Below, kids get first dibs on the potluck food and baby Matthias Unger Alexander takes great interest in the gift of a brightly coloured quilt (crafted by Carolyn Loewen) at his baby shower on Nov. 24.

Flowers remain on the communion table on Nov. 24, Eternity Sunday, in memory of loved ones we have lost over the past year.

Place of Meeting December 2013 page 7

TUMCers in service

It may be mundane, but somebody’s gotta clean the windows and rake the leaves. A hardy crew turned out on a chilly wet day on Nov. 2 to, among other things, paint the TUMC offices –– the first new paint they’ve had since the building went up.

Thanks to all who help keep our shared space functioning well and looking spruce!

Place of Meeting page 8

Christy Langschmidt kicks off the Day of Prayer and Awareness for Human Trafficking, an eye-opening event at TUMC that detailed the degree to which slavery is still part of the modern world. (The photo behind her is of an indentured child in the cocoa industry.) The Nov. 30 event included a documentary film on trafficking of women, men and children for the sex trade. Speakers included a retired Toronto policewoman involved in trying to create the city’s first (!) safe house for women trying to escape such exploitation, and Wendy Leaver, a survivor who now counsels others. Workshops included prayer, training and discussion of how to act and advocate for those trapped by trafficking in our city and country.

Scene around TUMC

Clockwise: Kids lead with scripture on Nov. 24; things get lively at “passing the peace” time; a Sunday School class enjoys snack time; Damaris Schmucker’s Grades 4-5 class kicks off Advent with the candle-lighting ceremony on Dec. 1; young string players accompany the congregation and play during Communion; Carmen Wiebe and Crystal Penner sing.

Place of Meeting December 2013 page 9