Place of Meeting November 2012

Place of Meeting

Let’s communicate Dennis Giesbrecht uses a tablet computer during the Oct. 21 service to talk to the kids about the myriad ways we communicate with one another and with God. Fall is a time of planning and doing, and lots of communicating. In Adult Ed classes, members are discussing “Being a Faithful Church” – on how we use Scripture in our discernment. October included our annual Outworking Sunday, which gave some organizations a chance to share their message and TUMCers a chance to see how they can plug in; and a Soup and Sophia to talk about the church’s current and future pastoral needs. And our small group coordinator is looking for ways to get us talking together in a more deep and personal way. More inside!

Toronto United Mennonite Church November 2012

Place of Meeting 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 month deadline: Nov. 27 Have you discovered the allcolour online version of Place of Meeting? If you would like to receive it in PDF form via email, please write a note with details to the above address.

Production Editor: Doreen Martens

Being a faithful church Assembly Report Editor’s note: This report was mistakenly omitted from a previous POM. Apologies to Jonathan!

By Jonathan Slater

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very two years the churches making up Mennonite Church Canada are invited to send delegates to Assembly. These gatherings are opportunities for Mennonites from across Canada to worship and pray together, to listen and learn from one another, and to discern and make decisions together. I count it a privilege to have been one of TUMC’s delegates at the Assembly this year.

One of the most significant aspects of the Assembly for me was the opportunity to learn about and participate in the ongoing “Being a faithful church” process (BFC). I gained a new appreciation for the scope of this process, and for the care that has gone into shaping it so that the diverse congregations within MC Canada are invited to participate.

This is a process in which the congregations which make up MC Canada are called to listen to each other and together seek to discern God’s leading.

I also gained an appreciation that it is the desire to hear the different voices within MC Canada that makes this process take such a long time: It began at the 2009 Assembly, and the current timetable anticipates that it will continue until 2016. While seven years seems like a long time, the process of gathering feedback from congregations, synthesizing it, testing it, and then moving on to the next step is necessarily a slow process – particularly since there are only Assemblies every two years.

It can be hard for congregations to remain actively engaged in multiyear processes that involve people from across Canada. Such processes can loose momentum in the life of congregations. As someone sent to Assembly to embody TUMC’s participation in this process, I want to invite the congregation more broadly to actively participate.

One of the things that really struck me at Assembly was that Mennonite Church Canada is us. It is my hope that TUMC would seriously engage with this year’s document, “Testing the spirits in the Midst of Hermeneutical Ferment – Using the Bible in Helpful and Unhelpful ways” (BFC 4), and accept the invitation of the delegates of Assembly to use it as an “emergeing framework” for interpreting the Bible.

Jonathan Slater will begin serving on Dec. 1 as Pastor of Youth Ministries for the Markham-Stouffville Mennonite churches.

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Our family grows Elise Epp, left, introduced by faith partner Jana Lepp, was baptized and Susie Guenther Loewen, with faith partner Alicia Good, joined the church by transfer on Oct. 7. Though both are already fully contributing members of the TUMC community, we welcome them to full membership in our fellowship and wish them God’s blessing.

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Scene around TUMC Clockwise from right: On Outworking Sunday, Hugh Cameron explains the Dream Team; St. Clair O’Connor Community sells raffle tickets; a Christian Peacemaker Teams display. The men’s quartet sings; Issaac Thiessen plays cello; and TUMC receives greetings from Wideman Mennonite Church as part of the fall church exchange program.

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Scene around TUMC

Clockwise from upper left: The TUMC band plays on Nov. 4 along with song leader Marlys Neufeldt. Youth offer a thought-provoking Peace Sunday presentation visualizing the complex, interwoven Issues (environmental, social, economic, violent conflict, etc.) involved in mining around the world. And TUMC Tots show off the jack-o’-lanterns they carved.

Thanks to Tim Schmucker and Shauna Heide for their photos.

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Heritage Club considers Global Warming: Management, adjustment, or both?

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n Wednesday, Oct. 17, about 50 interested, and possibly concerned, people assembled in the St Clair O’Connor meeting room to discuss “Global Warming.” Dr. Paul Fieguth (University of Waterloo) and Dr. Allan Wiebe (Environment Canada) made presentations and showed an example of what can be achieved when an issue is understood and does not have too many interactive facets. Walter Friesen moderated the discussion, adding information on the world population trends from the time of Jesus. For many attendees this was probably the most scientific data they had seen since sitting in a classroom; however that only increased the interest and conversation.

Dr. Wiebe’s research is in the area of air particulates and acid rain. His many years with Environment Canada led him through many climactic changes over the years. He showed the audience how the effects of man-made particles in the air caused a serious depletion of the ozone layer. Once the offending emission types were identified, which took a number of years, and government action in the form of legislation was taken, the recovery was effective. The charts showed a recovery was not only possible, but in fact took place in a relatively short period of time. Other examples of more complex issue were also presented, including their effects. As they have more interactive elements, it has not been possible to show the same level of resolution is in the case of the ozone layer.

Dr. Fieguth’s studies in the field of Systems Engineering, together with a keen interest in environmental sustainability, self-sufficiency, and alternative energy, allows for an analytical understanding of the way different aspects of the Earth’s environment interact. In fact he showed the audience that the number of interacting elements is so large that it would be almost impossible to predict the outcome when one aspect is modified. He was however quick to point out that this in no way should reduce our attention to the very real issues, or our research into developing a model of the interactive processes active on Earth. Taking a view of the environment as a “system” is not always serving the various interest groups that have specific agendas, so they communicate simple messages based on one aspect or the other of “environmentalism”. This increases emotional involvement and that has some value as well, however it does not help to find a solution as the specific element will interact with others to cause further problems elsewhere. As Dr. Wiebe showed,

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Hans Fast, Rudy Wiens and Werner Fieguth in conversation with Paul Fieguth after the presentation at the Mennonite Heritage Club gathering. Photo by Robert Schilk. when an issue is singular and the problem is understood we can implement solutions that are effective.

The challenge for now remains to be able to more fully understand the Earth’s “system” and the interactions of the various facets that make up this system.

Walter Friesen showed the population growth over the last two centuries and then supplemented it with a graph of oil consumption since about 1800. Interestingly the population and oil consumption curves are very similar. The effects of a very fast population increase on the environment cannot be ignored, even though mostly environmentalists try to avoid entering this discussion. Lastly the Earth’s water supply was described and how the amount of readily available water for human consumption and irrigation is also being stressed. Water and population are only two of many variables in the model Dr. Fieguth is working on, but they are too often ignored by “interest groups.”

A lengthy question and answer time followed, discussing many ideas for “long term survival – by management or adjustment”. Whereas often some of the residents begin trickling back to their apartments, or other attendees for the drive home, the rapt audience stayed in their seats until well after 9 p.m. for this presentation. After this, conversation quickly became very lively over coffee and dessert.

Attendees were also left with a detailed sheet, provided

by Dr. Fieguth, indicating a list of ideas for affecting environmental change, from the easy and straightforward to the challenging and life-changing.

–– Walter Friesen

TUMC T UMC SI SISTERS STERS Invite yyou Invite ou tto oo our ur A Annual nnual Intergenerational C hristmas T ea P arty Intergenerational Christmas Tea Party For women women a nd g irls a ged 3 – 1103 03 For and girls aged

December 1 December 11:00 a.m. to to 1:00 p.m. p.m.

At TUMC T hird F loor Meeting Meeting R oom Third Floor Room Dress Dress u up p in yyour our C Christmas hristmas ffinest! inest!

B ring yyour our mothers, mothers, d aughters, g randmothers, Bring daughters, grandmothers, g randdaughters, a unts, n ieces, n eighbours a nd ffriends riends granddaughters, aunts, nieces, neighbours and Volunteers are are n eeded tto o he lp – w ith ffood ood (s andwiches, Volunteers needed help with (sandwiches, squares, cookies, cookies, ffruit); ruit); sset-up et-up a nd cclean-up; lean-up; a nd squares, and and m usical a ccompaniment musical accompaniment Please ccontact ontact A nita T iessen o ron H eide Please Anita Tiessen orr Sha Sharon Heide ou ccan an he lp o ve a ny q uestions. if yyou help orr ha have any questions.

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Small Groups: A great way to build community

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et’s get to know each other better! But how? I’m sure, like me, you see many people on Sunday mornings at church that you know, and many people whose faces you’ve seen before but whose names you don’t know.

How can you get to know more people in a meaningful way?

TUMC has a long history of encouraging attendees to participate in small groups. TUMC attendees who meet for worship and education on Sunday mornings live in every part of the city and GTA. It is often difficult to establish close friendships or deeper community when meeting only once a week.

Small groups provide a way to meet with others at a time outside of Sunday morning and in more relaxed, smaller and often unstructured settings. The focus is on building interpersonal relationships. By creating these close bonds between members, the congregation as a whole becomes stronger and better able to carry out the mission God has called it to in the world.

Many of the existing TUMC small groups get together for social interaction, which often includes food. Other examples of small groups are: Bible study; book club; environmental concerns; new parents; etc. Sometimes small groups will be gathered for a specific purpose or for a limited time. But it is basically up to the members of each group to determine what they want to do and how long they would like to continue together.

As the TUMC small group coordinator, I would like to invite you to consider becoming a member of a small group.

While I may not be able to accommodate every interest that people might have for a small group, I will try to get everyone who is interested connected with others of similar interests. Watch for a bulletin insert which you can fill out and give to me, or you can provide me with the following information via email (abtiessen@gmail.com) or in writing into my church mailbox.

NAME(S): ________________________________________________________________________________ Contact Information (if not in the directory): __________________________________________________________________________________________ Area of interest: For example, new parents, seniors, Bible study, book club, young adults, dinner and discussion, environmental concerns/creation care, others in my neighbourhood, etc. Feel free to name your own interest: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about small groups at TUMC. ––Anita Tiessen

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