Place of Meeting October 2012

Place of Meeting

Fall is in the air!

Who doesn’t love TUMC’s annual intergenerational tradition of trooping out to Black Creek Pioneer Village to enjoy a few hours of producing sugary goodness in the service of raising money for Mennonite Central Committee?

Whether you came to test your deep frying talents, to bid at the quilt auction, sample the tempting foods from the booths, explore the village, or just enjoy the live music and the chance to bump into an old friend or two, the Sept.

15 event was a great way to enjoy a beautiful fall day. More pictures inside.

Toronto United Mennonite Church

October 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.

Outworking Sunday The Mission and Service Annual Outworking Sunday is coming up ... .next week! Sunday, Oct. 14.

Please come prepared to spend a few extra minutes during coffee time to browse the exhibits and gather information about various outreach and service opportunities.

• Gather updated information on the work of the Mission and Service committee: • Refugee sponsorship opportunities through MCC( Ont); • Sanctuary Movement for refugee claimants; • Environmental Stewardship; • Updates on benevolences we support through our Spending Plan; • Learn about other initiatives our members are active in; AND • Explore the work TUMCs various committees –– just for information ... or maybe to discover you would like to offer your time to one of them.

Contributions of all kinds are enthusiastically received, through the mail folder in the lobby or at dmartens@pathcom.com Next month deadline: Oct. 30 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 Editing assistance: Avery Peters

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Dann and Joji Pantoja (second and third from left), with whom TUMC partners as part of our involvement with Mennonite Church Canada Witness, spoke at the Sept. 30 service and Adult Education about their amazing work with Peacebuilders Community in the Philippines, which works at reconciliation between the Christian Luzon-based ruling group and the Muslim and indigenous communities of Mindanao, who have been in armed conflict for years. Their work has touched the highest levels of the church and state in the Philippines, as well as the humblest. Joji runs Coffee for Peace, which is building an international market for high-quality Filipino coffee grown by indigenous farmers. One of the interesting criteria for participation in the program is that they must literally bury their weapons. And the coffee? We drink it every Sunday!

For your consideration:

Should TUMC have a congregational nurse?

For discussion at our Soup and Sophia, Sunday, Oct. 28:

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transition in pastoral leadership is an opportunity to reflect on changes within our congregation and possibly also our changing pastoral needs. As we begin the search for a new pastor(s) of youth ministries, we have the opportunity to discern together what shape that position should take, and whether now is a good time to consider other forms of pastoral ministry in addition to youth ministry. In spring the Caring Team began to explore the ministry of congregational nursing. They prepared a discussion paper that they submitted to the Board. The Board believes that this proposal needs to be discussed by the whole congregation and scheduled the Soup and Sophia meeting on Oct. 28 to do so. The following is a shortened form of the discussion paper the Caring Team shared with the Board.

Congregational nursing (also known as “parish nursing”) is a ministry modeled after the compassionate ministry of Jesus, who responded to human suffering in all its forms by healing the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. Rooted in the vision of Christ as healer, this ministry grows out of the belief that all faith communities are places of healing and have a role in promoting wholeness through the integration of faith and health. Just as pastoral care is integral to spiritual care, so is healing integral to pastoral care.

The modern understanding of congregational nursing is rooted in the early work of deaconesses, other religious orders, and the nursing profession. Many hospitals were founded as religious institutions begun by the Church. Mennonites have long been active in health care initiatives and institutions. For example, Mennonite conscientious objectors in World War II worked in psychiatric institutions; their experience led many of them to become active in healing professions and in efforts to change the way society viewed persons with a mental illness.

A congregational nurse is a Registered Nurse with specialized knowledge who is called to ministry and affirmed by a faith community.

She/he is a member of the church staff and part of the ministry team. A congregational nurse can: • provide individual health counseling and assessment • advocate for personal health rights and access to health care • walk with, encourage and support those who suffer • provide support during bereavement and loss • make referrals to appropriate health resources • implement health education programs emphasizing health promotion and wellness • assist individuals to understand the relationship between faith and health.

TUMC Women

Inviting all girls and women to the fourth annual TUMC women's Christmas Tea, Saturday, Dec. 1: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Watch for a more detailed invitation in December.

Did you know?

Every other year the Mennonite churches in our area hold an inter-church gathering. This year, someone had the great idea of taking that a step farther and actually visiting one another on our home turf! In October, TUMC will receive guests from other Mennonite churches within the GTA. Similarly, we will send ambassadors to bring greetings from TUMC to our sister churches.

These inter-church greetings are part of the lead-up to the GTA Cluster joint worship service at Toronto Chinese Mennonite Church on Oct. 20.

She/he is a nurse registered by the College of Nurses of Ontario, who has completed studies in Congregational Nursing offered through a

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Should TUMC have a congregational nurse? number of colleges and universities. These programs include counseling, theology, communication skills and a variety of traditional nursing topics and practical experience. In 2011 there were 60 congregational (parish) nurses working in 10 denominations in Ontario. Five Mennonite congregations have a congregational nurse as part of their ministry team.

The Caring Team has identified the need for such a ministry for the following reasons: TUMC is a congregation with a varied dynamic demographic makeup. We are young, mobile, passing through the city for education or job opportunities; families with children; young adult singles and couples and seniors. These groups have different health care needs. In addition, the stresses and strains of our urban lifestyle result in crises that need quick and effective intervention.

A recent review of persons being supported or assisted by the pastor and Caring Team revealed that in five of eight instances, both the individual and the pastor would have benefited from a congregational nursing ministry. Situations in which there are both spiritual and physical or mental health needs appear to be increasing. The members of the Caring Team often feel unprepared to address health care issues. Frequently the pastoral staff is left to seek out professional services within the greater community.

The Caring Team often turns to health professionals within the congregation for guidance. While the members and adherents of TUMC who are qualified in various health disciplines are generous with their time and expertise, they are not always available or able to provide ongoing assistance. So our care can become sporadic depending on what expertise is available and what resources can be found quickly. Continuity and consistency are sometimes lacking.

The strengths and skills that TUMC identified as important in a lead pastor were knowledge and skill in spiritual formation, grounded in the Bible and core Mennonite values. Time spent adequately addressing health care issues reduces significantly the time available for pastoral care, spiritual growth, teaching, etc.

The Caring Team therefore recommends that we consider expanding the ministry team at TUMC to include

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a component of congregational nursing. A congregational nurse providing an integrated Christian response to many of the health care needs within our congregation would not only meet needs but bring unanticipated rewards. Working with the pastor(s), a congregational nurse would provide both resources and support for the pastor(s) and be beneficial to many in the TUMC community. The congregational nurse would not replace resources available in the public health care system, but would act as a bridge between our community and the health care resources available in Ontario.

There is a range of possible models so that the spending plan implications would not be burdensome or onerous. These models might include sharing a position with partners: other Mennonite churches; other area churches in the Beach; organizations such as the New Life Centre, St. Clair O’Connor Community, or Lazarus Rising. –– Submitted by Richard Ratzlaff

Words of commissioning were spoken in the Sept. 23 service for Bill and Marlene DeFehr (standing), who will be spending six months working as volunteer hosts at the Mennonite International Guest House in Washington, DC. They are serving under SOOP (Service Opportunities for Older People), a unique program that makes use of the skills, energies and enthusiasm for service of active retirees.

Choose your own adventure: Business as usual? Great Unraveling? Great Turning?

By Alan Armstrong

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s I boy I used to devour a series of books called “Choose Your Own Adventure.” In a single book, they provide many possible storylines, and after each significant event, the reader has to make a decision. “If you want to go through the door, turn to page 76. If you want to run away screaming, turn to page 53.” These books provided me endless entertainment, and I found myself wandering through every possible plot, carefully examining the result of my various choices. How very post-modern.

In one story’s thread, I have broken into my neighbour’s house, which I suspect to be haunted or under the control of some malevolent, spiritual force. I break a glass vase and am discovered by the old lady inhabiting the house. She punishes me by making me clean up the glass vase. But in an ending that parallels the myth of Prometheus, I clean some up, dump it into the garbage on page 32, then turn to page 67 and return to find an equally large pile of glass waiting for me to clean it up. Back to page 32. And so on, and so on: page 67, page 32, page 67, page 32. The book’s ending is an endless, inescapable loop.

Three narratives We are living in the midst of a real-life version of “Choose Your Own Adventure,” and the end of the story is anything but certain. I am referring to the ecological crisis and a future that is totally unpredictable, where our generation of human species plays the role of the reader, with choices that largely will determine the fate of all species on our planet, and the planet itself. Authors Joanna Macy and David Korten give names to three “adventures,” or narratives, to frame these times: Business As Usual, The Great Unravelling, and The Great Turning.

What are each of these narratives? How might they help us understand and shape what we do as individuals and as a community of faith?

These are the questions I would like to explore here, with particular emphasis on how we look at how we do youth ministry.

Business As Usual (BU) According to the “Business as Usual” (BU) narrative, life in the modern/post-modern world will continue more or less as it has: not without challenges. Humans will continue to pursue essentially the same goals that are measured by economic output and growth. They will use the same approaches, where science and technology fuel growth and (mostly) improve the human condition. This is not a utopian narrative, and there are no promises of an escape from difficulty. BU does not see

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Choose your own adventure a fundamental turning point at this moment of human history: we humans, and the earth, continue to live and exist with all of our challenges and joys. BU neither denies that the polar ice cap is melting, for example, nor does it suggest that such a change will fundamentally alter the human condition.

(!), the Earth Community would establish and respect the rights of all life forms and even earth’s other systems such as landscape, seas, lakes, skies, mountains and valleys. Author Joanna Macy describes this as a shift of mindset from industrial-growth society to a life-sustaining society.

The Great Unravelling (GU)

The Essential Adventure of our time The ecological and political outlook can seem bleak. In that context it is refreshing to hear Joanna Macy talk about the GT as an adventure: the essential adventure of our time. We have the opportunity to participate in a truly heroic collective and individual undertaking, and the stakes couldn’t be any higher.

The starkest narrative is the “Great Unravelling” (GU), and it talks of the eventual (and inevitable) death of the ecological systems that sustain life (including human life) on Earth. One doesn’t have to look far for evidence to support this view. While we in the global North have felt strangely isolated from the effects, exponents of GU believe that consequences are becoming drastic and widespread. They point to ecological disasters of increasing proportion (hurricanes, floods, and droughts, for example), and global violence on a scale never seen before. According to GU, Western democracy has devolved into a form of Empire which promotes individual freedom on the surface, yet uses military might (including police violence) to provide cheap access to the Earth’s resources and the labour of the global poor. While GU provides a reality check about the current state of affairs, it is deeply pessimistic about the future and provides little in the way of hope for the future.

The Great Turning (GT) The Great Turning (GT) combines the realism of GU with a more optimistic view of a potential future. GT takes the current ecological crisis dead seriously and sees that as the defining characteristic of our moment in history. All living systems are on the verge of death.

What else trumps that?

But unlike GU, GT believes that this crisis is also calling forth the hero and heroine in many of us, and causing increasing numbers of us to wake up to this reality.

As we, who are products of the same basic elements as the earth, wake up and see the effects of our culture on the life sustaining system, naturally, we are caused to reevaluate the underpinnings of our culture and to seek change within ourselves, among ourselves and in the ways we walk on the earth.

GT therefore calls for a fundamental realignment of values and describes the shift as one from “Empire” to “Earth Community”. Whereas Empire has delineated fundamental rights of “citizenship” for the corporation

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The adventure that calls each of us towards a life-sustaining society is one towards life, and it leads to and requires a movement into life for each of us. That is exciting! We wean ourselves off the unnatural stimulants of consumption and find joy in older and newer, more basic stimulants of being alive and being in relationship.

Aspects of the Great Turning Joanna Macy describes three dimensions of action required to affect the GT1: Holding Actions: Actions to slow the damage to Earth and its beings.

Analysis of structural causes and the creation of structural alternatives.

Shift in consciousness: A cognitive revolution and spiritual awakening that fundamentally alters our perception of what is real, what we value, and our attachments.

Macy describes how each kind of action, on its own, is not enough. It is not enough just to slow the damage.

A Christian Call?

I would like to challenge you, and challenge us as a faith community, to discuss and debate these narratives to see which of these narratives we most believe in.

Macy tells us that all three narratives are happening at the same time. We see that BU is happening, GU is happening, and maybe GT is happening too. Macy says it’s up to each of us to choose the narrative we want to live.

My feeling is that the church doesn’t have a great vision for the long-term changes that are potentially underway. To me, it feels as though we believe in

Choose your own adventure

business as usual (i.e. that unjust structures shall always be with us), and although we provide our labour and charitable givings to work towards justice, I don’t know if we really believe in the turning. It feels to me as though we’ve lost the holy, blessed unrest for change that that calls us to radical commitment.

We don’t really burn for it.

I burn for you What would it look like if we burned for the transformation of the world? If we burned for it, how might this change our approach to ministry and future planning? How might it affect our approach to outreach beyond our church community?

If you personally burned for and believed in a multi-generational cultural transformation, would you continue doing the work you do today?

If we as a church burned for the turning, how would we do youth ministry? How would we equip the next generation for service? When I presented these narratives to our youth group, most of them felt we were in the midst of the Great Unraveling. I wonder if they see us burning for change.

If we burned, what might we be willing to sacrifice to give more money, energy, and time to this great commission?

The “Great Turning” is the essential adventure of our time, if we choose it. We are called to personal and corporate transformation, and to invite others into that transformation. Some might call it salvation.

Which adventure will we choose? Which adventure will you choose? Do we burn for it?

Do you?

TUMC’s annual Gathering Sunday, on Sept. 9, marked the start of the Sunday School year and the general gearing-up of church activities. Above, some of the older kids help lead the children’s time in the service, and Pastor Marilyn Zehr presents incoming Grade 3s with their very own Bibles. After the service, goodies were enjoyed outside under the trees.

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War and peace in 1812 Jonathan Seiling shares his research with the Heritage Club

By Faye Tiessen

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as anyone ever knocked on your door asking for food?” This is the question beginning the book, Feeding the Neighbouring Enemy: Mennonite Women in Niagara during the War of 1812. The author of this book for children is Jonathan Seiling.

In telling the stories of seven Mennonite women who defied soldiers during this war, he reveals how they did not stand for stealing or injustices against them or others, but they fed those who were in need.

Mennonites moved to the Niagara area during the American Revolution, seeking a place to live peacefully, where they would be exempt from participating in war. Upper Canada’s Militia Act allowed people who could prove they belonged to peace churches exemption from the war if they paid a tax.

In his presentation to the Mennonite Centre Heritage Club on September 19, Jonathan told us that in his research into the 1812–1815 period, he found that twenty of his own Mennonite ancestors were alive at that time. American armies attacked pre-confederation Upper Canada in order to settle grievances against Britain. Jonathan wanted to find out how that war affected the Mennonites, Quakers, and Brethren in Christ (known as “Tunkers”) in the Niagara Region, which also included most of Haldimand and Halton.

Mennonites had taken positions such as sheriff, justice of the peace, assessor, and collector—positions in which they were affirmed to perform duties on behalf of the government. Not all were ready to side with the British. Not all Mennonites were pacifists at this time and a few ended up on active service; however, the Quartering and Billeting Act of 1809 in Upper Canada

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meant that all citizens had to provide, on demand, a place to sleep and food for up to six military personnel in their 16x20 cabins, sometimes for months. So as armies swept through the region, wagons and boats had to be surrendered for military use. Some houses were burned to the ground by the British: they feared that their stored supplies would fall into American hands.

The stories of peace churches’ opposition to this war have not been heard before, and they would have been lost in the clamour of the celebrations glorifying war if not for the efforts of historians and pacifists, who have spoken out at the bicentennial.

Jonathan Seiling is the Chair of the 1812 Bicentennial Peace Committee and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Brock University and the University of Toronto. His research has drawn attention to historic peace church experiences. Three historic markers have been placed

by Quakers, Brethren in Christ, and Mennonites in the Niagara region to commemorate the experiences of our forbears in the War of 1812. When it was suggested at the end of his talk that there should be a book documenting this period, Jonathan said there is one in progress.

We are grateful to John Rempel and the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre for co-sponsoring this presentation.

To learn more about this period, see www.warresistancein1812.blogspot.ca.

For authors Jamie Swift and Ian McKay’s views, read Warrior Nation: Rebranding Canada in an Age of Anxiety. They argue that the Canadian government, military, and some think tanks are attempting to “conscript Canadian history” in order to “establish war as the pith and essence of all Canadian history.”

News from the church board TUMC Constitution: A Minor Amendment After passing our updated TUMC constitution it was filed with the government as required. While they have not made any comments on it yet, they did indicate that as a charity our constitution was required to have an explicit clause indicating that the church did not operate for profit.

Therefore the board is proposing to add section D to Article VI of the constitution. The entire article with revision is given below. Sections A, B and C are unchanged; only section D is new.

ARTICLE VI – FINANCIAL SUPPORT A. Financial contributions shall be fully voluntary.

B. A spending plan for the year shall be presented at the annual general meeting. This plan shall be carefully considered, amended as necessary, and adopted at the meeting. It should serve as guide in giving, and encourage responsible, regular giving by the members and all who participate in the Church.

C. Any plan to borrow money shall be approved at a congregational meeting.

D. The Church shall be carried on without purpose of gain for its members, and any profits or other gains to the church shall be used in promoting its purpose.

The amendment does not change any aspect of our constitution but does explicitly state that we are not a profit seeking organization. The board unanimously supports this amendment and asks for your approval at the November congregational meeting.

As a constitutional amendment we will need twothirds support to pass.

If you have questions please contact Bob Tiessen.

Update on 6 Lark Financials In May the congregation voted to continue holding the 6 Lark property for possible church use. As part of this process, TUMC agreed to cover expenses for six months. The amount needed was estimated to be $10,000. Since May approximately $5,000 has been donated towards this expense. The church has advanced $3,750 in April and a further $5,000 in July and August to LQIL, the corporate body that owns 6 Lark. In addition, LQIL has skipped two payments as allowed in the mortgage to preserve cash.

Details of the TUMC Capital Fund are given below as of Aug. 31, 2012. Most of the funds at the start of the year were used for carpeting and some minor expenses in the kitchen and for the work of the Growth Task Force.

TUMC Capital Fund January 1, 2012 $ 17,320 Donations Jan-May $ 2,500 June-Aug $ 5,050 Expenses Carpet $ 12,439 6 Lark $ 8,750 Misc $ 678 Balance $ 3,003 At the end of August, LQIL has about $1,000 in the bank. The property requires about $2,000 per month to maintain (mortgage, insurance, taxes) plus any utilities and repairs. Maintaining the property until the end of November will require another $5,000. Naturally we would need further funds at that time since we could not expect to sell, rent or use the building for other purposes immediately. Mortgages and loans outstanding are approximately $67,000.

Please continue to pray that as a congregation we might hear and discern God’s calling for this property.

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Pax Christi Chorale Stephanie Martin, Artistic Director

paxchristichorale.org

Bach Cantatas  & 

October , : ..

Daniel Norman, conductor • Ariel Harwood-Jones, soprano Catharin Carew, mezzo-soprano • Andrew Haji, tenor Peter McGillivray, Baritone • choir & orchestra

St. Anne’s Church

 Gladstone Ave. www.stannes.on.ca Place of Meeting page 10

Sweet times at Black Creek

Clockwise from top left: practising skills at the tricky business of frying rosettes to a crispy brown and perfect shape; oops – can’t resist a taste test; the product –– a rosette topped with homemade strawberry sauce and homemade ice cream (churned next door to the TUMC booth); sugaring the rosettes; waiting for customers and a nice profit for Mennonite Central Committee.

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Sweet times at Black Creek

Clockwise from top left: enjoying a chat while strolling the grounds; homemade vanilla ice cream made on the spot, perfect for topping a rosette or a slice of homemade pie at a neighbouring booth; the world’s biggest pot of borscht; lively music for visitors to enjoy in the open area; meeting old friends.

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Seeking Sanctuary A reflection on a challenge for the church In speaking about the Sanctuary movement – by which churches offer the ancient practice of “sanctuary” to people whose claim for refugee status has been denied by our government, but who have a genuine fear of persecution and even death in their homeland – Mary Jo Leddy holds out the image of the law of the sea, by which it is a moral obligation that you go without question to the aid of a drowning soul. At a panel discussion attended by many TUMCers at Danforth Mennonite Church, stories were told of desperate need amid hardening attitudes and laws, and terrible consequences for those who do not receive such help. Sanctuary may or may not involve use of a church building; it also skirts the official laws of the land, but Leddy and others urged Christians to consider the higher law of compassion. Might TUMC think seriously about becoming part of the Sanctuary network? Bruce Pope wrote this reflection in response.to the challenge.

Deporting Jesus Her smile it bestows blessing Puzzled I open my door Her smiling voice Could you Would you give me rest a little food I’ve walked all day job interview didn’t work out She’s from… somewhere else I have no money?

She hadn’t looked poor through my window nice clothes not dirty or torn a bit worn perhaps a hand-me-down Her smile again a plea help! not a demand nor a whine just a polite request no reproach Her smile transforming not me but herself?

Her now liquid smile floats voicelessly claiming to be Jesus Please He says It’s me Will you help It’s me I don’t know how…

I say I don’t know how but I smile stepping back opening the door wider and…

but her smile disappears and my hand on the handle is showered in her blood His blood?

The door shatters and She collapses on the threshold and I’m confused also falling Arrest that conspirator!

Flak-jacket authority shouting accusing In my neighbourhood?

I don’t see their boots They press on my neck and on my back It hurts!

Handcuffs Too tight Bruises Twisted shoulders It hurts man!

I’m weeping now like a tree in a hurricane It’s not fear nor pain It’s…

I did nothing for her Nothing!

I’m sorry My gut’s knotting up But the cops are right I would have helped her Unlawful I’m guilty

Postscript Belief: Kindness, malice or indifference toward strangers… we do it to God and ourselves.

Image: The helpless one facing me, or facing you… that person is Jesus.

Fact: My government proclaims that Mexico is safe for Mexicans; no Mexican can be a refugee here. They deported her. She was murdered. My government made me an accessory before the fact. I did nothing. God is my judge. Mercy.

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