Pom september 2013

Place of Meeting

Being salt & light You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Amazingly, those five little verses from Mark, repeated in myriad ways, inspired a whole summer of rich reflections at TUMC even while many of us travelled hither and yon, seeking relaxation, refreshment and new energy to be both flavourful and illuminating in our community this year. May it be so!

Toronto United Mennonite Church

September 2013

Place of Meeting

Scene at TUMC

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 Oct. 1, 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_sept_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

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Bill Voth, who has long relied on pedal power to get around, shows off his new powered model.

Annoying door thump? Peter Dick takes the initiative and fixes that with an oldfashioned plane and a little elbow grease.

CPTer Kathy Moorehead Thiessen regales us all with a story from the civil rights movement.

What would you like?

Space Task Force III begins planning with partners

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hat would you like to see included in the new space at TUMC? Thursday evening, Aug. 15, 12 people representing the three partners* enthusiastically engaged each other as we gathered around sketches and formal architectural drawings.

We had agreed to focus on the first floor at this meeting. We heard the words Fellowship, Hospitality and Accessibility many times over the three hours we shared together. Bob provided tracing paper and as different options were sketched out, the designer would explain his or her rationale for their design variation such as: “This would be the perfect location for a fellowship space that could be used for coffee hour, a funeral reception, a wedding luncheon, Sunday School activities or even a board meeting.”

“A room immediately off the sanctuary needs to have good audio-visual access for parents and infants.”

“The lobby needs to be as large as possible to encourage fellowship.”

At the end of the meeting our architect, Melana Janzen, was asked to prepare two additional drafts taking into account the dreams, hopes and goals voiced by the people gathered this evening. The STF3 has two meetings scheduled for the month of September to focus on design issues, permits, financing and fundraising. Much work will be done before and between meetings, including planning an “Open House” where we will have a detailed design to show to everyone. Our goal is still to have a detailed plan ready for congregational approval at the Annual General Meeting.

Previous Space Task Force committees have already set out the big items that we want from new space: larger lobby, more accessibility, better Christian Education spaces, useful outdoor space. Both big and small items are important in having the best space.

We want your suggestions too. What would you like to see included in the new space at TUMC? While we might not be able to include all ideas, everything will be carefully considered for inclusion. Send your ideas to Bob Tiessen, Chair of SFT3.

–– Jan Kraus on behalf of the task force

“All the partners need to have an office on the main floor and the reception area needs to support and encourage interaction among the partners.”

* TUMC, Toronto Mennonite New Life Church, Mennonite New Life Centre of Toronto

Detailed sketches helped us imagine various ways to enter the building. We looked at how the entrances and the placements of stairs, ramps or a lift would change sight lines and the impact that would have on safety and access. The location and size of wheelchair-accessible washrooms, a kitchenette and enlarged cloak room was discussed. The city-owned laneway, neighbouring easement issues and grade level are major factors that affect how we enter the building and therefore the layout of rooms.

A brief history of the original vision for the current space helped remind us that meeting the spiritual needs of all the people who come through our doors is an important part of both our history and our plans for the future.

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Salt & Light & Building Projects Our summer preaching theme was Salt and Light, and we asked our preachers to reflect on “When in your experience has the church been Salt and Light?”, and to consider what this means vis-à-vis our planned building project. In his August 18 sermon, Tim Schmucker shared two stories of the Mennonite Brethren church in Colombia being salt and light in their context, and then offered the following thoughts.

By Tim Schmucker

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et’s ponder for a moment our future: how will we continue to be salt and light as we give significant time, energy, and resources to our building project? I need to confess to you that I am a bit concerned, in spite of having expressed my clear support of our facilities expansion numerous times over the past year. What’s happened is that over the past three months or so, I’ve had a niggling unease in my gut (or in the back of my mind) that simply won’t go away.

Those persistent nigglings are two-fold. #1: we in Canada are in a “post-Christian” era; this of course isn’t news. No longer do most people in our neighbourhoods head to church services on Sunday morning. Those who do – we this morning, for example – and a very small minority. Rather, the vast majority of Canadian-born adults in Toronto are simply not engaged in faith communities. (I am not including here our first generation Canadian, immigrant communities, both Muslim and Christian; their experience is different.) Church has no relevance for most Canadian adults, especially those under 40, even though they may profess faith. How many times have you heard someone say “I’m spiritual, but not religious”?

Put simply, many church buildings in Toronto and across Canada are going the way of the one-room schoolhouse. Here on Queen St East, church buildings that were full every Sunday a generation or two ago are being redeveloped as highend condos.

Can we at TUMC buck this huge trend? I firmly believe the answer is a resounding YES, but it has a whole lot to do with the saltiness of our salt in our city, and the brightness of our light in our world. If our salt isn’t very salty or our light is hidden under that bushel basket, our building will eventually go the way of those one-room school houses, relics of a bygone time.

My niggling concern #2 is quite similar to the first: as I reflect

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Brad Lepp illustrates the unique properties of salt in a children’s story/science experiment that literally lit the room, top. Jodie Boyer Hatlem recalls her experiences of childhood faith in reflecting on “salt and light” in her final sermon to TUMC before leaving to teach at a Chicago seminary.

Salt & Light & Building Projects on the building projects that David and Marina have led in Cazucá and those that Rutilio and the MB church have initiated in Chocó, I’m struck by how those buildings’ primary purpose has not been internal, directed for the benefit of the congregation, but rather have focused on the physical, social, economic, and spiritual needs of the larger community around them.

Granted, their context is quite different from ours. But I still think we would do well to ponder their example. Their buildings have grown out of their burning desire to be salt and light in their communities and beyond. To live out Jesus’ gospel of justice and peace.

So where does Queen Street East and Toronto need our salt and light? How do we increase the presence of Jesus’ gospel outside our bricks and mortar? Our building project, I suggest, must emerge out of the answers to those questions.

Guest speaker Kathy Moorehead Thiessen, from Christian Peacemaker Teams, talks about the need for Christians to be willing to “pick up a toothbrush” and call authorities to account in the face of oppression, racism, sexism and abuse of Creation.

Salt and Light and Building Projects. The future of our congregation depends on how we integrate them. As one TUMC youth told me last month, “if I decide to be part of the church when I’m an adult, it’ll be because of the community I find there, and whether I see faith lived out daily in action.”

Faith lived out in action – that’s salt and light.

Increasing our salt and light in our city and beyond must be core to our building project.

More Salt & Light This summer’s theme, though based on just a few verses from Mark, inspired wonderfully varied and meaningful worship services. The passage was visualized in ways ranging from sparkling gossamer fabric, to quietly growing salt crystals, to communion table science lessons, to flashlights in a tent.

Our preachers offered a rich series of reflections, for example Tim Schmucker’s stories from Colombia (a taste above), Aklilu Zere’s fascinating insights on salt and light gleaned from his childhood in Eritrea (front page), CPT guest speaker Kathy

Moorehead Thiessen’s message referencing Martin Luther King Jr. (titled “Deny Yourself and Pick Up Your Toothbrush”) and Jodie Boyer Hatlem’s powerful final sermon to TUMC. Chances are, you missed some of this while away for vacation or camp, but it’s not too late.

Sermons can be accessed at tumc.ca: Just click the “Worship” tab and then “Recent Sermons” for a full list. Many sermons and even whole services are available to read or listen.

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The World Came to Us: Marlene & Bill DeFehr reflect on their service in D.C. Patricia, bodyguard for the president of Liberia.

Nomi, doctoral student from Burkino Faso.

Alak, the prof from Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Bigazi , prospective immigrant from Rwanda.

Hendrik, octor from Cape Town, now practising in Kelowna, B.C…. .

Just a few of the 400 guests from 52 countries, who came to a Washington guesthouse during Marlene and Bill DeFehr’s six months voluntary service there, from Oct. 1, 2012 to April 1, 2013.

Several years ago, Bill noticed an ad in Canadian Mennonite for an assignment through SOOP, a Mennonite Central Committee program, at the International Guest House in Washington D.C. When Bill and Marlene found that IGH needed volunteers last fall, they took off on their six-month adventure.

The house, purchased and renovated in 1967 by the Allegheny Mennonite Conference and the Hyattsville Mennonite Church to provide clean, inexpensive lodging for travelers and their families in a safe , comfortable and home-like atmosphere, is a mission of Christian hospitality. It accommodates up to 15 guests at $40 per person per night. Breakfast is served family style, and tea and cookies are served at 9 p.m. The staff are volunteers, with a host couple paid a small stipend and health coverage.

Marlene and Bill’s duties kept them busy for eight hours a day, five days a week: cleaning from the basement to the third floor, making beds, doing laundry, working in the office. They answered phones and emails, welcomed registered guests, and balanced the books each evening.

At the June Heritage Club meeting, the DeFehrs introduced us to 10 of the many guests and related the “special moments to cherish”as they connected with each other.

Washington was special for the DeFehrs not only because of the many nationalities they met, and the stories they heard, but also for their life in the city itself.

The IGH was closed each Sunday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., so they attended the Washington National Cathedral most Sundays. The Cathedral choir of boys and girls

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Bill and Marlene DeFehr at the entrance to the International Guest House, top, and with other volunteers.

The World Came to Us and men singing every Sunday created a very reverent atmosphere of worship, they told us. Dean Gary Hall feels the Cathedral should speak for the country, as a National Cathedral. They have an active welcoming group, an Israeli-Palestine advocacy group, an outreach to homeless group, and a strong group speaking out on gun control. On this issue, Dean Hall says they will not stop –– not until their voice is heard. The DeFehrs told us that sermon got a standing ovation!

The DeFehrs found using the transit system a good way to see the city, with priority seating for seniors and handicapped,and friendly bus drivers. The 16th Street took them south 4 ½ miles to the White House.

The 14th Street bus was lively and conversations were loud. As they headed to the Colombia Heights Metro Station, they recalled the huge fires that destroyed so many buildings and homes after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

The DeFehrs were invited to the Canadian Ambassador’s Tree Lighting and Reception at Christmas time, but couldn’t seem to find a way to be invited to Inauguration events, until Bill finally wrote a letter ending,”I am turning 75 on Jan. 22nd –– wouldn’t it be a special birthday treat to be able to observe some of the Inauguration events from the Embassy”! Just 4 days before the big event, the invitation came!

On the last weekend , Marlene and Bill took the bus, getting off at the White House. They noticed that the door at the Church of the Presidents, St. Johns, just steps from the White House, was open. The next day was Easter Sunday, so the church was being decorated with beautiful flowers. The people welcomed them in,and they could listen to the choir rehearsing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” They were shown Lincoln’s pew at the back of the church.They then chose to sit in the pews of the presidents –– Bill in Eisenhower’s because he was of Mennonite background, and Marlene FDR’s –– as they listened to the soaring music. The next day they heard Pres.

Obama had worshipped at St. Johns.

The DeFehrs had many visitors –– some from TUMC, and their families. When asked what his favourite part of Washington was, their 7-year-old grandson Ben replied,”the International Guest House!”

As many other international guests had expressed in their appreciation for the hospitality, “It felt like coming home.”

The practice of serving tea and cookies every evening encourages lively conversation among the incredibly diverse guests, who come to Washington all over the world. It’s one thing that makes the guesthouse a homey alternative to hotels, as well as a place to make interesting connections.

One of the truly unique experiences for the DeFehrs was swinging an invitation to watch the Obama inauguration parade at the Canadian Embassy, reputed to offer one of the very best viewpoints as well as a chance to be photographed with Mounties in their best red serge.

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Financial Update

TUMC Financial Fin cial Report August 201 13 January - A

Offerings to General Fund Disbursem ments For Centre of Wors ship & Community

Program Facilities

For Those Who Serv erve The Church For Others Balance

$! $! $! $! $! $!

2012 Actual 271,354 15,584 19,835 149,937 86,150 (152)

In August of last year

Start Donations Expenses Loan Repay yments Share Purchase Current

Building Fund $!

3,083 9,520 $! $!

4,414 automatic door openers $!

14,000 LQIL paid back loans made m

by TUMC C last year $!

4,500 TUMC purchased the la ast share it did d not own 17,689 $!

Start Donations Expenses Current

Refugee Fund $!

5,472 $!

1,100 $!

0 Expenses will start in September $!

6,572

$! $! $! $! $! $!

2013 Spending Plan 279,494 16,750 30,750 150,645 72,000 9,349

Offerings

$! $! $! $! $! $!

August Actual/Pla Actual 62% 172,397 42% 7,116 18,984 62% 52% 77,741 32,000 44% 36,556

$!

181,912

Here’s a quicklook at TUMC’s finances, mid-year, from Treasurer Bob Tiessen.

Um, what was your name again?

It’s September, and that means it’s time to get back into a good habit! Remember that wearing your name tag is a courtesy to help newcomers and visitors get to know you more easily –– and avoids the embarassment that comes with forgetting others’ names. And it’s part of our Inclusion initiative, one of TUMC’s four current goals. Check the boxes on the lobby table for yours. If you’ve lost your tag, or never had one, write the name you’d prefer to have on the tag on the signup sheet on the lobby table, or call/email our office administrator, Mike, any time (secretary@tumc.ca) to get one made. Kids can get one with parents’ permission.

Feel free to embellish to make it truly yours –– and don’t forget to put it back in the box or your mail slot to make sure you have it handy next Sunday.

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Milestones On July 21, TUMC joyfully welcomed into membership two people who have been part of our community for a while now: Diem LaFortune (on confession of faith) and Shirley Sherk (by transfer from Valleyview Mennonite), who shared their interesting and diverse faith stories. (If you missed it, listen on the TUMC website.) They were recommended by faith partners Lori Unger and Aya Pa Oryem, respectively.

After a long struggle to reopen her business after a fire early this year, Aya Pa Oryem reopened Kiden Thrifty Store at 26 Roncesvalles Ave. on July 26. Aya, who expressed gratitude for the support she received from TUMC after the devastating event, invites us all to visit the store. Donations of used clothing and household items are welcome.

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Blessings for a new ministry On Aug. 11, we welcomed back Bock Ki Kim and Sook Kyoung Park, who were a vital part of our congregation for several years and led a Korean fellowship within TUMC before taking up a pastorate in London. Now headed to Korea to begin new Anabaptist ministries there, they shared about their work in translation with the children and spoke about the transitions ahead. Their son, Daniel, bottom left, is beginning university at Conrad Grebel College, while daughter Jin Sol continues her studies. We were privileged to be able to extend our own blessings as Bock Ki and Sook Kyoung head to Korea.

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