Blog 6

Since my last blog on June 19 there have been a number of events that have impacted my thinking. The parsonage here in Pandora has begun to feel much more like home as we get more things put away and spaces organized. Dianne and Ryan have done a lot of weeding and planted flowers in the front and the back. We also have put down mulch and sprayed a healthy crop of thistles. It is good to be at home again and feel at home.
My daughter Julia and I attended the gathering of the Central District Conference in Sugarcreek June 25-27. It was good to get back to the beautiful hills and valleys of eastern Ohio. We lived near Smithville from 1997-2000. For me the best part of the CDC gathering was the worship times with input by Ched Myers on ENGAGING THE EMPIRE: Anabaptist Identity for the Everyday. I was not acquainted with Ched Myers before but found his input to be very challenging, inspiring, and strongly Biblical. He brought some new meaning to very familiar Scripture passages and emphasized the freedom we can have in Jesus and community and the slavery to stuff that our economic system depends on for stability. Find out more about Ched Myers by going to the website of his organization, Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries (bcm-net.org/wordpress/theological-animation/). I look forward to reading his books and articles in the near future.
The very next week, I found myself along with about 7000 other Mennonites at the huge Convention center in downtown Columbus for the biennial Mennonite Church USA convention. Here are a number of quick reflections about the week at convention.
1. Convention is a place to renew friendships and old acquaintances. It seems like I could not walk more than a few yards without running into someone else that had been part of my past. It was also good to make new friendships around the table in our delegate sessions. I am very thankful for the rich heritage of relationships with people who have profoundly impacted my life.
2. Again the input and worship sessions were challenging, and inspirational. I was able to attend both the adult worship as well as some of the youth worship times. I very much appreciated the singing in the youth and adult worship times even though the styles were very different. Again it was an amazing pleasure to hear Ken Medema make up songs on the spot to close a worship session. I think this was the first time that I had seen worship with cell phones! Yes, you heard me correctly, worship with cell phones! In the darkened arena of the youth worship, cell phones were being waved with the rhythm of the music with each giving off a little light. Is this the new technology for candle light services?
3. The speaker I appreciated the most was Shane Claiborne. Again what hit me the most was my dependence on stuff and the joy and freedom that comes with freedom from stuff and living in community. Claiborne lives in community with the poor in Philadelphia and spent 10 weeks with Mother Theresa in Calcutta. One of his most memorable statements was something like “Let’s stop complaining about the church as it is and start working for the church that God dreams of.” His web site is http://www.thesimpleway.org/. I look forward to reading at least one of his books over vacation.
4. The business sessions were each morning from 8-10 am and each afternoon from 1:30-3:30 pm. We sat in table groups of 8 to discuss agenda items. Many informative reports were given about the mission of Mennonite Church USA. One emphasis was the new Corinthian Plan through which congregations will be able to provide health insurance for their pastors. It will also provide health insurance for 80-100 pastors in Mennonite Church USA in congregations that are not financially able to provide health insurance for their pastors. I was proud to be able to say that Grace Mennonite had already decided to participate in this innovative plan. Hopefully most other congregations will make the same decision soon.
5. Just today, I received my copy of the Bluffton News which had on its front page a large picture of the “Pink” Mennonites and screaming headlines about them along a very short “news” story. If I had not participated in convention, I probably would have thought that this was the major news! The truth is, that while we noticed people wearing pink shirts, which touted inclusivity of gay, lesbian, and transgender people, and saw them singing together in the halls between sessions, their presence and actions certainly did not merit front page news on any newspaper.
These are just a few personal reflections. There was much more to consider and reflect on. Next week, we will be surrounded by the beautiful mountain peaks of central Colorado. That will be a good time to stop and meditate on these events and what they mean for living as a disciple of Jesus Christ in our present culture.