MC USA launches new podcast!

Holding it(,) Together podcast to feature people living and working out their faith

Posted on the MC USA website on March 12, 2018.

(Mennonite Church USA / The Mennonite, Inc.) — “Too often in the context of faith and lived experience, the stories we tell are stories of overcoming, of success,” said Jenny Castro, coordinator of Mennonite Church USA’s Women in Leadership, in the first episode of Holding it(,) Together, a new podcast created in partnership with The Mennonite, Inc.

“Our podcast is about people in process,” said Castro. “Whole people, authentic people who need others to hold it, [all that they carry] together with them, recognizing that so many of us, in our day to day lives, are really just barely holding it together.”

The Holding it(,) Together podcast will highlight stories and interviews with people living and working out their faith in diverse contexts across Mennonite Church USA. Holding it(,) Together will explore themes like women in leadership, breaking silences, family systems, and healthy sexuality. Themes will change quarterly, with about four to five episodes focused on one theme. The first series theme, women in leadership, will feature Iris de León-Hartshorn, Michelle Armster, Shirley Showalter, Sue Park-Hur and Alison Brookins among others.

Holding it(,) Together launches today and the first episode can be found on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and at TheMennonite.org. New episodes will be added every two to three weeks.

Mennonite Church USA – Renewed Commitments for the Journey Forward released

By Janie Beck Kreider

 “On this journey together, we commit to: Follow Jesus; Witness to God’s peace; Experience Transformation,” reads the updated draft of core commitments for Mennonite Church USA’s denomination-wide renewal process called Journey Forward. As the church takes its next steps in Journey Forward, these three statements will serve as a springboard for Bible study, wrestling with identity and storytelling about how congregations live these values out in different ways and in different places.

The Journey Forward writing team – Sarah Bixler, Isaac Villegas,Natalie Francisco, Jack Swaim, Jon Carlson and MC USA staff representative Janie Beck Kreider – met Jan. 25-27, 2018 in Philadelphia to workshop an earlier draft of the document based on feedback they received from the Executive Board (EB) and a seven-person reference council. In this meeting, they named the document Renewed Commitments for MC USA, and it can now be found in its entirety at mennoniteusa.org.

In a Jan. 25 video conference call, the Journey Forward Reference Council responded to a previous draft of the document, challenging the writers to simplify the language, situate the commitments in the context of our current realities as a church, and “make the document sing” or sound poetic.

The task that’s been asked of the writing team – to summarize the commons bonds of a national church with almost 70,000 members – has felt daunting at times. We have relied on the Holy Spirit and each other,” said Jon Carlson of the writing team. “I believe this draft can be a catalyst that generates discernment, dialogue, and maybe even some healthy disagreement, as we listen together for what God’s Spirit is saying to our church.

In addition to naming three core commitments, the writing team crafted a preamble that confesses the belovedness of all creation, and the sin that fragments our wholeness and strains our relationships with God, each other and the world.

“Confronted with the misuses of power in our lives, communities and institutions, we seek to tell the truth and repent,” the updated document says.

“It was important for us to emphasize that members of MC USA have experienced the misuse and abuse of power, which was articulated at the Future Church Summit held in Orlando,” said Natalie Francisco of the writing team. “We lament this reality and were compelled by the Holy Spirit to address it in our identity document.”

The Holy Spirit beckons us toward the restoration of all things in Christ,” the document continues. “God continually calls us beloved.

The EB affirmed the work of the writing team in a Jan 29 video conference call and voted unanimously to move forward with the process using this draft of the document for congregations to engage with and provide feedback during all of 2018.

In its current form, Renewed Commitments is available online and will be sent out to all congregations accompanied by a study guide on June 1, 2018. All congregations, area conferences, agencies and small groups interested in engaging with the Journey Forward process are encouraged to use the study guide in Summer or Fall of 2018. The process will include multiple channels for providing feedback, which will inform the writing team and EB as they update Renewed Commitments for the Delegate Assembly at MennoCon19 in Kansas City.

MC USA staff released resources for area conference, constituency and agency leaders to host regional gatherings from now through May 2018 to orient their constituency to the Journey Forward process. They held a webinar for area conference and denominational leaders on Feb 14 and have planned the next one for Feb 19.

The Journey Forward process is propelled by the energy and outcomes of the Future Church Summit (FCS) in Orlando 2017, and extends the conversation for broader churchwide participation. The themes in the FCS Outcomes Report served as the basis for the writing team’s work on Renewed Commitments for MC USA.

“This process fulfills a promise to engage the denomination and give voice to the members of MC USA as they live out the mission of the church in their context,” said Glen Guyton, who initiated plans for the FCS and will serve as the next executive director of MC USA. “Because of the significant changes in the global church and in our Anabaptist churches in the last several years, the FCS was a way to gauge where we as MC USA are currently, and where we feel God has called us to go. The Journey Forward takes the next steps to center MC USA around our core commitments as Anabaptists.”

To stay updated on Journey Forward news, or read more about the process and responses to Frequently Asked Questions, visit mennoniteusa.org/resource/journeyforward.

Glen Guyton named next executive director of MC USA

The executive board of Mennonite Church USA named Glen Guyton as the next executive director. He will begin in this role on May 1, 2018.

In a press release on the MC USA website, Joy Sutter, chair of the search committee and moderator-elect of MC USA said,

We believe that Glen is called at this time and place to lead MC USA. We are impressed by Glen’s love for the church, his vision and passion for the future, his commitment to anti-racism, his excellent skills in communication, his business acumen and the hope he holds for the future of the denomination. His gifts in administration and vision, and his broad respect throughout the church, will serve us well.

Read the full press release here.

IMC Leaders Participate in First CLC of the Biennium

Kansas City, MO – Michael Danner, Anne Munley, and Don Rheinheimer represented Illinois Mennonite Conference at the first Constituency Leaders Council meeting of the biennium (two year period between delegate assemblies).

Michael, Anne, and Don were a part of a group of 60 leaders from area conferences, constituency groups and agencies that met Oct. 19-21 at the Hyatt Place Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri.

The primary emphasis of the gathering was providing feedback to the Executive Board of MC USA concerning the Journey Forward – a two-year process of putting the learnings of the Future Church Summit into action.

“It is always good to connect with various leaders across the church,” said Michael Danner, IMC conference minister. “What remains to be seen is if the journey forward initiative can, indeed, move us forward as a church.”

Danner said, “In my view, [MC USA] has always had a clear vision of what we are trying to be together – A Jesus-centered, community of reconciliation and peacemaking. We struggle when we hold different ideas on how to live that out. Recently around issues like same-gender marriage and church leadership. In the past around issues of women in ministry and divorce.  It is my hope that this process will help us learn to approach discernment and disagreement in more helpful ways.”

You can read a full report of the CLC meeting by clicking the button below.

Click Here for a full report from The Mennonite

MCC Immigration Grants

Is your church working with Immigration within your community?  Would your church like to begin working with Immigration in your community? If so, Mennonite Central Committee has funding to help. The following is a list of activities MCC will be funding:

  • Immigration Law Training – This is a 40-hour training in Akron, PA. The training will teach the fundamentals of immigration law which will help churches better explain and advocate around the tension in our country right now. The training will also teach skills for working with immigrant communities on their rights and pathways to citizenship.
  • Immigration Documentation Programs – The grant will provide start up/support funds for churches who are offering immigrants assistance will preparing proper documentation and helping communities better understand the system of immigration and their rights.
  • Know-you-right brochures – If your church needs the know-your-rights brochures and postcards, please contact MCC Great Lakes and we can assist with getting them for their specific communities.
  • Trauma Healing Training – If someone in your church or community is interested in taking Trauma Healing Training, the grant will pay for classes in your area. WE have limited spots for this part of the grant, so if people are interested they should contact me soon.
  • Translation  – The grant will pay to have immigration material translated to Spanish.
  • Advocacy Day – The grant will pay for a few people to go to Washington DC for advocacy training. The grant will also pay to bring Washington DC staff to your community and offer a training as well.

    These are a few areas in which MCC has funding for local congregations and communities. If you would like more information about these grants, please email Cyneatha Millsaps, MCC Program Director for the Great Lakes Region. 

Seeking Peace in Israel Palestine

Click Here to read the Seeking Peace in Israel and Palestine Resolution

At the Mennonite Church USA gathering in Orlando (July 2017), delegates overwhelming affirmed a resolution entitled Seeking Peace in Israel and Palestine. Now it is up to individuals, local congregations, and conferences to live into the resolution.

Below is a letter from Danny Aramouni, a pastoral intern at Reba Place Church in Evanston, IL. Danny provides a starting place, as well as helpful information about legislation that is intended to limit peacemaking efforts. This letter was originally sent to Reba Place Church members. IMC is posting it here with Danny’s permission.

Let us know how your church is living into this resolution!

Dear Reba Place Church family,

As you know, our denomination, Mennonite Church USA, recently overwhelmingly passed a resolution in opposition to both anti-Semitism and the oppressive Israeli military occupation of Palestine. One of the points of the resolution is encouraging our denominational agencies to divest from companies that support the occupation. When we discussed this resolution as a congregation, many of you asked how you could personally make your voices heard against military occupation, and I pointed you to the international boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement to put pressure on Israel to recognize the human rights of Palestinians.

Recently, however, a bill has been introduced in the Senate known as the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which would make boycott activity in conjunction with an international governmental organization, such as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a criminal offense punishable by up to a $1 million fine and 20 years in prison. This is not only counter to human rights–it is also a blatant and unprecedented violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, which includes the right to boycott, as in the early colonial American boycott of British goods and the Montgomery Bus Boycott during the Civil Rights Movement.

I would strongly encourage you to watch the short video (under two minutes) linked below from our Quaker friends at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) regarding this bill, and then, if you feel led, to use the form they provide below the video to quickly and easily contact your senators and representatives, informing them of your opposition to this bill and support for global human rights. I believe that this is the most consistent action we can take as people of God, whose Kingdom transcends all earthly powers.

Watch AFSC’s video and make your voice heard.

If you are interested in more information concerning the bill, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has a helpful FAQ page about it.

Thank you for your time and support.

Grace and peace in Christ,

Danny Aramouni

RPC Pastoral Intern

Two Important Outcomes from Orlando 2017

Click here to read the Future Church Summit Outcome Report Click here to read the Israel-Palestine resolution

There are two important outcomes from the 2017 MC USA Convention in Orlando, FL.

First, the delegate body passed a resolution on Israel-Palestine. As a conference, we agree to live into the discernments and resolutions passed by the delegate body of MC USA. Please read the summary articles and the resolution. We’ll be talking more about this in IMC.

Second, the Future Church Summit yielded a good picture of where the participants would like to see MC USA head in the future. Illinois Mennonite Conference Conference Executive Minister, Michael Daner, said, “It was a privilege to participate in the Future Church Summit. The process was creative and accomplished its purpose.”  What remains to be seen, according to Danner, is what church leadership will do with the feedback provided by FCS participants. Danner said, “It took a lot of courage for the FCS participants to share their hopes and dreams for the church going forward. The question is, will leadership – including conferences – have the courage to move the church in those directions.”  The hope present in the FCS report is the hope of an energized Anabaptist witness for today.

You can read a daily summary of convention happenings at The Orlando Squeeze (button above) and The Mennonite (click here).

 

Iglesia Menonita Hispana (IMH) Nombrará Nueva Junta Ejecutiva, Moderador/a y Moderador/a Electo en Orlando

Ya estamos a pocos dias de nuestra asamblea de la Iglesia Menonita Hispana, julio 3 al 5 del 2017, en Orlando Florida; estamos trabajando arduamente para que sea Dios glorificado en todo lo que háganos y podamos servirnos de bendición los unos a los otros. Estamos recibiendo las registraciones y sabemos que será un tiempo …

Source: Iglesia Menonita Hispana (IMH) Nombrará Nueva Junta Ejecutiva, Moderador/a y Moderador/a Electo en Orlando

Delegates pass resolution on Israel-Palestine overwhelmingly

Mennonite Church USA delegates voted overwhelmingly to pass the resolution “Seeking Peace in Israel and Palestine” on Thursday afternoon. Only 10 were opposed and two abstained. Andre Gingerich Stoner, former director of holistic witness for MC USA, who helped to lead the resolution’s development process, introduced the resolution, saying it tries to take “modest but …

Source: Delegates pass resolution on Israel-Palestine overwhelmingly

Seeking Peace in Israel and Palestine Resolution Webinar

Click here to RSVP

 

YOU ARE INVITED TO THIS WEBINAR ON THE “SEEKING PEACE IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE” RESOLUTION.
June 20, 2017 8 pm eastern / 7 pm central/ 6 pm Mountain / 5 pm Pacific
Join us for a 1-hour webinar to learn more about the “Seeking Peace in Israel-Palestine” resolution that will be considered by delegates at Orlando 2017. Andre Gingerich Stoner who helped lead the writing process will offer a short overview of the resolution. The webinar will have an extensive question and answer time. Whether you read the resolution beforehand and come with questions, or use this as an introduction to the resolution, you are welcome to join the conversation. Please RSVP by clicking the button above.