Debra Sutter is ordained at First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana

Debra Sutter was ordained on November 17, 2017

From left to right: Doug Roth (Chair of the Church Life Team of Illinois Mennonite Conference), Doug Luginbill, Debra Sutter and Deb’s husband Tom Sutter.

From left to right: Doug Luginbill, Michael Crosby, Debra Sutter, Jane Roeschley, Doug Roth.

From left to right: Jane Roeschley and Debra Sutter. (Jane Roeschley served as Deb’s mentor and preached the sermon entitled, “God’s Heart; A Hymn” based on Philippians 1:1-9 and John 15:9-17)

Laying on of hands.

An Anabaptist Response to Gun Violence

Written By: Hillary Watson 

Hillary Watson is a full-time Mennonite pastor at Lombard Mennonite Church in suburban Chicago. She blogs at Gathering the Stones, where this post first appeared. It is reprinted with permission.

There is a gap in Mennonite response to mass shootings. After a  shooting, when secular headlines buzz with gory details and harrowing survivals, Mennonite news outlets often continue posting business-as-usual news. Over the past few years, as shootings occur, I’ve begun Googling the location + “Anabaptist” or “Mennonite.” When I did it three days after the Sutherland Springs shooting, the first page of search results all read “Missing: Anabaptist.”

Occasionally, a Mennonite publication will carry a call to prayer or brief opinion that restates a general commitment to pacifism, but most often, we are left with the distinct, lonely feeling that pacifism means existing above the fray, and existing above the fray means pretending the violence didn’t happen.

A typical Google search after a mass shooting. (The second hit is a newspaper summarizing local headlines, which included coverage of the shooting on the same page where Anabaptists were given a nod during Reformation Day celebrations.)

Congregations in the same state or region may respond by attending a vigil, but often Anabaptist response is based on proximity and the coverage is a summary of the reactive response. It is not a churchwide, proactive movement but a rippling in one corner of the fabric.

Days after the shooting in Las Vegas, Chicagoland Mennonite pastors met for our monthly pastors’ meeting. For months, we’d planned to have a speaker from Mennonite Central Committee facilitate a conversation about gun violence. Most of the pastors admitted we’d never talked with our congregations about gun violence. We didn’t know how.

Why are our pacifist pastors so ill-equipped to respond to what has become commonplace violence?

Every shooting demands not aloof pacifist whispers, but vocal pacifist witness. If a shooting happens in America and the pacifists have a moment of silence, does anyone hear them? Of course not. Our pacifism is a stale farce if it is never articulated to the broader culture. Just as we were vocal, visible conscientious objectors during the world wars, we ought to be conscientious objectors to the epidemic of gun violence. We ought to be at the forefront of proclaiming “this is wrong and it is sin.” We ought to be on the front pages of the Internet exclaiming, “If this is troubling to you, you are not the only one.”

For every mass shooting, there should be a denominational press release condemning the violence and calling for an understanding of Jesus as a healer and peacemaker. For every mass shooting, there should be a response and ritual in our Sunday services. We should invite RawTools to every convention. We should be banging on MCC Washington’s office door to speak against gun legislation.

And we ought to respond not just in public, but in worship, too. Perhaps we should make a commitment, as peace churches, to acknowledge and mourn every shooting. Every week that a shooting happens, we ought to begin our services all around the country by lighting candles for each victim, calling their memory into our worship recalling that each person was created by God and intended for peace and flourishing. We ought to open each service reading out loud together Matthew 5, from “Blessed are the poor in spirit” all the way to “if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others…be complete, therefore, as your heavenly Father is complete.”** We should repeat Matthew 5 until we memorize it, since it is the chapter we often say is the key to understanding the Christian life.

As I prepare for Sunday services the week after a shooting, I am often frustrated that we have no ritual of lament or prophetic call for peacemaking. It means that in my congregation, we simply don’t acknowledge the shooting. In four years, only once (after Pulse), did we include a ritual of mourning in our worship. I lament that I, as a pastor, have failed to teach my congregation to address gun violence as pacifists. In doing so, I have allowed my congregation to falter in their pacifism. I wish I was bold enough to arrive at church after the next shooting (there will be a next one) and declare a new ritual for these awful occasions—a ritual that affirms our call to peace, just as we regularly affirm our baptismal vows. Perhaps our call to worship should be an affirmation of the posted “no conceal carry” sign on our door.

As a pacifist denomination, we ought to be among the first and the loudest voices proclaiming to be American does not mean owning a gun. That guns do not make us safer; what makes us safer is faith and hope and embrace of the neighbor.

It is not only pacifism that calls us to oppose gun violence. It is also the Anabaptist conviction to love our neighbor and our enemy. Who commits gun violence and mass shootings? Those with nothing to lose. Those who have lost a grasp on the sacredness of life and who feel unvalued, unvalidated and utterly alone. If we are properly loving our neighbor, if we are properly reaching out and integrating the lonely and depressed and hurting neighbor, we are doing gun violence prevention. We are making our communities safer.

And we ought to remember a lesson from our own history of the Russian Mennonite migration to North and South America. In the early 20th century, Russian Mennonites hurried out of the country, persecuted by the Red and White armies as well as local militias. Mennonite communities were targeted for a reason: generations of good farming practice, strong communities, and mutual aid had created tight-knit, wealthy, well-fed communities, while Russian peasants across the region suffered and starved. In the name of being “in the world but not of the world,” the Mennonites ignored their neighbors’ suffering and built bigger fences. Our communities may be thriving and flush with peace, but if we cannot speak to the violence our neighbors’ experience, it will someday bleed into our own lives. And our own record of inaction will leave us ill-prepared to respond.

When the fray bursts with violence, we cannot be above it—we must be in it, among it, with it. But not of it.

Church Spotlight: First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana

The following is a snapshot of congregational life at First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana, IL  provided by Rebecca Bare. If you would like more information on news shared here, please contact the congregation directly. We’re sure they’d love to hear from you.

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First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana

Barb Shenk and Dannie Otto were given our blessing on August 6, as they begin a two-year stint as directors of the World Friendship Center in Hiroshima, Japan.

On August 13, Katherine Crosby shared with the congregation her experience with CPT in Hebron.

August 20 was a music service. Amanda Heinsman and Matthew Klopfenstein were received as new members.

John Otto entered hospice care mid-August and died August 27, age 71. A memorial service was held for him on September 6.

September’s worship theme was Seasons of Creation: forest, land, river, and wilderness. Our service on the 3rd was held outdoors, with a picnic following.

Harold Heiser turned 93 on September 3.

Brian Sauder gave the sermon on September 10.

Nine women attended the Women’s Retreat held at Camp Friedenswald on the weekend of September 15-17. Many people who stayed in Champaign participated in the CU Pride Parade which took place on the 16th.

On October 1st, worldwide communion Sunday, Leslie Deem and Cheryl Koranda were received as new members.

On October 15, we held a joint service with our sister church, El Divino Redentor, in Bucaramanga, Colombia. We were able to do this via Skype. It was a blessed experience to share songs and have a joint sermon. Because our sister church is Lutheran, the service included a confession of sins perpetrated by Lutherans against the Anabaptists 500 years ago.

November 5 was our Remembrance Sunday. We remembered and prayed for our friends and family who died this past year.

Long time member, Conrad Wezel of Overland Park, KS died on Oct. 17.

 

Plowsharing Crafts

Plowsharing Crafts has provided meaningful income to skilled artisans around the world by marketing their products in the St. Louis area since 1985. Plowsharing Crafts is a ministry of the St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship, one of two Mennonite churches located in the St. Louis area. Plowsharing Crafts is a member of the Fair Trade Federation, and a 501c3 not-for-profit organization. Largely staffed by volunteers from the community, and they always welcome new friends to join their team.

Many of the products are made with sustainable and recycled materials.

Their food products are grown all over the world by small farmers using sustainable methods.

To learn more about Plowsharing Crafts you can visit their website at https://plowsharing.org/

 

 

Parents and Childrens Workers: Check out Advent at Home Worship Guides

 

Are you looking for ways to celebrate Advent at Home this Advent season?  Check out the Advent at Home resource from Shana Boshart, conference minister of Central Plains Mennonite conference.

Church leaders, you can use the following bulletin announcements below to get the word out about this resource to parents in your congregation.

 

For Sunday, November 19
Nurture children’s faith at home this Advent and Christmas through family worship. Find a free, downloadable guide at www.anabaptistfaithformation.org. For use between December 3 and January 6, it includes a daily Bible reading, short litany, songs, hands-on activities and questions to ponder together.

For Sunday, November 26
Families with children: Next week is the First Sunday of Advent and the beginning of “Yes! Let It Be!” a free, downloadable guide for family worship from December 3 to January 6. Pick and choose the activities that work best for your family. Find it at www.anabaptistfaithformation.org.

For Sunday, December 3
Advent At Home begins today! Download the free guide for Advent family worship at www.anabaptistfaithformation.org. “Yes! Let It Be!” will help you slow down with your children to ponder and prepare for what it means to receive Jesus.

For Sunday, December 10
It’s not too late to start Advent family worship. Just go to www.anabaptistfaithformation.org and download “Yes! Let It Be!” a free guide for family worship from December 3 to January 6.

 

If you have questions about this resource, contact Shana Peachey Boshart at 319-936-5905 or shanaboshart@centralplainsmc.org​

El Divino Redentor of Bucaramanga, Colombia

by 

Since 2003, First Mennonite Church has enjoyed a sister church relationship with El Divino Redentor (EDR), a Lutheran congregation in Bucaramanga, Colombia. This friendship has included delegations traveling back and forth, sharing prayers and photos, and learning about the ministries of EDR in Colombia. On Sunday, October 15th, we live-streamed a joint worship service, with songs, readings, and sermons delivered in English and Spanish.

Pastor Sergio and I preached back-to-back short sermons based on Scripture readings from Philippians 4:4-9 and John 10:11-18 (his is below). At the conclusion of his reflections, Pastor Sergio refers to the Mennonite-Lutheran reconciliation dialogues of 2010, involving both the Lutheran World Federation and the Mennonite World Conference. Following the language developed in this earlier reconciliation process, EDR and First Mennonite Church exchanged words of confession and reception. It was a gracious gift of our friendship that we could manifest this personal expression of a global conversation. The words of Pastor Sergio’s sermon, EDR’s confession, and FMC’s response are printed below, with gratitude to Pastor Sergio Talero, of The Divine Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bucaramanga, Colombia; and to Rafael Luquis, a member of First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana, who provided the English translations.

Sermon, Pastor Sergio Talero (Spanish Language Original):

SERMÓN – REFLEXIÓN PASTORAL ‘La alternativa de Jesús, modelo de pastor, unidos confluimos en él’

Nuestra reflexión parte del texto de Juan 10.11-18, Jesús se ha presentado como el modelo de pastor, como el acceso a la vida, la alternativa a la muerte. Su acción pastoral describe la actividad con aquellos que el Padre le ha dado (6.39). No es Jesús un pastor más, es El Modelo, el verdadero, y su función primaria es dar la vida por los suyos (15.13), quien no ama hasta dar la vida no es pastor (21.16).

Hay un fuerte antagonismo con el v. 10.10, por esto Jesús viene a dar vida rebosante y para ello se da a sí mismo. Darse es comunicar vida (12.24). La vida solo la comunica el amor, que es don de sí a los demás.

El asalariado o mercenario deja ver su relación con los suyos (11-13) como el verdadero pastor con los suyos (14-15) el antagonismo entre el asalariado y el pastor se fundamenta en la motivación, el primero presta su servicio por interés, el segundo lo hace por amor. Ante el peligro el asalariado deja que las ovejas mueran. Jesús tiene un conocimiento personal de cada uno, le llama por su nombre y les saca del recinto (10.4). Del mismo modo declara Jesús que entre él y la comunidad como suma de individuos existe una relación personal de conocimiento profundo e íntimo.

La comunidad significa conoce a Jesús que ha dado la vida por sus amigos y les ha comunicado el Espíritu, es decir, conocer su amor (1.16) y es tan profunda esta relación que Jesús compara la relación con los suyos con la que él tiene con su Padre, basada también en la comunión con el Espíritu. La pertenencia a la comunidad de Jesús no es una afiliación externa, se basa en la experiencia. En esto consiste la vida definitiva, en conocer personalmente al Padre y a su enviado Jesús Mesías (17.3). De otra parte Jesús ve el horizonte de su futura comunidad. Su misión no se limita al pueblo judío, se extiende a otros.

Este universalismo está en consonancia con la concepción de Juan que desde el prólogo sitúa su evangelio en el contexto de la creación. El amor de Dios que la realiza tiene por término la humanidad entera (1.9; 3.16-17; 4.42; 8.12) los discípulos que vengan de otras procedencias, formarán con los que vengan de Israel, una sola comunidad, ha terminado el privilegio del pueblo elegido. La unidad de todos se verificará por la convergencia en el único pastor, Jesús. La comunidad que es universal, no está encerrada en la institución nacional o confesional o cultural alguna.

En la undécima Asamblea de la Federación Luterana Mundial 2010 en Stuttgart la comunidad luterana pidió perdón por la persecución a la comunidad anabautista del siglo XVI, así mismo se pidió perdón por olvidar e ignorar esa persecución durante los siglos siguientes, así como el uso por parte de autores luteranos de calificativos impropios, falaces o hirientes para referirse a personas anabautistas.

Nuestro modelo de pastor: Jesús, nos llama por nuestro nombre y es el de hijos e hijas sin distingo alguno. Nos llama a reconocernos como iguales, a pedirnos perdón, a restaurar lo quebrado y a celebrar juntos y juntas la vida que él nos dio alternativamente a la muerte que nos rodea.

Sermon, Pastor Sergio Talero (English Language Translation):

SERMON-PASTORAL REFLECTION “Jesus’ alternative, shepherd’s standard, united we conflux in Him” (Translator’s note: The word pastor in Spanish means both shepherd and pastor, making words play between both meanings).

Our reflection comes from the reading of John 10:11-18. Jesus has presented himself as shepherd, as the access to life, the alternative to death. His pastoral/shepherd actions describe the work with who were given to him by the Father. (6:39) Jesus is not just another shepherd, is The Standard, the true one, and his primary function is to give his life for his own. (15:13), the one who is not willing to give his life out of love, is not a shepherd (21:16).

There is a strong antagonism within the verse 10:10, that’s why Jesus comes to give life abundantly and that’s why he gives himself. To give yourself is to communicate life. (12:24) Life can only communicate love, that it is a gift in itself to everyone.

The hireling or mercenary shows his relation with his own (11-13) just like the true shepherd with his own (14-15) the antagonism between hireling and the shepherd is fundamentally different, the first one gives his services for profit, the second one does it for love. Facing danger, the hireling leaves the sheep behind to die. Jesus knows personally each one of his sheep, he calls them by name and gets them out of the enclosure (10:4) In the same way Jesus declares that between him and the community (as the sum of individuals) exists a personal relationship of deep and intimate knowledge.

The community means that it knows Jesus, that having given his life for his friends, and having communicated his Holy Spirit, meaning, to know Jesus’ love, (1:16) and this relationship is so deep, that Jesus compares it with the one He has with his Father. That is based also in the communion with the Spirit. Belonging into Jesus’ community, is based in experience, not in an external affiliation. In this consists definite life, in knowing personally the Father and his envoy Jesus Messiah (17:3). In another way, Jesus sees the horizon of his future community. His mission is not limited to Jewish people, it reaches to others.

This universality is consonant with John’s conception, from the prologue, he places his gospel in context of creation. John realizes, that God’s love has the finality to reach the whole human race (1:9, 3:16-17, 4:42, 8:12). The disciples that come from other origins will form, with the ones from Israel, one community, ending the privilege of the chosen people. Everyone’s unity will be verified by the convergence in one shepherd, Jesus. The universal community isn’t exclusive of a national, confessional, or cultural institution.

In the Eleventh World Federation Lutheran Assembly of 2010, in Stuttgart, the Lutheran community asked for forgiveness for the persecution to the Anabaptist community of the 1600’s, also we asked forgiveness for forgetting and ignoring this persecution in the following centuries. Also, the use of derogative, fallacious and hurtful terms, used to refer to Anabaptists.

Our standard of a shepherd: Jesus, calls us by our name, and it is as sons and daughters, without distinction. He calls us to recognize each other as equals, to ask forgiveness, to restore the brokenness, and to celebrate together the life He has given us, in alternative, to the death that surrounds us.

Confessional Statement of EDR Spoken to FMC (Spanish Language Original)

Iglesia evangélica Luterana El Divino Redentor A LA COMUNIDAD ANABAUTISTA MENONITA “First Mennonite Church”

Cómo luteranos y luteranas en Bucaramanga, en la comunidad de El Divino Redentor en este 500 Aniversario de la Reforma iniciada por Martín Lutero en 1517, hacemos nuestras las palabras de la Undécima Asamblea de la Federación Luterana Mundial en Stuttgart Alemania, en donde procuramos seguir acercándonos a la comunión de hijos e hijas de Dios y pedimos perdón por la persecución que la comunidad de seguidores de Lutero y sus compañeros reformadores emprendieron a la comunidad anabautista en el siglo XVI. Así mismo pedimos perdón por el olvido y la invisibilización de esta situación durante los siglos siguientes como el uso por parte de autores-as luteranos-as de calificativos impropios, falaces o hirientes usados para referirse a personas anabautistas.

El documento suscrito en algunos apartes dice: “somos dolorosamente conscientes de nuestra propia inadecuación (…) no podemos haber llegado hasta aquí para no ver nuestra propia pecaminosidad. No podemos haber llegado hasta aquí sin reconocer nuestra necesidad de la gracia y el perdón de Dios”.

Por su parte el Rev. Danisa Ndlovu de Zimbabue, presidente del Congreso Mundial Menonita obsequió una palangana de madera utilizada en una comunidad menonita que ha mantenido la tradición del lavado de pies, lo hizo con estas palabras: “Se la regalamos como símbolo de nuestro compromiso con un futuro en el que el sello distintivo de las relaciones anabaptista-luteranas sea el amor ilimitado y el servicio infalible”.

Agradecemos en este domingo 15 de octubre a la First Mennonite Church por su apoyo, por su amor incondicional para con nosotros en Bucaramanga y especialmente el apoyo a nuestras niñas y niños en el comedor “Semillas de Vida” en Girón, con este Culto Unido, simultáneo vía Internet queremos estrechar relaciones, conocernos un poco más y comprometernos a dejar que el Espíritu Santo de Dios fluya entre nosotros y nosotras, para la Gloria de Dios, Amén

Confessional Statement of EDR Spoken to FMC (English Language Translation)

CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT (Divine Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church) to the ANABAPTIST MENNONITE COMMUNITY ”First Mennonite Church”

As Lutherans from Bucaramanga, of the community of El Divino Redentor, in this 500 Reform’s Anniversary, started by Martin Luther in 1517, we make our own, the words of the Eleventh World Lutheran Federation in Stuttgart, Germany, where we procure to keep getting close to the community of God’s sons and daughters, and ask forgiveness for the persecution done by Lutherans and fellow reformers, against the Anabaptist community of the 1600’s, also we asked forgiveness for forgetting and ignoring this persecution in the following centuries. Also, the use of derogative, fallacious and hurtful terms, used by the Lutheran authors to refer to Anabaptists.

The subscribed document says in some parts: “…we are painfully conscious of our own inadequacy … we cannot have reached this far without seeing our own sinfulness. We couldn’t have reached this far without recognizing our need of God’s grace and forgiveness”.

From your behalf, the Reverend Danisa Ndlovu from Zimbabwe, president of World Mennonite Conference, gave a wooden basin, used by the Mennonite community that has kept the feet washing as a tradition. He gave it with this words: “We give it as a symbol of our commitment to a future, in which the distinct seal of the Anabaptist-Lutheran relations would be one of unlimited love and infallible service”.

We thank the First Mennonite Church for its support on this date, October 15, for your unconditional love to us in Bucaramanga, especially in your support to our children’s diner “Semillas de Vida” (Seeds of Life) in Girón. With this joined, simultaneous service, through the internet, we want to tighten the relationship, get to know each other a little bit more, and to commit to let the God’s Holy Spirit to flow between us, for God’s glory, Amen.

Response and Reception of FMC Spoken to EDR (English Language Original)

As your friends and coworkers in God’s Kingdom: Thank you for your heartfelt words. We receive them with humility and in God’s peace.

It is our honor to live in the future that Rev. Ndlovu of Mennonite World Conferece described, one marked by “unlimited love and infallible service.” As he said in his address then, “Today, in this place, we together – Lutherans and Mennonites – are fulfilling the rule of Christ.”

You, our friends at El Divino Redentor, teach us about the boundless love of God in your commitment to feeding the hungry in your midst. Your confession reminds us that we, too, are in need of God’s grace in all things. To quote Rev. Dr. Larry Miller, another representative of Mennonite World Conference, Our communities “are also in need of healing and forgiveness. In this action between us, for Mennonites also, the promise of release and renewal.”

With thankfulness in our hearts we pray for God’s gentle rain of renewal. AMEN.