Call to Prayer after Las Vegas shooting

10.2. 2017  Posted By: The Mennonite                                     

On Oct. 1, a gunman opened fire during a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, where over 22,000 attendees were gathered. The shooter, Stephen Paddock, killed 50 people and injured hundreds of others before taking his own life. 

This tragic event now becomes the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history, surpassing the death toll following a mass shooting at the Pulse Nighclub in Orlando in 2016, an event which claimed the lives of 49 individuals. Over 270 mass shootings, defined as an event where four or more individuals are killed in the same “general time or location,” have taken place in the United States in 2017 alone. 

Michael Martin, director of RAW Tools, an organization that works alongside communities to address gun violence by forging garden tools from guns, wrote this prayer in mourning for this tragedy.

A call to prayer for Las Vegas and beyond

Lord, Hear our prayer….

We pray for the lives lost in Las Vegas that join the climbing number of those lost to gun violence in America.
Comfort the mourning, the grieving, the broken-hearted.
Compel our prayers to turn into actions.

May the triggers of our streets be beaten into plowshares.

May the triggers of our hearts be met with the open arms of our neighbors.

May we trust in the transformative power of your refining fire.
Forge us to be instruments of your peace.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

May our posture be of a readiness to steady a plowshare.
May we take hold of your olive branch that plots for peace.

May the plowshare break the earth of senseless violence.

May the furrows bring us a harvest of solace, a neverending rest from violence.

May we sit under the vine and fig, on earth as it is in heaven.

May it be so. Amen.

MDS on the ground in Puerto Rico

10.2. 2017  Written By: Mark Beach, MDS 
 

Photo: Mennonite Disaster Service Puerto Rico Unit Leader, Eileen Rolon, stands in her house, which lost a roof during Hurricane Maria. MDS photo. 

After several failed attempts, Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) regional operations coordinator, Larry Stoner, arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 26, to begin a 10-day assessment of the situation there and to explore how MDS will assist.

“I landed at noon yesterday,” Stoner said in a phone call this morning. “The airport was hot and stuffy and filled with thousands of people trying to get out.”

Once outside the airport he noticed that “every single gas station had a least a hundred cars waiting in line.” He said, “The bigger issue is there is no electricity.”

Communication has been spotty as cell towers were toppled by the storm and his U.S. Verizon phone was not working well so he called on the phone of a local contact working with MDS.

Despite the challenge finding fuel there were still many cars on the streets in San Juan, he said.

“Downed trees and tree debris is everywhere in San Juan,” Stoner said. He added that in the city there are damaged buildings but there are also a lot of buildings that survived the hurricane. “It looks very bleak for the immediate future,” he said.

Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico more than a week ago, devastating the U.S. commonwealth. The situation has worsened since then as people are running low on water and food, the electricity and communication networks are spotty at best and there is a 7 p.m. curfew in San Juan.

To contact the MDS office in Lititz, Pennsylvania, Stoner had to borrow the phone of a contact there and find a place along the road where there was a cellular signal. Even then, recharging the phone is a challenge because of the lack of electricity. Stoner also has a satellite phone and his own Verizon-based phone, but neither are connecting.

Thursday Stoner planned to travel to Aibonito where the local Mennonite school and hospital have been damaged. “I heard that the 4th floor of the hospital was destroyed,” he said.

“The purpose of Larry’s visit is to connect with our MDS Puerto Rico Unit and their churches to begin assessing the damage and where MDS will respond,” Kevin King, MDS executive director said on Tuesday. “We will be responding, we will be rebuilding, but we just can’t say where and when until we can get there and conduct an assessment.”

When in Puerto Rico, Stoner who is from Lititz, Pa., is expected to quickly focus on the town of Aibonito and the surrounding area in the center of the country where the MDS PR Unit headquarters are located. He learned on Tuesday that the unit leader, Eileen Rolon, lost the roof on her house.

King has heard from a Mennonite pastor in Hatillo, PR that the front of their church and roof are gone.

Pastor Hector Lugo told King that “in all my years of living in Puerto Rico I have not seen worse conditions. The water supply is intermittent. No electricity.” He also said he waited in line for eight hours for a gallon of gasoline.

Lugo told King that he was hoping to get out to visit his congregation members, but can’t without gas. “The roads are opening up but there is massive destruction everywhere,” he said to King.

King assured Lugo that churches throughout the Anabaptist community will be holding them and their congregants up in prayer.

King hopes to be in Puerto Rico next Tuesday, October 3, along with MDS Region 1 board chair Phil Troyer and Elizabeth Soto, a professor at Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Theological Seminary who is originally from Puerto Rico and has family there.

MDS is accepting financial donations for the Hurricane Maria response. Persons wanting to volunteer for Puerto Rico should go online to register.

Race: beginning (again)

 

THIS EVENT IS BEING POSTPONED DUE TO LOW REGISTRATION!  WE’LL REGROUP AND GATHER AROUND THIS TOPIC IN 2018!

Backstory

Illinois Mennonite Conference planned to host an event on church communication on Oct. 27 – 28 at Menno Haven Camp and Retreat Center. On August 22, I (Michael) received an email from our resource person, stating he took a new job and was moving out of the area, thus he was unable to lead our event. We explored other potential resource people to no avail.

Meanwhile, issues of race and violence were also on the front page, due to recent white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, VA. Not too long after that, news that President Trump intended to repeal DACA also hit the news.

We had Menno Haven reserved for the weekend and no presenter to follow through with our original plan. While considering options, we began to explore the possibility to creating a space for persons within IMC to come together around issues of racial justice and reconciliation.

Challenges

  • Short Notice: We’re putting this together on short notice. Who can participate? Can we plan a quality gathering?
  • We’re Pretty White: IMC gatherings, historically, are attended predominantly by white persons. What are appropriate goals given this reality? What can we not do due to this reality?
  • Focus: What would be helpful for those who are present, given we don’t know who will be present?

The Key Question

As CEM, I focused on one question “Should we do this at all, given the challenges?” In my experience, one can always find reasons NOT to gather together to engage difficult things. Most people can rationalize not engaging hard things. Therefore, I like to ask a different question. “How are we better off by not doing it?”

In the end, we decided it was better to start a public discussion within IMC, with an eye towards ongoing engagement around these issues, even while recognizing the challenges of the circumstance.

So, we are moving forward with an event on racial justice and reconciliation.

How we’ll spend our time

1.) We’ll begin with an overview and strategies for coming to terms with race and racism within ourselves.

2.) We’ll spend time learning about White Supremacy – what it is, what it isn’t, and how to work at it.

3.) We’ll spend time learning about immigration, current challenges, and Latino identity and theology.

Who Should Come?

Anyone who is interested in engaging questions of racial justice and reconciliation from an Anabaptist perspective, with an interest in personal and/or church applications.

This is a safe space for people! Come as you are. Come ready to listen to others experiences.

Event Facilitators (listed alphabetically)

KRISTA DUTT – Krista is the Chicago program coordinator and a Church Relations Associate for Mennonite Central Committee.  She is currently focusing much of her time thinking about the conversations about race that are happening in immigration court and how race impacts gun violence.  Krista and her family live in West Humboldt Park in Chicago, attend River City Community Church, and participating in The Healing Corner.

RIC HUDGENS – Ric is the Co-Pastor of North Suburban Mennonite Church in Libertyville; and an adjunct lecturer at North Park Theological Seminary. He served for five years as Pastor-in-Residence at Second Baptist Evanston, a historic135-year-oldd African-American congregation; and eight years on the pastoral team at Reba Place Church. For twelve years he was a departmental director for the American Theological Library Association. Ric has a BA and MA in Missions and also studied at Loyola University and the University of Chicago Divinity School. He writes frequently for Geez Magazine and the Englewood Review of Books and is regular blog contributor to radicaldiscipleship.net (a ministry of Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries and Word and World). Ric lives in Evanston and is part of a household connected with Reba Place.

MARTIN NAVARRO – Martin and his wife Viri live in Elkhart IN. Where they both attend Prairie Street Mennonite Church. Martin enjoys spending time with family, and also vegetable gardening. Martin and his wife are Chicago natives. He grew up in the Comunidad Cristiana Vida Abundante. He has his MDiv from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. He has a passion for the studying the intersection of Mennonite identity and Latino theology. Currently, he is a stewardship consultant and financial service representative for Everence, serving exclusively Hispanic Anabaptist churches. Martin is also the Associate Conference Minister for Hispanic Ministries for Illinois Mennonite Conference.
TIM PEEBLES -By vocation, Tim is a teacher and theologian, with a focus on missional church and practicing peace. He currently expresses this vocation in the occupations of theological educator, martial arts instructor, and transitional pastor (most recently at Chicago Community Mennonite Church). He grew up in Springfield Illinois, went to college at Illinois Wesleyan University (in Bloomington), attended seminary at Andover-Newton Theological School (Boston), and did graduate work in theology at the University of Chicago. He and his wife have lived in Chicago for 24 years, for the last 18 years in the Rogers Park neighborhood. In addition to reading (and talking) theology, his hobbies include movies, tap dancing, whiskey, and fresh-water tropical fish, mostly in that order.

Please call or email Michael Danner with questions.  If you’d like to participate but resources are tight, give Michael a call, we want you to participate!

Click here for an event flyer

MCC responds to devastating Mexico City earthquake By Rachel Bergen

By Rachel Berg

September 21, 2017

 

MCC photo/Quinn Brenneke

A church in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, sustained damage during an 8.2-magnitude earthquake on Sept. 7.

 

MCC is responding to the two earthquakes which ravaged Mexico, including the 7.1-magnitude quake that hit southern Mexico near Atencingo, Puebla state, causing significant damage in Mexico City on September 19.

Hundreds of buildings collapsed in Mexico City, including some schools, trapping people in the rubble. More than 225 were killed in the capital, and the death toll continues to rise as citizens pick through what’s left of buildings.

“There’s a lot of anxiety around here. We’re still in shock,” says MCC representative for Mexico Liliana Alvarez-Woo. “The people are all very nervous and frightened by the physical damages, especially because another earthquake happened earlier this month.”

Like many other people, Alvarez-Woo and her husband Oscar Benavides Calvachi evacuated their home as a precaution, because neighbouring buildings were damaged and one collapsed.

This earthquake comes less than two weeks after an 8.2-magnitude quake hit Pijijiapan, Chiapas, Mexico. It was felt throughout south and central Mexico, as well as in Guatemala and El Salvador and was the strongest earthquake to hit Mexico since 1985.

In all this, Alvarez-Woo says she finds hope in many stories of people coming together in a difficult situation.

“There are many supportive people working in solidarity with one another,” she says. “Houses and public places have been adapted to attend to people affected.”

The stronger quake killed at least 90 people in the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco on September 7. In Guatemala, reports of damage vary across the country, with the northwestern highlands of San Marcos, Quetzaltenango and Huehuetenango experiencing the most damage.

MCC is planning a response to the earlier earthquake with our partners, and we are assessing needs following the most recent quake.

In Guatemala, MCC is coordinating and assessing needs with the Diocese of San Marcos. The local partner reports damage to housing and water systems as a result of the earthquake earlier this month.

MCC welcomes your support for our relief work in Mexico and Guatemala. https://donate.mcccanada.ca/cause/mexico-earthquake-response

Rachel Bergen is a staff writer for MCC in Canada.

View this story online here: https://mcccanada.ca/stories/mcc-responds-devastating-Mexico-City-earthquake

 

Tom Linderman, Pastor of Family Life, at First Mennonite Church of Morton

As the Pastor of Family Life, Tom serves as the advocate for the multi-generational ministry at First Mennonite in Morton, IL. to oversee the disciple-making systems from cradle to college and to their parents.  He strives to equip parents, teachers, and all leaders to follow a disciple making culture in the home and in the life of the congregation.  This will include family directed pastoral care, encourage inter-generational gatherings and provide vision and direction for future ministries.

Tom and his wife Susan have raised six children, three girls and three boys. They make a great partnership in life and ministry and have a passion for helping grow healthy relationships and marriages!

IMC CREDENTIALS TWO NEW PASTORS!

August 31, Normal, IL – The Church Life Team (CLT) granted the credential of License Toward Ordination to Eric Potter and Brian Veeder. In separate interviews, both pastors spent time with the CLT, answering questions related to their call to ministry, theology, pastoral practices, self-care, Anabaptist/Mennonite history, and gifts/skills in ministry. 

Eric Potter shared his journey with Jesus and how it led him to Metamora Mennonite Church at this time. He demonstrated a deep commitment to Jesus and His church, and to racial reconciliation as an outgrowth of that faith. He engages others in order to learn and grow as a husband, father, and pastor. 

Caption from left to right: Doug Roth, Eric Potter, Curt Fenton

Brian Veeder shared his journey from a childhood spent at Maple Lawn Homes visiting family to his current role of Pastor of Maple Lawn Fellowship. God’s call on Brian has emerged over a lifetime of rootedness in the Mennonite Church – starting at East Bend Mennonite Church.

Caption from left to right: Charlotte Lehman, Brian Veeder, Curt Fenton, Doug Roth

Both Eric and Brian demonstrate that God continues to call persons to ministry in God’s church, equips them for the ministry before them, and empowers them by the Spirit to walk faithfully into that call. Please pray for Eric and Brian as they grow in their respective ministries. If you’d like to hear more of their stories, please contact them. 

A license towards ordination is a “license granted for the purpose of discerning ministerial gifts, abilities, and aptitude – usually for a minimum of two years. It can be renewed for an additional term if more time for discernment is needed, unless the person moves to ordination or the assignment ends.

Both interviews were conducted by Kurt Fenton, Charlotte Lehman, Ann Munley (via Skype), Doug Roth, and Michael Danner. A special thank you to Mennonite Church of Normal for allowing us to use their conference room and for administrative support during our interviews.  

Have you completed healthy boundary training?

 
IMC is committed to equipping pastors for healthy ministry. Part of that commitment is ensuring that all pastors have healthy boundary training. That is why the church life team adopted a policy making healthy boundary training mandatory for all credentialed IMC pastors.
The policy states that all credentialed leaders in IMC are required to take Healthy Boundaries 101 training by June 1, 2018, or the credential will be on probation.
The next opportunity to participate in Healthy Boundary Training is coming up.  On Saturday, October 14, 2017, IMC will lead Healthy Boundary 101 training at First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana.  Lunch will be provided.
  • Saturday, October 14 the training will be offered at First Mennonite Church in Champaign-Urbana.  We will begin at 9 am and conclude by 4 pm.
  • Thursday, March 1 the training will be offered at Living Water Community Church in Rogers Park, Chicago, IL.  We will begin at 9 am and conclude by 4 pm. This event will replace the Chicago Area Pastor Peer group in March.
  • Thursday, March 8 the training is being offered at Mennonite Church of Normal, Normal, IL. We will begin at 9 am and conclude by 4 pm. This event will replace the downstate pastor peer group for March.
This training event is free for credentialed leaders. If others from your congregation wish to attend, they are welcome to participate at a cost of $25 per person (this covers material and lunch costs)
To register, contact Holly Mason at (309-340-4503).
Kristin Jackson and Michael Danner will lead this training.
If you have questions, please contact Michael Danner.