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PressFinal Issue, July 2007
Convention children visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium join in pointing out landmarks
In action Friday, July 6, the Mennonite Church USA Delegate Assembly affirmed all resolutions placed before it.
Delegates approved membership in Christian Churches Together and an initiative that calls on the Executive Board to oversee a collaborative process among all parts of Mennonite Church USA that would result...
Despite being worn out from a week of late nights and early worship, the youth were re-energized for life after San Jose by Friday morning’s speaker, Brenda Matthews.
“I hope when you leave here, you leave changed, renewed,” said Matthews, a self-proclaimed “Menno-costal.” Using Ephesians 1:19-20 and 6:10-20, as well as original poetry, Matthews told the youth that “with God’s power, you can do anything.”
Matthews spoke from her experiences as a sexually abused teenager whose father had left her, and who had eating problems. “I’m not going to hide in my house and let Jerry Springer come and help me,” said Matthews. She remembers feeling God’s call at a young age, but felt she was too...
What do you do when your world is shaken? For Luke Hartman, the key is to remember that we have been given a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
Energy was in the air as Hartman spoke at the final youth worship service last night on the topic of living the call. Opening with a story, Hartman described an incident that left him shaken. As he was driving through the back hills of Virginia taking his youngest daughter to child...
MVS: The Golden Gate
MVS leaves a legacy
Our dear friend Konnie Landis lived and worked with MVS in San Francisco. Fresh out of Eastern Mennonite University in 1990, she arrived with eyes wide open. Her year at Catholic Charities helping AIDS patients find and keep housing was a richly challenging, life-changing experience. Konnie cared deeply for her clients and labored passionately to improve the desperate situations in which many lived.
Later Konnie took a trip around the world. While traveling she worked to help the sick and the poor, including a stay with Mother Teresa’s organization in Bangladesh. After earning a...
Mennonites are close to what the church should be, according to Chuwang Pam, a pastor from Los Angeles. The Nigerian native predicted that Mennonites would be an instrumental part of creating a united church.
Pam spoke from Ephesians 4:1-6 Friday night in the final adult worship on “Called to One Hope as One Body.”
God’s original decree to Adam and Eve was to increase and multiply, said Pam, but “our growth has set us apart.” After the...
With 141 units from 173 donors collected, Mennonites did themselves proud at the blood drive held during San Jose. The turnout was so terrific Red Cross coordinator Mona Helmhold said she plans to call her Columbus counterparts before the 2009 convention and advise them to put on double the staff for theirs.
“Everybody’s been phenomenal,” she said. “It’s been the best blood...
The a cappella tradition lives on as young men from Mennonite colleges choose to harmonize and share their talents. Three men’s groups singing hymns, gospel, folk songs, pop, and their own humorous and serious music took to the stage at the Parkside Outdoor Plaza on Wednesday night, providing two hours of singing that young and old enjoyed. Goshen College’s Farther Along octet, whose members are Brooks Gingerich, Luke Gingerich, Nathan Swartzendruber, Russell Horst, Andrew Brubaker, Ashe Abebe, James Green and Dan Clouse, sang first, followed by News Team, a Hesston College quartet. Grant Baker, Aaron Billings, Josh Andres and Kevin Eby make up the News Team, formed out of the larger Bel Canto Singers.
Bethel College’s Open Road continues to add new members each year as some graduate. The group includes...
A pre-convention gathering of more than 50 urban leaders examined contemporary models of church while honoring a pastor who has been collaborating on new ideas for decades.
During the 2007 Urban Leaders Network Meeting July 1-2, Ertell Whigham, a pastor at Nueva Vida Norristown New Life Community Church, an intentionally multicultural church in the Philadelphia area, received the 2007 George and Pearl Kauffman Award, which honors urban leaders with a $500 grant for leadership...
Kathryn Aschliman is a special woman, Jorge Vielman said as he presented her with the Peace and Justice Support Network’s “Peace Pitcher” award Thursday evening.
She was nominated for her work with children as a peace advocate. The pitcher of peace...
Indonesian Mennonite Association founded
San Jose marked two significant milestones for the growing Indonesian community in the U.S. Mennonite church. From being sparsely represented in the past, the 18 churches of predominantly Indonesian heritage came to San Jose more than 50 strong. And at a meeting on July 4, they founded the Indonesian Mennonite Association, a body to encourage fellowship and give Indonesian Mennonites a voice in the larger church. The congregations are primarily in Southern California, with a sister church in Philadelphia. For more information, contact Virgo Handojo at vhandojo@yahoo.com
I have attended all but two assemblies over my 30 short years as a youth, adult, volunteer, and worker. Each meeting has its own voice, its own reality, its own call. The voices of call that I heard in San Jose are many and diverse, but yet clear, hopeful, and promising.
Spending time with our youth, I heard the call of hope and faith in excited voices calling to each other in joy, hope and spirit. I heard (and palpably felt) the energy of the Spirit moving...