by Dawn Ranck, Plains I don’t normally journal . . . or blog . . . I rarely write anything except sermons. So why am I sitting at Starbucks writing about skipping church on Sunday to spend a day in Philly with seven friends? First, a bit about me and church. Yes, I am a pastor, so being at church on a Sunday morning is duty, part of my job, an expectation. But, for me, church is much more than that. Sunday morning worship is a spiritual practice; it is as important to me as breathing. Something is profoundly missing in my week when I don’t worship with God’s people on Sunday morning. I have started to attend church when … read more
Category Archives: Blog
‘Tis a gift to be complex
by Emily Ralph
We’re a simple people, right?
Yes, I’m a seminary student, but I am often frustrated with those who want to find answers for every single question in the Bible or to debate all the ins and outs of theology. I’m comfortable with a simple faith that learns and accepts, that ponders and lets go, that embraces the ambiguity. I only need to understand theology as far as it affects the way I live. read more
Long Haul Hope: Ash Wednesday Thoughts
by Samantha E. Lioi
Driven by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is in the wilderness with a lot of people these days. It’s crowded, and the scarcity of resources keenly felt. Even so, it is a place of surprising and dogged hope.
Last July I traveled to Colombia for two weeks on a Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation. A truly international group of us – from Massachusetts, Texas, Pennsylvania, Ethiopia, India, and Illinois – became a team who would learn from, accompany, and support the CPT Colombia team and their partners, especially leaders of peasant-farmer or campesino organizations struggling to remain on their land or return to it. read more
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices
by Tom Albright, Ripple Allentown
Christmas Eve, and Allentown has had its 4th murder in a week. What are people thinking? Is it about money? Passion? Retribution? Evil? Fear? Lack of choices?
It is a hard week full of the usual busyness and expectations that accompany the holiday. Where is the Christmas spirit? Where is the hope? I found myself awake at 3am again. It is not fear, but sadness, futility, and concern. read more
Leading without fear: being missional Christians in a fear-filled world
(adapted from Mark & Kathy Weaver Wenger’s message at the Pastors & Spouses Appreciation Breakfast on December 6, 2011)
“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.’” (Luke 2:10)
Fear is one of our deepest instinctual responses from the “reptilian” part of the brain. To live without fear is unrealistic. Impossible. We may as well try to live without pain or suffering. read more
Young people need to be part of renewing the church
By Sheldon C. Good
I might get in trouble for saying this, but I think religion is failing young people. I believe the church is the living body of Christ, the primary vehicle for extending God’s love. But bad religion, and in some ways the church, is stifling good religion — our ability to more fully join in God’s movement in the world.
Young people can and must be part of renewing the church. There’s a movement of young people right now who are fired up about moral and spiritual issues. We need to tap into this energy. read more
Church Lives
By Ben Sutter
What is Church? This summer, as a ministry inquiry intern with Franconia Conference, I have seen Church live in so many ways. I’ve interacted and reacted to people, thoughts, and spiritual movements around me. I’ve asked questions. I have seen the incredible similarities and vast differences between what people call ‘Church.’
Can a conference be Church? What about a denomination? Can one person start Church? Can Church be one person? What is Church anyway? Am I a part of Church? How do I even start to define it? read more
Lessons from the little ones: Building bridges in Pittsburgh
by Emily Ralph
He was sitting in a chair with his back to a room full of Mennonite preschoolers. He wouldn’t make eye contact with me as I sat down on the floor next to him, using everything I had in my bag of tricks. I had offered my afternoon to help with the preschool class at Mennonite USA Convention and something drew me to this little loner. Every question I asked was greeted with a shake of his head and a mournful whimper. read more
On flattening the Mennonite world: a view from Singapore
by Steve Kriss
New York Times writer Thomas Friedman suggested in the World is Flat that flourishing businesses would need to be both global and local in the emerging interconnected age. It’s a comment that I’ve taken pretty seriously as a pastoral leader trying to imagine how local congregations might flourish and thrive in this time as well. In my work over the past five years in Franconia Conference, it’s been easy to see lively connections that link our largely Pennsylvania-based congregations to far flung places like Jakarta, Mexico City, London and the Mekong Delta. read more
Perfect Fellowship
by Emily Ralph
“We didn’t grow up hearing about this,” one of the bishop’s staff members told me.
Some of the leaders gathered at the Southeast Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s assembly had heard about the reconciliation process, but for others, this was a brand new story. “In the 16th century, the early Lutheran reformers, furious that the so-called Anabaptists did not share the same theology of baptism, used their influence and power to persecute Mennonite Christians,” Lutheran Bishop Claire Burkat said. Her words were greeted with an audible response and she nodded her acknowledgement at the horror. read more