All are welcome to a Pancake and Sausage Breakfast at Providence Mennonite Church, Collegeville, PA, Saturday, September 8, from 7:30 – 11:00 a.m. Donations benefit Water for Life in Palestine.
Bally Mennonite Church will hold a Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, September 22, from 7 – 11 a.m. Proceeds from this breakfast will provide funds for the Sahara Children’s Home, an orphanage in Nepal, India.
The Mennonite Mission Network and Franconia Conference Nazareth Village Youth Venture Team will be sharing on Sunday, September 23, at Franconia Mennonite Church at 9 a.m. and at Rockhill Mennonite Church at 7 p.m. about their recent trip to Israel and Palestine. Join them as they share what they have learned and to hear stories of people in the region. Visit franconiaconference.org/blog/nazareth for more information, including journals and photos from their experience.
Fall Tune-Up for educators, youth workers and worship leaders! Mennonite Publishing Network with Eastern District Conference and Franconia Mennonite Conference will host a Fall Tune-Up with workshops for teachers of all ages, youth workers, and worship leaders at Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church on Saturday, September 29 from
8 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. The schedule is designed for persons to choose one track that includes both sessions. Leaders include Lana Miller, Ron Hertzler, Sharon Williams, Karen Jantzi, Eleanor Snyder, Kathy Weaver Wenger and Bev Anspaugh. Cost is $15/person, $12 for four or more persons from the same church. Bring the Gather ‘Round Handbook or Fall Leader magazine if you have a copy. Copies will be available for purchase if desired. Other Mennonite Publishing Network materials will also be available. Come to be inspired, learn, and tune up your gifts. Register at franconiaconference.org
A disc golf tournament will be held to benefit Tabernacle of Christ Church in Vina del Mar, Chile, a sister church of Perkiomenville Mennonite Church and emerging Franconia Conference Partner in Mission. The tournament will be held at French Creek State Park on Saturday, September 29, at 9 a.m. Pre-registration fees are $20 for men and $15 for women and are due on September 15. Registration fees will be an additional $5.00 on the day of the tournament. For more information, contact Brian Krupp at bbmkrupp@aol.com or call 267-231-2116.
On Sunday, September 30, John Paul Lederach will be the morning preacher at Salford Mennonite Church. John Paul is a grandson of Salford, now Professor of International Peacebuilding at the John B. Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame. He has worked in 25 countries across five continents in training programs with conflict transformation and conciliation.
Spruce Lake Retreat is looking for volunteers for their annual Woodcutting Day on Saturday, October 13. Bring family and friends for an invigorating day of cutting and gathering the winter’s supply of firewood. You’ll need work gloves; lunch is provided. Bring a chain saw, if you can. We are also in need of several log splitters, please let Spruce Lake know if you can bring one. To sign up, please call 800-822-7505.
Perkiomenville Mennonite Church is sponsoring a Partner in Mission Trip to the Tabernacle of Christ Church in Vina del Mar, Chile from October 28 – November 6. The purpose of the trip is three fold: fellowship, ministry, and continuing construction on the Tabernacle of Christ building. The cost of the trip is $1500 including airfare, visa and living expenses in Chile. Persons of all ages are welcome. Contact Pastor Ness by September 17, at 215-234-4011 or perkmc@juno.com.
Franconia Mennonite Conference Partner in Mission, Grace Assembly Network, felt the personal impact of Hurricane Dean last week. Pastor Lesly Bertrand, church planter and president of Grace Assembly, wrote this week about the hurricane and the opportunity to partner with him in emerging ministry opportunities:
Last Sunday evening Hurricane Dean crossed between Haiti and Jamaica, hitting the southern end of our island. According to the Haitian Government report, roughly 10 people died, 450 houses were destroyed, and 3,000 people are homeless. Among those victims are some members of our churches. One of our pastor’s reports that houses around him were destroyed and he lost his entire garden. Some families are currently living in the church building because they lost their houses. It is very possible that famine will result in the coming weeks.
Grace Assembly Network consists of 24 congregations, three church plants, seven schools, and 30 pastors. Evangelism and equipping leaders are two central values for this growing and vibrant network of churches. Ministry is challenging in a country hampered by extreme poverty and political instability. Franconia Conference has partnered with Grace Assembly Network over the last several years in leadership development as the congregations have faced threats and addressed possibilities for ministry and hope. Grace Assembly also partners with the Hopewell Network of Churches and is connecting with Mennonite World Conference.
Help make a difference. For every dollar received, Franconia Conference will match $.50 (up to $1000). Make checks payable to Franconia Mennonite Conference (note “for Haiti ministry†in the memo line) and send to 771 Route 113, Souderton, PA 18964.
Eastern Mennonite Seminary courses available online this fall!
Mennonite Faith and Polity
This course examines two aspects of contemporary Mennonite reality. First, what the Mennonite Church has said and, especially, what it is currently saying about what it believes concerning the Christian faith; and second, how it structures itself in the light of those beliefs to carry out its ministry in the world. Focus will be on the expression of faith, its features and trends, in the last half century in the General Conference Mennonite church and the Mennonite Church, now integrated as Mennonite Church USA. Polity at the denominational, area conference and congregational levels will be studied with special interest in the emerging structures of the integration process. Particular attention will be given to polity and ethical guidelines for ministerial leadership.
Professor: Del Glick
Cost: $830
Credit Hours: 2
Mennonite History
A study of the emergence and growth of Anabaptist-Mennonites from their origin in the 16th-century Reformation in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands to Russia, North and South America, and the third world. Attention is given to modern renewal movements in the tradition.
Professor: Nate Yoder
Cost: $1245
Credit Hours: 3
Contact Don Yoder at EMS to enroll 540-432-4000. Consider these courses as a possible substitute for Gateway courses required for newly credentialed Franconia Conference leaders. Contact Steve Kriss at skriss@franconiaconference.org with questions.
Financial assistance is available through the Area Conference Leadership Fund, contact Conrad Martin for details on application, ccmartin@franconiaconference.org
Calling all Worship Teams! Join the 24-hour round the clock worship at Franconia Conference Assembly, November 9-10, from 6pm to 6pm at Franconia Mennonite Church. Worship will occur concurrently with the delegate sessions. If your congregation would be interested in filling a two hour time slot, contact Joyce Moyer at joycemoy@gmail.com or
610-306-1898 by September 30.
The Mennonite Mission Network and Franconia Conference Nazareth Village Youth Venture Team will be sharing on Sunday, September 23rd at Franconia Mennonite Church at 9am and at Rockhill Mennonite Church at 7pm about their recent trip to Israel and Palestine.
Join them as they share what they have learned and stories of people in the region.
A time for questions, conversation and refreshments will be available after the sharing time at Rockhill Mennonite Church.
Perkiomenville, PA (August 2007) – The Perkiomenville Mennonite Church celebrated the grand opening of their new church and Christian Life Center on Sunday, August 5, 2007. The new facility is located on Route 29 in Perkiomenville, PA.
Nearly 200 people packed the old church located on Deep Creek Road for a time of praise and thanksgiving. Pastor Charles Ness rehearsed the history of the church, which was founded in 1935, noting how the ministry of the church expanded with each generation until the need for a larger facility became paramount.
The congregation then processed up Deep Creek Road and Route 29 from the old location to the new building. Pastor Ness and Associate Pastor Dennis Detweiler carried a banner proclaiming the theme for the new church: “Advancing God’s Vision.†Other members of the church carried symbols of the ministry and life of the church, including the cedar cross, a pewter pitcher and basin, a music stand, the podium, etc. The congregation then had an opening ceremony and a time of worship in the new facility.
The Christian Life Center has been designed to serve as more than a place for worship on Sunday morning. The goal is for the building to become a vital place in the heart of the Upper Perkiomen Area. The Cedar Grove preschool and daycare center will open in late 2007 or early 2008, and there are long-range plans for youth recreational facilities and events, counseling services, and ministries to those in financial need.
Pastor Ness states the vision of the church clearly, “As the church, our goal is to be part of the community – impacting people at their point of need, helping them heal from the wounds life has inflicted, and giving them a place to grow in the love of God.†Media Contact: Charles NessPerkmc@verizon.net
The Perkiomenville Mennonite Church
Tel: 215-234-4011
Calling all Worship Teams! There is a unique opportunity for us to worship together on November 9 and 10 at Franconia Conference’s annual assembly, held at Franconia Mennonite Church. From 6 p.m. on Friday until 6 p.m. on Saturday, there will be continuous 24-Hour Worship occurring simultaneously with the delegate sessions. If your congregation has a worship team that would be interested in filling a 2-hour time slot, please contact Joyce Moyer at joycemoy@gmail.com or 610-306-1898 by September 30.
Gospel Express Ministries presents Amos & Margaret Raber at Perkiomenville Mennonite Church in the new facility at 1836 Gravel Pike (Route 29), Perkiomenville on Wednesday, August 29, at 7:00 p.m. The evening will include music, testimonies, a visual presentation, and a challenge from God’s Word.
You are invited to a Woodgraining Class on Saturday, September 22. Learn the 18th century art of fancypainting wood at this one day class at the Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Rd., Harleysville, Pa. Led by folk artist Jim King, participants will grainpaint a softwood 5 x 7 picture frame and a small document box (supplied for the workshop) using acrylic glazes. Grainpainted textures are created using tools such as a comb, corncob, putty, fingers, sponge, feather or brush. Class fee is $45 ($40 for MHEP members), plus a materials fee of $30 for the frame and the box. To register, call 215-256-3020 or email info@mhep.org.
CNN again changed the air time for the story about de-worming in Haiti. It will now premiere during “Anderson Cooper 360†(AC360) (10 p.m. – 12 a.m. EST) on Thursday, September 13. On Tuesday, September 18 and Saturday, September 22 the story will air throughout the day on CNN and Headline News. Once it premieres, the story will also be available for viewing on www.CNN.com/Heroes.
The Mennonite Heritage Center invites the public to the exhibit My Search for Wild Places by Naomi Limont, opening on Sunday, September 9 from 2 to 5 p.m. The exhibit will be on display from September 9 through October 27, 2007 and features Limont’s fine works in various mediums including collagaphs, etchings, watercolors, and oils. A portion of the works will be available for purchase. For information on this and other events and exhibits, check the Mennonite Heritage Center web site, www.mhep.org, or call 215-256-3020.
Produce for the Vegetable Basket will be picked up Tuesday, September 4 due to Labor Day falling on the regular pick-up day for next week only. Monday pick-ups will resume the following week on September 10. Thank you for sharing your resources throughout this summer.
Camp Men-O-Lan’s Fall Senior Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 6 beginning at 10 a.m. for everyone ages 55 and older. There will be hymn singing, a report on the 2007 summer season of camp, a message by Pastor Don Fry from New Eden Fellowship, and a picnic lunch. Come enjoy the beauty of Camp Men-O-Lan! There is no charge, but an offering for the camp will be received. To make a reservation, please call
215-679-5144, ext. 21.
Franconia Conference Assembly 2007 is right around the corner! It will be held at Franconia Mennonite Church on Friday, November 9 and Saturday, November 10. Prior to this event, Conference Assembly Scattered gatherings will take place. These meetings will be a time for discussion and discernment around the Vision and Financial Plan Team report. Delegates and anyone interested are encouraged to attend to help shape the future of Franconia Conference. The meeting dates and locations are as follows:
How do you measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights? In cups of coffee, in inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife?
These are the lyrics from Seasons of Love, a song from Jonathan Larson’s Broadway musical-turned-motion-picture, RENT. Larson reminds us that there are 525,600 minutes in a year. How do we measure a year in the life?
People naturally measure accomplishments, experiences, and well, life, in various ways. Jonathan knows that, and thoughtfully concludes his piece by saying that the only proper measure of a year of human life is love.
Just last night I heard a story from pastor – and now, innovator – Aldo Siahaan of Philadelphia Praise Center (PPC). Aldo and some of his friends from PPC wandered into a Home Depot the other week to purchase a door. When asked how large the door was that they needed, Aldo pulled a rope out of his pocket. A bit unconventional, yet surprisingly effective.
So we can measure doors with ropes, and according to Larson, we can measure a year with love. But how do we measure the church? Is this even possible?
One of the latest catchphrases I’ve come across asks us to rethink and reimagine how we “do church.” Two buzzwords that seem simple yet are surprisingly substantial.
As the death toll rose to nine on Sunday evening, my thoughts turned to the recent events along Interstate 35W in Minneapolis. What most don’t know is that there is a small Mennonite community that gathers just blocks from where the 35W bridge collapsed. This emergent community is called Missio-Dei.
Missio-Dei is made up of around ten persons who are committed to “following Jesus’ way of peace, simplicity, prayer, and radical hospitality.” They strive to embody the presence of Jesus in their local community known as the West Bank. I visited Missio-Dei this past May, and learned first-hand what it means to live out the Jesus Manifesto in one’s daily life. I can only imagine how they are living out their convictions in lieu of the this tragedy.
We mustn’t measure church in numbers of people or a spacious building, and we can’t just “do church” on Sunday mornings.
Also in May, I had the opportunity to hang out in the “Quadrangle” of Yale Divinity School and attend a conference for pastors sponsored of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture – a division of the Divinity School directed by Christian theologian Miroslav Volf.
I was privileged enough to participate in a seminar led by Executive Director Dr. David W. Miller titled, “Business Ethics: Succeeding without Selling your Soul.” I had a hard time sitting through this hour and a half. As the only Anabaptist – I think – in the room, I felt like Miller’s words were common knowledge to me, something I live without thinking.
Granted, I am a communication and business student at Goshen College and understand the need for ethics in the workplace. As an Anabaptist Mennonite, I understand – more correctly, am continuing to understand – the duality of faith and work. “Christians should not just gather on Sunday and scatter on Monday. We must develop a hermeneutic of the marketplace,” Miller said in his seminar. Miller’s words seemed poignant yet second nature, answers to questions I’m not really asking.
We can’t just “do church” on Sunday, and then casually “do work” on Monday. And we can’t measure church in how sensible our theologians are.
Living in Srok-Khmer (Cambodia) for three months as part of my Study/Service Term at Goshen College taught me a lot. As I worshiped and lived with my Christian host family within a mostly Buddhist nation, I learned how church is an extension of our being. Rarely did I have the chance to see my host brothers and sister from 5-9pm, because they were always at church.
They have the “church during the week” thing down. I will admit, their leadership committee is not as organized as I’d like it to be. For them, church is a way to connect with their neighbors, a safe space to hang out after dark, a place to learn English from a native speaker, and a melting pot for American, Khmer, and international fine arts.
We can’t just “do church” through strong sermons and effective worship sessions. And to measure church by the effectiveness of our committees would be slightly irrational.
I am trying not to get caught up in figuring out the best or most relevant way to “do church,” or how to “measure” it between four walls. Frankly, I wish we’d spend less time wondering how to “do church” and more time living – and loving – as the body of Christ we say that we are. My high school tennis coach, Scott Landis, used to tell me: Tennis is life, life is tennis. It makes me think: Church is life, life is church.
The only way to measure the church is in love. The only way to do church is to live the call.
There are 525,600 minutes in a year. That’s 525,600 opportunities to love. And 525,600 occasions to live the call.
Sheldon Good of Telford, PA, served as an intern with Franconia Conference for the second summer in a row this year. He attends Goshen College as a double major in business and communication and is a member of Salford Mennonite Church.
Cambodia Study-Service Term photo provided by Keith Graber Miller
This is the second installment on trends from a presentation I made in my final State of the Conference report to the Conference Board in January. Unlike the broader macro trends in the first one (scroll down to see previous entry), these drill down more specifically into Franconia Mennonite Conference. Yet since Franconia Conference is in many ways a typical conference in Mennonite Church USA, much of what follows is not necessarily unique to us. Link to previous blog here
Trends within Franconia Mennonite Conference
Conference and congregational leaders are faced with significant challenges as we inevitably move from programmatic, master-plan, in-our-buildings mindsets to more organic, dynamic, missional and relational frameworks. This shift will continue, and along the way it will create excitement and adventure for some, and angst, pain and confusion for others within our congregations. Seminaries—while they are slowly preparing to address this—are not yet effectively preparing pastors to handle this shift. Perhaps skills and capacities for this shift can only be fully learned in the harness. Transparent, poised, flexible, high-EQ (emotional intelligence) leadership is essential.
I’m being very intentional with the above words that say: “as we inevitably move from….” Inevitable? Yep. The days of multiple commissions providing “program” for people has largely ended. Folks want to be personally engaged. Most people are open to transformation. Relationships are the best way for human transformation. As people are transformed, congregations and ministries are also. This creates a welcome environment in which Christ’s Gospel can thrive, even in our crazy culture. Let’s put our “church” energy into more than maintaining programs or serving on committees that are not central to a church’s unique calling.
Some of us greet necessary change with relief and open arms. Others of us resist and seek to avoid it. Change for the sake of change is silly at best and dangerous at worst. However, necessary change should be greeted with a humble confidence. Humble, so we are thoughtful about what we let go of and what we embrace. Confident, because God is already out ahead of us, calling us to help create a future following the footsteps of Jesus. We do not go alone; God’s Spirit will lead us into all truth (John 16:13).
The shift from traditional bishop/overseer/conference minister roles among congregations is giving way to a yet-to-be-defined equipper/broker/connector/coach role that will take some of Franconia Conference’s best energy over the next several years. Honoring our polity and ecclesiology with integrity while risking new meaningful measurements will be held in tension as we carry out our missional calling of “equipping leaders to empower others to embrace God’s mission.”
This one probably sounds like a bunch of garbled church-speak. Well, unpacking it takes a few paragraphs, so read on: Much of Franconia Conference’s history included bishops. Most of these men (and they were only men) served faithfully and well. Along the way the times changed, and it was deemed that “overseers” would fit better. From outside the church the distinctions between bishop and overseer may have seemed slight, but within FMC during the 1960s and 1970s it was quite significant. If bishops were granted authority to make decisions on behalf of others, the 60s began a time of “power to the people.” So as the church embodied this spirit of the times, overseers were essentially men who embodied a level of leadership maturity and were placed in situations of providing oversight for one or several congregations by using an authority based more on relationship and facilitation than on position.
However as congregations became more robust in their level of organization and program activity, these 25 or so (volunteer) overseers became understandably compromised in their efforts to provide adequate oversight since most of them were also full-time pastors. Wives and children saw less and less of these overseers as they balanced their own congregation’s challenges and responsibilities with the additional load of helping another congregation with a leadership crisis and helping another congregation to find a new pastor. They did this for a small stipend plus gas money. There will always be a role for volunteer and stipended leaders, but only in ways that are sustainable.
Seven years ago in 2000, delegates overwhelmingly took action to replace the overseer model with a team of paid conference ministers. It made sense to address some of the growing problems of congregations that were dying or were faced with a limited future. Pastoral transitions were frequent then, and the number of congregational crises per year had grown steadily due in part to the trends listed in this blog. Led by a highly experienced Jim Lapp who functioned as conference pastor, the talented and diverse conference ministry team over the next six years provided some wonderful leadership. Pastoral departures slowed way down. Congregational crises deceased noticeably. Incoming pastors were creative, more open to risk and toward change and transformation.
But these positive trends occurred during another trend well under way that began making it impossible to keep in place a large, paid conference ministry team. Congregations began investing in themselves at unprecedented rates. I’m not whining. Much of it was understandable. They saw the need to invest in buildings, in more staff, in more programs. As members of Franconia Conference congregations continued to be generous to the church, the percentage being spent within the congregation began to outstrip the percentage sent beyond to the larger church.
As financial giving to the conference has been decreasing, Franconia Conference has been experimenting with new scenarios. One was to re-organize and/or re-allocate Conference properties so they could help underwrite administrative expenses and augment the decline from congregational dollars. Another experiment was to move some Franconia Conference staff to a fee-for-service format, creating Mennonite Resources Network (MRN). Another was to unite all Conference-related ministries into a relational network of Conference Related Organizations (CROs). Note: I’ll be blogging about each of these experiments in a future post as I wrap up my work for Franconia Conference by the end of August.
An increasing percentage of resources are being spent within and around the congregation—at this point largely regardless of ROI (return on investment)—as congregations wrestle with new questions and possibilities due to keeping more of their money at home where members’ individual expectations are growing. Also, the growing interest in relating directly to/with the global church will continue to increase, further impacting funds that congregations have historically had available for the conference and broader church.
Somewhere it should be written that advocating for a missional church vision may be hazardous to the fiscal health of an organization. At least this seems to apply to denominations and conferences that have been using the previous paradigm for funding program. I’m noticing it applies to congregations as well.
Giving people permission (as if they needed it) to focus their attention on where God is active in their life means folks’ money will follow their heart. Does this mean organizations will need to transition to structures and strategies that allow people to connect to their passion rather than a prescribed list of programmatic things? I’m afraid so. But it seems so inefficient, doesn’t it? Maybe. Have you ever noticed from reading the New Testament that the Gospel never was very tidy?
Same can be said for the global trekking people prefer to do rather than just sending their money via a mission board. Couldn’t that money be used more effectively if not everyone was traveling? Well, it depends. It depends if that money is a catalyst that helps people re-prioritize their lives—and their earthly possessions.
CRO (conference related organization) ministries will continue to grow as major employers and shapers of what the public understands as the identity of being Mennonite. Schools, camps, retirement communities and other ministries frequently have deeper impact and wider reach than their affiliating congregations. Making these ministries full partners in Franconia Conference’s shared vision will continue to be a critical part of overall strategy to impact our communities.
To some readers this fourth point is refreshing. For others, it’s offensive. But the truth seems to be that more kids make public commitments to follow Jesus at camp than they do in many congregations. And Mennonite schools have turned ordinary kids into leaders for the church for decades. Of course lots of examples exist to refute all this, so the point is not whether CRO ministries are more effective than congregations. That is completely NOT the point. Rather both are needed: congregations and the ministries that supplement the congregations. Each needs the other. Thus the call to even more intentional collaboration.
Wealth and acculturation continue to mute traditional understandings of Anabaptism—not the least in many Franconia Conference contexts. Unlearning, reinventing, risking and focusing what it means to be Anabaptists in our context will continue to grow in importance as shaping a healthy and winsome identity and purpose will become a central theme for faithful-minded individuals and organizations alike. As we know from our research trip in 2005 to the Netherlands, having our own (Mennonite) schools and other influential ways of shaping our youth seem to be key to investing in our children and young adults and their ongoing valuing of God’s mission from an Anabaptist perspective.
It’s possible that un-learning things we already know/believe/do is the hardest work we face as Anabaptists. I for one believe there may never have been a time when the world could embrace—and persecute—more what it means to be a follower of Jesus from an Anabaptist perspective. Maybe you’re talking about non-violence during a time when modern warfare seems not only immoral but also ineffective, outrageously expensive, and counter-productive. Or maybe you’re talking about Jesus loving the whole world during this time of global awareness and interdependence for our future. Or maybe you’re talking about the sacredness of all life, or the equal value of all people, or the importance of living with integrity. Seems like Anabaptists have a few worthwhile things to say to these and every other critical matter. More than a few non-Mennonites have wondered why they are meeting so many sons and daughters of Menno going the wrong direction at this critical juncture in our—and the world’s—history.
Regarding “our” schools, there are reasons why some have chosen not to send their kids to Mennonite schools. From my perspective I wish all kids could attend Mennonite schools. My three sons have had life-changing experiences within the contexts of Mennonite edutcation. My focus here is not to cajole, persuade or harass everyone into sending their kids to Mennonite schools, but rather to encourage our schools to take their strengths to the whole constituency. Home-schoolers could use a variety of services that Mennonite schools could provide very well. Public schoolers also could benefit from some of the services. Obviously all of this would require collaboration on everyone’s part, better use of technology than we have done to date, and openness of heart and spirit all the way around. But I believe the creativity and relationships could be good for everyone involved.
For those who read this far on such a long blog post, God bless you. And for those who didn’t, blessings to you too. The next installments of my final reflections will follow in the upcoming weeks.
As of August 10, MCC Material Resource Center, Harleysville, PA, has shipped 1,500 school kits to Ephrata. Thank you for your cooperation. Many more school kits are still needed. Jordan’s order has not been completed and other countries are awaiting their turn to receive. Can we stretch a little more? Discounts for school supplies are often good until the end of August. For more information, call
215-513-9561.
FALL SENIORS RETREAT is happening September 10-12, at Spruce Lake Retreat. Wholesome fellowship, genuine fun, and spiritual refreshment can be yours for coming! Retreat speaker Larry Moyer, pastor of Rockhill Mennonite Church, will bring heartfelt insights into God’s message for our time. The retreat package is $153.80/person, starting with dinner Monday evening and closing with lunch Wednesday. To make your reservations, please call 800-822-7505.
Only 21 days left! REGISTER TODAY for Deep Run Mennonite Church East’s Strides for Mission 5k Race/Family Mission Walk on Saturday, September 8. A fun time for the whole family, the event consists of a 5k Race for runners, as well as a shorter distance option for walkers and young children. All proceeds from the 5k Race will directly support MAMA Project, Inc. A MAMA Resources Drive will be held the day of the 5k Race as well. Volunteers will collect materials to send directly to MAMA Project, Inc. Some of the essential materials being collected the day of the race include: children and adult vitamins, Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen, children’s shoes (new/very good condition), and baby kits (cloth diapers, shirts, washcloths, etc.) For more information on the MAMA Resources Drive or to REGISTER for the 5k Race, visit www.deepruneast.org/5k or email stridesformission@deepruneast.org.
“What is Missional Anyway?†is the theme for the North American Young Adult Fellowship Retreat which will be held September 28 – 30, at Drift Creek Camp, Lincoln City, Oregon. This retreat for young adults (ages 18-30) will help provide tools for thriving in a diverse society so that each person feels welcomed into the Christian community of faith. For more information, call or email Scott Harman at
574-523-3049 or scotth@mennoniteusa.org.
Doylestown Mennonite Church seeks an energetic person with a passion for youth to provide leadership for the spiritual nurture of junior and senior high youth. This person will seek to expand the existing program and equip/develop both current and new leaders. The goal is to have the youth program participate in the overall vision for the church to be missional and reach into the community. This is a part-time position. For more information, contact the church office at 215-345-6377 or randy.heacock@doylestownmc.org by September 20.
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The Mennonite Mission Network and Franconia Conference Nazareth Village Youth Venture Team will be sharing on Sunday, September 23rd at 
Nearly 200 people packed the old church located on Deep Creek Road for a time of praise and thanksgiving. Pastor Charles Ness rehearsed the history of the church, which was founded in 1935, noting how the ministry of the church expanded with each generation until the need for a larger facility became paramount.
How do you measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights? In cups of coffee, in inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife?
As the death toll rose to nine on Sunday evening, my thoughts turned to the recent events along Interstate 35W in Minneapolis. What most don’t know is that there is a small Mennonite community that gathers just blocks from where the 35W bridge collapsed. This emergent community is called Missio-Dei.
Living in Srok-Khmer (Cambodia) for three months as part of my Study/Service Term at Goshen College taught me a lot. As I worshiped and lived with my Christian host family within a mostly Buddhist nation, I learned how church is an extension of our being. Rarely did I have the chance to see my host brothers and sister from 5-9pm, because they were always at church.
