Global Faith: Local Context Class scheduled for March 2012 at the Mennonite Heritage Center

The Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville, announces a class on “Global Faith: Local Context” scheduled for Thursday evening March 1, 8, 15, and 22, 2012 from 6:30-9:15 pm. The course, sponsored by Eastern Mennonite University Seminary, will be taught by Dr. Derek Cooper, assistant professor of Biblical Studies and Historical Theology at Biblical Seminary, Hatfield, Pa.

The Global Faith class will discuss the four most influential and global non-Christian faiths by focusing on the history, sacred texts, and key events and persons associated with these religions. It also will explore how these religions are not just isolated or in far-away places, but how they are alive and thriving in our local contexts.

Participants can receive a continuing education unit for the course through Eastern Mennonite University. Pre registration is required and is due by February 24, 2012. The cost of the course, including the continuing education credit, is $65. Those wishing to audit the course may do so for $55. No refunds are given unless the class is canceled for insufficient enrollment. The following book: A World Religions Reader by Ian Markham and Christy Lohr (3^rd Ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009) is required for students taking the class for the 1 CEU credit through EMU and is suggested for those not taking this class for credit. Due to the book’s expense, participants may want to purchase it used or to share it with another student. For information and to register for the course, contact the Mennonite Heritage Center at: www.mhep.org, email info@mhep.org or call 215-256-3020.

Long Haul Hope: Ash Wednesday Thoughts

Ash Wednesday thoughts on wilderness, identifying with Jesus, and the tenacity of a few Colombian human rights workers

by Samantha E. Lioi

(This blog has been edited for length. Download the full article here.)

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.

Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness.

More than 5 million Colombians have been driven from their homes by armed men paid by international companies who will strip the land of resources until it is barren, then move on to take more. Colombians who have done small-scale mining on their ancestral land for generations have been driven into a wilderness of displacement, into life as refugees in their own country. They have organized to advocate for themselves, their communities and their livelihoods, continuing day after day, month after month into years to call for what is right, to demand that their land, their dignity, and their lives be respected.

Since July, I haven’t found very many words to speak about my time in Colombia. But when I remembered Lent was coming, one of the Ash Wednesday texts from the second letter to the Corinthians reminded me of the Colombian human rights workers. And it’s also talking to us.

Now is the time to be reconciled, it says – to God, yes, and to each other. Now is the day of salvation, that is, holistic well-being and abundant life, peace between parent and child and man and woman and paramilitary and campesino, and peace between peoples and nations. This is the hope of our faith.

So about hope.

Here in the U.S., especially among Anglos, despair is a very different choice than it is in Colombia. If we give up hope, if we are no longer able or willing to care, if we become paralyzed by the horror and injustice of the truth of so many people’s lives, and if we become overwhelmed by the weight of evil in the world, nothing happens to our homes or our livelihoods. Something happens to the kind of people we are – our character, our integrity – but we do not, in choosing apathy or hopelessness, immediately put our lives at risk.

It’s not that I never experienced fear while I was in Colombia. But my experience of being vulnerable to violence felt so minor compared to the fear of our Colombian partners that it mainly served to help me understand my U.S. passport-privilege more deeply. Unlike some of our partners, I have no idea what it feels like to receive threats to my life and the lives of my family members, season after season, because I am telling the truth and calling for justice. Recently, the high-profile community of Las Pavas, whose people have returned to their land, has been accused of never having lived there to begin with, and are being prosecuted for invading and occupying private land – victims and survivors turned into criminals. No wonder one finds Jesus among them.

When I came back home and resumed my day to day U.S. life, I asked myself a lot of questions: Why do this work explicitly as a Christian, when Christians are failing to act like Jesus left and right? Do I really believe the kingdom of God is coming? It seems far away. The wolf lying down with the lamb and not eating it? Really? Every tear wiped away from our eyes, and no more death? Really? The end of death?

The end of death?

But as these next 40 days of Lent stretch out in front of us, I still come back, hauling my doubt and cynicism, desiring to follow Jesus into the desert again. I must believe this craziness. The Bible itself–crazy and beautiful and comforting and deeply challenging to status-quos everywhere. A God who brings life out of death. A God who receives our most disordered, dysfunctional parts and gets them singing.

Almost as unbelievably, our partners in Colombia keep going. With a faith and hope I wonder at and don’t quite understand, they keep struggling. They keep imagining a time of justice, living their belief that people are created with the capacity to treat each other with dignity. How can I quit if they haven’t quit? What keeps me from being as bold and persistent as they are?

Somehow underneath my temptations to despair and give up, I do believe that all creatures, all that was made, all the universe, was created from love and for love. That this love is underneath everything, that there is plenty of it. That there is a pull, a wind, the Spirit of Jesus whispering among us, and perhaps shouting above the din, “Come with me and be awake to your hope and your fear.” Beneath the sounds of killing and anxious constant motion, and in the spaces of clarity and quiet within us, the voice of a poor Nazarene teacher pulling us into the new things that are coming.

Now is the day of salvation – wholesale healing. Now is the time to choose life, to choose a practice, something simple that will enable us, at the very least, to be aware of our own resistance to following Jesus. To return to our God, or at least to admit we don’t know how, for that is a step toward a wilderness that could teach us something. God, with a great sense of humor, trusts us.

Remarkable.

Hope for the duration, for the long haul – modeled for us by people who could have given up long ago.

Read a more detailed update on the Las Pavas community

Download a pdf of the full article.

Conference board and staff review vision and finance goals

by Emily Ralph, eralph@franconiaconference.org

Staff members listen intently as board members take turns in the "fishbowl," discussing the VFP. Pictured here are board members (L to R, inside) Rina Rampogu, Beny Krisbianto, Nelson Shenk, and Randy Nyce and staff members (L to R, outside) Steve Kriss, Noah Kolb, and Conrad Martin. Photo by Emily Ralph.

Franconia Conference board and staff decided last month to phase out the conference’s Vision and Finance Plan. The two groups gathered at Wellspring Church of Skippack (Pa.) on January 30 for a day-long retreat to discuss vision for the next five years.

Board and staff members reviewed and discussed the conference’s “E-3” vision (Equipping Leaders to Empower Others to Embrace God’s Mission), priorities (formational, missional, and intercultural), and the Vision and Finance Plan (VFP). The group moved to consensus that the VFP, which was created in 2007 to give recommendations for decision-making about properties, staffing, and the implementation of the “E-3” Vision, had served an important function but had reached the end of its helpfulness. The VFP was due for review this year.

The VFP worked to align vision with conference resources and was adopted by delegates at the 2007 Conference Assembly, according to board member Joe Hackman, Salford congregation, an original member of the VFP team. “The plan was intended to frame the work of conference staff – to give a better picture of what conference is doing, why they are doing it, and how they are doing it,” he said.

Some of the specific goals of the VFP have been accomplished: development rights for the Indian Creek Farm are being sold with plans to pay off a portion of the mortgage on the conference’s Souderton Center property; the conference office was relocated and downsized; new modes of continuing education for credentialed leaders have been implemented.

Other goals remain important and ongoing, specifically the emphasis on healthy and growing churches, leaders, and connections. “This is what I believe,” said Noah Kolb, pastor of ministerial leadership, as he reflected on the E-3 vision. “God is looking for communities of believers who are able to follow Jesus as he followed God, who are able to read the signs . . . and respond in specific ministries. But who leads [the disciples] with a sense of knowing where to go and what to do and how to listen? . . . It is well equipped leaders.”

The board and staff agreed that the main role of conference structures and staff was to equip, resource, and connect congregations, conference related ministries, and leaders. To do this, the VFP will be phased out with new immediate, short-term, and longer range priorities established. Conference Board will develop these priorities to be reviewed and implemented by staff.

“The church is the primary vehicle for God’s expression in the world,” said board member Jim Longacre, Bally congregation, as others nodded in agreement, “not individuals, but a community.” The role of the conference, he suggested, is to do only what congregations can’t do alone.

And, added assistant moderator Marta Castillo. Nueva Vida Norristown New Life, to focus on God’s mission. “As we pray for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we know that the church is only an instrument in God’s hand and our work is to be a part of missio Dei [mission of God],” she said. “At this time, for Franconia Conference, it means that we have to change.”

Even in a time of change and movement, some things will remain the same, said Ertell M. Whigham Jr., executive minister. “The ageless goals are . . . equipping healthy and growing leaders. That doesn’t change—it doesn’t matter how many years have passed.”

February 22 (Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent) has been set aside as a day of prayer and discernment for conference board and staff as they continue to seek God’s vision for the conference together. Please continue to be in prayer for conference leaders; contact Sandy Landes, prayer coordinator, for more information on how you can support this day in prayer.

Conference students recognized for excellence in academic achievement

Franconia Conference college students were recognized last week for excellence in academic achievement at Hesston & Goshen Colleges.

From Hesston’s Honor Roll:

Matt Hershey, son of Jim and Brenda Hershey, is a freshman and a member of Salford Mennonite.

From Goshen’s Dean’s List:

Lydia Anne Alderfer, daughter of Dwight and Beverly Alderfer of Harleysville, is a junior studying sociology. She is a 2009 graduate of Souderton Area High School and attends Salford Mennonite Church.

Christian Lederach Allebach, son of Rebecca Coppola of Ambler, is a sophomore studying molecular biology/biochemistry and Bible and religion. He is a 2010 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Souderton Mennonite Church.

Angela K. Bishop, daughter of J. Eric and Linda Bishop of Souderton, is a senior studying Spanish and TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages). She is a graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Souderton Mennonite Church.

Hannah R. Clemmer, daughter of Michael & April Clemmer of Harleysville, is a junior studying psychology. She is a 2009 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Towamencin Mennonite Church.

Joshua Philip Delp, son of Gary and Julia Delp of Sellersville, is a senior studying English and Bible and religion. He is a 2008 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

Jessica Rae Gotwals, daughter of R. Brent and Julia Gotwals of Telford, is a senior studying nursing. She is a 2009 graduate of Souderton Area High School and attends Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

Erica Rose Grasse, daughter of James and Marlissa Grasse of Chalfont, is a senior studying biology and environmental science. She is a 2009 graduate of Pennridge High School and attends Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

Marissa K. Kauffman, daughter of Thomas and Donna Kauffman of Harleysville, is a senior studying nursing. She is a 2008 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Franconia Mennonite Church.

Tim C. Landes, son of Steven and Sandy Landes of Hilltown, is a junior studying art. He is a 2008 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Doylestown Mennonite Church.

Madeleine Johnson Ruth, daughter of Philip Ruth and Elizabeth Johnson of Harleysville, is a sophomore studying music and psychology. She is a 2010 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Salford Mennonite Church.

Rebecca Lee Weaver, daughter of Craig and Judith Weaver of Harleysville, is a senior studying psychology. She is a 2008 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Franconia Mennonite Church.

Justin Nicholas Yoder, son of Jerold and Beth Yoder of Perkasie, is a senior studying music and interdisciplinary. He is a 2009 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Salford Mennonite Church.

###

Located 30 miles north of Wichita, Hesston College is the two-year liberal arts college of Mennonite Church USA. Visit www.hesston.edu.

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values — passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership — prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Visit www.goshen.edu.

Former missionaries encourage missional imagination

Eleanor and Alan Kreider: "We become what we worship." Photo by Emily Ralph.

Authors Eleanor and Alan Kreider, longtime missionaries to the United Kingdom, encouraged leaders toward missional imagination at a monthly pastors’ breakfast on February 10.

It is only by worshiping a God who is missional that God’s people can become missional, according to the Kreiders. We become like the God we worship, Alan said, “What kind of God are we worshiping? The deeper we get into God, the deeper we get into mission.”

They pointed to Herm and Cindy Weaver, parents of a young mission worker who was killed by a 16-year-old boy who was texting while driving. The parents forgave the boy–and it made headlines. “They are shaped by their worship of a God who forgives them to be people who are forgiving in their world,” said Alan.

The Kreiders, who published Worship and Mission After Christendom in 2011, believe that worship fans mission.

The Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program, which started in Canada in 1974 and is now an international agency, began because one person asked “Wouldn’t it be neat?” said Eleanor.

“‘Wouldn’t it be neat?’” Alan added. “There is the missional imagination coming into play!”

Handouts from the Kreiders

The Krieders’ PowerPoint presentation

From Mozart to U2 with the EMU Chamber Singers

Marking the season of Lent, the Chamber Singers of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) will be singing a concert that draws from from Mozart to U2 during their Feb. 24-26 tour. The tour includes stops at Philadelphia Praise Center, Salford, and Blooming Glen.

Conductor Kenneth J. Nafziger said prayers and readings from the Psalms will be woven throughout the concert. “There are very direct biblical psalms with parallels to popular music that explore a common spiritual life,” Nafziger said.

The repertoire will range from introspective and penitential texts, several versions of the Kyrie eleison, and popular songs that share Lenten themes, including U2′s “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”

“It is such a joy to bring our music to the churches and communities that we visit and see the way that our audiences respond to our music,” said Heidi Bauman, a senior at EMU. “I am particularly looking forward to singing an arrangement of ‘What wondrous love is this’ as well as Mozart’s ‘Laudate Dominum.’”

Aldo Siahaan, pastor of Philadelphia Praise Center, one of the churches that will be hosting the Chamber Singers during their Pennsylvania tour, is looking forward to the praise and worship with the choir. The EMU Chamber Singers will be joining the congregation for an interdenominational prayer meeting held at another Indonesian church in Philadelphia. Siahaan hopes that this will build relationships with other Indonesian churches “plus let the other churches know that PPC has wide connections in the Mennonite family.”

For more information contact Marci Myers, special events assistant, at
540-432-4589 or email myersmk@emu.edu.

***Tour schedule***

Friday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. – Indonesia Full Gospel Fellowship Church (Philadelphia Praise Center, host)

Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. – Salford Mennonite Church

Sunday, Feb. 26, at 9:30 a.m. – Blooming Glen Mennonite Church

Sunday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. – Pinto Mennonite Church

MWC executive secretary preaches in Philadelphia

by Adrian Suryajaya, adrian_190192@hotmail.com

“There is not one culture that fully knows who Jesus is. That is why we need another culture to complete the character of Jesus.” That is the heart of the message Mennonite World Conference’s new executive secretary Cesar Garcia gave the congregation at Philadelphia Praise Center (PPC).

On January 29, Garcia made his Franconia Conference debut at PPC–a growing multiethnic and multilingual congregation in South Philadelphia that worships in English, Indonesian and Spanish. “I am amused to see the little print on the bulletin that says ‘Multiethnic Church’,” said Garcia. “By being a multicultural church, you can be an example to other churches in North America.”

His message, affirming the call of multiethnic congregations, became a form of confirmation for the congregation according to Aldo Siahaan, PPC’s lead pastor. “As a pastor of a multiethnic church, I felt that Pastor Garcia’s message was an affirmation of what the church has been doing and it will always be a vision of Philadelphia Praise Center,” he said. “It is not easy and each culture needs to learn from one another. However, this will not become a hindrance because we believe that this is God’s plan for the church.”

Garcia offered God’s vision in Revelation 7:16-17 about what could happen if the church heeds God’s calling and remains faithful. “We will find consolation and satisfaction in God,” he said. “There will be no more emptiness in our life as long as we are faithful to heed his calling.”

Lindy Backues, a member of the congregation’s elder team, also felt the resonance of God’s plan for Philadelphia Praise Center through Pastor Garcia’s message. “I am very, very, very enthusiastic about the message!” Backues said. “Cross-cultural congregations are very rare [and] relevant today because it forces us out of our comfort zone. . . . It is easy to love people from the same culture. However, if we can reach out and love our brothers and sisters from other cultures, then the love that Jesus speaks about is fulfilled.”

Garcia, born in Colombia, is the first executive secretary for Mennonite World Conference who is a native of the 2/3rds world. He began this position this spring and recently completed graduate studies in California. Garcia and his family, along with the main offices of Mennonite World Conference, are now relocating to Bogata.

Allentown Mennonites gather for Tet worship celebration

The Mennonite Church USA congregations in Pennsylvania’s third largest city hadn’t to anyone’s recollection gathered for worship together until Sunday, January 29, at the Vietnamese Gospel Mennonite Church. The four diverse communities—Vietnamese Gospel Mennonite Church, Whitehall Mennonite Church and Ripple all associated with Franconia Conference and Christ Fellowship, an Eastern District Conference congregation—met together to celebrate Tet (Vietnamese New Year) through an eclectic multilingual worship that featured singing in three languages, Scripture reading in six languages, and storytelling from each congregation on the theme of God’s abundance in a time of scarcity.

Vietnamese Gospel Mennonite Church pastor Hien Truong welcomed those gathered, explaining, “Vietnamese New Year is a marking of springtime. It’s a time of new growth and a special time of asking forgiveness and moving into new ways of building relationships.” While planned by a team from the four congregations, the gathered worship took on a Vietnamese flair with scripture blessings distributed to adults and traditional li xi gifts ($2 bills in red envelopes) for children. Afterward, the congregations enjoyed a carry-in meal that was held together around Vietnamese New Year foods.

According to Rose Bender, pastor at Whitehall Mennonite who also helped plan the gathered worship, “The worship service was such a joyous occasion for me because of the great diversity of God’s kingdom that was represented. It was a foreshadowing of heaven—all nations, all tribes—declaring God’s glory! . . . I am so excited to see what God is doing in the Lehigh Valley—and encouraged by four small congregations coming together and proclaiming God’s bounty as we face a new year.”

Owen Longacre: “You’ve got to help your team”

Owen Longacre (Swamp), a junior forward on the men’s basketball team at Eastern Mennonite University, is making a name for himself.

Owen Longacre scored a career-high 15 points in the Royals' 74-71 win over Randolph on Saturday, playing on a painfully sore injured ankle. "I don't really think of myself as tough," Longacre said, an assessment his coach and teammates disagreed with. Photo by Wayne Gehman.

In many ways, the 6-foot-6, 220-pounder stands out by not standing out. He isn’t flashy or demonstrative on or off the court. He plays with a reserve that stands in contrast to the running and gunning style that made EMU an Old Dominion Athletic Conference power the previous two seasons.

But even as the Telford, Pa., native was fighting for playing time on stacked EMU teams led by George Johnson and Todd Phillips – teams that played fast and above the rim and had no shortage of swagger – Longacre was popular with both the fans and his teammates.

“He always fit in really well,” EMU coach Kirby Dean said. “… He works really, really hard and he does his own thing, but he doesn’t do it in such a way that, because you’re different he thinks less of you, because he doesn’t. That allowed him to really mesh well with those guys.”

Despite being likeable and hardworking, Longacre – a history and education major who enjoys reading mysteries and is learning to play the guitar – still found himself buried on the depth chart behind the Royals’ star players as a freshman and sophomore. He got some minutes but was a role player.

At times, EMU has struggled to retain players who didn’t quickly make the starting lineup. At Division III, where players don’t get athletic scholarships, the prospect of paying tuition just to ride the pine often drives people to transfer.

“I don’t think there’s any question that he’s the exception to the rule,” Dean said. “In a society of instant gratification, `I want what I want and I want it right now,’ you just don’t see guys who predominately sit for two years and patiently wait their turn. What a privilege it is to have a kid like that in the program.”

Longacre, from Christopher Dock Mennonite School in suburban Philadelphia, played just over five minutes a game as a freshman at EMU – the year the Royals went 25-5 and won three NCAA tournament games before losing to Guilford. A year ago, when the class of Johnson, Phillips, Eli Crawford, D.J. Hinson and Orie Pancione were all seniors, he played just over eight per outing.

This year, he’s a starter and is averaging 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the young Royals (8-10 overall, 3-6 in the ODAC).

He’s done it all while battling through a bevy of injuries – four concussions, a broken hand, bruised chest and shoulder surgery after his freshman year.

“I don’t really think of my self as tough,” Longacre said, an assessment his coach and teammates disagreed with. “It’s more the mindset of, if you can get out there any way, you’ve got to help your team. I just think if I can get out there, I’m going to try.”

Longacre scored a career-high 15 points in the Royals’ 74-71 win over Randolph on Saturday at Yoder, playing on a painfully sore injured ankle. When he fouled out with just under four minutes to play, the crowd showed its appreciation for one of its own.

“Our women’s soccer coach said, `Man, when Owen fouled out he got the loudest ovation I’ve ever heard in there,’” Dean said.

Among those applauding was Quincy Longacre, Owen’s older brother and a basketball player at EMU from 1996-2000. Quincy – who played at EMU before it opened Yoder Arena and before it routinely drew crowds of more than 800 people – was a member of the 16-9 Royals squad that had the best record in program history until Dean put together the 2009-10 juggernaut.

Longacre said he was familiar with EMU because of Quincy’s time here but didn’t set out to pick a Mennonite college to continue his basketball career. With the Royals, Longacre said he just found the right fit – athletically, academically and socially.

For his part, Longacre said he enjoys the love he gets from the fans. “A lot of the guys on the team comment on that, how I have the most fans,” Longacre said. “I guess part of that is I can relate to a lot of different groups on campus. I feel like I can relate a lot with the fans in the stands, relate to the students. I get a lot of razzing from Coach and the other guys but I don’t feel any extra pressure. I just feel even more support.”

Reprinted by permission from the article “The One & Only” by Mike Barber, Daily News Record, Harrisonburg, Va., January 26, 2012.

Pastoring after the Storm

by Gwen Groff, Bethany, bethanym@vermontel.net

Route 100 in Plymouth, Vermont after Tropical Storm Irene tore through the region. Photo by Brandon Bergey.

A friend told me a story about a minister who went down to the train station every morning to watch the trains pass. Finally someone asked why he did this. Was he considering throwing himself in front of one of them? Was he wishing he could hop on one and get out of town? Was he praying for the people as they passed through? The minister said, “I just love to see something moving that I don’t have to push.”

Although I’m not much of a pusher, I can sometimes identify with the desire to see movement for which I’m not responsible. But the community response to Tropical Storm Irene, which hit Vermont on Sunday, August 28, 2011, was a moving train I was not pushing. Instead I felt I was running to catch up with what was already on the move.

I was out of town when the storm hit. My husband Robert and I were at the beach in Maine celebrating our 20th anniversary when Irene poured eight inches of rain on our town and washed away roads, bridges, power lines, homes and land.

In Maine the seas were high but we saw little rain or storm damage. We were oblivious to Irene’s impact until we happened to meet some other Vermonters on the beach who told us that our governor had declared a state of emergency. We started paying attention to the news and trying to phone home. We couldn’t reach the friends who were keeping our kids but our neighbors told us not to bother trying to come home early. The roads to our house were closed and the road between us and our children was washed away.

I called our neighbors to ask how they were doing. When I talked with one member of the family she said, “It’s like a war zone here. No power, boulders in the middle of lawns, houses washed under the bridge up the road . . .” When I talked with her husband, he said, “It’s like a big party here. There’s no power so we’ve got the grill going, there’s lots of stuff thawing in the freezer we need to eat up . . .”

When we got home on Tuesday, we started seeing the damage in our neighborhood and hearing the extent of the damage in our small state. Five people drowned, 1400 were driven from their homes. Two hundred bridges were damaged and 530 miles of roads shut down.

With power still out and roads around us yet closed, we had little to do but walk around to our neighbors and see what needed to be done. Some people immediately got busy coordinating relief supplies and equipment. We were asked if we could use the church vestibule as a distribution point, but it soon became clear we’d need a bigger space, and the Grange (town) hall next door became the local hub of activity.

I was slow to catch up with what my role should be in this situation. I mostly listened a lot as people shared their stories. When electricity was restored I baked bread and took it to neighbors who had been evacuated and people who were cleaning mud out of their basements. Many were sorting and drying out their possessions.

Several people suggested Bethany have a special service. Vermont is a notoriously secular state, and only one other time—after 9/11—did people in this community ask for a worship service. But the week after Irene several people said they would like time to come together and pray. One person from the community suggested that we have a Eucharist but use water instead of the usual elements. Water is what caused us so much trauma. But water is also what we most needed, clean water to drink, water to wash our hands and shower and flush, water to cleanse the contaminated soil.

So we gathered and sang and prayed and had a water ritual. I had planned several readings and songs to follow the ritual, but sharing the water was the start of people sharing stories, and that went on for more than an hour. People didn’t want to leave.

Mennonites are used to being the experts in relief and disaster services. Motivated by our faith, we are good at helping. But after Irene we saw everyone helping their neighbors. Who knew so many Vermonters had heavy equipment stashed in their sheds? People in our town joyfully brought out whatever big rig they had and repaired roads, built makeshift bridges, refortified river banks, and removed debris. One neighbor said, “They’re like boys playing in a sandbox.”

People became more expressive of their compassion. Neighbors who normally barely waved at each other had conversations and came into each other’s houses and helped sort through one another’s chaos. Neighbors in isolated pockets shared meals and water, sump pumps and generators. In this community of independent, self-sufficient Vermonters, people gave and accepted help.

For some, fear lingers. The sound of water brings anxiety. And many people are exhausted by the process of haggling with insurance companies and FEMA. But the community has become more kind and connected, and there is no turning around that train.