On May 18, 1888 the Harper Daily Sentinel in Harper, Ks published an op-ed piece about one of the Asian workmen who had left Harper to go back home.  While the wording grates on modern sensibilities, especially in the final sentence, the point comes across loud and clear.

1888 also happened to be the year that our church, Pleasant Valley Mennonite Church, was formed.  While I would say that the Mennonites have had some significant positive impact on our community, it is also still unfortunate that this article is just as applicable to our community as it was 125 years ago.  While the ethnic group in question has changed overtime, the core response of Christians those in our community who are “different” than we are seems to have changed very little.

For that matter it seems as though this article could also be written about our entire denomination.  Yes, there is a sweeping change in our understanding of what mission work is and where it happens, but that change has yet to permeate every person in our pews.  Perhaps the bright spot is that things really are shifting.  With the help of people like Alan and Eleanor Kreider we are re-thinking mission in a post-Christendom world.  We are changing the question from “How do we take Jesus to ‘those’ people over there” to “Where is God at work in this world and how can we get involved with that”.

I will continue to hold on to hope that things are changing.  In the mean time, however, articles like this continue to convict me that things have not changed enough and that there is still a lot of work to be done.

Originally posted here on July 12, 2011

I have a variety of reflections from the Mennonite Church USA national convention that was held in Pittsburgh, PA this last week.  This is just one, hopefully there will be more coming yet.

I went to this convention not knowing for sure if MCUSA would survive past the convention.  The reason was because it felt like there is currently an abnormally large amount of tension in the denomination right now.  There are a lot of issues that are causing tension but the big one is homosexuality, mainly because of one particular situation.

In the spring of this year a Mennonite pastor in Western District Conference performed a same sex union ceremony.  This has been done before, but every other time the pastor was disciplined in some form by their local conference.  This time, however, the area conference credentialing committee reviewed her credentials and found them to be in good order.  That’s a first.

The conference that I’m in (South Central Conference) overlaps with WDC and they have been at odds with each other for their whole history.  There are a lot of reasons for this that I won’t go into, but the short of it that they’re not exactly thrilled with each other to begin with.*  At the SCC annual gathering in June, the tension in the air was palpable.  From a variety of conversations I had the sense that I got was that this tension, and even outright anger, at WDC was not limited to the neighborhood and that it was shared by other conferences throughout the denomination.  Perhaps it is simply because of where I live, but the tensions over this seemed so great that I fully expected a full on, knock down drag out fight on the delegate floor at convention, possibly even resulting in entire conferences leaving the denomination.

This didn’t happen.  I think there are three reasons why.

1) Shane Hipps opening message.  Shane brought the most pointed and most gutsy sermon I’ve heard in a very long time.  I knew that he was right on because half of the time I found myself cheering what he was saying and half of the time I was ticked off because he hit me where it hurt.  Most importantly, though, he named the theological tension in the air (i.e. purity or righteousness) and re-framed them both in light of reconciliation as the higher value.  That sermon called out two groups who came to the convention ready for battle and set a tone of reconciliation and common ground rather than trying to defeat an adversary.

2) The conversation rooms.  A new feature of the convention was the conversation rooms.  It was a space set up to discuss the most contentious issues in the church with trained mediators to help focus and direct the conversation in a positive and helpful way.  Ultimately, they weren’t perfect and there is room for improvement.  However, the effect they had on the delegate sessions was significant.  People want to talk about these issues and they want to be heard.  The open mic time at the delegate sessions is an exceedingly bad place and way to do that, but at previous conventions it was the only place to attempt to be heard.  To be sure, there were some pointed, direct and personal comments made during the main open mic time, but the level of hostility and divisiveness that I was expecting just never showed up.  I suspect that this is due in large part to the fact that people had a place to actually have the conversations and arguments on a large scale in a place where they could be heard, thus reducing the need for people to try and hijack the open mic time.

3) Ervin Stutzman.  I’ll be the first to admit that I had serious questions about Ervin when he started as Executive Director of MCUSA.  As I’ve come to have more time and experience with him, my respect for him has increased by leaps and bounds.  This is mainly for a couple of reasons.  a) his has the ability to speak to people of all points on the Mennonite spectrum in a way that is deeply respectful and takes each one seriously as a part of the body of Christ and members of the church.  b) in the midst of some very tense situation he has a non-anxious presence that reduces everyones anxiety level.  c) he (and the exec. board) has worked very hard to paint a picture of a vision for MCUSA that does not deny the existence of difficult issues, but that does not let them dominate our work and mission as a church.  All of this came out at the convention from top to bottom.  Am I going to agree with him all the time?  Nope, not by a long shot.  But I do respect him and trust him.

I genuinely don’t know the future of the denomination.  There is much that I’m very hopeful for, but there is not guarantee that we’ll be celebrating 20 years as a denomination.  Even 6 months or a year from now the denomination could look very different.  But for the moment, we’ve taken a step in the right direction as a denomination.

* Note: As I was corrected by one commenter on my blog, this is an oversimplification of the relationship and does not take into account the very real good will between the two conferences at times nor the genuine attempts at merger and cooperative work.

If you can’t watch the video above, the main question is this:

Is anyone from YAR going to the MCUSA convention in Pittsburgh, Pa.  And if so, are you interested in meeting up face to face?  Maybe 9pm-ish on either Tuesday or Wednesday of that week?

Now forgive me if I sound a little cynical, but I know my history.  From the very first moments that Jesus walked the earth people have been predicting his return, and thus the end of the world with it.  So far, no one has been right.

What’s more, I know what happened at Münster.  To recap, a group of Anabaptists violently took over the town of Münster and swiftly began killing people, running around naked and doing a whole bunch of other things all because they were certain that Jesus was coming back right then and there.

That was 477 years ago.

What disturbs me most is how people who believe the end of the world is at hand have actually begun to act in the mean time.  When people believe the end of the world in nigh, their true selves seem to come out and they begin to live out what they really believe.

The people in Münster quickly turned into wild, violent and disturbing versions of themselves.

Many people awaiting May 21st have also sold their cars and homes, refused get married, gone on spending sprees, and a host of other things that seem to be essentially selfish in nature.

All of this misses the point of what Jesus was trying to say.  In Matthew 24 Jesus paints a very vivid vision of the destruction of the Temple and the end of the world.  While many have spent time trying to analyze this description to see the signs in our world today, they have completely missed the main point of what Jesus was trying to say.

In verse 36 and then 42-44 Jesus says,

36 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[f] but only the Father….  ⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Whenever someone in the Bible says “Therefore” it means that what they are about to say is going to be their main point.  The main point that Jesus was trying to get across is that you don’t know when the end of the world is coming so you should live every day as if it was the end of the world.  We are supposed to live in a constant state of readiness and holiness, and always be following the will of God.  The main point of Jesus’ talking about the apocalypse is not to give you a set of clues to figure out the date of the end of the world, but rather to inspire holy behavior.  In fact, I would say that to predict the end is actually blasphemy because you are attempting to figure something out that is reserved for God alone.

So, am I worried about Saturday? Not really.  Although it would really mess up the wedding that I’m performing for my friends.

This post is a followup to my thoughts on the controversy that preceded the release of this book.  You can read those thought on the wandering road  here, and on YAR  here.  This post is also on the MWR blog here.

An artist is, first and foremost, someone who sees the world differently than other people and helps others to see the world in that way.

Rob Bell is not a theologian; he’s an artist.

Bell’s new book Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell and the Fate of every person who ever lived should be first and foremost understood as a work of art. From the vivid imagery and stories that he uses, down to the careful arrangement of words on the page for visual effect, Bell does a masterful job of evoking questions, providing insights and causing the reader to see age-old questions in new ways.

That said, Love Wins contains theology, most of which isn’t particularly new. Bell even says as much in the preface. The theology that is included, while worded differently, often resonates with many Anabaptist understandings of faith.

One of Rob’s central theses is that heaven and hell are real, but that they are more of a state of being than a physical place — heaven and hell are not reserved for some time in the future but have already begun.

As I read this, I couldn’t help but think of the Anabaptist understanding of the kingdom of heaven — that the kingdom of heaven has already begun in the death and resurrection of Jesus, but that it has not yet fully been completed. Bell’s understanding and the Anabaptist understanding necessitate participation on the part of humans. Overall, many of the core theological concepts that Bell raises or alludes to can be found within various Anabaptist scholars and leaders and have, at some point, been taught at all of our church colleges.

Controversy has surrounded this book, even before it was released, and has mainly centered on the doctrine of hell. However, what seemed more challenging to me was the chapter on different biblical images of atonement.

Bell describes the plethora of images found in the New Testament to describe and understand Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Bell challenges the idea that there is one clean, simple way to understand the atonement of Jesus. This seems far more controversial and important than whether or not we have a precise understanding of hell — yet it feels as though this has been overshadowed in the controversy about the book.

Ultimately, Bell provides a provocative book that is adding fuel to an age-old fire. So if you’re looking for a well-footnoted, systematic theological treatise, this isn’t it. It is, however, biblically-based and rooted in scripture.

The book challenges certain understandings of the doctrine of hell, heaven and atonement. But I think these doctrines are more human constructs than biblical truth and rightly should be questioned. Even if Bell challenges beliefs that are seen as “orthodox,” this should not scare off Anabaptists. If it were not for challenging the orthodox doctrines of infant baptism, church and state relationships and faith-based violence, we Anabaptists would not be here today.

For those of us who grew up singing I John 4:7-8 at a church camp, and have grown to have a deep, tested, and sincere belief that these words are true, then Love Wins should be familiar territory for us. At the very least, it raises deeply important questions to our existence as humans and causes us to see ourselves and God in a new way. But then again, great art always does that.

For the first and best response to his critics, see Bell’s interview from March 14 here.  P.S.  Nothing happens until about 10 minutes in so skip ahead.

These are some of the questions that have sparked a bit of a firestorm around Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins: a book about heaven hell and the fate of everyone who ever lived.  This first came across my radar screen when I read a post on Tony Jones’s blog late last week about the growing attention and criticism about this book.  Then I did some searching and saw that it has even made a splash on the national news scene from CNN to ABC.

Here’s the book promo video:

Controversy in and of itself isn’t surprising with Rob Bell.  That’s happened before.  What is striking is that judgment has been leveled by a number of people who haven’t even read the book yet because it has not yet been released!

Ultimately the controversy stems from the fact that Bell is raising core questions about issues that are central to the Christian faith.  He has posed the questions in ways that have led some to conclude that Bell is promoting something called Universalism; a doctrine where everyone gets saved, no matter what.  Again, these are all assumptions because none of his critics have actually read the book yet.  The only worthwhile critique I’ve read so far is Greg Boyd’s, namely because he actually has read the book.  (As a side note, as an Anabaptist, it’s worth paying attention to Boyd partly because he’s grown very close to Mennonites in recent years, even flirting with the idea of joining MCUSA.)

What is most intriguing and frustrating to me is not the discussion about universalism, but rather the controversy itself and the way this has been discussed and argued about in the last couple of weeks.

It has been astounding to see the speed with which he has been denounced as a heretic and the forceful unwillingness to even raise the questions he poses.  For me this is a red flag.  Why are so many vigorously defending a relatively specific doctrine of hell?

When you look at the Bible, there is no one consistent understanding of hell.  For that matter, the concept of an afterlife in much of the Old Testament was non-existent.  God blesses and curses you through your descendants, not in an afterlife (See the 10 commandments).  There is no consistent version of hell in the Bible, and what is there most certainly doesn’t look like what most people today envision.  The image of a red guy with a pitchfork and horns comes from Dante’s Inferno, not the Bible.

I think that the reason that many have had such a knee jerk reaction is because the doctrine of hell is a powerful weapon.  Hell scares the…well..hell out of people.  Combined with a select few leaders who determine who’s in and who’s out, this fear fuels enormous power and control.  Even raising the question, as Bell has done, challenges the enormous power that many have enjoyed for centuries.

To be clear, I’m not defending Bell.  I haven’t read his book so I can’t say one way or another.  What I do know is that these questions are deeply important to an enormous number of people, both inside and outside the church.  It is critical for the church to pay attention to this.  It’s time that we learned to have these discussions, openly and honestly and in front of the watching eyes of the world.  Because as Bell says “what we believe about heaven and hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about who God is and what God is like.”

This post is cross-posted from thewanderingroad.  It’s also available in a more edited form at the Mennonite Weekly Review blog.

Strip for the TSA

Follow me for a second and I’ll tell you what I mean.

Background

The TSA has now upped the game when it comes to air travel. They are introducing new full body scanners which virtually remove all of your clothes and allow the TSA agents to see everything.  And I mean everything.  If you don’t want to submit to this scan then you can opt for the new enhanced pat down which involves, among other things, actually touching your genitals.  Here’s the catch.  Once you have gotten yourself into this situation and didn’t want to do either one, one would assume that you would be able to simply say, ‘no thanks, I’ll walk to California’ and leave the airport.  Not so fast.  It’s against federal law to leave the security screening process one you have started it, therefore if you choose to refuse both of these methods of search, you are subject to a $10,000 fine and/or a civil lawsuit   (All of this was brought to a head by the experience of John Tyner) So what that means, is that anyone who is traveling through a major city, has the chance of being stuck in a situation where you two apparent options are 1) be violated or 2) face fines and lawsuits.

Or are there really only two options?

Bible story time

One of the scriptures that popped into my head while thinking about this situation is from the Sermon on the Mount.  Specifically Matthew 5:38-42.

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; ⁴⁰ and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; ⁴¹ and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. ⁴² Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.^[1]

In the book “Engaging the Powers” Walter Wink has an interesting interpretation of this passage in which he argues that each one of these things is actually a creative way to find a third way of creative non-violent resistance.[2] I was most drawn to his interpretation of the part about giving your cloak as well. Wink says that if someone became naked in the Biblical culture that the shame rested not on the naked person, but rather on the person who made them naked.  Therefore, if someone is suing you to take the clothes off of your back, give them all of your clothes and walk out of the courtroom naked with your head held high.  In a situation where the only two apparent options are to fight or be victimized, Jesus presents a third way that resists the abuse and places the shame back on the abuser, all while complying with the letter of the law.

So here’s my proposal.

When you find yourself in a situation of being scanned, you should voluntarily, in public,

strip down naked.

This act would not be disobeying the command of the TSA but rather it would be going the ‘second mile’, if you will.  While on one hand it is submitting to the invasiveness of the screenings it is also doing it in such a way that takes control and power back in the situation.  And I would also venture to say that if such an act were done in front of all of the other passengers waiting in line, it would expose the true invasiveness of the procedure and thus place the ultimate shame on the TSA, not on the individual.

Creative.  Non-violent.  Resisting.

One thing to know about our group is that the majority of the kids that we took aren’t particularly involved in church.  Also, most of them haven’t really been out of the state or even our county, let alone to another country.  That to say that this trip was the first profound experience of the working of God on a global scale for most of our kids.  As with most service trips, yes we did do some amount of good work on the building project.  However, we certainly received more than we gave and were changed in some profound ways.

As part of our reporting back to the congregation, I offered the sermon below.  Hopefully it’s a helpful reflection.  It’s specific to this trip and to Bolivia, but I think it really should to many cross-cultural situations.

Oh, yeah and it’s cross posted here.

____________________________________________

I went to the Grand Canyon with my family when I was in High School.  As my family toured various parts of the canyon and different times of the day it felt as though I was seeing new things about every 10 minutes.  And of course, I felt compelled to take picture of every new thing that I saw.  When we got back home and had our pictures developed I remember looking at all of the pictures and thinking, “yep, that’s a hole in the ground.  Yep, another hole in the ground.”  What had been so vivid when I was experiencing it lost it’s uniqueness when I tried to put it on film.

We just got back from a 2 week trip to Santa Cruz, Bolivia and on some level, I have a similar feeling about this trip.  This trip was an intense and life-changing experience for everyone who was on it.  But it is a really hard thing to figure out how to explain that to the people who stayed at home.  To me, every picture of construction that I have is unique, but for most people looking at them, it’s hard to tell them apart and it’s just one more picture of kid’s moving dirt.

At one point on the trip I asked the kids what was the one thing they wanted people to really understand about this trip when they got back home.  There’s all kinds of things that we can’t fully explain but what is the one thing that they would want family or friends to really understand.  As I thought about this for myself, my one thing that I want people to really understand is what it really means for all Christians to be one in Christ.  I want you to really understand what it means to seriously say that we are brothers and sisters, that we are family with the people in Bolivia (or anywhere else for that matter).

To tell you what I mean by this I first need to tell you what I don’t mean.  When we in North America look at the relationship between us here and the Bolivian Mennonites there are a number of reactions that I often hear that really seem to miss the mark.  The first reaction is often one of pity.  

When we are confronted with the differences in material and financial wealth, and the poverty that exists, often our first reaction is to feel sorry for them.  One night when we were talking with one of our hosts named Tito, he made a very profound comment.  He said, “It is true that we have poverty here in Bolivia, but we are not poor”.  I think he meant a number of things by that comment.  One of the biggest things that he meant by that statement is that there is more than one way to measure wealth.  We in the U.S. often think of wealth in terms of having money and physical possessions.  However, it is also just as important to measure your wealth in terms of your faith, the strength of your family structure, your community and many other things that can’t be measured in Dollars and Cents.

The other reaction that many Christians have when they see the differences between Bolivians and ourselves is to think, “look at how God has blessed us.”  Some of us have the tendency to think that the physical wealth and the financial wealth that we have in comparison to those in Bolivia is a sign that God has blessed us and has given us much more than them.  Even if we want to say that because of this blessing we should be responsible and generous, this understanding of blessing is a false one because it is not a full measure of the ways in which God blesses people.  I would guess that all of the youth would be willing to say that after getting to know the people in Bolivia and seeing how God has blessed them, that in reality, we are the ones who are dirt poor.  We are the ones who are lacking in faith, in strength, in family.  We just have more stuff.

The last main reaction that many people in the states have is one of guilt.  We can look at the gulf between us in terms of money and resources and we can become very guilty for how much we have accumulated.  This is probably the feeling that I have struggled with the most.  Early on in the trip one of the people at the daycare complimented me on my camera.  I instantly felt a sense of embarrassment and shame.  The reason is that I recently learned that I paid more for my camera than most manual laborers in Bolivia would make in a year.  This sense of guilt can almost be crippling at times.

All three of these reactions are understandable, but I would say that they are ultimately wrong.  They’re the wrong reaction because with all three of them they maintain the difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’.  With all of these reactions we continue to see ourselves as somehow different, or separate from the people in Bolivia.  If we are going to seriously say that the body of Jesus Christ goes across borders, nationalities, continents, races and whatever boundaries we might set up, then this separation between us and them has to go.  We must see ourselves as one family.

The best analogy that I can think of right now is that of a marriage relationship.  There are some relationships where one person is working outside the home and is the one who is responsible for earning the income for the family.  The other person will often work just as hard as the breadwinner and contribute just as much to the relationship and to the family even if that work isn’t measured in terms of dollars and cents.  It does not mean that either one is less valuable.  It also means that the one who earns the money freely shares those earnings with their spouse, not out of pity, not out of guilt but out of mutual, self-giving love.

This is what our relationship needs to be with the church in Bolivia.  Yes, we have should have a great desire to give to the Bolivian church.  But it should not be out of a sense of pity or guilt.  And it had better not be out of a desire to make ourselves feel good about how much stuff God has given us.  We need to give of our resources because we are the family of God and that’s what families do.

I can tell you that the Bolivian church has given this group and has given our church much more than we have given them.  It is my prayer that God will continue to keep this family together and that we will all continue to build up the kingdom of God.

]]> http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2010/06/14/reflections-from-bolivia/feed/ http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2010/01/21/anabaptist-rosary/ http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2010/01/21/anabaptist-rosary/#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:24:08 +0000 AlanS http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/?p=692 As a note: This is also posted at The Wandering Road

So I’ve recently run across the Catholic Rosary.  While I’m drawn to it’s structure and it’s ability to help people pray, as a good Anabaptist, I take issue with some of it’s theology.  So here is my initial thoughts and proposal for an Anabaptist Rosary.

First- An orientation to the actual Rosary.

How to pray the Rosary
1. Make the Sign of the Cross and say the “Apostles Creed.”
2. Say the “Our Father.”
3. Say three “Hail Marys.”
4. Say the “Glory be to the Father.”
5. Announce the First Mystery; then say
the “Our Father.”
6. Say ten “Hail Marys,” while meditating on the Mystery.
7. Say the “Glory be to the Father.”
8. Announce the Second Mystery: then say the “Our Father.” Repeat 6 and 7 and continue with the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Mysteries in the same manner.
9. Say the ‘Hail, Holy Queen’ on the medal after the five decades are completed.
As a general rule, depending on the season, the Joyful Mysteries are said on Monday and Saturday; the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesday and Friday; the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesday and Sunday; and the Luminous Mysteries on Thursday.

Prayers of the Rosary

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

THE APOSTLES’ CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

OUR FATHER

Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

HAIL MARY

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

HAIL, HOLY QUEEN

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope, to thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears; turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. 0 clement, 0 loving, 0 sweet Virgin Mary!

Pray for us, 0 holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

The Mysteries (These are basically events from the life of Christ, or Mary, for the purpose of meditation)

I won’t type out all of the mysteries here.  For a complete list of the 4 sets of mysteries, click here.

—————————————————————–

The Anabaptist Rosary

Physical changes to the Rosary itself.

1) Change the Crucifix to a plain cross.  This points to the resurrection as well as the death.

2) The medallion that typically has an image of Mary would be changed to the symbol of a lamb caught in thorns.  It’s a symbol of persecution, specifically used to refer to the Early Anabaptists.

Changes to the Prayer

1) Replace all “Haily Marys” with “Our Father”

2) Replace all “Our Fathers” with the “Beatitudes” (see below for text)

3) Replace the “Hail, Holy Queen” with the “Commission”

4) For the Apostles Creed include Willard Swartleys additions about the life and ministry of Jesus. (see below)

Instructions for praying the new Rosary
1. Make the Sign of the Cross and say the “Apostles Creed.”
2. Say the “Beatitudes.”
3. Say three “Our Fathers.”
4. Say the “Glory be to the Father.”
5. Announce the First Mystery; then say
the “Beatitudes.”
6. Say ten “Our Fathers,” while meditating on the Mystery.
7. Say the “Glory be to the Father.”
8. Announce the Second Mystery: then say the “Beatitudes.” Repeat 6 and 7 and continue with the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Mysteries in the same manner.
9. Say the ‘Commission’ on the medal after the five decades are completed.

Prayers of the Rosary

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

THE APOSTLES’ CREED – (Willard Swartley’s version from Covenant of Peace)

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary.  Lived obediently to his Abba.  Lived and taught love, peace, and forgiveness.  Healed the sick, cast out demons, forgave sins, raised the dead, confounded the powers. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. Triumphing over the powers, he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

OUR FATHER

Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Amen.

BEATITUDES

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falselyon my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

COMMISSION (Matt 28:19-20)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

A set of Anabaptist Mysteries (to be used in addition with the other mysteries)

Beginning of his ministry - Luke 4:16-30

Calling the disciples – Mark 1:16-20

Sermon on the Mount – Matt 5,6,7, specifically 7:28-29

Persecution – John 15:18-27

Pentecost – Acts 1:6-11, 2:2-4

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So, thoughts anyone?  Am I completely out in left-field? Is it right on?  Complete sacrilege?

That being said, I offer the following observation on the use of the term “ethnic” within the Mennonite Church.

One one hand: I am an “ethnic” Mennonite.

I grew up in central Kansas.  Within a 50 mile radius from the Hesston/Newton area there were over 100 different Mennonite settlements.  Each of these groups came from various parts of Europe during the 1860’s to 1890’s.  They could hardly be described as a homogeneous group, even though today they all happen to all be seen as white/european/Americans.  To be fair, the central Kansas Mennonites are also not the same as the northern Indiana Mennonites, which are not the same as the east coast Mennonites.  Nevertheless, I grew up knowing that I was part of a group known as “ethnic” Mennonites.  In my childhood consciousness that meant, primarily, that we ate weird food, had weird last names, kept track of genealogy to the 14th generation, had grandparents that spoke German and a variety of other things.  Above all, however, the term “ethnic Mennonite” referred specifically to a group of white people who emigrated from Europe to the United States.

On the other hand: I am not an “ethnic” Mennonite.

While the origins of Anabaptism, and thus the Mennonite church, come out of a Northern European context, the Mennonite church has begun to deal with the changing racial landscape of the churches that make up it’s constituency.  (The effectiveness  and completeness of this integration should certainly be discussed further at a later date)  In the struggle to describe the different parts of our church we have settled, intentionally or unintentionally, on the term “racial/ethnic” to describe the non-white parts of the Mennonite church.  The term “racial/ethnic” is somewhat of a catchall term that is not fantastically specific by any means.  “racial/ethnic” simply seems to mean “not-white”.  As far as I can observe, from my viewpoint as a white male, the use of the term “racial/ethnic” does not really allow for a nuanced understanding of the differences and tensions within and between the various cultural groups that get lumped into this category.  For example, the term “racial/ethnic” neglects the various shades within the Hispanic communities in the church.

I offer these observations simply to name a phenomenon that I’ve noticed.  I’m not making an value judgment on the use of “ethnic” in either sense.  I simply find it interesting.  I also do not yet know what it means to have the same word used in very different ways.  So, I ask you all; does this actually matter?  What are the implications of the use of this word?  Is it worth being more specific in our language?  If so, how do we go about changing the use of it?

Thoughts?

That being said, if you have never been to the prairies to witness the great expansive and dynamic sky, then you are really missing out.  One can hardly question the awesome power of God watching a massive thunderhead develop in the hot summer evening.  With beauty comes power.  These storms that give life through their rain and are so beautiful to watch from a distance are also the same ones that have been known to destroy entire towns.

Despite the mass exodus that small towns like ours have experience in the last 50 to 100 years, life out here poses many of the same questions that many in urban faith renewal movements have also begun to deal with.  Among the 12 marks of New monasticism there is a call to relocation to places that are abandoned by empire.  Harper shares a high school with a neighboring town.  Out of 250 students this last year, 56 students dropped out.  There are more rotting buildings in our downtown than there are businesses.  I was amazed to watch the wheat harvest a few weeks ago and to talk with the farmers, some of who attend my church, that farm massive amounts of land simply in order to make any kind of a living at all.  Small family farms no longer exist for a variety of reasons with no real organization to blame other than the shifting market.  The Emergent Church has pushed many to rethink what it means to live out our faith in such a way that is authentic and particular to our physical location and the people that surround it.  They have tapped into a sentiment that many traditional churches are broken and irrelevant.  Currently in Harper there are about 10 different churches and that represent about 8 different denominations.  The average church attendance, however, is about 25-30.  I am the only full time paid minister in town, because I happen to be at the only church large enough to support one.  Although I would consider myself strongly rooted in the Anabaptist tradition (I own a tongue screw after all) to truly be faithful in our context means first and foremost that we must be ecumenical.  Not homogeneous, but ecumenical.  More importantly, it is a true challenge to live out the Gospel in a community where the vast majority of the people in town either see Christianity as completely irrelevant or deeply problematic.

Because of the disconnection that many in rural settings feel, or often aren’t aware of, there is a critical need to find ways to be connected to those who live in different settings than we do.  In many past experiences that I’ve had it has struck me that while it is a difficult thing for me, a white, rural Menno kid to interact with someone different than I am, say, an urban, non-religious, person of color, sometimes the hardest part of the relationship isn’t always the differences in skin color or faith but rather the urban/rural divide.  That is not to minimize or discount any real issues involving race, of which there are many, but rather to say that since moving back to rural Kansas, I’m amazed when I hear people who share the same race, economic level, political affiliation, and denomination have a very hard time understanding each other, simply because of the setting that they live in.  The need for those in rural communities to engage with people in other settings is large, but I also find that those in urban settings have the same need.  Just like some rural settings, those who live in urban settings can also be blinded to their own need for relationship across cultures and need to be pushed outside of their known world.  It is a good and happy day when the rural wheat farmer comes to know the person who winds up buying their loaf of bread and when the urbanite comes to know that milk comes not from the store but from a cow.

So that’s a little bit about me, and hopefully a little something to chew on.  I’m really looking forward to getting to know you all more and to see where the journey leads us all.

Peace,

Alan Stucky