Anyway, last Monday I joined them for dinner & fellowship and learned of their interest in finding more participants and connecting with other congregations in the area (and in the Lancaster and Atlantic Coast Conferences) as they pursue organizing more formally as a church.  The person who has been the catalyst of the group is Scott Calkins - a former U.S. Marine turned Anabaptist who lives with his wife in Elkton, MD.  For anyone interested, they have a website & blog at the following links:

http://www.paxmin.com
http://www.paxmin.com/blog/blog.htm

Check out the game and some background info by clicking here.

I read some parts of the stories from Colombia in one of CPT’s books, but one of the things that stood out to me most in preparing my presentation was a Colombian “table grace” taken from MCC’s photo gallery:

“Thank you God for this bread. And give bread to those who hunger - and hunger for justice to those of us who have bread.”

“First TV in a Mennonite Family” by Julia Kasdorf, from Sleeping Preacher. © University of Pittsburgh Press.

1968

The lid of the Chevy trunk couldn’t close
on that wooden console with a jade screen
and gold flecks in the fabric over the speaker.

They sent us to bed then set it up
in the basement, as far from our rooms
and the dinner table as they could get,

out of sight for grandparents’ visits.
The first morning, Mother studied the guide
and chose Captain Kangaroo for me,

but when we turned it on, the point of light
on the screen grew into black-and-white men
lifting a stretcher into the back of an ambulance.

Each click of the huge, plastic knob
flashed the same men, the same ambulance door
propped back like a broken wing.

After that, we were forbidden to watch everything
except the Captain and “I Love Lucy.”
Yet, when Dad returned from business in Chicago,

I heard him tell Mom how police beat the kids
under his hotel window, and I knew whatever it was,
that vague, distant war had finally come.

By ballots counted on January 19, the active ordained and licensed leaders of Lancaster Mennonite Conference did not affirm a recommendation from the Board of Bishops that would have allowed for the ordination of women called and affirmed by congregations to serve in ministry and pastoral leadership. The recommendation was not affirmed by the constitutionally required 66.67 percent approval. Of the 359 credentialed leaders who voted, 65.74 % affirmed the recommendation and 34.26% did not affirm the recommendation (there are 455 active credentialed leaders in LMC). Thus, the recommendation did not pass. The vote on the recommendation from the Board of Bishops came after a lengthy and significant process of spiritual discernment.

In March of 2006, the Board of Bishops introduced a process of spiritual discernment to consider adopting a policy that would enable congregations to follow their convictions in discerning the gifts and calling of persons, regardless of gender, into ordained leadership roles in the congregation. Following ten regional cluster meetings for credentialed leaders and three forums for lay persons held in April and May, the 23-member Board of Bishops reviewed the helpful, but diverse, feedback from across the conference. This feedback along with dwelling in God’s Word, prayer, fasting, listening, searching, and study moved the Board of Bishops to approve a recommendation in August. The recommendation was then sent to credentialed leaders for their discernment and affirmation.

One of the themes that emerged from the 2006 cluster meetings was a shared desire in all LMC congregations to be faithful to Jesus Christ as revealed in Scriptures. Within LMC, there are a variety of beliefs and practices regarding roles of men and women in ministry and pastoral leadership. Contrary to the either/or clarity that some persons wished to bring to this discussion, the practice of LMC congregations is more accurately described as a continuum in which women are involved to lesser or greater degrees in congregations. Through the process of spiritual discernment it was clear that equally sincere and faithful people understand Scripture differently and come to differing conclusions regarding the practice of women in leadership and ordination.

Because this recommendation was not affirmed, the policy affirmed by credentialed leaders in 1999 will remain in effect. The 1999 recommendation approved granting a License for Specific Ministry to women serving on church planting teams, pastoral teams, or other specific ministries. While this license grants all the privileges and responsibilities of an ordained person, this credential does not lead toward ordination for women. The 1999 policy states that men will serve as primary leaders (lead pastors) in LMC congregations and that any exceptions will require the approval of the Bishop Board.

The Board of Bishops brought the following recommendation:

That Lancaster Mennonite Conference respect each member congregation in its discernment of Scripture, as led by the Holy Spirit, to call and affirm persons to serve in ministry and pastoral leadership, and

That the LMC Board of Bishops license and/or ordain, regardless of gender, those who have responded to God’s call, who have been affirmed by their respective congregation, and who meet LMC qualifications for credentialing.

The recommendation also included the following understandings:
To most fully respect the differing Scriptural understandings, beliefs, and practices of our congregations, the role of bishop and similar conference oversight roles, will be reserved for men.

The Board of Bishops will assist in defining protocol for healthy, God-honoring male and female relationships in ministry teams.

Sojourner Truth (1797-1883): Ain’t I A Woman?
Delivered in 1851 at the Women’s Convention, Akron, Ohio

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that ‘twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s this they call it? [member of audience whispers, “intellect”] That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or negroes’ rights? If my cup won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ’cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say.

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Poem: “Prayer Requests at a Mennonite Church” by Todd Davis from Some Heaven. © Michigan State University Press.

Pray for the Smucker family. Their son Nathaniel’s coat and shirt were
caught in the gears while grinding grain. Nothing would give, so now
he is gone. We made his clothes too well. Perhaps this is our sin.

Pray for the Birky family. Their son Jacob fell to his death in the
granary. He was covered in corn before they could stop the pouring—
chest crushed by the weight, seed spilling from his mouth. We hope
something will grow from this, besides our grief.

Pray for the Hartzler family. Their youngest has left the church and no
longer believes that Christ died for her sins. She buys clothes at the
mall. Tongue pierced, nose as well. Her shirt shows her belly where a
ring of gold sprouts. We pray she will remember that her Lord’s side
was pierced, that His crown held no gold, only the dried blood of His
brow.

Pray for the Miller family. Last week their daughter, who lives in
Kalona, lost her baby at birth. Child only half-formed: head turned the
wrong way; heart laid on the outside of her chest; one leg little more
than an afterthought. Lord, help them know that life may come again,
that we are all made whole in heaven.

Pray for the Stutzman family. Their son fights in the war. We call him
back to the Prince of Peace, to our Savior who knelt to gather the
slave’s ear, brushed the dirt away, lifted it to the side of his flushed face.
May we leave no scars. May we ask no blessing for the killing done in
His name.

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided [people].”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

I watched the movie V for Vendetta recently and remember the protagonist “V” saying, “I, like God, do not play with dice and do not believe in coincidence.” It stood out to me because it’s something I’ve pondered a lot over the years. How much of our lives, how much of the universe is minutely managed by the Creator? Were the Bengals praying harder (and therefore playing better) than the Ravens last Thursday night? (Sorry, though I watch occasionally, I’m really not that into the NFL.) Or when my Dad got his hay in before the rain and the neighboring farmer’s got soaked (rain is not good for hay quality), was that just a matter of luck (or in a more Menno-correct term, fortune) or was there some Divine intervention? Perhaps it was just because of my Dad’s skill and good sense as a farmer or because we didn’t bale much hay, but chopped most of it to make haylage and didn’t have to wait as long for it to dry.

The impetus for this post came this afternoon as I was leaving school, headed to get my bike and ride home. It was about 1:15 and as I walked down the long hall towards the exit, I kept telling myself that it wouldn’t happen again, but sure enough, near the end of the hall, Dr. B appeared from around the corner. “What’s so odd about that?” you ask. Well, it all started Monday, when in the same hallway sometime between 2 and 3pm, in search of a bathroom that was not being cleaned, I passed Dr. B twice. Barely a few minutes later I bumped into him outside on my way to where I park my bike. We both laughed at the coincidence of running into each other three times in a matter of five minutes, though neither of us had ever officially made the other’s acquaintance. Tuesday I left school around 1:30 and there was Dr. B, walking in the door I was walking out of. Again we chuckled remarking that we weren’t surprised, but each thinking, “Okay, this has been weird, but I’m sure this is the last time”. It wasn’t to be. On Wednesday I stayed until after 3 p.m. to help with psychiatry interviews that my classmates are learning to do and of course, there was Dr. B, walking in where I was walking out. I told him jokingly that I had been waiting there all afternoon for him. So now you can understand why I thought it highly improbable for a sixth encounter to happen on the fourth day in a row at no particular time in the day. I introduced myself this time offering my hand and he did likewise and we went on our way.

Now, I’ve always been a fan of coincidences, and would say they’re not too uncommon in my life, but I think this one tops those most recent in my memory. What significance this particular set of coincidences (or any of them for that matter) has for my life, I do not know and might never. But, if I believe like V, and much of Christendom, that God does not play with dice, then what?

I am curious to hear your thoughts on this matter. What is your working model for how God interacts with the world? Are we puppets? Is there a script? Is God aloof and ‘hands offish‘? What role does prayer play? Is there something in-between or a more appropriate question to ask? I doubt if we’ll arrive at any any definitive conclusions from this discussion, but perhaps we’ll find something helpful and thought provoking as we look through a glass darkly.

Because I don’t believe that church is most meaningful when it goes exactly according to plan. I believe that if we wanted to, we could show up on a Sunday morning and sit like Quakers, with nothing planned at all, and God could do something. Or everything could go wrong, and we could still get something really important from gathering together.

See also: the John Howard Yoder Project

I became a little aprehensive a little before the ceremony began. We had skipped the rehersal so I could study for an exam and suddenly I was fearful of messing up or offending someone by my ignorance of Catholic customs. This was afterall not one of the lesser practices of the Catholic church (nor the catholic church for that matter).

Fr. Joe however was not worried. When we arrived at the altar he quietly and graciously whispered instructions to us and our fears were allayed. In fact, one of the most profound elements of the experience was that despite the fact that we initially felt out of place - not knowing the moves, the responses, the ritual flow, etc - we sensed that everyone was at ease. The only uptightness in the place, so far as I could tell, was that which I brought with me.

Equally profound was Fr. Joe’s message to the newlyweds and his prayer(s) for unity. It was obvious he was not only praying for Catholics, but all seeking to serve God with their lives. In fact, he thanked God for the lessons in forgiveness that the “churches in the Amish country of Pennsylvania are teaching us,” and extended prayers for those serving God in churches, synagogues and mosques around the world. I must say, this Mennonite boy from Lancaster Co. was nearly blown away.