Pittsburgh 2011 Bridges to the Cross

Ben and Susan Miller Setiawan,
Ethan, Sammy and Aviva
Assembly Mennonite Church, Goshen, Ind.

Two years ago, my husband, Ben, and I traveled to Columbus 2009 with Ethan and Sammy, our two older children. Why would we and two of our children (grades 5 and 1) choose to spend nearly a week attending a Mennonite convention in downtown Columbus? In the process of figuring out why we should (and did) do this, we learned that convention is not just for high school youth and delegates—it’s a good place for anyone interested in Mennonite Church USA and the global Mennonite church.

Ben and I were raised Mennonite on opposites sides of the globe. This has enriched our lives incredibly, since Ben experienced the label “Mennonite” in Indonesia very differently from how I experienced it in the United States. Nevertheless, we both carry a Mennonite identity and realize we have been shaped by our heritages. We recognize that while we can’t “hand down” faith to our children, we can provide venues for them as Indonesian Swiss German children of Chinese descent to experience the global Mennonite family and their part in it. Ben and I try to be deliberate about doing so because we feel that a strong Mennonite heritage and identity is a gift that will serve our children and the world in which they live. Convention offered one such opportunity for Ethan and Sammy to experience being Mennonite in the larger context.

Having said that, I felt keenly that there was very little that was uniform about “being Mennonite” during that week in Columbus. I was reminded that “being community”—and what is a group of people identifying themselves by a single name if not some sort of community?—is difficult work. We disagree about things that we feel deeply about. We talk and listen as well as we can, yet sometimes we find it difficult to get beyond our own positions. Convention gave Ben and me opportunities to talk about these issues with our children when it seemed appropriate, doing our best to frame them as honest disagreements among people who feel strongly.

The speakers and activities were a draw for our family. Ben and I were eager to listen in on conversations going on in the wider Mennonite church, and we were very interested in hearing Jim Wallis and Shane Claiborne speak. Ben attended seminars on global themes and Christian-Muslim relations and the work of Christian Peacemaker Teams and Mennonites around the world. The seminar topics I chose ranged from family spirituality to financial planning to male/female roles in the congregation. We both learned a lot.

Ethan and Sammy attended the children’s activities, which felt similar to Bible school for them. We dropped them off every morning at their “family groups,” where they heard stories, sang songs and participated in arts and crafts (we still have the mosaic doves they made). As a family we all enjoyed evening music and performances, such as Ted & Co. and Ken Medema. Each day for lunch, we walked to the North Market District, where we relished the ethnic food and the feel of a big-city marketplace.

Reconnecting with friends was definitely a highlight for our whole family. Ben and I both graduated from Goshen (Ind.) College and worked at Mennonite camps. We and our children also spent five years in Baltimore. At convention, running into people we knew in college, the Baltimore youth group (When did those little kids become such young adults?) and many others we’ve been blessed to know was a real gift.

Admittedly convention is not your typical family getaway, but it worked well for us. We found rest and relaxation in nearby green space, an afternoon at the Columbus Zoo, leisurely-sipped coffee and conversations with friends old and new. We chewed on new ideas, Bible stories and stimulating seminar discussions. We sat and soaked up the voices of thousands of people raised in song and added our voices as well.

And so we are we planning on attending Pittsburgh 2011. This time Ethan will be with the junior youth, Sammy will be in the elementary group, and Aviva will join us and attend the preschool group. We look forward to joining the conversations of the wider church and reminding ourselves of why we have chosen to be Mennonite. All in all, we think it will be a week well spent.