When we get together for church, we pray. The worship leader invokes the Holy Spirit with an opening litany, another person offers a congregational prayer on our behalf, the preacher prays before the sermon, various people speak joys and concerns during an open time of sharing and, finally, the worship leader returns for a prayer of benediction before we depart …
While watching Executive Board members taking a prayer walk through Phoenix on Jan. 9, I was struck by how futile—even foolish—the gesture seemed …
Our Membership Guidelines for the Formation of Mennonite Church USA say it is a teaching position of our church that homosexual sexual activity is sin.
The framers of the guidelines were wise in using the term “teaching position” …
MILLERSBURG, Ohio — For Jacob Beachy, life moves along much as it always has. Every day, there are the 35 cows that need tending, and 90 acres of farmland. His is the life of an Amish farmer, in which family, work and faith intertwine on one plot of Ohio land.
“Mom, what’s in your belly?. I asked my pregnant mother when I was three years old. “Oh, that’s your sister. You.ll get to meet her soon” …
Both André Gingerich Stoner and Stanley Green see evangelism, witness and personal transformation together with peace, justice and social transformation as vital aspects of holistic Christian witness. How have these themes shaped them personally, becoming central to their work as church leaders?
Mennonite Chuch USA’s Phoenix 2013 convention next summer will include an unconventional purpose: to educate participants about immigration issues on the ground, create public witness events in the city and then have those in Phoenix return home to replicate the experiences for those who missed the convention. This is a good plan …
I wish I could say that people come to church for my sermons. The pews are filled instead because we want to be there to hear the prayers, sharing aloud our joys and concerns, bringing them before God and receiving each voice as an invitation into the body of Christ. Through prayer our lives are mingled, becoming part of one another …
At the delegate session in Pittsburgh last summer, André Gingerich Stoner remarked that many Mennonites “love service, flirt with peace and are allergic to evangelism.” Many felt he hit a home run with that comment. That means we have a ways to go to become a missional church. Service, peacemaking and evangelism are all needed in order to fully proclaim the gospel …
What happens when you are filled with Jesus, when Jesus grows inside your life? When you are full of Jesus, what do you say? These questions take us into the heart of Advent. These questions take us into the womb of Mary, where we find Jesus, filling her body. And we listen to what Mary says when Jesus grows into her life …
