Columbus Mennonite Church is home to many ‘new Mennonites’ and explores ‘hot topics.’

Pastor Susan Ortman Goering witnesses Columbus (Ohio) Mennonite Church’s influence on people all over the country.

Susan says she meets many people who attended the congregation while enrolled as graduate students at Ohio State University (OSU) and then move elsewhere. This stream of new members also marks the challenging reality of ministering to a transient community.

“There’s sadness when these people leave,” Susan says, “but there’s real joy in the sense that we are contributing to the larger church.”

Phil Hart and Jim Leonard at this year’s Easter sunrise service. Photo by Jep Hostetler.

OSU graduate students started Columbus Mennonite in the 1960s; at that time the church’s name was Neil Avenue Mennonite Church. The first charter meeting occurred in 1962. These students purchased church property and started a men’s shelter.

The founders took “amazing risks to buy properties and reach out to the community,” says Steve, who pastors Columbus Mennonite with Susan, his wife.

The congregation outgrew its building, relocated to an area north of downtown in 1998 and changed its name. It existed as one of the first two dual-conference (Mennonite Church-General Conference Mennonite Church) congregations and now relates to Central District Conference.

The current demographic of the 50-year-old congregation sees a wide spread of ages. Approximately 170 people attend on a given Sunday.

The young adult contingency, including about 15 undergraduate and graduate students, steadily increases at Columbus Mennonite.

“Our church chooses to really talk about relevant issues,” says Steve. “We talk about all the different issues culture raises today.”

These include abortion, intelligent design vs. evolution, sexuality issues, pornography and creation care. Steve and Susan led a “hot topic” sermon series last October that covered these topics.

“I think young adults appreciate churches willing to engage those things,” Steve says.

Susan says many people find the congregation from Internet searches for churches and peace.
“People with not-Mennonite background are looking for churches that talk about peace and work at peace,” she says.

Columbus Mennonite also provides tangible ways for young adults to work for peace and justice by contributing to the community and church life.

Many regularly volunteer at a YMCA family center and at a settlement house with a food bank. (This YMCA plans to host some Servant Project groups during Convention 2009.) Some young adults joined older adult and high school students on a trip to Honduras in 2007. The trip to Honduras scheduled for this summer makes it the third one. The group works at an orphanage there for children with AIDS or HIV.

Left to right: Phil Hart, Susan Andre, Fred Suter and Pastor Steve Goering (boy unnamed to protect his identity) at the YWCA Family Center where a group from Columbus Mennonite Church serves meals to 80-250 people each month. Photo by Lois Maust.

Columbus Mennonite also participates in BREAD (Building Responsibility, Equality and Dignity), a group of more than 50 congregations, synagogues and one mosque that work together for systemic justice in the city of Columbus. Also the youth group volunteers at Agora Ministries (see story, page 16) once a month.

“We’re working to a place that if we were to say who we were really are, peace and justice commitment is important,” Steve says.

Steve described three main goals of the congregation: building a sense of community, vibrant worship with “strong lay participation in worship and planning” and cultivating Mennonite identity and peace witness.

Half the congregation identify themselves as “new Mennonites,” says Steve.

“We are really blessed by the new people,” he says. “We’re not a stuffy church; we’re willing to experiment with new things.”

Left to right: Elise Coble, Elizabeth Martin, and Etta Coale at 2008 Vacation Bible School. Photo by Jep Hostetler.

For example, those members with Episcopal and Catholic backgrounds encourage Communion more often.

“We may be more diverse because there aren’t 20 Mennonite churches in town,” says Susan. “That presents a challenge sometimes, but I think in the long run it contributes to our spiritual growth and to our personal growth that we are constantly exposed to new and different ideas.”

Anna Groff is assistant editor of The Mennonite.