weLink
Vol.
4, No. 14: Aug. 12, 2009
- Welcome, Doug!
- Conference prayers
- Blooming Glen Mennonite mutual aid gift update
- Red/brown hymnals available
- Events
- IN-MI Conference student news
- At Bethany Christian Schools
- At Amigo Centre
If possible, please include blurbs from weLink (as applicable) in your church bulletins and/or newsletters. Thank you!
Welcome, Doug!
Doug Kaufman began his role as interim conference minister for leadership transitions on Aug. 4. He will work half time with credentialing and search processes throughout the conference until a person is hired for the long-term position, which may take until the end of December. He is working from the conference office on Tuesdays and Thursdays until about 2:30 p.m., and his e-mail address is doug@im.mennonite.net. (Doug is continuing to serve half time on the pastoral team at Benton Mennonite, Goshen, Ind., and as interim assistant conference regional minister for the Southeast Goshen and Swa-Nee Lake area councils.)
Conference prayers
We invite your prayers for those who are serving our congregations in conference ministry staff positions: Dan Miller, lead conference minister; Doug Kaufman, interim conference minister for leadership transitions; and interim assistant conference regional ministers Virgil Hershberger, Jim Carpenter, Jon Brown, Seferina G. DeLeón, Randy Detweiler and Doug Kaufman. This week Dan is visiting congregations in Michigan with Jim and Virgil.
Blooming Glen Mennonite mutual aid gift update
Background info: On April 19, Blooming Glen (Pa.) Mennonite held a pancake breakfast to raise funds to benefit people in IN-MI Conference congregations who have been most affected by the economic recession. They raised $8,200! (Read more online: im.mennonite.net/news/news.php) It was decided to target six areas to receive the gifts by selecting congregations to serve as distribution points.
As of Annual Sessions in June, five areas had been named: Upper Peninsula, Mich. (Rexton Mennonite and Naubinway Christian Fellowship); Detroit, Mich. (Community Christian Fellowship Ministries); Elkhart, Ind. (Belmont Neighborhood Fellowship); Goshen, Ind. (North Goshen Mennonite); and Kokomo, Ind. (Howard-Miami Mennonite and Parkview Mennonite).
A sixth area has been named: LaGrange County. Marion Mennonite, Shipshewana, Ind., has agreed to help distribute a portion of Blooming Glen’s gift, along with cases of canned meat from Mennonite Central Committee Great Lakes. (MCC donated 50 cases of canned meat for distribution with the funds.) Thank you to all who have been part of this process of receiving and extending the gift! And thank you again to Blooming Glen Mennonite!
Red/brown hymnals available
Mennonite Mutual Aid (MMA) has 60 copies of the red/brown Mennonite Hymnal to donate to any congregation or individual who would like to have them. Contact Nancy Hartman: 574 533-9515 ext. 334
Events
Arthur, Ill., Mennonite Homecoming Reunion: Aug. 28–29, 2009. If you attended any of the Mennonite churches in the Arthur, Ill., community from 1955 to 1975, we would love to see you again. Join us for fun, fellowship, storytelling … and biking! We’ll be meeting at the Arthur Mennonite Relief Sale at the Otto Center (1/2 mile south of Arthur); join in the relief sale activities on Friday and Saturday. The reunion dinner will take place Saturday evening, Aug. 29, 6 p.m. at Yoder’s Restaurant. Cost for the meal is $18 (includes program and entertainment).
To see the beautiful Amish country and get some exercise along the way, join the bicycle tours available on Friday and Saturday mornings. Registration starts at 7 a.m. both mornings, with the ride beginning at 8 a.m. Both 35-mile (suggested $35 donation) and 66-mile (suggested $50 donation) ride options are available, with snacks provided.
RSVP for the Saturday evening meal, as well as for the bike rides, to Dorothy Miller (dfmbyke@aol.com) or Phil Helmuth (Phil.helmuth@emu.edu, 540 746-2068).
Music and worship training: Sept. 11–13 at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, Mt. Pleasant, Pa. This training is designed for music leaders, accompanists and worship leaders both new and experienced who hope to grow, deepen or explore their gifts. See www.laurelville.org or call 800 839-1021 for a registration form.
Annual Autumn Hope Conference: “At home with God’s wild side: Finding our place in nature,” Sept. 18–20 at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen (Ind.) College. How does our faith shape our relationship with the natural world? David Miller, chair of Goshen College’s biology department, and Luke Gascho, Merry Lea’s executive director, will lead the event. Merry Lea is in Wolf Lake, Ind. See www.goshen.edu/merrylea or call 260 799-5869.
Documentary screenings. The Center for Peace and Nonviolence (CPNV) of St. Joseph County, Ind., is hosting a screening of the film Pray the Devil Back to Hell. This widely acclaimed movie, which tells the story of Muslim and Christian women in Liberia who came together to end the civil war in their country nonviolently, is being shown nationwide in September to celebrate the United Nations Peace Day. CPNV screenings include Sunday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m. at Kern Road Mennonite Church, 18211 Kern Rd., South Bend, IN 46614 (contact person: Danile Martens, 574 257-1433); and Friday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m. at Little Flower Catholic Church in the parish hall, 54191 N. Ironwood Rd., South Bend, IN 46635 (contact person: Veidre Thomas, 574 277-2293). The movie also will be shown in Notre Dame's DeBartolo Hall film series on Saturday, Sept. 12, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. See online: www.praythedevilbacktohell.com/v3/
See an interview with one of the women, Leymah Gbowee, an alumna of Eastern Mennonite University's Conflict Transformation Program: www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/233532/july-14-2009/leymah-gbowee
“Bursting in and breaking out” is the theme for this year's Oct. 3 Advent Planner workshop at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind. This daylong workshop equips pastors, worship leaders and musicians to guide their congregations into the anticipation and promise of the Advent season. Leaders: Marlene Kropf, Rosanna Eller McFadden. See www.ambs.edu/adventplanner or contact AMBS: 574 269-6269 or churchleadership@ambs.edu
IN-MI Conference student news
Krista Kaufman of East Goshen (Ind.) Mennonite; Kara Mishler of Shore Mennonite, Shipshewana, Ind.; Katelyn Nussbaum of North Goshen Mennonite; and Laura Schlabach* of Waterford Mennonite, Goshen, are among 10 Goshen College students who spent their summer pursuing an interest in outdoor ministry at a church-related camp or retreat center through the Camping Inquiry Program. Krista served at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp in Divide, Colo.; Kara at Amigo Centre in Sturgis, Mich.; Katelyn at Camp Friedenswald in Cassopolis, Mich.; and Laura at Drift Creek Camp in Lincoln City, Ore. See: www.goshen.edu/news/pressarchive/06-17-09-cip-2009-292.html
Deanna Cender* of Holdeman Mennonite, Wakarusa, Ind.; Andrea Detweiler and Elizabeth Nussbaum of College Mennonite, Goshen, Ind.; Andrea Kraybill* of Prairie Street Mennonite, Elkhart, Ind.; and Tori Yoder of Sunnyside Mennonite, Elkhart, are among 12 Goshen College students who spent the summer working with faith-based service organizations through the Service Inquiry Program. Deanna worked with Yellow Creek Daycare in Goshen; Andrea Detweiler with Mennonite Central Committee's (MCC) Serving With Appalachian People (SWAP) program in Kentucky; Elizabeth with MCC in Guatemala; Andrea Kraybill with Round Chapel in London; and Tori with Patchwork Central in Evansville, Ind. See: www.goshen.edu/news/pressarchive/06-16-09-sip-2009-289.html
*graduate of Bethany Christian High School
(Ministry Inquiry Program participants will be listed in a future issue.)
At Bethany Christian Schools
Please pray for students, faculty and staff at Bethany Christian Schools as school begins tomorrow, Aug. 13.
At Amigo Centre
Scrapbooking retreat: Sept. 25–27. Come enjoy a weekend of scrapbooking with your friends at Amigo Centre, Sturgis, Mich., with the option of going to the Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale on Saturday morning! See www.amigocentre.org, call 269 651-2811 or e-mail info@amigocentre.org.
“Singing God’s Song in Iran”: The IN-MI Mennonite Women’s Retreat will be held Oct. 9–11 at Amigo Centre, Sturgis, Mich. Speaker: Evie Shellenberger, who has served in Iran with Mennonite Central Committee. Music leaders: Lisa Guedea Carreño and Joanne Gallardo. Download a brochure and poster at www.amigocentre.org/Programs/Adult. Register by Sept. 22. Contact Elnora Weaver: 574 875-5664 or etweaver@maplenet.net
weLink serves to connect IN-MI Conference congregations to each other, to Amigo Centre and Bethany Christian Schools, and to the wider church. It is published on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. weLink issues are archived on the conference web site at: im.mennonite.net/news/welink/welink.php
To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the weLink mailing list, contact the
conference office: imoffice@im.mennonite.net
Editor: Annette Brill Bergstresser, annette@im.mennonite.net
(Send material for the Aug. 26 weLink by noon on Aug.
24.)
Indiana-Michigan
Mennonite Conference
Mailing address: 212 S. Main St., Goshen, IN 46526-3723
Phone: 574 534-4006; 800 288-8486
E-mail: imoffice@im.mennonite.net
Web site: www.im.mennonite.net