weLink
Vol.
4, No. 16: Sept. 9, 2009
- Peace Sunday: Sept. 20
- Conference office updates
- Missional Leadership Team (MLT) update
- Search committee for regional pastors and search/credentialing
position
- Join in the mission of IN-MI Conference!
- Events
- At Amigo Centre
- At Bethany Christian Schools
- IN-MI Conference student news
- In the wider church
If
possible, please include blurbs from weLink (as applicable) in your church
bulletins and/or newsletters. Thank you!
Peace Sunday: Sept. 20
In anticipation of Sept. 21, the
International Day of Prayer for Peace, check out this “Prayer against the easy way,” written
by Byron Rempel-Burkholder
for PeaceSigns Magazine: Lord of all enemies, critics, competitors,
it’s not that we love violence; we just hate the hard work of peace. We would
rather not sit with our rivals. We would rather not look them in the eye, seek
to understand. … Forgive our haughtiness. Remind us that you love
them as much as you love us. That they bear your image as much as we do. That on your holy mountain,
everyone finds a place. … Give us the heart and the stamina we need to
take the hard, upward road of peace.
Read more: peace.mennolink.org/cgi-bin/m.pl?i=67#a645
Sermon ideas,
a sample worship service outline, children’s stories, and ideas for engaging
the whole congregation in marking Peace
Sunday, Sept. 20, are available at www.mennonitemission.net/resources/peacesunday/.
James 3:13 – 4:8a is the primary text. --
Kathy Weaver Wenger, resource advocate coordinator for Mennonite Church USA
Conference office updates
Heidi King, administrative coordinator, plans to return to the office Monday, Sept. 14 after her eight-week leave. The office staff will meet for a time of celebrating Heidi’s return, hearing about her experiences in the Wild West and reorienting her to life in the conference office on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 15. (Thank you in advance to Esther Yoder for answering phones!)
Also, office staff members plan to meet with Alan Roxburgh all day Thursday, Sept. 17, to look ahead to the next year of work in the midst of shifting roles and relationships in this time of conference transition. The office will be closed that day.
Missional Leadership Team (MLT) update
Thank you for your prayers for the MLT, who met Friday, Aug. 28. They began conversations about how they will relate with different parts of the conference (staff, leadership groups and constituents). They will meet again Oct. 27.
Search committee for regional pastors and search/credentialing position
Ruben Chupp, chair of the Church Life Commission, and Gary Martin, Missional Leadership Team member, will work with Dan Miller, lead conference minister, on finding five new part-time regional pastors and a new half-time conference minister for leadership transitions. They will meet for the first time tomorrow, Sept. 10, to clarify their process and to begin giving careful consideration to the names suggested by delegates at Annual Sessions in June.
Join in the mission of IN-MI Conference!
With our faith communities knit together, we are able to do what we
could not do as single congregations and individuals.
The inaugural issue of the Missional Seeds Giving Club quarterly newsletter, launched this summer, features a story about a “Bold Giving Sunday” experiment initiated by Holdeman Mennonite, Wakarusa, Ind., in response to reading about Community Christian Fellowship’s (Detroit, Mich.) annual invitation to sacrificial giving. (View a sample copy online: im.mennonite.net/news/missional_seeds/missionalseeds.php)
Members of the conference’s giving club receive this quarterly newsletter in addition to a membership certificate, their names listed in an annual financial synopsis of club contributions (unless requested otherwise), and the job of being able to share in what God is up to in IN-MI Conference!
You’re invited to become a member and to commit to giving $25, $50, $100 or $250 or more on a quarterly basis. Proceeds will be used directly in the overall ministry of the conference.
Download a Missional Seeds brochure and learn about the variety of ministries that IN-MI Conference offers. Or, contact the conference office: imoffice@im.mennonite.net Thank you to all who are contributing!
Events
Interested in Community Sign Language classes offered by the Deaf Ministries Advisory Committee (DMAC)? A weekly class will be held at College Mennonite on the campus of Goshen (Ind.) College from 6:30–7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 15 and ending Nov. 24. Childcare is provided. Cost: $60 if preregistered or $70 at the door, plus the cost of text if needed. Contact Nicole Miller: 330 701-6154 or dmac.asl@gmail.com
“Mennonite education: Why and how?” Anyone interested in Mennonite education and
in shaping its future is invited to participate in the second Mennonite Education Symposium, to be
held Oct. 16, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. at
Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind. Hosts: Mennonite
Education Agency (MEA) and Mennonite Schools Council (MSC). The event is free
and open to the public. To learn more,
see www.MennoniteEducation.org/symposium. Pre-register
online by Oct. 1, call MEA at 574 642-3164, or e-mail info@mennoniteeducation.org.
The 2009
North American Young Adult Fellowship Retreat:
“And when they shall ask”: Oct. 23–25 at Menno Simons Christian School in Calgary, Alberta. Download a poster and registration form: im.mennonite.net/news/news.php
“Beyond Words: Imagining a Visual Spirituality”: Oct. 23–25 at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, Mt. Pleasant, Pa. You’re invited to a retreat gathering for artists and anyone interested in connecting to God in visual ways. The event will include visually focused worship; artist-led workshops; firing of the wood fire kiln; and open time and space for rest, reflection and fellowship. See www.laurelville.org/beyond_words.html or call 800 839-1021 for a registration form.
The Michiana chapter of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) is awarding a $1,000 matching grant to an area congregation who will invest $250 to provide their pastor an opportunity to attend the annual MEDA convention, “Business as a calling,” Nov. 5–8 in San José, Calif. Apply by Sept. 30. A grant application is available online: michiana.meda.mennonite.net/:/HTML/Events/2009-grant-application.pdf. See also: www.businessasacalling.org
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
At Bethany Christian Schools
Harvesting honey: Seniors and
sixth-graders at Bethany Christian Schools helped a beekeeper, Timothy Thut of Faith Mennonite, Goshen, harvest
honey as part of their science and math studies. See: www.bethanycs.net/honey_harvest_2009
IN-MI Conference student news
Ministry Inquiry Program (MIP) participants. Maria Byler of Assembly Mennonite and Benton Mennonite in Goshen, Ind.; Ana Yoder of Olive Mennonite, Elkhart, Ind.; and Lauren Derstine of Blooming Glen (Pa.) Mennonite; are among 11 Goshen College students who spent their summer testing their calling and gifts for ministry by serving as pastoral interns through the MIP. Maria served at Franconia Mennonite Conference in Souderton, Pa.; Ana at North Goshen Mennonite; and Lauren at Walnut Hill Mennonite, Goshen. See: www.goshen.edu/news/pressarchive/06-16-09-mip-2009-291.html
Maya Kehr of Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship, Goshen, was one of two Bethel College (North Newton, Kan.) students who served as an MIP pastoral intern this summer. Maya, a graduate of Bethany Christian High School, served at Belmont Mennonite, Elkhart, Ind.
IN-MI Conference contributed toward the cost for each participant who
is from a conference congregation or serving a conference congregation.
In the wider church
Camp Friedenswald, Cassopolis, Mich., is looking for volunteers who are
experienced with interior painting and willing to spend a day, a weekend, or a
week! Housing and meals are available as needed. Contact Portia: 269 476-9744
or portia@friedenswald.org
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 Sept. 23 weLink by noon on Sept. 21.)
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