From Security to Generosity
Mark Schloneger
On Wednesday evening — Ash Wednesday evening, I received a mark of ashes on my forehead in the shape of a cross, just like the one I’m wearing now. As I received it, I was told these words, just these words: “Mark, from dust you’ve come, and to dust you shall return.”
Reorientation
Richard A. Kauffman
Some of you may know the name John Dear—no, not the green tractors that used to go put-put—but John Dear [D-e-a-r], a Catholic priest and peace activist from CA. Early in his career John Dear felt obligated to support an inmate on death row, since he opposed the death penalty. He contacted an inmate in […]
Chasing the Harvest
Mark Schloneger
Marisol is a farm worker and single mother from Mexico. She came to the United States to work in the seasonal fruit harvests She is vice-president of the local chapter of Lideres Campesinas, a farmworker women’s leadership and outreach group. In her own words: Working in the fields I earn $300 weekly before taxes. […]
Nagging God
Mark Schloneger
“Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.” Sometimes, Luke makes things easy for us, or at least he appears to. Before we even get to the parable, before we even read the story, Luke provides us with the moral, the meaning, the golden nugget of […]
From Loneliness to Solitude
Dan Schrock
About thirty years ago, I began my first pastoral assignment at Lombard Mennonite Church, in Lombard, Illinois. Back then I was an assistant pastor working under the supervision of the two senior pastors, Joe and Emma Richards. One morning in the church office, Joe announced that after lunch, he and I were going to visit […]
Family Ties that Bind
Joanne Gallardo
Over Memorial Day weekend I spent some time with Mennonite friends at a cabin on Lake Michigan. After the full disclosure about the mice problem and apologizing for no WiFi, I was reminded that “we are all family here.” And so the weekend progressed. Our lives were shared, jokes were made, and we participated in […]
Plenty Good Room?
Mag Richer Smith
William Sloan Coffin Jr. says: “For Christians the problem is NOT how to reconcile homosexuality with Scripture passages that condemn it, but how to reconcile the rejection of homosexuals with the LOVE OF CHRIST.” YET… for many in the Church the problem HAS been how to reconcile an open door to LGBTQ folks with a […]
Stretching, Propelling Spirit-Wind
Mag Richer Smith
“Build the Wall! “ Build the wall! Keep the segregating lines clear. Know who is IN and who is OUT. Know who is welcome and who is not. But “something there is that doesn’t love a wall”… I think it’s called the Holy Spirit… THE Spirit of our WALL-WRECKING MESSIAH… The one who breaks down […]
A Visual Discipleship
Dan Schrock
On September 19, 2016, our former pastor, Marilyn Rudy-Froese, began a three-and-a-half month sabbatical. None of us knew it at the time, but that day marked the beginning of seven pastoral transitions in our congregation. The first pastoral transition was receiving Ron Guengerich, who worked as a substitute pastor while Marilyn was on sabbatical. When […]
“What kind of leaders do you want?”
Ron Guengerich
“Make America great again.” We have heard this phrase over and over again for the last year. Who wouldn’t like to see America be great? But what are we hoping for when we want “greatness”? Power? Wealth? Security? Privilege? And what would we hope for if we said “Make Goshen great again”? Or if we […]
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