The gifts of women
On the last Sunday of October congregations are invited to observe Mennonite Heritage Sunday, each year having a different theme related to the Anabaptist/Mennonite story. This year’s theme is The Gifts of Women. Needless to say, the church historically has not done such a good job of treating women and…
TEDx Columbus
During Sunday’s sermon I mentioned a TED talk given by Brene Brown called “The power of vulnerability.” A link to that talk has been included in the sermon blog and can also be linked HERE. The tagline of TED talks is “Ideas worth spreading,” and this is one talk, and…
Economic refugees
Phloem and Xylem: Economic refugees October 9, 2013 Yesterday I attended a breakfast for clergy of the supporting congregations of the YWCA Family Center. Once a month Columbus Mennonite teams with North Broadway United Methodist Church to serve a dinner. Our congregation also gives $1000 annually to support the mission…
Eating well
Today I ate lunch at North Star Cafe and saw this sign in the entrance. “We all eat and it would be a sad waste of opportunity to eat badly.” — Anna Thomas That place does am amazing job of making sure everyone there eats very well. Wow. I’m going…
Remember your baptism
Phloem and Xylem: Remember your baptism September 25, 2013 This weekend is the church retreat at Camp Luz. Along with the fun and recreation, we’ll be celebrating two baptisms. Tennison G and Andrew N will be baptized during the Sunday morning worship service, accompanied respectively by their sponsors Austin K…
Daily words
I’m not one to flood my inbox with email subscriptions, but there are two daily meditations that regularly feed my soul. One is from Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest who is a prolific writer and speaker. He writes out of a Christian framework, but draws frequently from other wisdom traditions…
Young to old in five minutes
OK, so here’s a fresh internet meme to pass along, posted today on HuffPost. It’s a five minute time-lapse video simulation of a young girl aging into an old woman, showing just her face. It’s pretty remarkable. A few thoughts after watching it: + the face has its own beauty in all stages…
John Howard Yoder and sexual violence
In the last couple months there have been some significant and substantive conversations going on regarding the most prominent Mennonite theologian of the last half century – John Howard Yoder. There are strong calls being made for the church and its institutions to more publicly come to terms with the…
Safely dead?
Today – today! – is the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech symbolizes the sentiment and power of that historic event. Hopefully you’ve had opportunity to tune in to any of the number of commemorations going on today and this…
More on conversations
To follow up from last week… What does the church need to talk about? What is the church afraid to talk about? What has the church talked about too much? These were the key questions that guided the discussion last Friday and Saturday at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS). The…
