First Nations Version, FNV
After seeing various verses cited in articles I’ve read, I recently purchased the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. It was released in 2021, the work of a twelve-member translation council from diverse tribal heritages and geographical areas, led by Terry M. Wildman (Ojibwe, Yaqui), a…
A Time for Rekindling?
Warning: This blog post contains an extended metaphor Two years ago we put a wood burning insert in our living room fireplace. One of the many satisfying experiences with this is putting on new logs (and maybe some newspaper) in the morning and having them catch fire from the heat…
Ten years of organized goodness
This summer marks ten years Gwen Reiser has been lead administrator for CMC. She worked as a part time assistant the previous six years and held numerous volunteer leadership positions before that. During the last decade her title has changed from Office Administrator to Church Administrator, reflecting her increased role…
“Listening is a creative force”
For the last two years I’ve been meeting weekly with a CMC small group that discusses the daily meditations of Franciscan priest Richard Rohr. We meet Wednesdays at noon over Zoom. Anyone is welcome. This week’s theme is about listening, and today’s meditation features the words of author Kay Lindahl. …
Reparative funds, reparative actions
Two years ago our congregation made a commitment: As part of our annual budget, we will include a line item for reparations – funds we release to local Black and Indigenous-led organizations, to be used where most needed. This is an outgrowth of CMC’s longtime emphasis on racial justice and…
Animal icons
The July issue of Sojourners magazine includes an article featuring icon artist Angela Manno. As an established contemporary artist in the 90s Manno decided to explore liturgical art by studying under a master iconographer in the Byzantine-Russian style. Manno explains that the process of icon creation itself carries spiritual meaning,…
Bearing leaves
“And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:2 This week I’m transporting leaves from Columbus to Goshen, Indiana. That’s where six of us from CMC will gather with other representatives from Central District Conference congregations for our annual meeting. The leaves aren’t real…
Menno delegate votes – “What does this mean?”
This coming Sunday is Pentecost. One of the great phrases in that Acts 2 story occurs after the Spirit has swept through the upper room in Jerusalem where the Jesus followers had gathered, the sound of wind and flame mixing with the voices of festival pilgrims from all over the…
Mennonites voting, discerning
At the end of this month delegates from around Mennonite Church USA will be meeting for the Special Session of the Delegate Assembly in Kansas City. Delegates typically meet during church wide biennial conventions on the odd years, but last year…Covid. So we’re meeting in person over four days on…
Just as new as old
Our spring review of the CMC directory got me curious: Of the folks now listed in the directory, what is the ratio between those who were part of the church when I came on board (nearly nine years ago) and those who came after me? A nonscientific flip and tally…
