MCUSA Reflections
Many of you heard some of my thoughts about the MCUSA Convention on Sunday. (If you missed it, you can find the text of my sermon HERE.) As a way of continuing the conversation about our time of discerning together as a denomination, we will be sending out reflections from…
The results are in…
I know you all have been waiting with bated breath, but wait no longer because the results of the 12 Hymn Nominations are in! But first, I feel like I should acknowledge that these results were not obtained in any real scientific way, and there were probably a number of…
12 Hymns Project Nominations
You have likely started to hear rumors about the upcoming summer worship series. Starting on June 11 and running through August 13, we will be exploring the results of our 12 Hymns Project (similar to the 12 Scriptures Project from three years ago). During this worship series, we will center…
Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and this coming Sunday (April 23) our worship service will be focused on how Christian faith informs our commitments to creating a safe and nurturing environment for children and youth. In 2006, Columbus Mennonite adopted the Keeping CMC Safe policy which helps guide…
Esther on My Mind
“What am I willing to sacrifice to make sanctuary happen?” This was the question that was posed to the audience toward the end of the workshop put on by the Central Ohio Worker Center last evening. A crowd of more than 300 people (including many of you) crammed into our…
Our Collective Wisdom
At the end of the month on January 29, we will once again be holding a Coming of Age celebration to bless and be blessed by the gifts of some of the youth in our congregation. This year we will be celebrating specifically with four of our young people as…
Faith-Rooted Organizing
I had the opportunity to attend an event last evening where Rev. Alexia Salvatierra spoke on the topic of faith-rooted organizing, which is also the title of a book she co-authored. She framed the discussion around the idea that we seems to have developed a notion that mercy and justice…
Freedom Center Reflections
Last Saturday, nearly 20 members of Columbus Mennonite got the opportunity to partner with around 20 members of Cincinnati Mennonite to tour the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in downtown Cincinnati and discuss the ways our respective congregations are working toward racial justice. The day was rich with good discussion,…
Jesus for President?
In the High School Sunday School class, we are spending part of the fall semester talking about the relationship between faith and politics. The hope is that we could create a space for the high school youth (and the teachers) to process and think critically about the politically charged atmosphere…
Babies and Grandmas
The other day I read this quote that got me thinking about our racial justice work: “If there aren’t babies and grandmas, it’s not my revolution.” I have heard from a couple of parents in the congregation that their children are beginning to pick up on the conversations we are…
