We take to heart the New Testament teachings that being in good relationship with God looks like being in good relationship with our neighbors and creation.  We wish to be a voice in our local and global communities, and advocate for the poor and oppressed and be actively involved in ways that address those needs.

MISSION TEAMS

A Mission Team is a small group of CMCers supporting an activity.  Most are open to new people; email or call the contact person for information and to volunteer.

BREAD (contact: Phil Hart) – BREAD’s mission is to draw together people of faith to act powerfully on local issues of justice and fairness through processes of relationship building, direct action, and negotiation with decision-makers. Members are racially mixed, economically diverse, and geographically dispersed, and pursue Building Responsibility Equality and Dignity.

Colombia Sister Church (contact: Debra Martin) – CMC maintains cross-cultural contact with our sister congregation in Armenia, Colombia. It encourages us to share faith stories and to be aware of conflict in Colombia and the effect US policies have on the people of Colombia.

Refugee Support (Hussan Family: Contact: Nancy Franke; Harrera Family: Contact: Laura Myers) – This mission team accompanies families as they adjust to and navigate life in the U.S.

Sanctuary (contact: Joel Call) – CMC provided a place of sanctuary to Edith Espinal.  A team continues to support her as she transitions back to her home.

YWCA Family Center (contact: Nancy Franke) – The YWCA Family Center gives shelter and food to homeless families. CMC partners with North Broadway United Methodist Church, located just across the street to provide a meal on the second Tuesday of every month except for February. The Family Center provide homeless families with basic human needs…shelter, safety, and sustenance…with a spirit of warmth and hospitality and in the interest of mutual learning.

MISSION ACTIVITIES

Mission Activities are projects that occur during the year.  Some are coordinated by one person.  Others brings together a small group of volunteers to plan and carry out the activity.  Sometimes requests are for volunteers.  Other times the requests are for donations of specific items.

Community Peacemaker Teams (contact: Julie Hart) – CPT witnesses for nonviolence in situations of violence around the world. Volunteers may step between warring parties in an effort to halt the violence, or may function as neutral third-party observers who document abuses. CPT is a project of the Mennonite churches, Church of the Brethren and Friends United Meeting.  Every other year, CMC holds a rummage sale to support CMCers who are members of CPT or participate in CPT delegations.

Clintonville-Beechwold Resource Center (contact: Debra Martin) – CRC, a local settlement house, is located four blocks from our church. It offers a variety of programs in the community for the economically challenged, including a Food Pantry, after-school and summer programs for children, services for the elderly and housebound, and emergency assistance for indigents.  CMC serves breakfast at the CRC food pantry during February.

CROP Walk (contact: Fred Suter) – CROP assists the grassroots, hunger-fighting development efforts of partner agencies in more than 80 countries. CROP provides seeds and tools, wells and water systems, technical training and micro-enterprise loans. Each local CROP Walk can choose to return up to 25 percent of the funds it raises to local hunger-fighting programs.  The Columbus CROP Walk usually occurs the second Sunday of October.

Mennonite Central Committee (contact: Fred Suter) – MCC is a relief, service, community development, and peace agency of the North American Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches. With over 800 workers in 58 countries around the world, MCC seeks to demonstrate God’s love by working among people suffering from poverty, conflict, oppression and natural disaster.  The Piecemakers small group makes comforters which are distributed in refugee camps, disaster areas, and other places of need.  In August, we provide items for school kits.

NNEMAP (contact: ) – NNEMAP, located by the state fairgrounds, is a local food pantry. Throughout the year, members of CMC support NNEMAP through gifts of food and supplies. In the fall, we provide items for grooming kits, like razors, shampoo, soap, and deodorant.

MISSIONS SUPPORTED

Missions Supported are nonprofits, projects, or missions that CMC is connected to.  Most are supported primarily through the CMC annual budget or other funds.  Sometimes there are opportunities to volunteer or to make a special donation.

Agora Christian Fellowship Youth Ministry  (contact: Joel Copeland) – Agora is a Mennonite church at 400 West Broad Street with services for youth and children.

Cornerstone Counseling Center/Paraclete (contact: Chris McCarthy, David Emch) – Cornerstone Counseling Center in Chaing Mai, Thailand, offers counseling to missionaries and other long-term service workers based in Southeast Asia.

Global Gallery – Located in Clintonville, Global Gallery is a coffee cafe and a retail store that sells fairly-traded hand-crafted items from developing countries, and tells the stories of the artisans. Many of the items at Global Gallery come from Ten Thousand Villages, a project begun by Mennonite Central Committee.  CMC was one of three churches that founded Global Gallery to bring fair trade shopping to Columbus.

Habitat for Humanity (contact: Seth Trance) – Habitat is a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing organization. It organizes volunteer teams that work with the low-income owners, to build affordable homes sold at no profit. Columbus Mennonite Church is a member of the Northside Partnership of Habitat for Humanity.

International Friendships (contact: Yasir Makki) – IFI is a Christian organization near OSU that promotes friendship and hospitality for international students. Volunteers from local churches greet, provide temporary housing, and develop friendships with newly arriving students from all cultural and religious backgrounds.

JustaPaz (contact: Phil Hart) – Partnering with MCC in Colombia, it helps train individuals for peace building, human rights advocacy, conscientious objection, conflict transformation, collective leadership and community organization under theoretical and theological perspective.

Mennonite Disaster Service (contact: Joel Copeland) – MDS is a volunteer network of Anabaptist churches that responds in Christian love to those affected by disasters in Canada and the United States. While the main focus is on clean up, repair and rebuilding homes, this service touches lives and nurtures hope and faith.

Mennonite Mission Network – Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, supports ministries in more than 50 countries.  Mennonite Mission Network exists to lead, mobilize and equip the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world.  Mennonite Mission Network envisions every congregation and all parts of the church being fully engaged in mission – across the street, all through the marketplaces and around the world.  Several of CMC’s young adults have served with Mennonite Voluntary Service, a program of Mennonite Mission Network

SEMILLA (contact: Phil Hart) – The Latin American Anabaptist Seminary located in Guatemala, is for biblical and theological formation of Anabaptist/Mennonite churches in Central America. Its focus is to prepare men and women to follow Christ faithfully living out the reign of God with justice and peace.

Supportive Communities Network & Columbus Pride Parade: The Supportive Communities Network (SCN), a group of communities supported by Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests (BMC), has grown to include 100 Mennonite and Church of the Brethren Communities.

“In order to hold the SCN designation, a congregation must undertake a deliberate process of education and discernment, develop a welcoming statement that includes sexual orientation and gender identity, and be public about its affirmation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer church members.” (SCN website)

Columbus Pride Parade is an LGBTQ festival in Columbus, Ohio, hosted by Stonewall Columbus, Inc. The Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival and Parade began in 1981, and has grown into the 2nd largest Pride event in the Midwest behind only Chicago. (Wikipedia)