tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80115090219331130352024-02-08T07:26:01.116-05:00Pastor's PuddlePhil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-56136146927870592292017-01-17T13:45:00.000-05:002017-01-17T13:46:14.386-05:00Reframing Hot Topics: Abortion<div class="MsoNormal">
The Romans of antiquity aborted pregnancies and exposed
infants to the elements with a shocking casualness. Fathers had the authority
to terminate pregnancies or have an unwanted baby (more often a girl) tossed in
a garbage dump. The early Christians witnessed against such practices and, more
important, lived out their faith in contrast to the dominant Roman culture.
They did this not only in how they handled their own infants, but in their
willingness to take in babies subjected to exposure.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Many Christians who oppose abortion see themselves as the moral
descendants of those early Christians, and they see a culture that permits
abortion today as a reemergence of the pagan culture of Roman antiquity, albeit
in a secular guise. Personally I feel strong affinity with Christians who
believe nascent human life, born or unborn, should not be disposable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As a Christian, I am also part of a tradition that has
distinguished between born and unborn. Pastorally, theologically and legally,
Christians recognize that birth is a significant moment. Christians have not understood
abortion to be equivalent to the murder of an infant. In opposing abortion,
Christians stand firmly within a rich spiritual heritage. By failing to nuance
that opposition, Christians step outside of that heritage. As such, I believe abortion
should be legal but regulated. I also believe society should take appropriate
measures using the availability of contraception and support for young families
to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. I want a conversation within the
church, and in our engagement with society, around the meaning of that regulation
and how we might use these and other means to reduce incidents of abortion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unfortunately, the political conversation in the church and
in society is a contest between two principles. One, a pregnant woman’s control
over her own body is sacrosanct, and taking that away is an act of violence.
Two, the life of the fetus is sacrosanct, and taking that life away is murder
and always wrong, and therefore should be illegal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I am weary of this contest and others like them. I reject
the way the conversation is framed. Such frames have hoodwinked Christians into
buying polarized political packages, and compromised our ability to both
nuance, and to appreciate the depths of our own tradition. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This is the first in a series of blog posts attempting to
reframe hot topics. If you like the conversation, grab some coffee and have a
seat. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-46783023792099027272016-07-25T14:33:00.002-04:002016-07-25T14:43:10.640-04:00<div class="MsoNormal">
In Debt to Zwingli<o:p></o:p></div>
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July 21, 2016</div>
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Our guide to Anabaptist history in Switzerland, Hanspeter
Jecker read for us a speech given by John Ruth in Zurich on the occasion of an
historic observance. Hanspeter read this for us as the well-known “Anabaptist
cave” in the hinterlands outside the city. Ruth claims Zwingli as an important
and instructive figure in Mennonite history. Indeed, Hanspeter also offers nuanced
take on the relationship between Swiss Reformed and Anabaptists in the 16<sup>th</sup>
and 17<sup>th</sup> centuries, than the portrayals often made of Zwingli.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In this view, it is Zwingli who radicalizes the young Conrad
Grebel and his friends through powerful teaching. Grebel and his cohort are not
original thinkers, they simply want to take what they learn from Zwingli to the
fullest and most uncompromising completion. Zwingli on the other hand is trying
to balance the challenges of governance, and of caring for a whole parish, with
his understanding of the demands of scripture. This, of course, does not
justify the violent persecution of Anabaptists. But it does paint a picture of
Zwingli that is more complex. He is less a villain in this view, and more a
leader struggling to meet the demands of faithfulness balanced with the
pragmatic demands of caring for a diverse population.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the common threads here is the hunger of Christians,
whether 16<sup>th</sup> century Anabaptists or 17<sup>th</sup> century
Puritans, for a community of believers deeply committed to a rigorous Christian
life. This is what we mean, I think, when we refer to “high-bar” discipleship
in our priorities. This theme emerges for Roger Williams in his search for a
community of believers worthy of the name church of Christ. You might say
eventually he gives up.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Where Anabaptists experienced a new influx, a new grafting
in, it came from people searching for rigor in the life of faith. What this
looks like changes from age to age, but it remains a common theme. Many Swiss
Reformed became Mennonites in the 17<sup>th</sup> century, looking for a more
rigorous Christian life than they experienced in their home congregations which
included many people who were Christians in name only, and not serious about
their faith. One such group in this later grafting is Yoders from Steffisburg
in Canton Berne. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Again, these later Swiss Reformed became Anabaptists for
similar reasons many of us become Mennonites today, and hopefully the reason
many raised by Mennonite parents choose faith themselves.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-73017467871016303062016-07-25T14:31:00.005-04:002016-07-25T14:44:04.612-04:00<div class="MsoNormal">
The End of the World<o:p></o:p></div>
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July 21, 2016</div>
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On our third day in England, Jonathan, Marion and I took a
long journey to Alford in Lincolnshire, birthplace of my ancestor Anne
Hutchinson. We took a train from Liverpool Street Station in London, near our
flat, to Cambridge, where we rented a car for the two hour drive to Alford. To
be clear, that’s two hours when you don’t get lost.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Driving in the rain, and on the left side of the road,
making the occasional wrong turn, made for a grueling journey. Alford is a long
way from London in many ways. Whereas London is bustling and filled with
energy, Alford feels like something of a ghost town. It wasn’t easy to find a
place to eat lunch.<o:p></o:p></div>
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St. Wilfred’s, the local parish, memorializes Hutchinson’s
birth and baptism in that community with a framed notice and picture on the
wall of the sanctuary. Anne was 14 when her family moved to London (quite near
to our flat).<o:p></o:p></div>
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While today Alford seems a small town pro Brexit backwater,
in the early 17<sup>th</sup> century it was a center of Puritan revival in
large part because of its location across the North Sea from Holland. Anne
moved back to Alford as an adult and found herself in the middle of that
energy. John Cotton became the charismatic pastor in Boston (for which the city
in Massachusetts was named), twenty miles away from Alford.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anne herself was gentry on both sides of her family. Her
maternal grandparents built Canons Ashby, a manor house in Northhamptonshire.
(Princess Diana and her children are included among their descendants). Anne
did not marry well in terms of the standards of English aristocracy, but she
did marry money. William Hutchinson was a merchant of considerable wealth and
able to fund the migration of their large family to Massachusetts, including
fifteen surviving children and all the servants required to live comfortably in
those days.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Traveling through Lincolnshire one gets a sense of the land.
Clearly the sea was the primary means of transportation. Anne and William
regularly traveled the twenty miles to Boston to hear Cotton preach. Like Anne,
William, and their families in 1631, I am traveling across the North Atlantic,
destination Boston. I am going by way of New York, where Anne died.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you are interested in learning more about Anne’s life,
one of her biographies, American Jezebel, is on the sabbatical shelf in the CMC
library.<o:p></o:p></div>
Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-12278922071549652622016-07-25T14:29:00.003-04:002016-07-25T14:44:22.802-04:00<div class="MsoNormal">
This is London!<o:p></o:p></div>
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July 20, 2016</div>
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Again, I’m writing from the North
Atlantic with some reflections on time in Europe. For different reasons, the
most enjoyable experiences Beth and I had in Europe were in London and in
Germany. For me, being in London felt like going home. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We spent our week in London in a quirky and delightful flat
in Central London, a few hundred feet from St. Paul’s Cathedral, and at the center
of a one mile radius of important family sites. As many people experience on
similar journey’s, to be in these locations gave me an extraordinary sense of
connectedness to my family and their stories. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Less than one mile north of St. Paul’s is Smithfield, then a
small village outside London. My ancestor, Roger Williams, was born in
Smithfield, and christened (note that he was later rebaptized) at St. Sepulchre
church there. He studied at Charterhouse School, an elite school still in
existence in Smithfield.<o:p></o:p></div>
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North of Smithfield is St. Pancras Old Church, now next door
to St. Pancras International Train Station, which boasts Christian worship
going back 1700 years, and where my ancestor, Francis Marbury, is listed among
the vicars. He is Anne Hutchinson’s father. He was also tried at the old St.
Paul’s (the current Christopher Wren masterpiece was built following the great
fire of London in 1666), and imprisoned at Marshallsea Prison (which is no
longer standing), south of the Thames, but still within walking distance from
of lodgings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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West of our “home” near St. Paul’s about one mile is
Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament, first built by the son of William
the Conqueror about one thousand years ago. At the time of Roger Williams,
Westminster Hall would have been the judicial center of England, and it is here
that Williams spent much time in his apprenticeship to the great jurist Edward
Coke. Finally, in the other direction from our lodgings is the Tower of London,
which was expanded by Edward I, the closest monarch of England I can identify
as an ancestor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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To be sure, all these ancestors are complicated people, but
they are mine, and their story is my story, and it was thrilling for me to
connect with places that shaped their lives, and mine.<o:p></o:p></div>
Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-34697333383106190722016-07-25T14:27:00.003-04:002016-07-25T14:46:04.960-04:00<div class="MsoNormal">
Water, Water, Everywhere<o:p></o:p></div>
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July 20, 2016<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m writing on the Queen Mary 2, somewhere in the North
Atlantic. We’ve been at sea three nights and are approaching the halfway point
in our crossing. The captain and crew are quick to point out that this is not a
cruise but a crossing, a form of conveyance, and that the ship is an ocean
liner and not a cruise ship. In fact, the QM2 boasts being the largest ocean
liner in human history, designed to cross the Atlantic in four days, though we
are taking seven. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The sabbatical purpose of this crossing has several
purposes. One is retracing the journeys of our ancestors who crossed this ocean
under somewhat different circumstances. Another is the chance for Beth and me
to have some quiet time together after an intense stretch of family travel
throughout Europe. The third purpose relates to the sabbatical theme of water
and the refreshment it brings to my soul. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Water is plentiful, the nearest land being 1,000 miles away.
It is stunning and I find it refreshing, though I am looking forward to seeing
land (perhaps it will be clear and we will see Newfoundland tomorrow). It also
gives me a sense of what my ancestors endured, traveling on tiny floating
islands that could sink and be tossed and turned by the rolling sea for weeks
at a time. They were confined in tiny communities on ships that felt like
prisons. Beth and I are enjoying time together, but the ship is large enough,
and the activities varied enough, that we can spend time apart and meet new
friends. (I met a delightful retired couple at breakfast. They are Baptists
from Australia, engaged in lay ministry through a church that might have a home
among Mennonites.)<o:p></o:p></div>
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The sabbatical schedule has been full and intense these week
but will ease up now, and afford time for writing. College Mennonite seems a
very long way indeed, and I miss you all. I plan to use this time at sea to do
some reflective writing on the experiences of the last couple of months.<o:p></o:p></div>
Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-24577739829771686922014-09-09T13:24:00.001-04:002014-09-09T13:24:29.252-04:00Church in the City<div class="MsoNormal">
Retired pastor and writer Eugene H. Peterson reports that
when he first went he was sent by the Presbyterian church to plant a
congregation in Maryland outside of Baltimore he discovered nothing but corn
fields. Those corn fields became houses and streets and stored and schools
called suburbia. Inevitably some of the people who moved into those houses went
looking for a church, and Peterson’s church grew and became a living faith
community.</div>
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There is nothing particularly remarkable about this story
with the exception of the event of suburbia itself. The post war era was a time
of building: roads, cars, sewer systems, towns, utility wiring and pipes. The
last half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century brought a taxpayer subsidized
lifestyle revolution, requiring an unprecedented amount of wiring and piping
and pavement per capita.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Churches adapted. New churches were planted for these new
suburban communities, and others followed their parishioners out of established
urban neighborhoods, abandoning old church buildings to newcomers. The suburban
megachurch model was born as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For many years tropes like affluent suburbs and impoverished
inner city had traction and contained some truth. The events in Ferguson,
Missouri, this summer reveal that suburbs are quite a complex social reality in
and of themselves. And some of the wealthiest, expensive and most sought after
zip codes are in what we once would have called inner city.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The geography of our lives, and of the church, is changing.
No longer can we look for the next corn field to be turned into a suburban town
and plant a church there waiting for people to come. We can no longer afford
the taxpayer subsidized infrastructure demanded by suburban development. And
the people who might live in those houses can’t afford to heat, cool, and care
for that much space. Furthermore, the generation coming into their own today,
the 80 million strong millennials, prefers walking, biking and public
transportation to cars, has fewer children, and would rather live in smaller housing
units than sprawling suburban McMansions with big yards. In short, they prefer
the city and the lifestyle of spending time, not at home, but in cafes, bars,
restaurants, parks, theaters and concert venues. And perhaps churches.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Whether you find this development hopeful or not, it does
have precedent in the church, even in the early church. Christianity was an
urban movement in its earliest days. In the ancient cities of the Roman empire
people lived in tight quarters, with the exception of the very few wealthy, and
spent most of their time in the marketplace and other settings where they
rubbed shoulders with other people. Public space was critical to the growth of
the early church. This social activity, not the building of new subdivisions,
was the infrastructure through which the Holy Spirit worked to grow the church.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today the most exciting new church developments (which are
more likely to be new campuses of existing churches) are in cities and are
driven by urban social energy. Many such churches are adept at using social
media and technology for bringing people together or telling their story but
the energy is tied to an urban sense of place.<o:p></o:p></div>
Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-31093883331252286372014-07-16T09:57:00.005-04:002014-07-16T13:54:09.472-04:00Congregations as the Center of Mission, Part 3<div class="MsoNormal">
I began a five-year tenure working with short-term mission
programs at Mennonite Board of Missions in 1994. At the time, MBM was in the
middle of a project called Cana Venture, an effort to adapt to the shifting terrain
of denominational missions. The behavior of church members was changing relative
to their congregations and to church wide agencies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After doing intensive research and study, MBM concluded that
congregations and church members were no long interested in paying experts to
do mission on their behalf. They wanted to be involved directly. MBM understood
that its value was not in “doing” mission on behalf of the church, but linking
congregations with other congregations doing mission around the world.
Partnership became the operative word around the office. When the two largest
Mennonite bodies merged in 2001, the new combined mission agency called itself
Mennonite Mission Network, emphasizing this networking aspect of bringing
people together to do mission rather than doing it on their behalf. Properly speaking then, Mennonite Mission Network is not the mission agency for Mennonite Church USA. Congregations are the agents for mission. Mission agency happens at the congregational level.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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In 2006, Mennonite Church USA learned that it was
over-structured for its size, with too much bureaucracy and an oversized
budget. The phrase “congregations are the center for mission” comes from
Mennonite Church USA itself. Churchwide leaders recognize that our future
health and vitality will rely on congregations engaging directly in mission,
rather than looking to conference and denominational institutions to provide
the impetus. </div>
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Marty Lehman internalized this value, moving from her position as
Associate Executive Director for Churchwide Operations, to Administrative
Pastor here at College Mennonite, taking a significant pay cut to do so. For
Marty this was a move to the center, where the action and excitement is, and
where she could have the biggest impact for the mission of Mennonite Church
USA.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mennonite Disaster Service has excelled in this work of
linking congregations in mission. The work of several congregations here in the
Goshen area building homes locally, in Minnesota and in New Orleans, partnering
with local churches in each case is an exciting way to work, and puts the
accent on relationships.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Increasingly, it is congregations that are planting churches
or adding sites as they become multi-site congregations, and not conferences or
churchwide agencies. In our interconnected world, congregations are using
direct personal links to build relationships with others around the world,
working together in mission.<o:p></o:p></div>
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College Mennonite Church is one of the largest and most
resource rich congregations in Mennonite Church USA. We have both an exciting
opportunity and an obligation to grow as a center for mission. If we don’t do
it, who will? Here we are Lord, send us!<o:p></o:p></div>
Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-64221737056259441632014-07-10T14:57:00.001-04:002014-07-10T14:57:20.987-04:00The End of the Suburbs?Well known pastor-author Eugene Peterson writes about starting a Presbyterian church in the midst of cornfields outside Baltimore. Eventually those cornfields became suburbia and the church grew to about 300 souls.<br />
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Twenty or so years ago a group of United Methodist Churches in Elkhart banded together, closing their doors in the city, to build a new church in the suburbs at County Road 17 and US Route 20. At the time a group of Mennonite churches in Elkhart reaffirmed their commitment to the city, and their resolve not to abandon it for the suburbs. I remember feeling proud to be a Mennonite at the time: we weren't going to leave the city for the dreary suburbs. In retrospect, I remember those days with a sense of shame.<br />
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Whatever we think about it, for more than half a century most Americans have lived in suburbia. It has been our missional context, and for whatever reason, with few exceptions, we have chosen not to be missionaries to our own country's dominant culture, even as we sent missionaries all over the world. Tragically, we Mennonites missed an opportunity for mission. We had something to offer suburban souls.<br />
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Leigh Gallagher observes in her recent book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/End-Suburbs-Where-American-Moving-ebook/dp/B008EKMCM2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405016728&sr=1-1&keywords=the+end+of+the+suburbs">The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream is Moving</a>, signs that the age of suburbia is coming to an end. Most Americans still live in suburbs, but the cultural trends are moving the other direction. Here are some of Gallagher's observations. In 2011, for the first time in 100 years, urban population growth outpaced suburban growth. We can no longer afford low density suburbs, which require a disproportionate amount of government spending for infrastructure. We can no longer afford the time and energy of longer commutes. Members of the millenial generation hate the suburbs, and this group is bigger than the baby boom generation. Seventy-seven percent of them prefer to live in urban areas. The suburban lifestyle is automobile oriented (heavily subsidized by public funds for highways), milleniels prefer to walk. In 1980, 66 percent of 17 year-olds had a drivers license, twenty years later it was down 47 percent. Gallagher's introduction is worth the read if you can get a hold of a library copy.<br />
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The upshot is millenials want higher density walkable neighborhoods like downtown Goshen and nearby neighborhoods. They want smaller houses closer to shopping, coffee shops and restaurants. Communities like Goshen with our vibrant, revitalized downtown, are precisely the sorts of places studies show millenials like. When they move into their own homes en masse, housing arrangements locally and nationally are likely to change.<br />
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This strikes me as a call to mission for the church. Now that the end of the suburbs may be upon us, I'm excited about what comes next, and the opportunities it holds for the church.Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-23768010504623280412014-07-01T11:54:00.000-04:002014-07-01T11:54:04.507-04:00Congregations as the Center of Mission, Part 2David Brooks had <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/opinion/david-brooks-the-evolution-of-trust.html?ref=opinion&_r=0">this piece</a> in the <i>New York Times</i> this morning, observing the significance of peer to peer economic transactions, such as Uber and Airbnb. Both these services rely on people connecting with each other with the minimal assistance of a broker, in these cases a simply smartphone application.<br />
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This is yet another instance of social and economic structures bypassing brokers. This phenomenon is increasingly the norm in the church world as well, including here at College Mennonite Church. We manage our own relationships with outside parties, whether it be for purposes of mission and outreach, or resourcing for ministry.<br />
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Examples include sister church relationships, connections with local ministries here in Goshen, Vacation Bible School, flood relief for Indonesia, large churches seeking resources together, and support for international mission where we have a personal link. Churches of all types are bypassing brokers like conferences (known in churchy lingo as middle judicatories), mission agencies, and denominational resourcing, when it makes sense to do so. It isn't that we don't like these brokers, or that they haven't done good work in the pasy, but why add another layer of communication and bureaucracy when you don't need to?<br />
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I am particularly interested in the implications this has for leadership in the church. For much of the twentieth century, Christians looked to churchwide structures for leadership in mission, ministry, and articulating vision. Now we are at a time when congregations are the leaders. If Mennonites are going to be effective in mission, outreach, ministry and articulating vision, the energy and vitality will have to come from congregations.<br />
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This makes sense for Mennonites, with a long history of congregational polity. This polity will look different in the coming decades than it has in the era of churchwide institution building. As a pastor, I am excited about what is going to happen in and through congregations in the years ahead.<br />
<br />Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-73624637681062787842014-07-01T11:19:00.001-04:002014-07-01T11:19:59.795-04:00Marriage Equality and Faith in the NewsYou may have heard the news last week that a federal judge declared Indiana's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional. Eventually a higher court issues a stay on the ruling until the decision could be appealed. I noticed two responses from clergy or groups of clergy in the media.<br />
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In one response a conservative Protestant mourned the decision, suggesting the purpose of the United States Constitution, and the judicial system meant to uphold, existed to defend Christian values. Because newspaper quotes can be misleading or inaccurate at times, I will leave the name and church of the pastor out of this post. Growing up in a secular part of the country I always managed to be shocked by this brand of God-and-country-ism. Don't they teach high school civics in Indiana? Furthermore, as a Mennonite pastor, the idea that the state should serve the bidding of a particular religion, or worse, tell churches how to practice their faith.<br />
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Another response came from the Catholic Bishops of Indiana. The bishops are aware of the establishment clause in the U.S. Constitution, and, rather than assume the federal government existed to do its bidding, they appealed to the common good, arguing that it is good for society as a whole for marriage to be limited to one man and one woman for life. This, of course, raises the bar for the bishops, requiring them to make a case for just how such a limitation actually benefits society as a whole. That's leads to a worthwhile conversation, and one in which a Mennonite pastor might actually want to participate.<br />
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The other contrast between the bishops statement and the kinds of assertions made by Protestants of all stripes is that they make no appeal to scripture. They appeal to law and nature, expanding the conversation beyond those of Christian faith. But they also appeal to the authority of the church and to church teaching through the ages. This is not to say they do not value scripture, but that interpretation of scripture happens in and through an historic community which is authorized to discern its meaning.<br />
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Oddly, this latter position makes change both harder and easier. It's harder in that change is up against tradition, easier in the sense that the church has authority to change, and is not bound to do things the ways things have always been done. This model has strengths and weaknesses, but I find it helpful as I reflect on how we deal with controversial issues and the possibility of change as Mennonites.Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-84941715115925204142014-06-19T09:59:00.001-04:002014-06-19T09:59:08.457-04:00Congregations are the Center of MissionIn a television advertisement with variation iterations, a one-year old child trades stock and bonds electronically using an e-trade app on a computer or mobile device. E-trade not so subtlety pushes the idea that even a baby doesn't need a broker to invest on Wall Street. It's that easy!<br />
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Alas, we will always have brokers with us. But increasingly we are able to cut them out of our lives and build relationships directly with, say Wall Street, or whatever or whoever we want to connect. And so it is that the church too is racing into a future where brokers (churchwide agencies, conferences, denominational structures) will play a different role. In this new age, as Mennonite Church USA makes clear, congregations are the center of mission. Brokers do not do mission and ministry on behalf of congregations anymore, but must equip and empower congregations as expressions of the church's vocation. Brokers will no longer have networking as their primary raison d'etre unless they can add value to relationships.<br />
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I expect Clinton Frame Mennonite Church, rural Goshen, to announce their intent to leave Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference at our annual sessions beginning tomorrow. Rumors fly that others will join them. For many local Mennonites, emotions are running high. But as I reflect on this decision, it occurs to me that my personal relationship wtih Clinton Frame, and my local congregation's relationship with Clinton Frame will change little. In particular we will continue partnerships in mission with Clinton Frame around, BAR Retreat, Amigo Center, Bethany Schools, Goshen College, Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale, conversation about being a large Mennonite church, and other mission and ministry locally, and perhaps beyond. Indeed, we already partner with local Mennonite congregations that a not part of our conference. CFMC will become another one.<br />
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In many ways institutions are no longer necessary for networking. Clinton Frame is a local example. Technology enable us to expand that circle, making connections without brokers. It seems we really do believe congregations are the center of mission, at least we are behaving as as such. And this fact is going to reshape the church.Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-13533554362190208582014-06-17T13:58:00.002-04:002014-06-17T14:02:23.578-04:00The End of the Age of Church Bureaucracy?<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This post begins an occasional
series of posts on the church as we move further into the 21<sup>st</sup>
century.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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A friend of mine recently provoked my thoughts suggesting
that, when the history of the church in the 20<sup>th</sup> century is written,
scholars will see that bureaucracy was the defining theme of the century. The
energy and vitality of the church expressed itself in bureaucratic
institutions, vehicles for achieving the mission of the church in an age of
institution building in the broader culture.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For Mennonites, Albert Keim’s biography of church statesman
Harold S. Bender describes this age as it emerged in the first half of the 20<sup>th</sup>
century. John Sharp’s coming biography of Orie Miller book ends the age by telling
the story of another of our great institution builders. The alphabet soup of
Mennonite institutions filled many of us with a sense of identity and clarity
about what it means to be a Mennonite. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Mennonite Central Committee and its bureaucracy changed my
life, introduced me to my wife, and served as a door for me (and countless
others) to the Mennonite church. I cannot repay this debt. These institutions
shaped many of our lives and have touched millions with the love of Christ.
These institutions enabled our gifts to flourish and bless the world. These
institutions were necessary for the vitality of the church. Yet my friend
suggests the age of institutional bureaucracy is history, belonging to the 20<sup>th</sup>
century, as institutions leave the scene to make way for the vitality and
mission of the church to express itself in new ways.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another friend, a conference leader, told me about Marco
Guete, Conference Minister in Southeast Conference, who deliberately downsized
the conference as a matter of vision, recognizing the conference would not
support conference bureaucracy beyond the need for work with pastoral
transitions. Whether or not you agree with this vision, it represents the kind
of decisions facing us in the years ahead. What is the purpose of conferences,
denominations and accompanying agencies and institutions? For Mennonites, the
movement of congregations and conferences in and out of Mennonite Church USA during
the current crisis will likely crystalize and hasten these decisions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These times challenge us, calling us to a willingness to let
go of what may no longer be useful to the mission of God, and open ourselves to
the new things God is doing and will do among us.<o:p></o:p></div>
Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-65699479269644430512013-08-28T15:43:00.000-04:002013-08-28T15:44:38.182-04:00Peace, peace, when there is no peace<br />
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The mural depicted here is from the Kansas State House in
Topeka, and shows a raging, almost maniacal John Brown, the fiery abolitionist,
with a Bible one hand, and a rifle in the other. The fuel for Brown’s violent
rage was the institutionalized violence and injustice of slavery. Even for
those who believe violence is a useful tool in the service of justice making,
Brown engaged in violence in ways that were not rational, sometimes raiding (jayhawking)
the farms of Missouri residents (the nearest slave state) who had no slaves.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Brown is a complex person, and while I don’t condone his
violent choices, I admire his intense opposition to institutionalized violence.
And while his raid on Harper’s Ferry was a tragic fiasco, his death by hanging
was a catalyst in the coalescence of northern opposition to slavery. What is a
Mennonite pastor to think about such a fellow?<o:p></o:p></div>
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My abolitionist and Underground Railroad activist ancestor,
Quaker minister Thomas Frazier, likely would not have condoned Brown’s
violence, but some of his fellow Iowa Quakers provided Brown with critical
support. Frazier and other Quakers were quite willing to violate the Fugitive
Slave Act, which got them in trouble with the law, but going into slave states
and bringing freed slaves back across the border was another matter. Brown and
other raiders would do so, and once slaves were across the border, Quaker
Underground Railroaders were willing to help out. The relationship between the
likes of John Brown and the likes of my great, great, great, great grandfather,
were complex. While they disagreed on methods of confronting slavery, they
shared abhorrence of that form of institutionalized violence. Those Quakers
seemed aware that peace in the abstract was not peace at all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Some of the most surprising conversations in my life were
with those advocating an armed struggle against oppression in the Philippines.
I say surprising because it seems like another life time. As a pacifist these
discussions quickly focused on my position that armed struggle against
oppression is wrong. Always. The return from my interlocutors was my pacifism
is rooted in privilege and is a luxury, enjoyed on my part by failing to confront the
institutionalized social, economic and political violence against the poor of
the Philippines, which is to say the majority of the people. Furthermore my
place of privilege is sustained by violence. My pacifism is both disingenuous and
hypocritical.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Those conversations do not change my conviction that a “refusal
to bear the sword” is the faithful Christian ethic. But they do make me highly
suspicious of peace in the abstract, of cheap peace, as if we are morally pure
just by throwing the word around. Without a context, the word peace becomes not
only weak, but dangerous, in that it can be used as a mask hiding greater and
deeper violence than that which it claims to oppose, or build barriers to
conversations which might increase understanding.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As long as peace remains nothing more than an abstract concept,
it isn’t peace at all. As Jeremiah and Ezekiel would say, it amounts to shouting peace when there is no peace.<o:p></o:p></div>
Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-54087528417134776612013-07-10T15:56:00.001-04:002013-07-12T09:22:38.421-04:00And Wednesday after Jeopardy!The New York Times reported today that televised prime time presidential addresses are mostly a thing of the past. Fifty years ago, if a president wanted to communicate an important message to as much of the nation as possible, an Oval Office speech interrupting regular network programming was the way to go. Now? Not so much. We have so many other ways to occupy our time than watch the president, from hundreds (thousands?) of cable channels, to the infinite world of the internet.<br />
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<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Eisenhower_in_the_Oval_Office.jpg" /><br />
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Compared to the good old days when network television dominated American screen time, a fraction of us watch live prime time presidential speeches today. Does this mean people don't care about the presidency? What the president says? Thinks? Perhaps. Has the president given up trying to communicate with the American people? Certainly not.<br />
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We learn what's on the president's mind through a variety of media, some of which did not exist five years ago, and often on our own time and at our own convenience.<br />
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At the grocery store once, a woman stopped me and asked if I was Phil Waite. "You don't know me," she said, "and I attend Waterford Mennonite, but I watch the College Mennonite telecast at Greencroft every Wednesday after Jeopardy."<br />
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The worship equivalent of the prime time Oval Office speech is the sanctuary on Sunday morning. But like the presidential speeches on network television, the saints gathered on Sunday morning are an increasingly small percentage of the whole worshipping community. At College Mennonite, most of us engaged in worship are not in the sanctuary, and many of us or not participating on Sunday morning.<br />
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<img src="http://www.collegemennonite.org/images/Frontpage_slideshow/IMG_6386.gif" /><br />
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Some of us listen on the radio before coming to Sunday School. Others watch at Greencroft. Travelers sometimes listen to the WGCS broadcast on their smart phones. Snow birds gather in Florida to watch on-line. Some of us on Sunday morning have never been to College Mennonite, or even to Goshen.<br />
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I put on my chicken little voice from time to time and complain about the decline in worship attendance. In some ways decline is a more hopeful frame because it leaves open the possibility of going in reverse, restoring what used to be. But restoring what used to be is not a choice available to us. Not only has the world around us changed, we have changed. Maybe a more helpful response is to take a step back and observe change, not decline, and to consider what new opportunities these changes bring.<br />
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<br />Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-64049010054806764552013-07-04T15:52:00.001-04:002013-07-04T15:52:07.677-04:00PhoenixI confess. When it comes to these massive national Mennonite gatherings, I am a cynic. Why? For whom? What do we accomplish? Given my cynicism, imagine! Phoenix 2013 is a pleasant surprise. I'm having a rich time.<div><br></div><div>Planners of gatherings like this are not known for being gutsy, making waves and courting controversy. But so it is here. By focusing heavily on immigration as a biblical, theological, ecclesiological and spiritual issue, our leaders give us something substantial to discuss in the delegate sessions, hallways, and on the steaming sidewalks.</div><div><br></div><div>Other highlights include a blessing of Mennonite pastors in worship yesterday, which was for me a rich and powerful experience, seeing our CMC youth entering into worship with sincerity and joy, serendipitous connections with brothers and sisters in the church, concerts, plays, workshops and activities that are engaging and thought provoking.</div><div><br></div><div>July in Phoenix? It's a great place to be this year.</div><div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div>Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-47278603026313096582013-07-04T15:04:00.001-04:002013-07-04T15:21:01.798-04:00These truths are not self evidentJuly 4 has me thinking about patriotism, the Declaration of Independence, and the meaning of the common good.<br />
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<b>Defining Patriotism</b><br />
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The word patriotism evokes a variety of images for me: support the troops bumper stickers, flag waving, pictures of historic figures and moments, people singing patriotic songs, fighter jets over head, soldiers in uniform. These images reflect an understanding of patriotism as a political (or in our times economic) ideology and its defense. But what if we were to define patriotism as support and nurture of the common good.</div>
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The problem, of course, is that our society does not have a shared understanding of the common good. As Christians, though, we do define a common good. Using a biblical perspective of the common good, we could say teachers and those working for an educated populace are patriotic. We could say John D. Yoder is patriotic for his tireless work developing the Pumpkinvine Trail, which has contributed mightily to the peace (shalom) of our city. We could say that everyone working with and for La Casa is patriotic, along with those working for clean water, clean air, healthy food, and affordable medical care.</div>
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This July 4, I am claiming all of us working for the common good as patriots.</div>
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<div>
<b>The Declaration of Independence</b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
Thomas Jefferson failed to practice what he put to pen and paper in the Declaration of Independence, indeed by his own admission. Still, the Declaration is a remarkable document, and I have a great deal of affection for it. I do take issue with one of Jefferson's assumptions. "These truths" are not self evident.</div>
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The notion that all people are created equal, and are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights did not enter the historical trajectory of Western culture through philosophical reflection either modern or antique, nor through scientific observation, but through God's revelation in scripture. Male and female God created them. In the image of God he created them.</div>
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Outside of the biblical witness, at least in the Western cultural tradition, little or no evidence exists to support claims of equality or the universal endowment of rights.</div>
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Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-65415073859927048402013-06-30T12:26:00.001-04:002013-06-30T12:26:27.095-04:00Book Review: The Unintended Reformation<div class="MsoNormal">
Every so often a book scrambles the ways people look at
history, culture, society, economics, politics and church. Brad S. Gregory’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unintended-Reformation-Religious-Revolution-Secularized/dp/0674045637/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372609427&sr=1-1&keywords=the+unintended+reformation"><i>The Unintended Reformation</i> </a>is such a
book. Gregory, a professor of early modern history at Notre Dame, argues in six
long chapters and a conclusion, that the secular society in which we
increasingly live is the unintended by-product of the Reformation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gregory hits ideological capitalism particularly hard as a
product of secularism, made possible by the exile of Christian faith from
public life, and whose value of acquisitiveness rejects the historic Christian
critique of avarice and greed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Academia comes under scrutiny for its belief in knowledge
for knowledge sake, rather than articulating a vision for social virtues, and
educating students to that end. I noted that the Goshen College emphasis on “building
the world peace by peace” is a delightful contrast.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gzq441KWL._SY346_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gzq441KWL._SY346_PJlook-inside-v2,TopRight,1,0_SH20_.jpg" /></a>Gregory claims the church has either been banished from the
social and political realm, or has withdrawn willingly in order to survive, as
has happened in our own tradition. The modern secular nation state is left,
unaccountable to higher authority, with no resources to fashion an ethic of
good (that is a standard for what a flourishing human community might be, such
as shalom), but rather has emphasized an ethic of human rights. Ironically, the
latter has roots in the biblical understanding of human beings in God’s image,
even as secular states reject the bible as a source for shaping public life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Modern secular states control the church, and define the
scope of its power and authority in public life. Churches are accountable to
it, not the other way around. The church does not get to decide whether or when
the state may go to war or use lethal force, but the state may demand that the
church and its members participate and respect its institutions of violence.
The secular state has domesticized faith.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gregory is an equal opportunity offender, and every thinking
reader will take issue with some aspect of a book whose scope is so grand. The
book has been reviewed widely, with diverse opinions. For all, though, it is a
book to be reckoned with, and will
scramble ways of seeing for every reader.<o:p></o:p></div>
Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-73421274755370029152013-06-21T15:19:00.000-04:002013-06-21T15:19:40.041-04:00Why I am a Mennonite, Part 2<div class="Body1">
Why I am
a Mennonite, Part 2 (Part 1 appeared in the <a href="http://www.collegemennonite.org/images/2013_Newsletters/2013-06-07_newsletter.pdf">CMC Newsletter recently</a>)</div>
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Why am I
a Mennonite? One answer is, because of my family heritage. The name Waite looks
afar at the Germanic names which fill the Mennonite world and form the building
blocks of the Mennonite game. But I am claiming Mennonite heritage.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Joe
Springer, as Jonathan's mentor, as well as archivist and genealogist, has
unearthed our family ancestry, both Beth's and mine. Her book is thin, and she
seems to be a cousin to half College Mennonite Church. My book is thick and I'm
related to no one at College Mennonite.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am
watching Mennonite life from the outside at times. Yes, I am a leader in the
Mennonite Church. Yes, I have been a Mennonite pastor for 14 years. Yes I have
half a dozen Mennonite institutions in my past. Still, my experience is that of
the in-law at a family reunion, struggling to comprehend the unwritten rules,
navigating a peculiar culture with its own set of values, customs and
practices. To be clear, the work of finding my place in this family is mine,
but I appreciate help wherever I can get it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In his
excavation of Jonathan's ancestry, Joe gives me a great gift, and a new window
on why I am a Mennonite. It's my heritage. Perhaps I am Mennonite by heritage
as much as Beth, or any Bontrager, Friesen or Yoder. Joe's digging in the Waite
family garden reveals an ideal genealogical ecology for a Mennonite minister to
sprout and grow.<img src="http://www.she-died-twice.co.uk/images/reprieve.gif" /></div>
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<div class="Body1">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams_(theologian)">RogerWilliams</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hutchinson">Anne Hutchinson</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Dyer">Mary Dyer</a> (above, at the gallows), 17th century pioneers in religious
freedom, are 11x great grandparents. Thomas Frazier, anchor of five generations
of Quaker abolitionists is a 4x great grandfather. BD Austin, a circuit writing
Cumberland Presbyterian preacher in Texas, is a great great grandfather. Methodist
pastor Charlie Brown is a great grandfather, and his namesake, my father Chuck,
is ordained in the Wesleyan Holiness tradition. This eclectic mix of Christians
wrestled with issues of peace and justice, religious freedom, the relationship
of church and state, how to build Christian community, and how to live
faithfully in challenging circumstances.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My unique
Mennonite genealogical ecology now joins the many Mennonite genealogical
ecologies at College Mennonite Church, strengthening, broadening, changing it
as each of us do when we join this body. In particular, the genealogical
ecology of my ancestors is united in marriage, and in the flesh and blood of
two boys, with a genealogical ecology, fertilized with the stories and lives of
16th century Swiss Anabaptists and their descendants. <o:p></o:p></div>
Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-37805151476125459712013-03-03T13:02:00.001-05:002013-03-03T13:02:50.293-05:00Other People's Sins SermonThis morning I skimmed the chapter Puritans and Prigs from Marilynne Robinson's book, The Death of Adam. I am finding it helpful in my own work letting go of other people's sins.Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-78383775097277544572013-02-28T18:36:00.001-05:002013-02-28T18:36:07.188-05:00Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary's New CurriculumCheck out the news at www.ambs.edu. The Association of Theological Schools has approved AMBS's two new MDiv curriculum options, including an online option.Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-86349303453915099372013-02-19T16:28:00.000-05:002013-02-19T16:28:33.115-05:00Do Mennonites have a Peace Theology?I have found myself wondering lately if Mennonites have a peace theology. The 16th century Anabaptists definitely had a peace theology centered on eschatology. A faith community doesn't send thousands to the gallows to be burned at the stake without a vibrant peace theology, in their case one heavily accented with eschatology, a belief that God, and God's peace, holds the future.<br />
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Twentieth and 21st century Mennonites, it seems to me (and maybe it goes back long before the last century), have worked hard developing a peace ecclesiology and a peace ethic, a sense of God's requirements and expectations of the church as a sign of the reign of God. But we have not had much to say about God that would be a peace theology, other than to talk about God's requirements of us. At its core theology explores the nature and character of God, and ecclesiologies and anthropologies are secondary points of inquiry.<br />
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It's an important question, and one I think about a great deal. Personally, I am inspired by three different approaches to peace theology, one is eschatological in nature, and perhaps most developed by the Anabaptists. History will find its culmination in the victory of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Another area has to do with an ontology of peace. That is, God created all things in goodness and beauty, and God is infinite peace. What is ultimately true and real is God, and that God is a God of beauty and peace. Finally, I have been influenced by Walter Wink's thought (drawing on Ricoeur) that creation is in bondage to powers of domination (violence), and that Jesus frees us from these powers. All three of these have long and rich traditions in the scriptures and Christian thought, and are well worth our exploration as we seek to articulate peace theologies for Mennonites in our time.Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-60757718035404138102013-02-19T16:14:00.001-05:002013-02-19T16:14:22.606-05:00Follow up from Sunday's sermonThis is just a quick follow up to Sunday's sermon.<br />
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In case you are wondering, the quotes used are from David Bentley Hart, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Infinite-Aesthetics-Christian-Truth/dp/080282921X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361308039&sr=1-3&keywords=david+bentley+hart"><i>The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth</i>.</a> Here are the quotes. "In Christ, totality's economy of violence is overcome by the infinity of God's peace..." "Totality is, of necessity, an economy, a circulation of substance, credit, power, and debt, a closed cycle of violence..."<br />
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Also, I mentioned U2's song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zk26KXSH3g">"Grace"</a> from the album All that you can't leave behind. Another song which I happened to listen to on Saturday that was helpful in developing the sermon was Bruce Cockburn's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GUiGz_6Y7g">"Gospel of Bondage"</a> from the Big Circumstance album.Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-5949413168243650732013-02-19T16:04:00.000-05:002013-02-19T16:04:45.262-05:00One more thingEverett Thomas reminded me that I had promised to report on something Serene Jones had said which I found important at the time, but needs some unpacking. She was wondering about the financial implications of increasingly online congregational life, in the same way that MOOCs threaten the business model of higher education. Good question! I am wondering about that too.<br />
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Already at CMC we see the impact of this on congregational life. We recently added an invitation to participate in worship via offering for our webcast/TV broadcast, aware that more people share in CMC worship through electronic means than in person. We also have a mechanism for online giving. Increasingly, it seems to me, we are going to have to address this issue.<br />
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Now a final note, I have applied, and have been accepted, for a Writer's Workshop on digital media this coming June at St. John's in Collegeville, Minn. It is fully funded by the Lilly Foundation, so is free to CMC. Verity Jones is the teacher. So this conversation will continue!Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-43959120497719263972013-02-12T16:06:00.002-05:002013-02-12T16:06:15.975-05:00In ConclusionI made it back from New York after doing the airline runaround at JFK to secure a boarding pass. I've had a chance to reflect on the conference, and have some final reflections. Here are three things I took away from the conference. New media is here to stay and is already changing the way we think about and function as church. The best uses of new media will grow organically out of the mission of congregations. A major question still hanging is whether or not geographical proximity is an essential component of church or not. Can church exist entirely online? Most of us would say no because all we know is the church rooted in a location. Perhaps "post geographical" (thank you Jerry Lapp) communities of faith will become the norm. Who can say in a world where a year ago none of us had heard of MOOCs?<br />
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For those of you interested in more in depth reading out of the conference the New Media Project web site has the papers presented available at http://www.newmediaprojectatunion.org/pages/downloadable-resources/.Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011509021933113035.post-51735263402456996772013-02-12T13:54:00.001-05:002013-02-12T13:54:33.743-05:00What we learn from the Pope's renunciation of his ministry<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Like many of you, I suppose, I awakened to the news that Pope Benedict renounced his ministry. Renounce was his word, or at least the translator's word from a Latin equivalent (okay you Latin scholars out there...), and it is a strong word, up there with abdicate and forsake. My first thought was, can he do that? I guess he can, though it hasn't been done in 600 years.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">Popes don't resign, retire, renounce, abdicate, forsake, or in any way leave their ministries. As the pope's own statement suggests (see below), the suffering, pain, dementia, and other limitations that come with age, are part of the job because they are part of the human experience. Thus it has always been for popes, until now.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">"In today's world (you can see the extended quote below), subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith...both strength of mind and body are necessary." </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">In other words, today is different. The rules of these many centuries no longer apply. More vigorous leadership is needed. The pope notes two reasons for this. One is rapid changes. The world is changing so fast, and in so many ways, the maintenance mode of the previous centuries won't cut it any more. The church can't afford to coast for a few years waiting for a pope to die. It needs a fully engaged leader.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">The world is also shaken, the pope says by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith. I am not sure quite what he means by this, and we might read into it many things. Whatever he means in particular, in the end it is clear that much is up for grabs. Questions that were settled in communities for centuries are no longer settled. We debate issues of identity and purpose as Christians as never before.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">These challenges aren't just for Roman Catholics, but for all Christian bodies. The Pope is right. These times are different than other times, and courageous action is needed in the face of unprecedented challenge. For the Pope the courageous action was to renounce his ministry.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">"After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me."</span>Phil Waitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05014739212970479518noreply@blogger.com2