Reconciliation is the Center of Our Work
Dan Schrock
Today is the final installment in our series on the three foundational beliefs of Anabaptist-Mennonites. They are: 1. Christ is the center of our faith. 2. Community is the center of our life. 3. Reconciliation is the center of our work. What does it mean to say that reconciliation is the center of our work? […]
Community is Center of our Lives
Marilyn Rudy-Froese
Erin Lane is the author of the book, Lessons in Belonging from a Church-Going Commitment Phobe, which she describes as a book for “people who like the idea of church but feel disillusioned by the reality of the people who make it up.” (p. 15) Early on in the book she re-tells this story: “A […]
Jesus is the Center of our Faith
Dan Schrock
Today Marilyn and I begin a series of sermons on the three central characteristics of Anabaptist Mennonites. About seven years ago Palmer Becker wrote a booklet published by Mennonite Mission Network that tries to describe what an Anabaptist Mennonite is. His description isn’t the only way to characterize our tradition of faith, but for our […]
The Disappearing Jesus
Marilyn Rudy-Froese
The children lined the doorways leading into the delegate hall on the day the 2 resolutions related to same-sex inclusion were to be discussed and voted on. As we approached the doors, they handed us these pieces of paper, with their handprints on them and the message, “We are praying for you!” I knew this […]
The Uncontrollable Spirit
Dan Schrock
For a long time Jenny and I have had this anxious little game we play when we come back home from being away on vacation. As we turn into our neighborhood we ask each other: “Will our house still be there? What if it burned down while we were gone, or a windstorm blew a […]
Finding the Spirit Outside the Church
Dan Schrock
The (old) Mennonite church that I grew up in was deeply suspicious of the broader world. To keep North American society away, the church of my childhood tried to erect visible markers of difference. Women were to wear prayer coverings. Men were to dress plainly. Youth were to stay away from rock music because that […]
Bent Over the World
Dan Schrock
Today I begin a series of sermons on the Holy Spirit. For many of us in this congregation, the Holy Spirit is probably the person of the Trinity we think about, talk about, and pray to the least often. For four years I was a member of a Mennonite church in another state where the […]
Practicing Patience
Dan Schrock
This text from Galatians comes as a hard word to us Mennonites in this time and place. For the last few years, we in the Mennonite Church USA have been biting and devouring each other—precisely what verse 15 admonishes us not to do. I refer, of course, to our fights over gay and lesbian issues. […]
A Sabbath of the Mind
Dan Schrock
I know a man who grew up many years ago in what was then called the Evangelical and Reformed Church. The Evangelical and Reformed Church, or “E & R” as people affectionately called it, eventually merged into what is now the United Church of Christ. Anyway, this man tells the story of an incident that […]
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