“Defanging the Beast”: Mennonite Responses to John Howard Yoder's
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Clarification on Mennonite Church USA Polity and the Role of The
1 2 Clarification on Mennonite Church USA Polity and the 3 Role of the Membership Guidelines of Mennonite Church USA 4 5 For consideration by the Delegate Assembly, May 2022, Kansas City, Missouri 6 7 Background 8 1. The Membership Guidelines for the formation of Mennonite Church USA were created to define the 9 expectations for member conferences as they joined MC USA. Denominations had differing polity 10 around the roles of area conferences that led to how each denomination handled pastors’ officiating 11 same-sex marriages. 12 2. In 1999, the Membership Guidelines failed to pass due to a lack of clarity around the status of dual 13 conference congregations disciplined by one denomination but not the other for allowing openly gay 14 members. 15 3. For integration to move forward, section III was added to the Membership Guidelines to clarify MC 16 USA’s expectations for area conferences on these matters. Both delegate bodies approved these 17 guidelines in 2001. 18 4. The Membership Guidelines for the formation of MC USA were created to facilitate the integration of 19 Mennonite Church and General Conference into a new denomination. The guidelines were to be 20 reviewed for their ongoing usefulness in six years (2007). 21 5. In 2007, the Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) began a review of the Membership Guidelines. Still, 22 conflict over gay persons in the church made the review process difficult, and it didn’t move forward. 23 6. In 2013, the Executive Board (EB) submitted a revised version of the guidelines to the delegate body 24 as an administrative update. -
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# of Congregations 2000 Population # of Congregations per 100,000 VA 7,736 7104587 108.89 Pittsylvania 125 61785 202.31 Danville City 64 48240 132.67 Caswell 47 23,550 199.58 # of Congregations per 100,000 250.00 202.31 199.58 200.00 132.67 150.00 108.89 100.00 # of Congregations per 100,000 50.00 0.00 VA Pittsylvania Danville City Caswell *The “Unadjusted Totals” come from the 1990 and 2000 data collected by representatives of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB). While quite comprehensive, this data excludes most of the historically African‐ http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/sta American denominations and some other major groups. As a result, these numbers will be an underestimate of the total adherence rate, particularly in areas with a large African‐American population. The 2000 data included 149 religious group and the final results are published in Religious Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Copyright © 2002, All rights reserved. The 1990 data included 132 groups and the final results are published in Churches and Church Membership in the United States 1990 Copyright © 1990, All rights reserved. Published by Glenmary Research Center, 1312 Fifth Ave., North, Nashville, TN 37208. www.glenmary.org/grc [More information on the data collection] **The “Adjusted Totals” include all adherents in the denominations counted by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) and estimates adherent totals for the historically African‐American denominations -
Advent at Home 2020 We Wait for Jesus
We Wait for Jeus Advent 2020 to Epiphany 2021 At Home Worship Guide Advent to Epiphany At Home 2020 November 29, 2020 through January 6, 2021 Written by Talashia Keim Yoder Edited by Shana Peachey Boshart and Wil LaVeist Designed by Caleb Gingerich This material may be reproduced and adapted by Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA congregations free of charge. If making changes, please add an explanatory note to acknowledge adaptations and credit those who made the changes. We would love to hear how you are using this material, and we are interested in your suggestions for making it more useful and accessible. Contact: Shana Peachey Boshart, Denominational Minister for Faith Formation, Mennonite Church USA 574-523-3070 [email protected] MennoniteUSA.org/FF © Talashia Keim Yoder and Mennonite Church USA Page 2 CONTENTS 4 Introduction 6 The Advent Wreath 8 Advent Week 1, November 29: Hope 10 Advent Week 2, December 6: Peace 13 Advent Week 3, December 13: Joy 15 Advent Week 4, December 20: Love 17 Christmas Day, December 25: Jesus 19 Christmas Week 2, January 3, 2021 21 Epiphany Day, January 6, 2021 Page 3 ADVENT AT HOME 2020 WE WAIT FOR JESUS Introducing Advent What is Advent? • The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “visit.” In the season with this name, we keep in mind both “advents” of Christ: the first in Bethlehem and the second yet to come. • A time to remember we need a Savior. Without divine help, we are unable to live in peace with God, ourselves or each other. -
Curriculum Vitae: Jonathan Tran
Curriculum Vitae: Jonathan Tran Contact Information & Personal Details Address Baylor University Department of Religion One Bear Place #97284 Waco, TX 76798-7284 Tel. (O) +1 254 710 6723 (C) +1 678 756 1073 E-mail [email protected] Education Education University of California at Riverside (grad. 1994) Qualification B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, Political Science Education Duke University, Divinity School (grad. 2002) Qualification M.Div., summa cum laude Education Duke University, Department of Religion (grad. 2006) Qualification Ph.D., Theology and Ethics (Director: Stanley Hauerwas) Academic Employment History Institution Baylor University Positions George W. Baines Professor of Religion (2018-Present) Associate Professor of Religion (2012-Present) Faculty Steward, Honors Residential College (2015-2018) Assistant Professor of Religion (2006-2012) Key activities Department of Religion Graduate Faculty (2009-Present) University Tenure Committee (2012-2015); Chair (2014-2015) Affiliate Faculty: Medical Humanities; Baylor Center for Christian Philosophy Significant & Endowed Lectures 2021 Fuller Theological Seminary AAPI Chapel Lecture 2017 Baylor University Fall Academic Convocation, “Finding Love in College” 2017 Baylor University Collins Outstanding Professor Award Address, “My Life with Students: Wittgensteinian Thoughts on Baylor Students” 2016 Fellowship for Protestant Ethics Inaugural Keynote Lectures, “The Case for and of Protestant Christian Ethics” 2015 Kendrick-Poerschke Memorial Lecture at Furman University, “Drone Dreaming Along the Border: Trump, Immigration, and Rhetorics of Nostalgia” 2015 Asian American Heritage Lectures at Seattle Pacific University • 1 2014 Leuschner Lectures, Seventh & James Baptist Church, “The End of Words: Bodies, Animals and Language” (October 22, October 29, November 5, and November 12) 2013 “The Difference Christ Makes: Celebrating the Life, Work, and Friendship of Stanley Hauerwas” Plenary Address at Duke Divinity School, Duke University, “Anne and the Difficulty of Hauerwas’ Church” 2012 The T.B. -
Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada CONGREGATIONAL and PASTORAL PRIORITIES
Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada CONGREGATIONAL and PASTORAL PRIORITIES NOTE: This worksheet is for use in combination with the 2020 Ministerial Leadership Information (MLI) form. If a pastoral candidate completed an MLI before January 2020, congregations should use the earlier Twenty Pastoral Area/Tasks form, also on the website at mennoniteusa.org/resource/ministerial-transitions-committee-packet/. This worksheet is filled out by both pastors and congregations to be used in the search process. It is designed to identify the perceived needs/priorities of the congregation and the priorities and vision of pastoral candidates. It is an initial screen that helps identify general agreement between what the church is seeking and the priorities a pastor has for their ministry. It can also serve as a useful discussion guide between a pastoral candidate and a search committee/congregation. The questions are categorized using the six core competencies of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. • Pastoral Candidates: Focus on how you would prioritize your time and energy in pastoral ministry. • Congregations: Focus on what your perceived needs and expectations are for the pastor you are seeking to hire and how they may use their time and energy. • Search Committees: Page 4 includes more information for interpreting the results. Instructions for both a congregation and a pastor Click (electronic) or check (hard copy) the box to indicate your answer for each priority. Make sure you select only one box for each priority. 1☐ 2☐ 3☒ 4☐ 5☐ 6☐ 7☐ Mark only six (6) in the high range Mark only twelve (12) in the medium range Mark only six (6) in the low range Congregational and Pastoral Priorities Low Medium High 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Biblical Story 1 Pastor prepares and delivers Bible-based sermons. -
A Short History of Mennonite Church USA and Its Current Realignment Mennonite Church USA Was Formed on February 1, 2002, By
A Short History of Mennonite Church USA and Its Current Realignment Mennonite Church USA was formed on February 1, 2002, by the joining of two Mennonite denominations: Mennonite Church (organized as Mennonite General Conference in 1898) and the General Conference Mennonite Church (founded in 1860). The intersection of Mennonites in alternative service during World War II led to increasing cooperation of the two Mennonite bodies, most notably in the partnership of Mennonite Biblical Seminary and Goshen Biblical Seminary as Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries in 1958. Subsequently, many new urban churches affiliated with both denominations and carried dual memberships. The two denominations held their first joint session in Bethlehem, PA in 1983 and resolved to form an Integration Exploration Committee. To prepare the way, Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective was adopted in 1995 in Wichita, KS along with a new vision statement: God calls us to be followers of Jesus Christ and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to grow as communities of grace, joy and peace, so that God's healing and hope flow through us to the world. The focus of the new denomination was on being missional – seeing where God is at work and joining God in that redemptive work in your community. “God invites us; Jesus sends us; and the Holy Spirit empowers us to share the message and ministry of reconciliation through Christ’s death and resurrection.” New agencies were created to provide resources for pastors and churches and to extend God’s kingdom across the street and around the world. ● Mennonite Mission Network provides service opportunities for young and old through Mennonite Voluntary Service, Service Adventure, SOOP, Youth Venture and International Ministries. -
Stanley Hauerwas: Against Secularization in the Church Zeitschrift Für Dialektische Theologie ◆ Heft 59 ◆ Jahrgang 29 ◆ Nummer 2 ◆ 2013 Herman Paul
Stanley Hauerwas: Against Secularization in the Church Zeitschrift für Dialektische Theologie ◆ Heft 59 ◆ Jahrgang 29 ◆ Nummer 2 ◆ 2013 Herman Paul In May 2007, theologian Stanley Hauerwas addressed a packed audi- ence at Princeton Theological Seminary.1 Frowning behind his glasses, Hauerwas began his talk by firing a volley of uncomfortable questions: “How many of you worship in a church with an American flag? I am sorry to tell you your salvation is in doubt. How many of you worship in a church in which the Fourth of July is celebrated? I am sorry to tell you your salvation is in doubt. How many of you worship in a church that recognizes Thanksgiving? I am sorry to tell you your salvation is in doubt.” And so the speaker went on, to the consternation and amuse- ment of his audience, ending his accusations, less than two weeks before Mother’s Day, with the timely question: “How many of you worship in a church that recognizes ‘Mother’s Day’? I am sorry to tell you your salva- tion is in doubt.”2 These words seem characteristic, not merely of Hauerwas’s polemical style and fondness for hyperbolic metaphors, but also of the American context in which the theologian operates. Hauerwas is an American theo- logian, engaged in American debates, and always addressing American audiences or, as I shall argue, American Christians who, in Hauerwas’s assessment, better know how to be American than how to be Christian. This is not just an incidental circumstance. If he identifies himself, tongue 1 I should like to thank the conference organizers for their kind invitation to deliver this address and the audience, including in particular Ariaan Baan, Gerard den Hertog, Kees van der Kooi, Rinse Reeling Brouwer, and Hans G. -
Organizational Strategy Culture and Structure
Organizational Strategy Culture and Structure for Mennonite Church USA 2001 - 2011 January 30, 2001 Prepared by the Transformation Team Tim Burkholder, Ron Byler, Donella Clemens, Jim Harder, Miriam Martin, Dwight McFadden, Jim Schrag, Karl Sommers, George Stoltzfus, Ted Stuckey CONTENTS Page(s) Preface ...................................................................................................................1 Part I: Organizational strategy of Mennonite Church USA........................2-11 Biblical and theological understandings.......................................................2-3 Vision .............................................................................................................. 4 Mission and role.............................................................................................. 5 Societal and cultural context (2001) • Challenges to the church............................................................................ 6 • Internal strengths and limitations of the church......................................... 7 Core strategies..............................................................................................8-9 Goals................................................................................................................ 9 Imagining the future: 2001 to 2011..........................................................10-11 Part II: Culture and structure of Mennonite Church USA .......................12-16 Primary relationships.................................................................................... -
A Believers Church Perspective. by John Howard Yoder. Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker, Eds
BOOK REVIEWS Theology of Mission: A Believers Church Perspective. By John Howard Yoder. Gayle Gerber Koontz and Andy Alexis-Baker, eds. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic. 2014. Pp. 432. $45. In his writings on the Psalms, Walter Brueggemann suggests that the psalmists lead us through a process of ‚orientation, disorientation and new orientation.‛1 I have found Brueggemann’s comments helpful in guiding me through the recent discussions surrounding John Howard Yoder’s sexual misconduct. Yoder has provided me—as he has with so many others—my plumb line ‚orientation‛ to the world. As Wilbert R. Shenk’s introduction point outs, Yoder’s vision and theological commitments were instrumental in shaping the work of Mennonite Board of Missions among African Independent Churches in Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa, where my parents served as missionaries and where I grew up. As a young adult, I attended and was baptized at Prairie St. Mennonite Church—the congregation Yoder called home for many years. And as a student at Fuller Seminary, Yoder’s writings have been, and continue to be, some of the most powerful and formative in shaping my missiological grid. Given Yoder’s influence in my own life, I now find myself experiencing a period of ‚disorientation.‛ I am baffled by Yoder’s destructive tendencies and wonder what should have been done in terms of accountability. Like the psalmists, I am trying to get to a place of ‚reorientation,‛ one that narrates how God rescues us from sin in a decisive way and that includes experiencing God’s grace, peace, and love, trusting that it will lead to reconciliation with Yoder’s legacy.2 While John Howard Yoder is best known for his work on issues of war and peace, the editors of this volume note that the theology of mission preoccupied him as a scholar, teacher, missionary, and ecumenical dialogue partner for most of his life. -
Congregational Information Form to Be Completed by Congregations Seeking New Pastoral Leadership
Congregational Information Form To be completed by congregations seeking new pastoral leadership. Purpose of this form This form is to assist a congregation to present information concerning itself to prospective candidates for a pastoral leadership position. Completing the form will also assist the pastoral search committee in self-understanding as they assess the strengths and weaknesses which may exist at the time of pastoral transition. I. Information A. BASIC INFORMATION AND CONTACTS 1. Name of church Address Church telephone Email Website 2. Chairperson of search committee Address Telephone Email 3. Area church/conference Name of area church/conference minister assisting your church's search committee Address Telephone E-mail 4. Year in which the congregation first began meeting or was organized B. MEMBERSHIP 1. Average Sunday worship attendance during the last 12 months: Highest attendance during that time Lowest attendance during that time 2. Total current members Non-resident members Resident members Children (not members) 3. Age of members and children. Give totals and percentage. 0-12 % 31-45 % 13-18 % 46-64 % 19-30 % 65+ % 4. Occupational profile: (ages 19 to 70). Give totals. Business/manager/proprietor Homemaker Education/administration/teacher Clerical/sales Craftsman/laborer/operative Student/VS Medical: doctor/nurse/administration Farmer/rancher Church institution/administration/minister Other professional 5. Educational level of adults: Up to and including high school % Some college or college graduate % Graduate school % 6. Describe the racial or ethnic composition of the congregation. C. LEADERSHIP 1. Identify the present staff position for which you are seeking a candidate. 2. Two previous persons in the above position: Name Dates of service Name Dates of service Comment on the transitions experienced by the above staff persons. -
Hauerwas's Debts to the 1948 Barth-Niebuhr Exchange
The Lordship of Christ and the Gathering of the Church: Hauerwas’s Debts to the 1948 Barth-Niebuhr Exchange Brandon L. Morgan This essay explores the disagreements between Karl Barth and Reinhold Niebuhr on the role of Christology in Christian ethical judgment that arose at the inaugural World Council of Churches (WCC) assembly, held at Amsterdam in August-September 1948. I want to highlight how the work of Stanley Hauerwas repositions their Christological concerns as ecclesiological concerns. This repositioning will be shown to index Hauerwas’s Christian ethics to the same set of impasses explicated in the Barth-Niebuhr exchange. First I will recount the interactions between Barth and Niebuhr, attending to places in their theological work that allow me to trace the contours of their disagreement about the definitiveness of Christ’s lordship and its implications for how Christians should address social and ethical concerns. It will become apparent that Niebuhr’s skepticism about a more ‘realized’ account of Christological lordship entails a residual anxiety about global survival, an anxiety that Barth’s account of Christological finality seemingly dissolves. Niebuhr’s ‘survivalism’ implies the church’s participation in balancing political power relations, while Barth’s theology implies the church’s witnessing to the objective reality accomplished in Christ. With these differences in mind, I will turn to Hauerwas’s With the Grain of the Universe to address his critiques of Barth’s and Niebuhr’s attenuated account of the church, arguing that Hauerwas risks conflating both Barth’s account of Christological finality and Niebuhr’s anxious survivalism. Then I will suggest how Hauerwas’s turn to the church need not be a turn from Barth’s distinction between Christ’s lordship and the church (a distinction worth maintaining, given that the church’s future is relatively inexplicable to itself). -
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Princeton Theological Review Vol. 19, No. 1 | Spring 2016 Prolegomena 3 CHRIS WAKS The Violent Shadow 5 Considering John Howard Yoder’s Sexual Misconduct from a Jungian Psychological Perspective SARAH BIXLER Catholic Ecclesiology and Hans Urs von Balthasar 21 The Unity-in-Difference of the Marian and Petrine Principles of the Church MATTHEW KUHNER The Deceitful Savior and the Emasculated King 39 Heterosexist Violence in Judges 3:12–30 DAVID B. SMITH Book Reviews 51 About the Princeton Theological Review 59 Prolegomena CHRIS WAKS Executive Editor, Princeton Theological Review “Peace is a deeper reality than violence,” writes Stanley Hauerwas in his memoir Hannah’s Child, “but it takes some getting used to.”1 If peace does in fact take some getting used to, it is because of the countless acts of violence we hear about today. We hear about wars happening in neighboring parts of the world, and many feel warred upon in their own homes. Yet, violence does not always come on such a grand scale. As Christians we must also wrestle with the violence of the biblical text. Divine wrath, Israel’s conquests, and the Crucifixion are things that Christians must wrestle with. This issue of the Princeton Theological Review continues on its trajectory of offering a resource that intersects the practical and the theoretical, the Church and the academy. Scholars were challenged to think how their discipline speaks towards issues of violence for the Church proper. While one issue cannot, and does not, cover every facet of violence in this issue, these essays can serve as a contribution to the conversation imaginative look at what it means for the Church to think about and speak about violence.