1209finalwads.qxd 4/29/2009 9:01 AM Page 1 www.TheMennonite.org May 5, 2009 12 The church and economics after Christendom 17 Prayerfully present 18 Old wine, new songs 32 The church and the magazine business Page 8 1209finalwads.qxd 4/29/2009 8:54 AM Page 2 GRACE AND TRUTH The broken body of Christ he body of Christ, broken for you.” new members. I closed the service with a prayer: Communion draws us into brokenness. We “God, we ask you to build up this congregation T don’t turn and run from this torn body. We through the continual outpouring of your gifts, don’t hide the wounds with a Band-Aid. At the gifts like Laura and Dave, so that we might receive Lord’s Table we can’t help but wait with broken- the grace to uphold one another in the faith.” ness. Through our remembering we tarry with the These new members infuse our church with crucified Savior and come to discover that we also new life. They are the enfleshed movement of the share in that brokenness. His wounds expose our Holy Spirit. Laura and Dave joined our humble lit- own, or at least call us to consider our wounds. tle flock and now help us discern what Christ’s His torn flesh offers a window into our fractured body looks like where we live. With their presence lives. We find ourselves in his body. As the great come the gifts needed for us to be faithful. spiritual writer Sebastian Moore puts it, the cruci- Laura and Dave transferred their membership fied Jesus is no stranger. In Christ, God becomes from the Mennonite congregations of their youth. familiar with our broken human condition. God is Their migration bears witness to the tornness of no stranger to shattered, scattered bodies. our church. It is too easy for my joy at their mem- Isaac Villegas is pastor of Chapel While this broken condition certainly applies to bership to blind me from the two churches that Hill (N.C.) us individually, it also has to do with our commu- now experience loss. The bodies of Salem-Zion Mennonite nal bodies: our congregations and our denomina- Mennonite Church (Freeman, S.D.) and Bethel Fellowship. tion. In his book A Precarious Peace, Chris Mennonite Church (Mountain Lake, Minn.) have Huebner helps us think about this reality: “The been broken for my congregation. church [is] a kind of dislocated identity … a When I consider such debts, all I can say is strange body that exists in a precarious state of thank you. Thankfulness is what I’ve learned at the unsettled tornness.” Our Mennonite identity is Lord’s Table. At our Communion celebration, the always disturbed; the church is broken; our con- loaf is torn into smaller and smaller pieces as it gregations are torn. People come and go. feeds many. We eat and say thank you. The oldest Disagreements reemerge and threaten to drive us name for this practice is “Eucharist,” which comes apart. Congregations dissolve, and others are born. from a Greek word for thanksgiving. Communion The church is in a precarious state of unsettled is about gratitude; what is broken gives us life. tornness. That’s simply what it means to be the Thank you, Salem-Zion and Bethel. In many body of Christ. We shouldn’t attempt to hide our respects, your churches come with their presence. divisions and our wounds. In fact, we confess that Your presence is felt in our midst through all that this tornness is part of the good news. “The body you’ve poured into Dave and Laura. Your life flows This article is available as a of Christ, broken for you.” through them and now gives us life. We depend on podcast at The tearing and scattering of the body of Christ these two gifts from your churches. Laura and www.The took on new meaning for me a few months ago Dave have become missionaries who share with us Mennonite.org when Dave and Laura Nickel joined our congrega- the good news they have learned from you. tion. Martha, one of our deacons, led the congre- Through their presence, we discover how our con- gation through our liturgy to welcome them as gregations are broken pieces of the same loaf. TM TheMennonite Vol. 12, No. 9, May 5, 2009 The Mennonite is the official publication of Mennonite Church USA. Our mission is to help readers glorify God, grow in faith and become agents of Editor: Everett J. Thomas Offices: healing and hope in the world. The Mennonite (ISSN 1522-7766) is normal- [email protected] 1700 S. Main St. ly published on the first and third Tuesdays of each month (except only one issue in August) by the board for The Mennonite, Inc. Periodical Associate editor: Gordon Houser Goshen, IN 46526-4794 postage paid at Goshen, IN 46526. Subscription rates for one year: $43.95 [email protected] phone: 800-790-2498 fax: 574-535-6050 to U.S. addresses and or $51.45 USD to Canadian addresses. Group rates Assistant Editor: Anna Groff available. Scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version [email protected] 722 Main St., P.O. Box 347 unless otherwise noted. The views expressed in this publication do not Advertising, subscriptions: Rebecca Helmuth Newton, KS 67114 necessarily represent the official positions of Mennonite Church USA, [email protected] phone: 866-866-2872 The Mennonite, or the board for The Mennonite, Inc. Bookkeeper: Celina Romero fax: 316-283-0454 [email protected] Postmaster Editorial Assistant: Nora Miller 801 N. Negley Ave. Send form 3579 to: Design: Dee Birkey Pittsburgh, PA 15206 The Mennonite phone: 412 894 8705 1700 S. Main St. Web site: www.TheMennonite.org fax: 412-363-1216 Goshen, IN 46526 2 TheMennonite May 5,2009 1209finalwads.qxd 4/29/2009 8:54 AM Page 3 CONTENTS 6 21 8 The business of church Things they don’t teach in seminary—Ernest J. Hershberger 12 The church and economics after Christendom Brief theological considerations—John Howard Yoder 14 The years ahead Four course corrections for the Mennonite church —C. Norman Kraus 26 17 Prayerfully present A transformation from unhappiness to gratitude—Sharon Clymer Landis 19 EB addresses antiracism, transition plans Byler to be acting executive director Aug. 1; Schrag to begin writing project.—Gordon Houser 20 Kanagy encourages missional journey 21 Good Friday vigil challenges air strikes 22 MDS says the best news is ‘temporary’ 23 Goshen College launches two new SSTs 11 DEPARTMENTS 2 Grace and truth The broken body of Christ—Isaac Villegas 4 Readers say 6 News digest 18 Speaking out Old wine, new songs—Christine Longhurst 27 For the record 30 Real families And then there were three—Sara Wenger Shenk 32 Editorial The church and the magazine business—Everett J. Thomas Cover: Photo illustration by Dee Birkey May 5,2009 TheMennonite 3 1209finalwads.qxd 4/29/2009 8:54 AM Page 4 READERS SAY A dark day in Goshen Humans must be taught what is right Recently we were informed that the Chicago Regarding “Once for All” (April 7): I wonder what Tribune would no longer be delivered to our area. Darrin Belousek says about Psalm 51: “Against I made my usual trek to the Goshen, Ind., library, you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil to devour a week’s sports pages to keep up with in your sight so that you are proved right when my beloved Chicago White Sox. On the shelf star- you speak and justified when you judge.” And what ing at me was a paper saying that the Tribune about Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death, but would no longer be delivered to Goshen. I took my the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus latest issue of OurFaith Digest and headed for Christ our Lord”? And Hebrews 9:22: “Without the This publication Long John Silver’s to soothe my disappointment. shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” welcomes your letters, either about When I opened it up, there was a smiling Joe Being just, God sees the value of responsibility our content or about Miller telling me goodbye. for sin. We can see it in children and even adults issues facing the Mennonite Church Headlines screamed on the back page, who are not punished for wrongdoing. Humans USA. Please keep “OurFaith Digest is on the Web!” “Come and See … must be taught to do right. To have no conse- your letters brief— one or two para- Bigger and Better,” “The grassroots every-home quences for our sin would make sin rampant, as it graphs—and about evangelical Mennonite/Anabaptist Web site!” was in the days of Noah. God himself took the pay- one subject only. We reserve the right to Tell that to my 94-year-old mother-in-law, an ment for our sins in his son Jesus. But payment edit for length and avid reader who sees the world and the church was made. He died because we sinned. No other clarity. Publication is also subject to space through the printed page. Tell her to check the reason. limitations. Send to Web site, and she will wonder what the spiders are If humans had not gone the way of sin, Jesus Letters@TheMenno- nite.org or mail to up to now. would not have had to die—so what’s not penalty Readers Say, The Why do I suddenly feel like a Model A Ford? I about that? And if Jesus had not died, we would be Mennonite, 1700 S.