[By: Matthew Amstutz | July 8, 2011 | Comments Off]
Stutzman Calls for Kingdom Unity Over Political Divide Ervin Stutzman, the executive director of Mennonite Church USA, called for church members to “be reconciled to God” during the final adult worship session on Friday evening. By reconciling with God, he said, Christians can become ambassadors for God. “You can be an ambassador of Christ, but you need to be (...)
[Read More]

News »

[By: Natasha Weisenbeck | July 8, 2011 | Comments Off]
Stellar Kart Gets the Last (Loud) Note As booth keepers in the exhibit hall started packing up, staff in the youth worship hall prepared for the loudest event of the convention. When Stellar Kart took the stage, their music could be heard outside of the convention center. Stellar Kart writes punk music with a positive message. “People are touched by the way we act without saying a word,” said the (...)
[Read More]

News »

[By: Kate Stoltzfus | July 8, 2011 | Comments Off]
Matthews Shares Poetic Words of Hope “We are coming, we are coming.” So begins the poem that Brenda Matthews shared with the youth at the final worship service on Friday night. For Matthews, a poet, storyteller and preacher from Chicago, this was a return engagement. She was also a speaker at Charlotte 2005, San Jose 2007 and Columbus 2009. “I am honored to be back,” said Matthews. “Some of (...)
[Read More]

News »

[By: Liz Core | July 8, 2011 | One Comment]
Liz Core, a reporter for mPress, interviewed conventiongoers on Friday and returned with these snapshots. Rosemarie Matsuda, of Pittsburgh, has lived through two house fires, a world war and “an entire city burning down in front of me.” Growing up in a city outside of Berlin during World War II, Matsuda’s German Lutheran family owned a bake shop. In war-torn Germany, (...)
[Read More]

News »

[By: Becca Kraybill | July 8, 2011 | Comments Off]
The staff members of mPress aren’t the only ones diligently reporting on Pittsburgh 2011. The local news media have also been eager to investigate what it means to have more than 6,000 Mennonites flock to the city. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the city’s dominant newspaper, featured several articles on the Mennonite assembly throughout the week. On Monday, an article (...)
[Read More]

News »

[By: Jeffrey Moore | July 8, 2011 | Comments Off]
Delegates spent the majority of their time in assembly on Friday afternoon in table discussion and open-mic sharing. After short reports on the Conversation Room and the theme for the Phoenix convention in 2013, delegates spent the greater part of the session discussing the long-term vision of Mennonite Church USA and a list of seven priorities that have been proposed for (...)
[Read More]