A close friend of the Anabaptist family is counseling Mennonites to take a deep breath: It’s time to bring out the “right stuff,” Jim Wallis told the crowd of 500 attending the final adult worship service.

“I want to pull out your best stuff,” said Wallis, president and chief executive officer of Sojourners. “Mennonites, you’re too shy about your good stuff. I don’t know where I’d be without the peace churches and the black churches.”

Wallis, who was raised in the Midwest in an evangelical family, spoke from his longtime familiarity with Mennonites to call the delegates and other adult attendees to make their voices heard in broader culture. There may be differences within the church, he said, but there are core Anabaptist values that the country and the world could benefit from hearing.

“I’m sort of a friend of the family,” Wallis said. “I’m aware of some controversy in the church. These things will not be resolved quickly or easily.”

Wallis first heard about Anabaptists while at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill. “I remember talking a lot with this really tall guy,” Wallis said, referring to theologian and scholar John Howard Yoder. It was around that time in his life, Wallis said, that he “began to recognize how what Jesus was talking about was revolutionary.”

Jesus’ revolutionary message has always been at the heart of Anabaptist theology. Wallis said that Mennonites know the difference between nationalism and patriotism. Many Christians don’t. “To believe that we are Christians first would transform this country,” Wallis said. “To say that Jesus is Lord means that America is not.”

What would it look like to live our vision of healing and hope? Wallis reminded adults that “God is personal but never private.” If our good news — as read from Jesus’ mission statement from Isaiah 61 — cures sickness but isn’t good news to the poor, it isn’t the Gospel.

Though Wallis was speaking to adults, he shared what he’s heard from youth across the country in order to highlight the urgency of his message. “Young people are less concerned with what you believe because you’re a Christian and more concerned with what you do because you’re a Christian,” Wallis said. “Young people have to clear up what it means to be a Christian.” And according to Wallis, it is “time for people to find [the Mennonite] tradition.”

Wallis illustrated three current shifts: religious, political and economic. These inter-generational and multicultural movements have placed poverty, peace and climate change at the “heart of a new religious agenda.” Wallis ventured that “God cares more about the 30,000 children who died today from preventable diseases than about gay marriage amendments in Ohio.” His comments were greeted with applause from many of the same delegates who, earlier in the day, acknowledged the Mennonite church’s existing stance on human sexuality.

As a boy in inner-city Detroit, Wallis questioned the status quo. He now sees similar desires in young people today, and hopes that Mennonites will, as in the song of Fannie Lou Hamer, “let their light shine.”

“A whole new generation wants to be for something not just against something,” Wallis said. “It’s time for you to live and preach your best stuff, because your best stuff is the right stuff.”

Tonight was not the first time youth worship turned into a dance party, but Greg Boyd was still surprised when he looked out over the energetic crowd at Saturday evening’s worship service, the finale of convention week.

“I’ve been in a couple of Mennonite church services, and none of them look like tonight,” Boyd told the near-capacity crowd, as youth spilled into the aisles and pushed towards the stage, jumping up and down. Responding to the energy of the crowd and adding his own, Boyd, who is the senior pastor at Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn., and is known for his dynamic and engaging presentation style, recognized the Anabaptist youth as a distinctive group.

“You are part of a Mennonite tradition that is unique and rare and something the world is hungry for,” he said. “I’m not a Mennonite, but maybe some day I will be!”

Boyd urged the crowd to remember that the Holy Spirit lives inside and works through every Christian. “You are the temple of God,” he told the youth. “Jesus wants people empowered by God’s own presence in their lives.”

In telling his own story of an abusive childhood, Boyd questioned whether the church today has become numb towards the movement of the Spirit similar to the way he had felt towards his step-mother. “God’s talking,” he said, “but the question is, are we listening?”

A passionate Boyd concluded his speech by challenging listeners with three tips.

The first was to “remain awake.” He said, “Every second of every day God is closer to you than your own skin.” Boyd said. He urged youth to practice being in the presence of God every day.

Secondly, Boyd told listeners to ask God for guidance. Every morning, he begins his day with a prayer: “Holy Sprit, this day is yours. What would you have me do?”

Finally, Boyd asked the audience to act as they feel led. “We tend to think everything that goes on inside of us is our own doing,” he said. “God will often call you in inconvenient ways, but it is in your best interest to say ‘yes’.”

Adding that “normality is way overrated,” Boyd told the audience to look for “kingdom coincidences” in their lives — the unexpected ways that the Spirit calls Christians to faithfulness. “Sometimes God encourages you to walk on water.”

Boyd concluded his message with a prayer, telling God, “we give you permission to bug us.”

Photo Supplied

Laura Bowman marches to the beat of a different drummer. The beat she hears is peace.

Following Saturday night’s youth worship, James Roynon, facilitator for the Peace and Justice Support Network, awarded Bowman, of Archbold, Ohio, the first Different Drummer Youth Peace Award for Mennonite youth.

“This was an effort to recognize young people who are working for peace and justice,” said Leo Hartshorn, minister of peace and justice for Mennonite Mission Network.

“I was blown away when I heard about it,” said Bowman.

Nominated by her youth pastor at Zion Mennonite Church, Jessica Schrock-Ringenberg, Bowman demonstrates her passion for peace in her congregation and the world in numerous ways. She organized peace vigils and recycling projects; distributed material against military recruitment to her school counselor; and worked with Zion Mennonite’s Peace and Justice Project.

One important project for Bowman is a peace demonstration she organized at her high school the last two years. On the World Day of Peace, she and other youth wear tie-dye green armbands as a reminder of the day. “It’s amazing to see the hallway,” said Bowman.

The idea for a peace drum award derived from Henry David Thoreau’s writing about marching to the beat of a different drummer. The Peace and Justice Support Network shaped this idea as a metaphor for peace and chose to award a youth who has followed the rhythms of peace in their life.

“Emily has been highly and consistently involved in peace and justice,” said Hartshorn.

Titus Peachey and Linda Gehman Peachey, of Lancaster, Pa., received the Peace Pitcher Award from Mennonite Mission Network on Friday during the Peace and Justice Support Network Bible study. This biannual award is given to a leader within Mennonite Church USA who has been active in peace and justice work over his or her lifetime.

According to Hartshorn, the recipients have worked in peace and justice a long time together and now work for Mennonite Central Committee. Roynon called the couple relatively young lifetime award recipients but said they were chosen because together they have nearly four decades of peace and justice work behind them.

The tradition of awarding the Peace Pitcher, made by Dick Lehman of Goshen, Ind., goes back before 2002, said Hartshorn. The Peace and Justice Support Network also gave mugs to local conferences and to people who have demonstrated a commitment to peace and justice.

With colorful bags of snacks and thank you cards, about 180 children went to five hotels to recognize the hard work of the hotel staffs during the convention, and give something back to them.

“This is our way of saying thank you to a group of people that oftentimes aren’t thanked and to tell them they are special,” said Carol Grieser, the convention’s children coordinator.

At the Hyatt Regency Hotel, connected to the convention center, about 44 children in kindergarten and first grade offered their bags to nine hotel workers.

Before giving the staff their bags, the children sang “I’m gonna sing,” “This is the day that the Lord has made,” “God is good” and a “thank you” song. With smiles, the appreciative staff applauded after each song. The children also offered a prayer for the staff.

And after the songs and prayer, the children said “thank you” one last time as loud as they could while people looked on from the balcony hanging over the lobby.

Maurice Cunningham, a lobby attendant, said this is the first time anyone had ever done anything like that for the hotel staff in his 12 years working at the Hyatt.

Along with the Hyatt, the second and third grades went to the Crowne Royal Hotel and the Drury Inn, and the fourth and fifth graders went to the Hampton and the Red Roof Inn.

This is the third convention that children performed a “random act of kindness” by thanking hotel staff; it first took place at the 2005 convention in Charlotte.

“This is the children’s service progject,” Grieser said.

“I wish all our groups did this for us,” one hotel worker said with a smile.

J. Tyler Klassen/Photo
Lois Barrett. Church of the Servant, Wichita KS speaks during the delegate meeting about The Corinthian Plan to provide healthcare coverage for church workers and pastors.

A detectable level of tension accompanied Mennonite Church USA delegates into their meeting on Saturday afternoon as they gathered for a final session to discuss a proposed statement about the church’s perspectives on human sexuality.

The resolutions committee drafted the document, titled “A resolution on following Christ and growing together as communities even in conflict,”after receiving differing statements from two groups about the relationship of homosexuals to the church.

After several amendments were carried and one fell short, the resolution was passed by a wide margin of delegate votes and was officially adopted.

The discussion surrounding the document, which was created from two differing submissions to the resolutions committee, included 20 minutes of table talk and then an open mic time. Comments by delegates quickly focused on the two opposing sexuality resolutions that eventually led to the board’s creation of an entirely new document. One delegate wanted to know why the original draft resolutions had not been brought before the delegate body, and why the new document was necessary.

But much of the debate focused on matters of language specificity. A motion for amendment that was proposed and carried was to change the word “affirm” to the word “acknowledge” in the phrase “…we affirm the statements by Mennonite Church USA on Human Sexuality which have been previously passed and are currently in place.”

Two amendments were proposed to change the wording of the “action” at the end of the resolution. One motion carried and one was denied, resulting in this wording of the action: “And so we call upon the Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA to work with conferences to provide and encourage the use of resources which assist conferences and congregations to engage in this discernment…” The phrase “to provide and encourage the use of” replaced the word “highlight” in the original wording of the document. A proposal to add the phrase “in a safe place” after “discernment” was rejected.

As the text of the resolution was discussed, a suggestion to table the resolution for two years, until the next church convention, was not supported. Brent Alderfer, a delegate from Blooming Glen, Pa., said that “postponing the pain for two more years isn’t going to help move things forward.”

Another delegate agreed, saying the issue is not about changing the current teaching positions on sexuality but about addressing an ongoing pattern of conflict. The delegates voted on a motion to postpone the resolution indefinitely, in favor of more table discussion, but that motion failed.

After a period of intense debate covering multiple aspects of the issue, Ed Diller, incoming Mennonite Church USA moderator, began enforcing a 30-second time limit on open mic comments, interrupting speakers when necessary. The full two hours reserved for the meeting ended, and Diller brought the overall resolution to a final vote.

While several delegates still waiting in the line at the mic did not have a chance to speak, motions to extend the discussion time were voted down.

A delegate from Salem, Ore., was less concerned with choosing sides than with church unity and oneness.  “[The point is] not to pick what is right and wrong but how we as a body keep this church united.”

“Are you feeling groovy?!” bellowed brothers Keith Lyndaker Schlabach and Brent Lyndaker at the start of their seminar, “Got game? Developing and playing peace games: A PeaceGrooves gathering.”

They had to repeat the question several times until a satisfactorily energetic “Yes!” echoed through the audience.

The brothers began their project, PeaceGrooves, out of a love of games, and a desire for peace. “People are just tired of the old stuff,” explained Lyndaker Schlabach, saying that most online and video games today promote violence and killing.

“Why do you play games?” he asked. “It’s because of the community, the interaction with other people and how it makes you feel.”

The brothers noted that 9 out of 10 people don’t play online games, whether World of Warcraft or Halo, because of the game, but because of the interaction with other people around the world. “We’re trying to create games that have a community, but that are teaching people how to resolve conflict instead of how to create it,” Lyndaker Schlabach said.

The brothers’ hope for  “PeaceGrooves” is that youth can learn anger management skills as well as how to resolve conflict in their personal lives and globally.

They kicked off the seminar with a game of “WWJP”— a peaceful competition that benefits the other person. Lyndaker Schlabach said: “See those stickers? They stand for What Would Jesus Play. Get up, place those stickers on the back of everyone you see, and whoever has the most stickers on their back by the end wins.”

The brothers led other games throughout the seminar, including one with two groups of people, the “Mutants” and the “Blinders.” These two groups had to collaborate with each other and learn where they came from, what they needed and where they were going. The catch: Mutants could not speak and Blinders could not see.

Horin Byler and Bob Troyer of Canton, Ohio, completed the game— they used each other’s hands by putting them on their heads and shaking yes or no. Others solved the game by writing with fingers on chests, clapping and stopping for yes or no, or using hands to create shapes.

Seminar attendees then took on the challenge of inventing a peace game in 15 minutes. “We wanted to do this at convention because it’s a community, with similar people having a drive to work together and develop games that benefit society and ourselves,” Lyndaker Schlabach said.

After each table explained the name and concept of their game, Lyndaker Schlabach said, “These are all amazing ideas you guys! I would like to take them all and publish them.”

The brothers then encouraged youth, ages 13-18, to enter into the 2009 Youth Peace Game Creation contest that they’re sponsoring. Contestants can register online, and receive one year to create the concept and game design. The winner receives a laptop, $200 or an iPod.

For more information about the youth contest or about PeaceGrooves in general, go to www.peacegrooves.com or peacegrooves.wordpress.com, or send an e-mail note to info@peacegrooves.com.

mPress averaged 736 visitors a day on its online site during Convention 2009, with readers spending an average of 8 minutes and 18 seconds following the news from Columbus.

Among visits from the United States, Ohio led the way, numbering 995; Pennsylvania tallied 612 visits; Indiana, 567; and Kansas, 318.

There were a total of 3,750 visits between Wednesday and Friday, July 1 through 3.

The mPress audience extended into 33 countries. Excluding the United States, Canada led the way, with 37 visits; readers also hailed from Israel, which totaled 3 visits; Belgium, 3; Peru, 2; China, 2; Palestinian Territory, 1; and South Korea, 1.

Marty Lehman, director of MC USA communication and development, said that a gathering of immigrant churches in Los Angeles took place in April to work at addressing that need; another event will take place in September. “One of the four church-wide priorities is leadership development,” she said.

Some programs are already in place to help immigrant churches. A Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) program led by Rafael Barahona assists Hispanic pastors. Barahona has also started a Spanish newsletter.

According to de Leon-Hartshorn, conversations are ongoing about a project with Mennonite Publishing House and MEA to hold writer’s workshops, “for writing our books and our curriculum.” There are “a lot of people that come into the country and are now ready for seminary, but lack the writing skills to make the transition,” she said.

Offerings taken to help fund these programs are providing good seed money. “The money we’re collecting now will allow us to go beyond where we are right now,” she continued.

Lehman also sees the need for more diversity in church leadership positions. “We’re not a one-size-fits-all denomination,” she said. “I’m learning what I think is needed (to help the immigrants) is not often the case.”

De Leon-Hartshorn is hoping to plan a writer’s symposium before the next church convention in 2011 to help get more immigrants into leadership positions in the church. She said, “They have a lot to offer. They’re the ones building new churches, both here and abroad. They’ve had to adapt to another context, and maybe they can help us be more affective in our ministries.”

Laura Schlabach/Photo
These Indiana youth and sponsor dined with the homeless in response to Shane Claiborne’s message. From Left: Mark Fromer, Aaron Kauffman, John Swartley, Niles Graber-Miller, Robert Heydon and Karsten Hess.

Five young Mennonites invited three guests who live under the railroad tracks to share Greek food with them  on Friday night.

After hearing Shane Claiborne’s call to seek out the “many Calcuttas” around them, youth from Waterford Mennonite Church, Assembly Mennonite Church and Sunnyside Mennonite Church, all in Indiana, visited the homeless people living under the railroad tracks near the Hyatt Regency hotel.

“After worship, we discussed what the spirit was leading us to do,” said Mark Fromer, a youth sponsor at Waterford Mennonite in Goshen. The group ended up inviting three homeless people to dinner: Drake, Woody and Patty.

Niles Graber-Miller, of Goshen; John Swartley, Elkhart; Karsten Hess, Goshen; Robert Heydon, Elkhart; and Aaron Kauffman, Goshen, met each other only the previous day, after Claiborne addressed thousands of young people.  Fromer said they prayed together as they walked to meet the homeless.

“We had to hop a fence to go and talk to them,” said Fromer. “Drake was hesitant; he didn’t want to be paraded around.”

After assuring him it was just a meal, the group walked with the three homeless guests to Happy Greek restaurant, where Fromer had made a reservation.

Drake ordered chicken, and Woody chose a gyro. Patty ordered calamari twice, as an appetizer and the main course.

Fromer said that as they began talking,  it became clear that Woody was comfortable using profanity.  Drake pulled Woody outside for a chat. “I think he was telling him to be on his best behavior,” Fromer said.

The group had a chance to talk, laugh and share their stories. Patty talked about her experience being kicked out of the house at a young age, and alluded to abuse. Drake and Woody both had given up living with family and possessions in favor of a more nomadic lifestyle. Woody even showed them videos on his cell phone of different places he’d been.

“(Drake and Woody) chose this lifestyle,” said Heydon. “They didn’t own any possessions and didn’t hold onto stuff.”

“One of them looked exactly like Shane Claiborne!” added Graber-Miller.

Although Drake and Woody chose the lifestyle they were living, “they had had some painful circumstances,” said Fromer.

Drake and Woody talked about the risks that come with living under the railroad tracks. Since the area under the railroad is private property, they are living in illegal territory. Woody has 17 stitches in his forehead and 13 stitches on his chin from beatings by security.

The youth were struck by the community the homeless people form with each other. Even though Drake and Woody had a history of traveling together, they and many others included Patty right away when she arrived. They share things freely.

“They took their leftover food back for their buddies,” Fromer said. He added that since they travel so much, the group living under the railroad tracks share a special train list with each other.

Drake, Woody and Patty were vocal in their gratitude for the invitation to dine with the youth.

“They hugged all of us,” said Hess. “They thanked us and said they were really grateful.”

After the meal, they went in their separate directions. Hess said that Woody and Drake are now headed west to California, to visit Drake’s family.

“(The meal) was the highlight of convention,” said Swartley. Heydon encourages other people try it sometime.

“It’s amazing how much you learn in one meal,” he said.

The flashing and dancing colored lights used during the singing portion of the worship service on Saturday morning dimmed to darkness, leaving a glowing moon-like sphere and glistening cross illuminated on stage.

Sitting on four chairs in front of the cross, Katie Boyts, Dustin Galyon, Cyneatha Millsaps and Hugo Saucedo shared their stories, an intertwining of vignettes about what it means to live a Spirit-filled life.

Boyts, from Portland, Ore., told a personal story about caring for the body while struggling with an eating disorder. After inspiration from a professor and friend at a Mennonite college, Boyts decided two things about her body: it is good, and it is connected to God.

Saucedo, from Brownsville, Texas, talked about his decision to attend a youth group retreat instead of a football tournament—a decision that changed his life and resulted in his being on stage at the convention to share his story.

Galyon, from Sterling, Kan., detailed his journey to a Mennonite college, which began with a phone call from a Hesston College basketball coach. “I’ll come on Friday if you buy me lunch,” he had told the coach.

Millsaps, from Markham, Ill., told about her childhood traumas, and the Fellowship of Hope intentional community that welcomed her siblings into their lives.

Following the stories, the service included a time for anointing.

J. Tyler Klassen/Photo
MCUSA delegates work in table sessions on The Corinthian Plan to provide healthcare coverage for church workers and pastors.

Church delegates on Saturday spoke out against “the evil of human trafficking” and urged Congress to support bipartisan legislation that would provide basic and affordable health care for all Americans.

By a majority vote, delegates approved resolutions on human trafficking and health care. The statements had been presented by the resolutions committee of Mennonite Church USA the day before.

Though most delegates affirmed the statement against human trafficking, there was also a desire on the part of some for the church to find concrete ways to express its opposition to all forms of human slavery, including the sex trafficking into which 2.2 million children are sold each year.

Luke Nofsinger, a delegate from Marcellus, Mich., said, “We hope calling a phone number or visiting a Web site is just the first step in being proactive on this issue.”

Delegates also voted on an amendment to the statement to oppose all forms of human trafficking, not just sex and labor trafficking that were mentioned in the original resolution.

The request for the statement against human trafficking came from the board of directors of Mennonite Women USA.

A  majority of delegates also approved a resolution on health-care access that had been drafted by Tim Jost, who teaches health policy and law in Harrisonburg, Va.

Though supportive, delegates expressed a couple of concerns about the document.  One was an inconsistency in the word choice in the resolution. At times, the words “Americans” and “citizens” were used interchangeably.  A motion was brought to the floor to change the inconsistency, and the motion carried.

Delegates also noted that although the Mennonite Church has consistently advocated for total health-care coverage for Americans, an appeal to legislators may not be the best approach.

Jeff Smith, a delegate from Archbold, Ohio, said: “I applaud our thinking about those in our nation who do not have access to health care. It is a matter of justice that we do everything that we can to provide health care for those who are in need. On the other hand, I wonder if the best use of our time is contacting our legislatures.  I wonder if we could not redouble our efforts at grassroots initiatives to provide people the health care they need.”

Before placing his hands on the keyboard, Ken Medema turned to the audience in the Nationwide Arena; they had just finished singing “How Can I Keep From Singing.”

“So I had this thought,” he said. “How cool would it be if the thousands of us singing here would walk into the 4th of July celebration singing ‘How Can I Keep From Singing?’”

Not only could Mennonites at the 6:45 p.m. hymn sing not keep from singing; they also could not keep from standing up.

For added effect to a song, Byron Kaufman, the song leader for the evening, divided the arena into two parts for the singing of No. 280, “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” and created a call and response. By the end of the song, the audience was standing when they were singing and sitting down when they weren’t.

During the hymn sing, a special guest, Ted & Co., performed a skit, followed by more singing, and then a song by Medema.

“The deal is,” said Medema before the song, “you always sing better when you stand up.” He had the audience stand as they sang “rise up.”

To conclude the hymn sing, Kaufman led singers in No. 118, “in which,” he added before starting the song, “there are places where it is OK to sing quietly.”

The dynamic song was followed by the performance of “The Upside-Down King.”

More than 500,000 people, including many Mennonites, were expected to attend the 29^th annual Red, White and Boom! on Friday — one of the largest fireworks displays in the Midwest.

The 27-minute sky show was just one of the day’s many events, including food and games on Washington Boulevard, and entertainment on Long Street.

A local radio station, 97.9 WNCI, broadcast a specially simulcast soundtrack to go along with the fireworks. The tunes ranged from AC/DC to the Jonas Brothers.

On a typical weekday, the Central Ohio Transit Authority has 49 buses on the road at night. Last night, an additional 193 buses were available.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, security included 200 police officers and three hidden surveillance cameras.

The fireworks were launched from the Veterans Memorial in the Arena District.

Mark Lawrenson/Photo
Jerry Holsopple maker of the glass cross behind him.

Weighing approximately 450 pounds, spanning 6 feet across and towering 12 feet, the cross on stage in the Nationwide Arena is definitely larger than a wooden cross on a necklace from Ten Thousand Villages.  A necklace does not require a special handmade device of plywood and carpeting for transportation, either.

The cross, made from 45 sheets of inch-thick colored glass (shipped from Pennsylvania) is a creation of Jerry Holsopple, a professor of visual and communication arts at Eastern Mennonite University.

The glass on the cross is broken.  “It symbolizes what it is really about,” Holsopple said.  “I realize how broken our lives are, and that’s just part of what it is being human.”

Holsopple began work on the cross after the convention planning committee approached him.  “They wanted to know if I could do a big cross,” said Holsopple, whose largest cross at the time had not exceeded three feet.

It took three days to break the glass for the cross.  To create a thin fracture, Holsopple would slam the sheet into an anvil, fracturing it into pieces.  After a while, he started to notice a pattern with the glass—red glass broke into little chunks, and blue glass into “shimmers.”

Once the pieces of red, orange, yellow, blue and brown glass were broken, Holsopple began laying the glass chunks into the steel cross frame.  He started with brown and gold at the bottom, attempting to follow the traditional earthly and heaven idea.  Holsopple used orange and red glass to symbolize blood streaming out of a wound.

With little slivers of glass, Holsopple created rays on the cross, and at the top, symbolizing a crown of thorns, Holsopple placed brown and gold glass.

After filling the cracks between the glass with roofing granules—a bed to catch the epoxy—the cross was ready to be filled.
On “epoxy” day, as Holsopple referred to the 25 time-sensitive minutes before the epoxy catalyzed and hardened, a team of four EMU students and Holsopple’s daughter and wife gathered to pour the five gallons of epoxy into the cross.

The epoxy—made only in Ohio—dripped “thick like molasses” from little plastic cups folded into funnels, and filled all of the cracks in the cross.  Then the cross was covered for seven days.

Those seven days of waiting were challenging—“What happens if it doesn’t work?” said Holsopple.  But it was soon time for the unveiling.

“It’s sort of like giving birth,” said Holsopple, “especially when you start to see the light coming through the brokenness…it somehow makes it beautiful.”

While Mennonites were among the first of Christian denominations to ordain women into the ministry, if in very rare instances, women have not experienced equal access to roles of leadership in the church until recent decades. Today, the Mennonite Church supports the ideal outlined in the “Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective,” which states: “The church calls, trains, and appoints gifted men and women to a variety of leadership ministries on its behalf.” A Friday seminar about patriarchy in the church encouraged men and women to further promote equality in Christian leadership.

The seminar, titled “Calling our daughters and sons: Women and men addressing patriarchy in the church together,” was offered for youth sponsors. Todd Lehman, pastor of Zion Mennonite Church in Hubbard, Ore., and Janeen Bertsche Johnson, campus pastor Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Ind., were joined by Joanna Shenk, a recent AMBS graduate, to lead the session.

The three opened their presentation by sharing personal experiences of patriarchy in the church as well as in personal relationships. Speaking to the latter, Shenk talked about her realization that she was becoming unconsciously more subservient to her boyfriend as their relationship wore on — until he broke up with her, citing “burnout” as his reason. Shenk said she recognized her increasing dependency on such relationships, which resulted in a feeling of disempowerment.

Then, Shenk explained, “I started to dig into the family system. I care about this [be]cause its part of my story and who I am. This is an issue that the church needs to be talking about.”

The seminar leaders distributed a case study for reading and discussion that explored the complexity of the influence of patriarchy. The case study was a brief description of “Steve” and “Mary,” a married couple who experienced confusion when both participated in an ordination ceremony but soon realized that part of the congregation believed that Mary had not actually been ordained. Mary was eventually re-ordained, but eventually she resigned from her pastor position at the church, closely followed by her husband.

Forming small discussion groups, people were asked to discuss questions about the historical institutionalization of patriarchy in the church. “Sometimes with patriarchy, and this is true also of racism, those who have the power don’t realize the way that they use it to subordinate others,” said Lehman.

As the entire group of around 75 people reconvened to discuss the story with the seminar leaders, Bertsche Johnson said, “Storytelling helps us start to see things in a new way. There’s a lot happening that we just have to name.”

Importantly, the discussion turned to the idea that struggling against patriarchy in the church is equally important for male liberation as for female empowerment. Johnson described a man she knew who refused to speak in a mixed-gender group until at least one woman had spoken. “I see him working actively at his own liberation from these systems,” she said excitedly.

Cindy Longacre of Telford, Pa., brought up the contrast between female leadership among youth and adults. “We want there to be a strong man and a strong woman so that the woman can care for the female youth, but then when you get into the adult arena, where is the strong woman for them?” Longacre wondered aloud.

In light of recent progress, the seminar’s leaders still see room for transformation away from the current patriarchal system of the church.

“It takes as long to undo a system as to do it,” said Shenk,”and we’re talking about patriarchy. This…is a life’s work”

Outside of the convention center, at the corner of High and Vine, the cast from “The Upside-Down King” raised their voices in four-part harmony, singing the lyrics “He’s alive and the road has returned.”

The cast was on their way to lunch, after a tech rehearsal for their evening performance, but the short impromptu performance was enough to earn claps from people nearby.

“The Upside-Down King” has been a work of collaboration from the beginning.

“What’s dynamic about this musical,” said William Eash, a professor of music at Bethel College, “is the collaboration between Western District Conference and a Mennonite college.”

In 1987, Doug and Jude Krehbiel, who perform and record as Road Less Traveled, read Donald Kraybill’s “The Upside-Down Kingdom.”

“The thing that floors me,” said Doug Krehbiel, “is that it all came out of one song.” After reading the book, the Krehbiels wrote a song and called it “The Kingdom That’s Upside Down.”

“We thought it could be a song that would fit in a musical,” said Krehbiel. Inspired, for over 20 years, the Krehbiels collected songs for a potential musical, and put them in a file. When the file reached three inches thick, it was time. “We had our music for our musical,” Krehbiel said.

After organizing their 20 songs in chronological order according to the book of John, the Krehbiels asked Carol Duerksen, a freelance writer and book publisher from Goessel, Kan., to write a script.

“It’s not like you’re telling a new story,” joked Krehbiel as he explained the irony of writing the songs before the script. It took seven performances for Krehbiel to finally see the show; he was always busy performing in the four-person band. He wanted to understand the people coming up to him after the performances with tears in their eyes, exclaiming how moving the show was.

“Oh, wow,” said Krehbiel after he watched a DVD of the performance one evening. “What Carol did with the script was amazing. That was a total surprise.”

Initially, “The Upside-Down King” was a fundraiser to benefit the Western District and South Central Conference, an initiative of the Krehbiels that resulted in $11,000.

It was a crowd pleaser from the start. A year and a half later, with only two of the original cast members, new choreography and four-part harmony, the musical has come to Columbus.

Some of the elements remain the same. The entire band, including Doug Krehbiel on guitar and banjo, Jude Krehbiel on bass guitar and penny whistle, Ted Krehbiel on drums and Jason Peters on keyboard, played together in the original band.

According to Bethany Amstutz, a Bethel graduate and original cast member, “Now the musical is more structured and defined.”

With help from Eash, Doug Krehbiel learned how to edit the music on a computer program, and soon the music was in organized four-part harmony. It took three weeks of intensive practices (22 hours per week), and the musical was finally ready for an audience by the end of May.

John McCabe-Juhnke, professor of communication arts at Bethel College and the stage director of “The Upside-Down King,” appreciates the worshipful, celebrative and comic aspects in the play, which he feels are “all connected and build community.”

Playing the role of Jesus is McCabe-Juhnke’s son, a senior at Bethel College, Austin.

“It would be fun to see how other people would model the role of Jesus,” said Austin McCabe-Juhnke. “The way I have chosen probably says something about my theology and the way I was raised.”

For Doug Krehbiel, the new additions to the musical are wonderful and more powerful than before. In the original performance, Bridget Kratzer appeared in a scene as an adulteress while the other cast members sat on stage and watched her sing.

After help from McCabe-Juhnke, however, Krehbiel described the scene as “thick with choreography.”

“This year, it’s like a music video,” Krehbiel said. “They bring her in while she sings and throw her on the ground…I get goose bumps just thinking about how intense it is.” (As if on cue, the hair on Krehbiel’s arm stood on end.)

Before the evening performance in Columbus, McCabe-Juhnke gave the cast some last minute tips. “Do what you need to do and it will be excellent,” he said.

For this cast, the Friday night performance will be the last. Clinton Harris, a junior at Bethel College, has not regretted a minute of it. “This show has been a crazy amount of fun,” he said.

Cast:
Bethany Amstutz, Clinton Harris, Bridget Kratzner, Joshua Powell and Kelly Reed are Followers.
Austin McCabe-Juhnke is Jesus.

As about 180 children loaded onto four buses bound for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, they got in the spirit with the popular chorus “We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo… How about you, you, you?!”

Carol Grieser, director of the children’s convention, was anticipating the zoo trip as much as the students: “I love the animals! I am so excited because at this zoo there is a gate where you can go in and pet the kangaroos!”

Grieser has a heart for children—“I’ve been retired (from teaching) for 10 years, so this is kind of like my shot in the arm.”

Beyond the fact that the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has recently been named the No. 1 zoo in the United States, organizers had other compelling reasons for the field trip: “Zoos are great because children get to see animals that they just read about or see on TV in their natural habitats.”

Grieser wasn’t the only one excited for the zoo. “I really want to see the elephants… and I hear you can pet the kangaroos!” said 6-year-old Regan Ramirez from Archbold, Ohio.

The children not only got to pet kangaroos and birds, but they also received an education at the zoo. Animals were divided into regions, such as “Asia Quest,” where Julia Rhoden of Oswego, Ill., and Abby Horst and Emily Horst of Saint Thomas, Pa., were able to see a Large Flying Fox and a Golden Mantled Flying Fox.

Children enjoyed showing off their education as well. Upon approaching a red panda, Breanna Kanagy of Lancaster, Pa., said, “Those are really rare! They’re different than other pandas!”

There were also zoo rides available, including a carousel, and animal shows where a child could ask questions of a zookeeper.

Ryan Haggerty of Freeman, S.D., summarized the afternoon at the zoo: “It was awesome! Especially the otters. I could have stayed there all day.”

Rachel Halder/Photo
Ethan Lapp, Goshen, In., receives a high-five from Joel Shroeder, Newton Kan., as Jamie Lapp Stoltzfus, Mt. Rainer, MD, looks on. Shroeder was interviewed for the Silas class “Fruit of the Spirit” question.

While worship gatherings, delegate meetings and seminars are taking place each morning, about 300 children in the upper C-section of the convention center are drawing from the Bible in their own way.

The children’s convention is divided into “family groups,” using names from the Bible such as “John” or  “Rhoda.” Members of the fourth and fifth grade group, “Silas,” enjoy interactive mornings, shaped by the convention focus on the Holy Spirit (John 14:26).

The children travel to the lower convention floor with clipboards, asking adults specific questions and recording the answers. On Friday the children approached adults and said, “We are talking about the fruits of the Spirit. Which of the fruits are the hardest for you?”

The nine fruits of the Spirit are self-control, peace, kindness, joy, love, goodness, patience, faithfulness and gentleness. Of the more than 25 adults questioned, 14 said that patience was the most difficult fruit to share.

The following are a few of the responses from adult convention attendees.

Micah Martin, Ethan Lapp and Ethan Setiauan asked….
Juanita Shenk – “Self-control: I say what I think too quickly.”
Rachel Kauffman – “Gentleness: I need to look through the other person’s eyes.”
Martha Yoder Maust – “Patience: I want changes to happen fast.”

Justin Burkholder and Jamie Stoltzfus asked…
Michael Grieser – “Love: People are so different, which can cause conflict.”
Sarah Schloneger – “Patience: If I have a bad day, it’s hard to stay patient.”

Justen Burkholder and Ian Bomberger asked…
Nevin Ball – “Gentleness: Using kindness and not being too forceful.”
Jane Eanes - “Patience: Staying on God’s time and waiting.”

Emily Roth, Leah Wenger, and Olivia Ruth asked…
Tim Moyer – “Faithfulness: We must give up all of ourselves.”
Janet Ruth - “Patience: You want to be quick, but sometimes that is not the way to go.”
E. Kyle - “Faithfulness: I’m so busy, it’s hard to remember who the foundation is.”
Geneva Smucker - “Patience: My natural temperament is to be more impatient.”

The Corinthian Plan is a proposed group insurance plan that would provide health care for all pastors of Mennonite congregations, and also for employees working 30 hours per week or more at a Mennonite congregation.

The project is currently in an enrollment period, which will end Oct. 1.  If enough congregations do not enroll in the plan, it may not be possible to see it through. But if the initiative succeeds, the Corinthian Plan could provide health insurance to even the poorest congregations, whose clergy currently go without insurance.

Many delegates expressed concern over the looming October deadline, but Harder is convinced that the church must reach a timely decision.

“The rationale is that we will have to determine whether or not we have enough participation to have a viable plan,” Harder explained. “Since the plan is slated to begin January 1st, we need that period of time to either make alternative plans or put into place all the details to have this plan up and running.”

Another point of contention was the fact that congregations who do not sign up for insurance through the Corinthian Plan are still asked to pay $2,300 into the fund.  This money goes toward health-care coverage for impoverished congregations that cannot afford to insure their pastors.

“This is the real cost of group insurance,” Harder said. “So many of us have been asking someone else to pay part of that cost. We haven’t really been paying the full cost of what it costs to maintain a group plan.”

Delegates also questioned whether the Corinthian Plan is losing its place in the church’s missional vision and turning into a purely business proposition.

During open mic time, Tim Yoder, a delegate, asked, “How do we get this out of stewardship and finance committees, and get it to other committees that have more of a missional approach?”

Harder responded later to the multiple concerns over the Corinthian Plan’s mission.

“What we’re trying to do is help congregations understand that the cost of the insurance is more than just pure insurance,” he said. “When they get the health coverage through the Corinthian Plan, they are also helping other congregations that don’t have insurance for their pastors.  Many of those congregations are growing, dynamic congregations. Many of them are recent immigrants or located in economically depressed areas that don’t have the resources to buy that benefit.”

A final question that was raised was why the Corinthian Plan will be self-funded, rather than organized as a group plan through Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the provider that will handle claims for Corinthian.

“It gives us maximum control over eligibility and rating and how the plan actually functions,” he said, “whereas if we contracted with another carrier we would lose that control.”

Sensenig is helping gather 350 people in his Indiana community to participate in the voluntary gas tax in order to recognize the social and environment costs of using gas. He calls it “the craziest tax you’ve never heard of.”

If one were to consider the true social and environmental cost of gas, he said, the price would be near $15 a gallon. With a price like that, he said, people would certainly drive less.

Sensenig elaborated on this campaign and provided numerous definitions of “environmental justice” on Friday in his youth seminar entitled, “Environmental Justice: A natural ‘fit’ for Mennonites?”

“Environmental justice starts to define the places we live as nature,” Sensenig said. He explained that there are four definitions of nature: species, habitat, view (aesthetics) and cycles. According to Sensenig, the last definition is the most important because the cycles of nature are our life support.

He used video clips in his presentation to help explain the different aspects of environmental justice. In one clip, the environmental activist Marjora Carter gave a voice to poor populations.

“We feel the (environmental) problems right now, and have for some time,” Carter said. According to Carter, environmental justice means that no communities should be burdened with more environmental problems or less environmental benefits than another community.

While the environmental movement has historically involved the affluent devoting their resources to issues like protecting polar bears or manatees, a new wave of environmentalists highlight the need to include communities of all socioeconomic levels.

“You can’t deal with ecological issues without dealing with poverty, and you can’t deal with poverty without dealing with ecological issues,” Sensenig said.

He also referred to Van Jones, who recently became special adviser for green jobs in the Obama administration. Jones founded Green For All, an organization devoted to sustainable jobs like insulation installation, which provides a salary and improves the environment.

Illustrating the important role of poor populations, Jones says a green economy doesn’t include throw-away resources or throw-away people.

Sensenig acknowledged that this is the first time in history we as society have questioned whether humans are a sustainable system.

“Over the past 100 years the temperature of the earth has increased over half a degree Celsius, which on a global span has catastrophic effects,” Sensenig said. He also noted that at 387 parts per million, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has reached the highest level it’s been in the last 600 years.

Sensenig said that although personal choices such as biking more and switching to a diesel-fueled cars are important, the most effective thing people can do is work for political change.

“The best solution right now is a policy solution,” he said. Sensenig explained that by the time the Kyoto Protocol, a multinational movement to reduce CO2 emissions, runs out in 2012, we should already have other measures in place.

Our chance comes in December, when world leaders meet in Copenhagen to discuss climate change policy.

Sensenig advocated the call from Bill McKibben, the author and environmentalist, to make a statement on Oct. 24, which has been designated as an international day of action.

Given the crisis, making a difference is a daunting task, but Sensenig highlighted the potential we have to create a healthier earth.

“What planet do you want your kids, or niece, or nephew to live on?” he said.

Sensenig will offer his seminar again on Saturday at 3 p.m. in D143.

The three resolutions will be considered by the delegates in the Saturday morning session.  The delegates may vote to adopt some or all of the resolutions.

The human sexuality resolution, officially called “A resolution on following Christ and growing together as communities even in conflict,” was drafted after the committee received conflicting statements from interested groups. One group affirmed Mennonite Church USA’s current position, and one questioned it. Rather than attempt to vote on either, the resolution committee decided to draft an entirely new statement.

“It was a prayerful, God-led experience,” said Terry Shue, chair of the resolutions committee. “We read them, laid them aside and created an entirely new document … a synthesis of the two.  It is a brand new resolution whose ownership is solely with the resolution committee.”

The statement reads in part: “We acknowledge the pain and frustration of this issue for a number of conferences, congregations, families and individuals. While we clearly hear dissenting voices, we affirm the statements by Mennonite Church USA on Human Sexuality which have been previously passed and are currently in place.”

Tim Jost drafted the national health care resolution, called the “Healthcare Policy Principles.”  Jost teaches health policy and law in Harrisonburg, Va.  He consulted several people in drafting the document, including Joe Kotva, who works at the Anabaptist Center for Healthcare Efforts at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary.  The document encourages Mennonites to become proactive in pushing for a national plan providing adequate health care for all Americans.

“The primary goal,” Jost said, ” is to urge our congregations to speak to their legislators on this issue.”

This statement should not be confused with The Corinthian Plan, which intends to provide a group insurance plan for all pastors of Mennonite congregations and employees working more than 30 hours per week for Mennonite congregations.

The third statement for the delegates to consider was a call to join with other Christian denominations in opposing human trafficking and all forms of human slavery.

The statement was prepared by Rhoda Keener, of Mennonite Women USA; Susan Mark Landis, peace advocate for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership; and Linda Gehman Peachey, Mennonite Central Committee, Women’s Advocacy.

According to the statement, human trafficking is the third-largest criminal industry in the world. About 12-30 million people are victims worldwide, and as many as 18,000 are victims in the United States.

Keener said, “I’ve wanted to speak out on this issue for a while, but I never felt educated enough.”

In September, Keener attended a gathering of women of faith organizations across from the United Nations in New York. This gathering inspired her to take action.

Referring to the story in Judges 19 of violence against a woman, the statement encourages Mennonites to “consider it” through becoming educated, to “take counsel” by consulting others, and to “speak out” by joining voices as a body of Christ.

“This is a statement that other denominations have,” said Keener, “and we certainly need to join.”

What is your history with Mennonites?
“Though this is my first speech since the [Mennonite church] merger, I have a long history with Mennonites and visit all of the colleges, most recently Goshen College and AMBS. There’s been a clear Anabaptist influence on us at Sojourners over the years. Early on, I used to have long conversations and meals with John Howard Yoder. In fact, I have a whole line of “Yoder” and other Anabaptist story books on my bookshelf at home. I feel like I’m kind of an honorary member of the Mennonite family.”

In what ways will you look to challenge the Mennonite church?
“I grew up in a very evangelical home and family with no sense of faith as a public commitment. However, I’ve learned that God is personal but never private. What I love about Anabaptist is their focus on the kingdom of God, not on ‘me’ but on the Lord, on what God is doing in the world. The kingdom is the new order of things and designed to change everything and us with it. Mennonites need to not conform to the battles going on in other churches.”

How do we have a faith that is deeply personal and that transforms our lives, making a real difference in the world?
“I want to call my brothers and sisters in the Mennonite church to the strength of their own tradition that is both personal and public at the same time. There are three big shifts going on right now: One, the new generation of believers can’t conceive of church apart from the social justice; two, political: change doesn’t just happen rom Washington. It happens in social movements, which push on open doors. We now have an open door, just when the movement is more important than ever; and three, economic crisis…we have a real opportunity to rethink some of the things we haven’t rethought for a long time. Christ gives us a chance to talk about our values and priorities in a new way.

You recently finished “The Great Awakening.” Are you working on a new book?
“I’m working hard on a book about the value of a crisis, specifically the current economic crisis and our moral recovery.”

There’s conversation going on within our church about a denomination-wide healthcare plan for pastors. What do you think about the idea?
“I think it is a great idea. The economic crisis is creating a rebirth of mutual aid in our churches. New ministries are needed that would be models for society. We need to ask, ‘how do we best serve our members and our communities with new models of mutual aid?’”

You’re speaking to adults on Saturday. What would you say to youth, if you had the opportunity?
“Half of the audiences I speak to now are under 30 years old, and I’m more often talking to 14-year-olds. This new generation has a chance to shed a lot of the old baggage that has polarized the church. I see a new energy from a generation that wants their energy to be felt. I feel a lot of investment in [the youth] and their choices. They’re the ones who have to clear up the confusion of what it means to be Christian.”

How does it feel to speak on Independence Day?
“There’s a holiday tomorrow?”

Yes. July 4.
“God bless America is not found anywhere in the Bible. Loving your country can be a good thing. When I hear the song ‘This land is your land,’ my hear rises. But nationalism has never sat well with the gospel. If most American Christians really believed Christ was first and America was second, that would transform this country. That doesn’t mean we can’t love our country. It means that nationalism is not something that is part of our tradition.”

Mike Yoder/Photo
From left: Maya Dula, 10, Lancaster, PA., Abigail Fellers, 10, Centerville, MI., Paul Krabill, 11, Elkhart, IN., Ryan Haggerty, 11, Freeman, S.D. and Levi Lehman, 11, Chesapeake, VA., collected money Wednesday part of their youth service project at the convention. The money will be used to assist immigrants settle in the U.S.

The children at convention are like ushers in a very large church this week. Every morning, children from kindergarten through fifth grade walk around with big metal tubs collecting coins and bills from other conventiongoers.

The offering is going to Iglesia Menonita del Cordero, a congregation in Brownsville, Texas, that helps welcome and provide support to poor immigrants. The original intent of convention planners was to help finance new playground equipment for the church, but later they decided to help the youth there in any way needed.

“The kids bring the offering to worship,” said Rose Widmer, the children’s curriculum planner. “We explained to the kids who immigrants are, and what their needs and problems might be. We talk about how they would want to be treated if they were in a new country.”

The idea for the project came from Iris de León-Hartshorn, director of intercultural relations for Mennonite Church USA.

“All the offerings from the convention are going to things related to intercultural relations, and she suggested Brownsville,” said Marty Lehman, director of communication and development for Mennonite Church USA. “We always try to find something that the kids can connect to.”

Thus far, the children have collected more than $700, with one more collection on Saturday. If you wish to contribute, you can take donations to the children’s registration table located outside C220 in the convention center. Widmer said she has been very pleased with the results.

“It’s great,” she said, “and it provides a little more interaction with the youth and adults.”

Tyler Falk/Photo
Laura Schlabach and Abri Houser run the hill on the 5 km road race course.

Approximately 3.2 percent of conventiongoers will make history on Sunday morning simply by running.

Months ago, 235 runners registered for the first ever Mennonite convention 5K run. Ten-year-old Elora Neufeld, from Ontario, represents the youngest registered runner.

“It’s a trial year; we’re seeing how it goes,” said Abby Miller, a convention planning intern.

Runners registered before May 22 with a $10 fee to cover the T-shirt and water costs. Other interested runners may join the run at the North Bank Park, although they will not receive a T-shirt or prize.

The top female and male finishers can choose from a sweatshirt donated by each Mennonite college. Other participants are eligible to win one of the remaining three sweatshirts in a raffle.

To better prepare the corps of runners, we decided to test run the course for Sunday. Even though Fourth of July festivities interfered with our completion of the run, we hope these tips give you a head start.

The race begins at the glass pavilion at North Bank Park, the end of Neil Avenue. Be sure to check in by 7 a.m.! Hopefully there won’t be much Fourth of July celebration debris from the night before, but, on the bright side, the sidewalk chalk art may still be there. If so, take a glance down as you take both sidewalk forks to the left to stay by the river.

The downhill is easy at first, but beware — right after you pass under the railroad bridge be ready to climb the rolling hills of Columbus. Be prepared to share the path with bikers (mostly friendly in our experience).

After you cross the river, follow the path that borders the parking lot of a riverside restaurant. Try to ignore the traffic noise to the right. After your second time around the loop, head back toward the pavilion on the same path you came. Repeat!

Following your second batch of restaurant parking lot loops, when you come by the glass pavilion stay to the right for your finish! Enjoy making convention history.

Brandon Long/Photo
Family volunteers at ChildrenÕs Convention for last family outing. From left to right: Ingrid Vendrely, Jane Vendrely, Doug Vendrely, Megan Vendrely

Jane and Doug Vendrely can be certain that they’ve cultivated an ethic of service in their family. After all, it was their daughters Megan and Emily who convinced the Goshen, Ind., couple to help out at the children’s convention this year in Columbus.

But the Vendrely legacy of convention volunteerism began four years ago with the Mennonite Church USA convention in Charlotte, N.C., when Megan Vendrely signed to work at the children’s convention. Submerging herself in the convention atmosphere while leading various activities and lessons and supervising children, Megan found the service to be personally rewarding.

Hoping to share her excitement for convention, she recruited her twin sister, Ingrid, for the next of the biennial conventions, held in San Jose, Calif., in 2007 “What kept me coming back,” said Megan, “was seeing other people from college and connecting with other Mennonites.”

Ingrid also enjoyed the interaction with children at the convention. “It’s really neat,” said Ingrid, “to come back and see the kids we met in San Jose and see how much they’ve grown.”

In looking toward the Columbus convention, the twins recruited their parents to join them for a final outing before Ingrid, who is engaged to be married, moves out of the family home. Together, the family of four joined volunteers who are helping to shepherd 283 registrants with the children’s convention. The Vendrelys are expecting this to be their final family outing before Ingrid, who is currently engaged, is married and leaves the Vendrely home, to continue the service ethic with her own family.

Brandon Long/Photo
Children Convention Retirees ChildrenÕs leaders retire after serving 14 conventions between them. From left to right: Susan Graber, Carol Grieser, Rose Widmer

For three women, the 2009 children’s convention will be a bittersweet occasion. This convention will be the final time that theywill carry out their duties: running, planning curriculum, running, coordinating activities and more running.

Carol Grieser, the children’s coordinator, is completing her fifth convention. While the job can often be stressful, she said, working with the children has been so satisfying that she has wanted to return again and again.

“I really enjoyed meeting new people and the children,” Grieser said. “I met some exceptional people. One of my former kindergarten students is one of the family group leaders this year. That’s cool.”

She still plans to attend conventions and perhaps work in different areas. “I would like to do the information booth,” she said. “I like talking to people.” She paused. “I like people.”

Susan Graber, the preschool coordinator, is also finishing her fifth convention. For Graber, working with children has been invigorating.

“(It) gives me energy and hope,” she said. “Part of it is the creative process — figuring out what will keep children safe and having fun learning away from home.”

Even so, she feels it is time for a break. “We’ve just been to the cities,” she explained, laughing. “We haven’t seen them.”

As for the future, she would be interested in a convention job that is a “little more relaxed.”

Rose Widmer is the curriculum writer, completing her fourth convention. She is in charge of the religious lessons and activities.

“I think it’s really important for children to be able to grow in their faith and be nurtured with activities that are appropriate and fun,” she said.

The energy of the children and the joys of working with other adults with similar passions kept her coming back.

“Now I’m taking a couple times off,” she said, ready for a rest. But it may not be a long rest.

“I’ve been a delegate before,” she said. After a brief pause, she added, “I may do that again.”

Brandon Long/Photo
Former roommates, Tonya Wenger (back row left) and Suzanne Marie Hitt (back row right), arrange for daughters to be together at Children’s Convention. Magdalena Wenger (front row left), Grace Hitt (front row right)

For two old friends, the children’s convention is a chance not only to reconnect, but also to make new ties.

Suzanne Marie Hitt of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Tanya Wenger of Madison, Wis., became friends while rooming together at Bethel College. Now with daughters of their own, the former roommates requested that their daughters — Grace Hitt and Magdalena Wenger — be in the same family group at the convention so that they too might start a friendship.

“I e-mailed the director and asked,” Wenger said. “I was hoping to find comfort and companionship for my daughter.”

Although the families live a considerable distance apart, Suzanne Hitt and Tanya Wenger still keep in touch as best as they can. ”It’s basically these annual holiday letters,” Hitt said. “We’re busy moms.”

Wenger added: “It’s not like we don’t want to keep in touch more.”

Hitt said, “We’re connected in the spirit. When we meet again, we pick up right where we left off.”

Grace and Magdalena may say the same thing when they get to Pittsburgh.

After leading thousands of voices in singing in the Nationwide Arena Friday morning, Jeremy Kempf told the youth audience, “Greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city.” Then he introduced Shane Claiborne, the main speaker for the morning worship service.

Claiborne, who has become nearly as familiar to convention-goers as black drawstring backpacks, delivered a message of radical hope to the responsive gathering.

Referencing Mother Teresa — whose inspiring story and spirit was also discussed by June Alliman Yoder and Mandy Yoder Schrock at Thursday evening’s joint youth and adult worship service — Claiborne shared his own experience of learning from the late Roman Catholic nun. Mother Teresa started the Missionaries of Charity order in the desparate slums of Calcutta, India.

“Calcuttas are everywhere if we only have eyes to see,” he told the youth, encouraging them to find their own Calcutta. “Being a Christian is not about getting a ticket to heaven and ignoring the hell we’re living in.”

Illustrating Mother Teresa’s attitude of service, Claiborne offered the poignant image of the humble nun’s feet, which became deformed after years of voluntarily wearing the worst shoes donated to the mission. “This is the great secret of the Gospel,” Claiborne said, “If we want to find our life, we’ve got to give it away.”

He asked the crowd to consider what the world would look like if everyone lived this way. The audience then saw another example of generosity of spirit in a short video clip: a young man who won thousands of dollars on “The Price Is Right” game show and donated the earnings to an orphanage in Uganda.

“I don’t know where people get the idea that Christians should be ‘normal’,” Claiborne added.

Along with these inspiring examples, Claiborne concluded with an image of hope.  “I see a whole generation in the church that is aware that we are here for a reason.”

“Who are you becoming?” he asked.  “What kind of doctor or lawyer or school teacher are you going to be?”

Following his message, Claiborne met with dozens of youth groups and sponsors excited to get their pictures taken with him and to learn more about his Simple Way community in Philadelphia.

In late March, John Beechy received troubling a text from his daughter, Kelli, 28, who was lying along the side of the Appalachian Trail. She was weak from a fever that developed into a temperature of 102.8. There on the trail, she held a note that read: “I am sick. I need help getting to town.”

Not only was Kelli Beechy a long ways from her home in Salem, Ore., but the situation was further complicated because she is deaf. She graduated this year from Gallaudet University, ready to pursue a career in graphic arts. Beechy is also a world-class soccer player: she scored two of the three U.S. goals in a 3-0 victory over Russia in the 2005 Deaf Olympics.

It did not take long before a fellow hiker came to Beechy’s aid, calling for help and paying for a ride to a hostel in Damascus, Va. Placed in the care of the hostel owner, who happened to be a retired nurse, Beechy recovered in three days and was soon back on the trail.

However, on Mother’s Day, the ambitious hiker fell ill once again. This time, suffering from diarrhea and stomach cramps, Beechy was taken to an emergency room in Pearisburg, Va.

Alerted to his daughter’s condition by another text, John Beechy turned to the Internet and googled for Mennonite churches in the area. The nearest one, Christiansburg Mennonite Fellowship, was half an hour away.

Leslie Horning, the pastor of Christiansburg Mennonite, was a stranger to the Beechys but he readily agreed to help. “My initial reaction,” said Horning, “was ‘Sure. We’ll do something.’ ”

Because Horning knew very little sign language, he set out on the drive from Christiansburg to Pearisburg with a notebook in hand. Horning took Kelli home to his family;  she stayed the night and soon left for her home.

This week, John Beechy and Leslie Horning met for the first time, at the convention in Columbus.

“We shared an intense moment,” Beechy said.

Horning recalled the day when Beechy called. “As a Mennonite follower of Jesus, that’s just what we do,” said Horning. “The Mennonite connection was just the icing on the cake.”

“(Kelli) very quickly felt part of the family,” said Horning. “She’s a very fun person to be around.”

The oldest and youngest Mennonites at the convention are nine decades apart.

Paul Peachey, who is apparently the senior Mennonite at the gathering, turned 90 last October. He lives in Harrisonburg, Va., where he attends Parkview Mennonite Church.

Peachey has attended several conventions before, but not recently, due to his age. He is mainly attending Columbus to publicize his book, “A Usable Past: A Story of Living and Thinking Vocationally at the Margins.” The book is on sale in the exhibit hall.

“I’m getting wobblier and older, but I was invited because of my book and decided to come,” Peachey said.

In contrast, the youngest person at the convention appears to be Samuel Hart of Ada, Ohio. Samuel, who is here with his mother, Janelle Hart, will be 16 days old on Saturday.

“This isn’t my first convention, but it is his,” said Janelle Hart, who arrived on Thursday, stroller in tow.

At the convention in Charlotte, N.C., in 2005, the oldest attendee was 85, and the youngest was just over a month old.

A relief pitcher, an Amish bench, the EPA paradox (named for Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen) and a Global Positioning System.  June Alliman Yoder and Mandy Yoder Schrock used these images and text from Psalm 121 to encourage worshipers to engage in a partnership with the Holy Spirit.

In the joint worship service on Thursday, over 6,500 adults, youth, junior youth and children filled the Nationwide Arena with their songs and conga lines.

Alliman Yoder, a retired professor at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, and her daughter Yoder Schrock, who is a pastor at Belmont Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Ind., shared the story of a group of sisters in Calcutta who witnessed a mother’s grief when rats quickly ate her newborn baby after the baby had died.  When they asked Mother Teresa, “Where was God?” she replied, “God was there. The question is: where were God’s people?”

Yoder Schrock responded with a question to the audience: “If God was there that day, why didn’t the Spirit make everything OK?”

Alliman Yoder described the relationship between human beings and the Holy Spirit as collaborative interaction.

“The spirit of God needs the help of human beings to accomplish God’s mission,” she said.

To demonstrate this idea, the mother-daughter duo used a four-part model.

The image of a relief pitcher was used to describe when the Holy Spirit is used as a last resort.

The title “Amish bench” is used to describe the process that Amish ministers go through before preaching.  The group of preachers decides minutes before the sermon who will deliver the message, leaving everything to the Holy Spirit.

Yoder Schrock described the EPR paradox as two particles correlated at birth, but continuing to relate no matter the distance between them.  Reversing the spin of one particle affects the spin of the other.

“There’s some form of communication in the universe that we don’t understand,” she said. “We are connected in a profound way.”

This connection could be described as the power of the Holy Spirit.

Reaching for a model easier to understand than one from quantum physics, Alliman Yoder likened the interactions between humans and the spirit as similar to a GPS.  The satellites in the heavens interact with the receiver on earth.  Despite any wrong turns the user may take, the GPS does not give up — it keeps recalculating.

“Ultimately, the spirit can guide us only if we are willing to follow its directions,” said Alliman Yoder.

Alliman Yoder stressed the importance of an elevated view of humans.  “We are just a little lower than the angels,” she said.  In that sense, our role is more important than we may often think, she said.

Ultimately, they said, the goal is to be centered in the spirit.

Yoder Schrock said, “To be centered in the spirit is to be partners with the spirit.”

Ken Medema, Trent Wagler and Ted Swartz added to the message with song and humor.

An offering was taken to support the education of pastors at Iglesia Evangelica Menonita in Fort Meyers, Fla.

Described by a worship leader as the “best kept secret of the convention,” the children’s choir, 180 kids strong, helped the audience catch the rhythm of God through interactive songs. The adult choir, directed by Hal Hess, also performed two pieces.

As Swartz concluded, it all comes down to digestion.  “Faith: chew it up, pass it on.”

Q & A with June Alliman Yoder and Mandy Yoder Schrock:

If I had to choose one person in the world to have a conversation with, it would be:

JAY: Mother Teresa and Mary Magdalene

MYS: My husband! Just kidding…Princess Diana, Michelle Obama and the biblical Lydia

My favorite quote is:

JAY: ”Too much of a good thing is wonderful!” – May West

MYS: “The human being is the sanctuary for the Holy Spirit.” — Archbishop Tutu

One thing I’ve always wanted to do, but never have is:

JAY: Visit the Terracotta Army in China.

MYS: To feel called to serve overseas. I know that it’s not what I’m meant to do, but I think it would be a great experience.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life so far is:

JAY: There are times in life when you need to focus on taking care of yourself, but it’s always important to remember that it’s not all about me.

MYS: Control what you can, but realize that some things are out of your control.

I would consider some of my role models to be:

JAY: My mother has been a major force in my life, as well as my Aunt Clysta Richard. My aunt was the first professional in the family, so she paved the way for everyone else. Also my daughter for her spiritual depth and passion for God.

MYS: Umm…I should probably say Jesus…but I would say my Mom and Janice Yordy Kauffman, among others. She modeled how to practice effective pastoring and parenting, and how to juggle the two.

One house was built on rocks, one on sand. Both were made of cardboard.

Persons interested in peace and justice in Columbus gathered to built two cardboard houses — one on rocks, one on sand — representative of the current economic situation.

“The house built on rocks is supposed to represent what God’s economy looks like,” said Kent Yoder of Assembly Mennonite Church, Goshen, Ind. The two small-scale structures were put together at the corner of Park and Goodale Streets.

The initiative was created as an effort of the local Columbus B.R.E.A.D., which stands for Building Responsibility Equity And Dignity. Every year, B.R.E.A.D. — a chapter of D.A.R.T. [Direct Action and Research Training center] — chooses an issue relevant to the surrounding area.

This year, 2,500 people met on May 4 to present to public officials with their proposal of best practices to work at economic justice. “We wanted to find a local issue in the community to work on vacant properties,” said Melanie Buller of Columbus Mennonite Church.

The house project is part of a larger B.R.E.A.D. initiative called “neighborhood light.”

June Frankel, a member of the Columbus initiative, said, “We usually direct concerns to city officials through our people power.”

Words such as ruthless, foreclosures, quick financial gain ballooning interest rates and greedy leaders marked the house on sand. The house on rocks was painted with words such as living wage, share abundantly, justice, hospitality and equity.

B.R.E.A.D.’s vision to act locally and globally is guided by Micah 6:8, said Buller. “We do a good job of walking humbly with God … we love mercy … but do we do justice?” she asked.

The votes are in though the transition from nominee to board member for 17 delegates will not become official until Saturday afternoon.

Adult delegates completed an affirmation ballot in the Thursday afternoon session for nominees to the Executive Board, Mennonite Education Agency, Mennonite Mission Network, Mennonite Mutual Aid, Mennonite Publishing Network, The Mennonite and Leadership Discernment Committee.

The ballot will also affirm the nomination of Dick Thomas, from Ronks, Pa., for moderator-elect. “I’m excited about the Mennonite Church,” Thomas said. “There are so many opportunities.”

The moderator-elect serves as chair of the Constituency Leadership Council, which meets twice a year, with members from each of the 21 conferences, the churchwide agencies and constituency groups. Thomas said he’s fortunate to have been at three of the council meetings as the Atlantic Coast Conference representative so that he can walk in knowing members and the workings of the group.

As Thomas looks toward this next year he hopes the church stays focused and depends on the Holy Spirit to discern where God is active in the world. He is excited about the forward momentum of people across the church and defining what it is to be a missional church in the 21st century.

Thomas also looks forward to working with Ed Diller, the current moderator-elect and, after Saturday, the moderator. “Ed has a lot of energy and vision for the church,” Thomas said.

Diller, from Ft. Thomas, Ky., began his road to moderator two years ago with a phone call from Mark Weidner, a lifelong friend of Diller and a member of the Leadership Discernment Committee.

“I love it,” Diller said. “It’s wonderfully rewarding.”

Diller recognizes the time commitment of the role of moderator as well, expecting to sometimes miss events like birthdays and the chance to see “grand-babies.”

“That’s the hardest part,” Diller said.

Yet he identifies many positives to the position, with one of his favorite being the opportunity to see churches all across the country. “There’s so much we can do as a denomination,” Diller said.

As Diller transitions to moderator he hopes to build on the legacy of predecessors like Lee Snyder and Sharon Waltner, the current moderator, and maintain a healthy infrastructure. His one concern, he said, is “that the church be optimistic and energetic about the future.”

Diller speaks highly of his work with Waltner and the current executive team. “Sharon Waltner is just a gem to work with,” he said.

Brandon Long/Photo
Shane Claiborne, author of books including The Irresistible Revolution and Jesus for President, speaks at the morning adult worship service Thursday.

When once asked what he did for a living, Shane Claiborne responded that he was a pastor. In his high school’s alumni directory he is listed as a “professional lover.” When he opened his mouth at Thursday morning’s adult worship, speaking with an eastern Tennessee twang that seemed somehow at odds with his dreadlocked, urban appearance, Claiborne’s audience learned that he is just as interesting as he sounds.

An activist and author as well as one of the founding partners of a Philadelphia-based faith community known as The Simple Way, Claiborne told the crowd Thursday that he is not, technically, a Mennonite. “But it’s probably the best thing I’ve been mistaken for this week,” he said.

Claiborne urged individuals to live out Christian faith by using their unique gifts to follow God — even if it means creating a new path in the world. He told a story about a friend who held a doctoral degree in the sciences who developed a think tank to help people in poor communities who were becoming deathly ill from unclean water. Another example was that of a robotics engineer whom Claiborne met during his travels. This acquaintance told Claiborne about his project to build robotics to defuse bombs — specifically those in Afghanistan that need to be neutralized so as not to pose a safety risk for children playing outdoors. Claiborne also talked about homeless people he’d met throughout his travels. Throughout his storytelling, crowd members were laughing, clapping and shouting “amen.”

Claiborne challenged audience members to consider how to use their own gifts and interests in service to humanity and to God. “What does it mean to be a radical nonconformist in the world today?” he asked.

This is Claiborne’s first visit to a Mennonite Church USA gathering. “My favorite thing [about this convention],” said Claiborne, “is the imagination from the older generation to rethink things. [The Mennonite faith] is counter-culture at its best.”

Rachel Halder/Photo
Michelle Hershberger, Hesston, KS., leads a youth seminar Thursday on “How a prostitute can be more righteous than a patriarch-Understanding biblical stories in their context.

Dozens of  young people might have felt like shaking the dust off their feet as they walked away from Room C113 shortly before a Bible seminar on Thursday.

They were not welcome at the seminar presented by Michelle Hershberger — but for justifiable reasons.  Coordinators had to send them away because of fire marshal regulations limiting crowd size in the room. The place was packed.

“I’m glad there are so many people interested in this, because this is a Bible study!” said Hershberger, who teaches Bible and youth ministry at Hesston College. She explained that the Bible is misinterpreted numerous times, and through prayer she asked God to “help all of us get through (misinterpretation), to hear what (God) wants to fill us with.”

Hershberger’s seminar — “How a prostitute can be more righteous than a patriarch: Understanding biblical stories in their context”– was about Genesis 38, which was read aloud. The overarching question, “How does this verse have context for us today?” was addressed, as well as a second question, “How can Tamar be more righteous than Judah?”

Audience members divided into groups of two or three as they brainstormed about different “weird things about the story.” When the group as a whole came together, people shouted out their questions, including “Why did Judas get a prostitute?”  and “Were they really going to kill a pregnant woman?”

When someone asked “Why is this story even in the Bible?” Hershberger said that question is “a question that must be asked of all Bible stories.”

“How much of this stuff has double meaning? That is the $64,000 question!” she said.

Hershberger then analyzed Genesis 38 and went through a short inductive Bible study with the remaining time.

Hershberger explained, “When you meet someone from another culture, you must go into a different worldview. I need to take off my Michelle glasses to see the rest of the world.”

She said that applying this cultural context to biblical interpretation is helpful in deciding what a verse truly means.

The group came to the conclusion that although the context was different in Genesis 38, the ultimate lessons—to take care of the widowed and poor, and to stay faithful in marriage—are as relevant as ever in 2009.

“I just read that story in the Bible a few weeks ago and I thought it was weird; so looking at it today it was nice knowing what it actually meant,” said Jonathan Nagy from Lancaster, Pa.

Hershberger made sure that the meaning was not lost on anyone in the group: “If you walk out of this room thinking you don’t have to concern yourself with taking care of the poor, you’ve missed the point.”

Editor’s Note: For a related blog posting by Rachel Halder go to goshen.edu/mpress.

It takes more than gray clouds and cool temperatures to keep the junior youth out of the water. Young Mennonites spent Thursday afternoon relaxing and having a blast at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and at Zoombezi Bay, a water park connected with the zoo.

More than 200 kids piled into seven buses to make the half-hour journey to the park, located north of Columbus.

“I’m most excited for the water park,” said Trevor Strait of Bedford, Pa.

Though the sun was hidden most of the afternoon and temperatures barely reached the low 70s, most kids spent a significant portion of their five free hours in the water park. They enjoyed multiple water slides, a wave pool and a special ride featuring a funnel-shaped slide in which four riders atop a raft slid back and forth around the bowl.

The zoo contains animals from across the world’s continents, including Asia, Africa and North America. Some of the more impressive displays were those featuring bears, apes, fish and reptiles.

Whether they spent time viewing animals or plummeting down water slides, the noise level clearly indicated that junior youth had a fantastic time.

“The wave pool was my favorite part,” said Heather Wenger. “I didn’t go to the zoo because I love swimming.”

That’s what the 12 financial gurus from the Midway, North Lima and Leetonia Mennonite Junior Youth groups did to turn $50 in seed money into more than $320 of earnings.

In late May, each Mennonite middle school student who registered for the convention received $5 in the mail. They were asked to creatively grow the funds and bring them along to convention where they would help send junior youth from Racial/Ethnic minority churches to the Pittsburgh convention in 2011.

When the offering was collected during Thursday morning’s worship service, the $1,200 initial investment given to the middle schoolers had grown more than three-fold into $4,368.09.

After the Midway, North Lima and Leetonia groups received the money, two mothers of youth from the churches decided to pool the money for a group fund raiser.

Eleven-year-old Cana Carr of North Lima Mennonite discussed possible fund raising plans with her father, a firefighter at the Beaver Township Fire Department. He offered the use of the local fire station and equipment for a car wash, and the group was on its way.

“My favorite part was getting to wash a Hummer and a motor home,” said Carr, adding that she thinks these over-sized vehicles resulted in an extra-large donation for their services.

Other groups from the Junior Youth assembly mowed lawns or organized bake sales with their seed money. In the end, Swamp Creek Mennonite Church’s Junior Youth tallied the biggest profit for their investment: $625 was raised at their own car wash.

The adolescents who participated in the activity spent time in small groups thinking about how the money could be used to further the Kingdom of God. They also found it was an excellent opportunity to serve others with their gifts, as well as to work together and have fun.

Carr’s favorite memory from the fund raiser was the result of accidentally spraying her Junior Youth friends with a powerful fire hose used to rinse cars. Her friends retaliated by wringing out a soapy sponge over her head.

“It was great!” Carr said.

Wasserstrom said she wished they would have extended the hours and days of the blood drive that concluded on Thursday.

“We had such a wonderful reception,” she said. “Only a handful of people didn’t show up.”

The drive boasted 62 productive donations on Wednesday, with the final number for Thursday unavailable because of the holiday weekend. Wasserstrom estimates between 70 and 75 donations for the day.

She also described the challenge of hosting a drive without having donors sign up further in advance. “It’s hard for us to (add beds) at the last minute,” she  said.

Yet, the timing of the donation of more than 100 units of blood is excellent as the American Red Cross prepares for the Fourth of July weekend.

Wasserstrom also plans to see what Mennonite churches are in the area for future collaboration. If you were unable to give blood and would like to, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE for a list of drive locations near the convention center.

“Ninety-eight percent of the hotels are filled with our people,” Swartzendruber Miller said. “Rarely are hotels filled to capacity; so that means their staff are stretched to the max.”

Glen Guyton, a member of the executive board of Mennonite Church USA, agrees with Swartzendruber, especially since he fears his own youth group is leaving behind “dirty, filthy rooms” each day.

“These people are working extra hard to accommodate us,” Guyton added.

Generally, hotel employees receive less than the minimum wage with the assumption that they will collect tips during their work.  If 7,000 Mennonites are not leaving tips, that is a loss of thousands of collective dollars for hotel workers during this week.

One youth sponsor, Joel Beachy from Jubilee Mennonite in Mississippi, encourages his youth to put a dollar on each of their pillows.  He passes out money from their youth fund for the tips.

Some youth sponsors, such as Kevin King from Bluffton, Ohio, are leaving tips for the entire group.  “I’m collecting money to tip,” said King.  “They’re doing a nice service, and I support the local business and appreciate their services.”

Additionally, Swartzendruber Miller says that tipping is not only for the youth groups.  “Adults need to be conscious of it too,” she said.

Some of the hotels in the Columbus area are familiar with Mennonite conventions.  Tim Dant, the general manager at the Hyatt Regency, noted one particular show of hospitality.

“I’ve heard that historically Mennonites have left gift baskets in their rooms for the housekeepers,” Dant said.

Editor’s Note: The program for Convention 2009 offers guidelines for tipping.

Housekeeper:  $1 per person, per night
Hotel personnel doing a chore for you: $1 to $2
Bell services/porter: $1 to $2 per bag (arrival and departure)
Valet-parking attendants:  $1 to $2 per vehicle (arrival and departure)

Chase Snyder/Photo
The youth worship band, joined by Tim Shue of Honeytown, second from right, performs during the combined youth and adult worship service Thursday night at Nationwide Arena.

While most conventiongoers slowly file out of the Nationwide Arena each night after worship, six people always remain longer, ready to talk about song transitions and selection flow.

The six are members of the youth worship band, headed up by the returning lead singer, Jeremy Kempf. Kempf is joined by drummer Kyle Baker, of Henderson, Nev., who is also a returning band member from San Jose. The other band members are vocalists Erin Weaver, of Bluffton, Ohio, and Erica Weston, of Cleveland, Ohio; and guitarists Kaleem Kheshgi, of Evanston, Ill., and David Kempf, of Libertyville, Ill.

Each band member brings a unique musical background to the team, some with overlapping careers.

“(Weston and I) knew each other from Bluffton University,” said Weaver.  Both vocalists were part of the university’s music ministry team “Shining Through.”

Jeremy Kempf and Baker had played together in the band “Thirstborne.” As second cousins, Jeremy and David Kempf have played together before. Weston sings in the gospel choir of her home church, Lee Heights Community Church.

To prepare for an audience of about 4,000 youth, the Kempfs, Kheshgi and Baker devoted two days to song form and instrumentation.  Weaver and Weston then joined them for two eight-hour practice sessions.

“There’s a certain amount of connection we made before we sat down to work,” said Baker. “We all had a common goal to work towards.”

According to Weaver, the team would go through each song, practicing and talking about the different components such as vocals.

The band considers both convention theme and musical transitions in picking each night’s songs.

“(The song list) is going to change each night depending on the message,” David Kempf said.

Since several band members switch instruments between songs, Jeremy Kempf also keeps instrumentation in mind when developing the song lists. He consulted the “Top 10 Praise Music” charts and used his background in working with youth and music composition to come up with song lists.

After Jeremy Kempf gives an initial outline of songs, the rest of the band members collaborate with ideas.

“Every once in a while I say, ‘Executive decision!’” Jeremy Kempf said.

Part of performing for convention is getting used to having their images shown on large projection screens.

Baker said his previous experience playing in front of large audiences made it easier to endure the cameras this week.

“It didn’t faze me as much as I thought it would,” Weaver said.

In the afternoon session, an Executive Board member, Glen Guyton, presented an update on Mennonite Mission Network’s fundraising campaign for the office building and for the agency’s annual fund.

The campaign has raised $8.4 million since 2006. An additional $2.3 million is needed by the end of the year to begin construction next spring, said Bethany Shue Nussbaum, a Mission Network development associate.

The building will be constructed on land adjacent to Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. It will serve Mennonite Mission Network, Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership and Mennonite Education Agency.

Some delegates expressed doubts about the need for the building.

“I’m not so certain the next generation of Mennonites is going to desire a church with such a strong institutional center,” said Phil Kniss of Harrisonburg, Va.

Others said church members weren’t getting enough information or didn’t feel ownership in the project.

Todd Lehman of Hubbard, Ore., said there was “some disconnect between what happens in the Mennonite ghettoes” such as Elkhart and church members who live far from those places.

But Judy Ebersole of Wichita, Kan., said that “some of us do feel the connection.” She and others urged more specific and inspiring communication about the building project.

Responding to questions, Stanley Green, Mission Network executive director, said the agency is spending $265,000 a year to lease its current building.

In an interview after the delegate session, Peter Graber, campaign director, said the new building would save the agency a lot of money because its annual operating cost would be $90,000, much less than that called for in the lease.

In the morning session, delegates responded to questions prompted by a “national identity” resolution passed two years ago. Delegates were asked to discuss what stories shape our identity and how to build the next generation’s faith.

“We need to become a generation of storytellers,” said Ron Guengerich of Goshen, Ind.

Several delegates said stories of conscientious objectors to war had influenced them. But Angela Plank of Indianapolis, Ind., said young people need more contemporary stories.

“Those stories don’t have the relevance they once did,” she said, because youth today aren’t facing a draft.

Some said negative influences had grown stronger.

“What shapes us today? The pagan culture around us,” said Hank Rossiter of Kidron, Ohio.

Lowell Gerber of Lititz, Pa., said: “Many congregations are influenced by radio preaching. We need to teach how we are Anabaptist.”

Jennifer Speight of Goshen, Ind., said actions speak louder than stories. “Speaking as a young adult, it’s what we do and not what’s said that matters to us,” she said.

Also during the morning session, delegates received an update on Mennonite Church USA’s membership in Christian Churches Together in the USA.

Delegates voted two years ago to join Christian Churches Together, an ecumenical organization founded in 2006 that includes 35 church groups with 100 million members.

Richard Hamm, executive administrator of the group, complimented Mennonites on their commitment to separation of church and state and to serving those in need.

“If the Mennonites were to go away, God would have to reinvent you — OK, with a few changes, maybe,” he said.

Delegates also cast ballots for nominees to serve on the boards of denominational agencies. They heard reports from the agencies and from Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite World Conference.

Editor’s note: The Q & A is provided by Mennonite Mission Network, addressing questions posed by delegates during the discussion.

Why Elkhart?
Mennonite Church USA and Mission Network staff and workers are located around the globe and in almost every urban area of the U.S.  The office facility is a logistical center in support of these people.  It is located where there is a strong support base and low cost of living.

Money for a building now?
The campaign was begun in better economic times and has brought in much-needed cash for operations as well as funds for the facility.  We will save $175,000 a year in annual operating (rent, utilities) when the building is complete.  The weak economic climate makes it even more important to build.

Is this missional?
The church is everywhere, but having a visible center does not have to create centralization.  Even Starbucks has a home office.

Between taking calls, buying pizzas, texting co-workers and talking to friends, it is clear that Jorge Vallejos and Rachel Swartzendruber Miller are living the busiest of weeks.

Vallejos is the director of the convention planning for Mennonite Church USA, and Swartzendruber Miller the assistant director. The buck stops with them all week long in Columbus.

To an onlooker, their work appears hectic, stressful and mabye even scary at times. But when asked how the convention was going, Vallejos replied, “quite well” except for a few “logistical issues.”

Swartzendruber Miller said, “I love it. It’s draining, but I love it.”

Vallejos said one challenge of the week is figuring out the right number of buses for transporting youth to hotels in Dublin. He doesn’t want semi-empty buses polluting the Columbus air but he also wants to make sure there are enough buses to get everyone back safely.

Vallejos said that so far he hasn’t received many late-night phone calls, adding that there have been no major emergencies or injuries. He described the convention to date as having gone “pretty smoothly.”

When asked what it has been like working under Vallejos, Swartzendruber Miller said, “You can tell he loves what he does. He trains you and lets you go. I feel like I’m learning from one of the best.”

She said she is grateful for the trust that he bestows.

“It makes me want to do the best I can for not only Mennonite Church USA or the convention, but for him, because he put his trust in me,” she said.

The level of trust is about to significantly increase. This is the last convention that Vallejos will direct. When the church gathers next in Pittsburgh, Swartzendruber Miller will be the planning director. Vallejos, meanwhile, will be moving from Goshen to Atlanta, prepared to begin a new assignment that, as of now, “only God knows.”

Speaking of his role as director of convention planning, he said, “I will certainly miss it but I’m not going to miss the short nights.”

Vallejos said that Swartzendruber Miller is ready to assume charge.

“She’s extremely well organized and a wonderful communicator, full of ideas,” he said.

Since Swartzendruber Miller’s freshman year of college, she said, she has known she wanted to work for Mennonite Church USA. She plans to work as director of conventions through at least 2013.

“I am very excited, honored and humbled to be head director,” she said. “I feel at home.”

“The funny thing is that they’re disappointed that we don’t look much different from them,” said Kerry Strayer, media liaison for the convention. “They ask: ‘Will there be bonnets?’ And I say: ‘I might be able to find you two or three.’”

But local reporters aren’t interested only in Menno clothing: they are especially curious about issues of homosexuality and the church — a lightening rod topic for numerous Christian denominations in the U.S.

“I think the local press is trying to figure out where Mennonites are on the issue of homosexuality,” Strayer said. “A lot of congregations are dealing with this but each one draws the line differently. The fact that a congregation can be disciplined for being open and welcoming to LGBT is interesting to them … that’s been a tricky one to explain.”

The Columbus Dispatch, Associated Press and Fox News 28 were present at the Pink Menno press conference and are filing stories. The AP story was even picked up by The Guardian newspaper in Great Britain.

As the media spokesperson for Mennonite Church USA, Strayer said that representing Mennonites to the press can be difficult “without making huge blanket generalzations.” After all, she continued, “there is diversity among Mennonites, even within Mennonite Church USA, without making huge blanket generalizations.”

Strayer, who is an associate professor of communications at Otterbein College (Westerville, Ohio), prepared local media for the convention by sending out packets of information with descriptions of Mennonite Church USA and its people and an overview of what would happen at the gathering. While representing Mennonites to the world can be daunting, this isn’t Strayer’s first dance: she did the same work at the Charlotte, Atlanta and Nashville aseesmblies, drawing on her doctoral dissertation about the General Conference and Mennonite Church merger to help her explain the history of the Mennonite Church to media.

Along with interest in important topics within the church, media is also drawn to the interaction of Mennonites with Columbus-area communities. “There’s a real interest in why we are doing so much service and trying to understand the motivation for all of that,” Strayer said.

The Pink Menno campaign encouraged conventiongoers to wear pink this week in support of gay and lesbian church members. But it was a press conference held on Thursday that may be most effective in publicizing the group’s agenda.

Reporters from The Associated Press, Fox News and The Columbus Dispatch were all present as a group of nearly 100 pink-bedecked conventiongoers sang and prayed together.  After a short opening worship, three speakers described the Pink Menno movement.

One of the leaders, Luke Yoder, said: “I will continue to raise my voice when members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities are silenced. I will continue to do everything I can to encourage the church to acknowledge the gifts, talents and passion of all its members.”

As an initial response to the Pink Menno presence in Columbus, the Executive Board issued a short press release, highlighting  the Mennonite Church’s official position on homosexuality.  That position is expressed in what is colloquially known as “The Purdue Statement,” a series of standards adopted in 1995.

The pivotal statement, officially Article 19 of “The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective,” reads: “We believe that God intends marriage to be a covenant between one man and one woman for life.”

The Pink Menno campaign does not have a booth on the convention floor.  Instead, they share hospitality space in the adjoining Hyatt with another group, which several months ago submitted an open letter to the denominational body, Mennonite Church USA, urging the church to reopen a conversation about its stance on homosexuality.

Until the press conference, Pink Menno’s primary presence had been as a scattering of people wearing pink T-shirts throughout the convention hall, ready to engage in conversations.

The Pink Menno campaign spread virally in advance of the convention, when Yoder created a social network on the Web service Ning. As of this writing, www.pinkmenno.org has 711 members from 35 states and 11 countries.  The site has been visited from 47 states and 30 countries.

Before that though, the campaign started as a family conversation.  Luke Yoder and his sister, Jen, who identifies as queer, were discussing homosexuality in the church last Christmas, and decided that they would take action.  They made a Web site and called congregations and friends, urging them to join.  After members of several churches held events where they took pictures holding pink signs saying “One Love” or “One Hope,” word began to spread, and the online membership skyrocketed.

“We’re hoping to engage a lot in personal individual conversation,” Luke Yoder said. “Our goal is that by the end of convention, everyone will have talked to a Pink Menno, or gotten to know a Pink Menno.”

Pink Menno has used around $4,000 of donated money to make pink paraphernalia, following the approach of many official exhibitors, who give out T-shirts and other freebies.  Pink Menno accessories include T-shirts (“Inclusive and Mennonite, Ask Me How”), LiveStrong-style pink bracelets, buttons, stickers and bandannas with the Pink Menno logo, a circular dove icon that riffs off of the Mennonite Church USA logo.

Other than the press release, the church has issued no public response to the Pink Menno presence.

“We initiated contact,” said Jim Schrag, the executive director of MC USA. “We gave them assurances that we want the convention to be a good time for everyone…they are a part of us…they have a right to be here.”

Steve Bauman/Photo
Firefighters discuss best way to free the trapped youth.

Three girls and their youth sponsor entered an elevator at the Drury Inn and Suites an hour before midnight on Wednesday, ready for bed.

The elevator began moving but then stopped. That’s when the girls, Amanda Yoder, Adriana Santiago and Erica Grasse, decided to help it move.
“We were going to go bust some freshmen girls and guys because we thought they were in the same room,” said Santiago.

Yoder continued: “We got in the elevator, and the elevator wouldn’t let us go down.  We thought, ‘Let’s just jump for the fun of it…and then it shook terribly.’”

The elevator stopped again, stranding the three girls from Blooming Glen Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania and their youth sponsor, Andrea Bauman.

Steve Bauman, Andrea’s husband and a co-sponsor from the youth group, was playing cards and had just answered two phone calls from his wife about pizza delivery and a room number.  When the phone rang for the third time, he was annoyed.
‘“Is this important?’ I asked my wife,” said Steve Bauman, “and she goes, ‘We’re trapped in the elevator.’”

Bauman handed his deck of cards to someone else and went to the front desk to alert them of the incident. The clerk immediately called the fire department. The general manager at the Drury, Scott Bosak, said it is a company procedure to call the fire officials if an elevator stops working.

“This was the first one for this year,” he said.
About 40 minutes later, as the firefighters were opening the hatch on top of the elevator, the power went out.
“She was freaking out,” said Santiago, pointing to Yoder.  “I tried to stay calm, but then they told us it was only a 10-foot drop.”

Yoder remembers thinking: “I didn’t need to hear that.”

The firefighters lowered a ladder into the dark elevator, and one joined the stranded foursome. Then, one by one, they climbed through the hatch and out onto the landing.

Elevators, such as the four Otis ones inside the Drury, are programmed to stop if the control mechanism known as “the governor” is jostled.
“If it were to fall sideways,” said Bosac as he pointed to the foot-tall governor box on the floor of the mechanical room, “it assumes there is a problem and bars shoot out to hold the elevator in place.”
Sarah Sullenberger, a convention volunteer, didn’t hear about the stuck elevator until she stumbled upon a group of people in the hotel lobby while she was on the nightly curfew rounds in the youth hotels.  Sullenberger helped to keep curious onlookers away from the firefighters while they worked.
Bosak only had good things to say about the late night drama.  “You guys are the best group I’ve ever had — ever,” said Bosak.  “The girls even came up to me and apologized for jumping.  That never happens.”
For Yoder, this will be a Mennonite convention that she will always remember.  “It kind of stinks walking up seven flights of stairs,” she said, “but I don’t want to get in an elevator for a long time.”

Trisha Handrich/Photo
Leonard Dow, 1987 graduate of EMU was the speaker at the Thursday morning youth worship service at Nationwide Arena.

The slogan of Leonard Dow’s hometown Philadelphia Phillies is “Ya Gotta Believe.” Dow, wearing a black Phillies cap, challenged youth on Thursday morning to believe — in worshipping God again.

“Watching and working without worship can lead to worry,” said Dow, senior pastor at Philadelphia’s Oxford Circle Mennonite Church.

Dow illustrated his exhortation with a story from Durban, a coastal city in South Africa. On a learning tour with Mennonite Central Committee, Dow watched persons gather, sing and cleanse themselves at the ocean. “I wondered, ‘what are they saying?’ Dow said, as he couldn’t understand the Zulu language. “I can’t swim. Will they take me out? Is this some reality television show?”

One of the men approached Dow and asked if he wanted to be washed, to be cleansed. Dow stood then in disbelief, though he longed for personal cleansing. “When the Holy Spirit is moving, what is the proper response?” Dow asked. “I took a step back and said no, and to this day I regret it. I missed out on an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to reach out to me.”

Too often, we are distracted from the Holy Spirit by constant use of media and communication technology. “I invite you to turn off modern distractions and invite the Holy Spirit in to you,” Dow said. “Even modern youth conventions can be a distraction. This should be about how we can go out and do kingdom work in the world.”

On Dow’s prompting, the crowd broke into “Lean On Me.” With open palms — the international sign for giving up, which Dow learned in South Africa — Dow invited youth to believe again in the Holy Spirit. “I sense you are becoming your generation,” Dow said. “I sense we can be radical in our worship together.”

For example, he asked, how often do we get down on our knees like Mary did, and listen for the Holy Spirit? Not often enough. “We’re not afraid to use our voices in four-part harmony,” Dow said. “But can we lift our Lord up with our voices, in prayer, the same way we do in song?”

So flashy distractions were shut down in Nationwide Arena: lights were turned off; Dow left the stage; the cameras refocused on the red, yellow and blue stained-glass cross.

The youth worshippers were invited to rid their mirrors of distraction. The small mirrors given to youth at Wednesday night’s worship session were tossed into buckets and wheel-barrows with noisy splashes of glass like hail on a tin roof.

Dow’s closing words had left youth with a call to believe. “Tell God, ‘I give you my fears. I let it go.’”

J. Tyler Klassen/Photo

Not just anyone could easily step into the role of a professional “pray-er” for more than 7,000 people, but Les Horning and Donna Mast, the Prayer Team leaders for Columbus 2009, have taken on the task.

“We are coming with an agenda to listen and to be a presence, to create safe places for people to talk,” said Horning, who has worked on the prayer ministry effort at three conventions.

For this convention, Mast and Horning have put a special effort into providing facilities for people to take a break from the bustling convention hall to pray.

A prayer room is a staple of conventions, but the design this year is much more ambitious.  As you enter the room, situated at the top of the southern escalators in the convention center, you can choose the contemplative area or the conversant area.  The contemplative area, as its name suggests, is more of a quiet place, with a large wooden cross in the center, surrounded by pillows and chairs to accommodate various postures of prayer.  A small, bubbling fountain greets you at the entrance, and there is even a mattress in the corner for the most weary conventiongoers.

The conversant room is more oriented toward group discussion and prayer, with couches around a coffee table with a selection of books such as “Here and Now, Living in the Spirit,” by Henri J.M. Nouwen and “Celebration of Discipleship” by Richard J. Foster.  A table full of modeling clay, crayons, markers and other art supplies encourages creative prayer and reflection.  A small CD player in the corner plays calm, quiet music.

Another available facility for prayer is a cloth labyrinth, laid on the floor of a room at the end of the convention center near the Hyatt.  The labyrinth was brought by Bob Yoder, one of Goshen College’s campus pastors.

Arranging the prayer room was just the beginning of Mast and Horning’s efforts to connect at the convention.  They placed baskets throughout the convention hall to accept prayer requests from adults and youth alike. Each day, the two leaders take a prayer walk, where they collect the slips of paper from the baskets and pray as they go.

“[Tuesday] we had a stack papers an inch and a half thick,” Horning marveled, demonstrating the volume of prayer requests with his thumb and forefinger. “Some of them express very deep pain and anguish, and they trust that these things will be taken care of.”

Once, when collecting prayer requests from a basket, Mast noticed some people looking at her curiously, wondering what was happening.

“When it dawned on them what we were doing, there was an expression of satisfaction — like they realized what was going on and said, ‘OK, this is good,’” Mast said.

During the year, Mast and Horning are both pastors.  Horning preaches at Christiansburg Mennonite Fellowship in Virginia, and Mast is co-pastor at Scottdale Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania.  Both are highly experienced at prayer and ministry, but for the size of this Mennonite convention, they enlisted the help of a prayer team.  Jeff Combs, Karen Howard, Luanne Yutzy, Thinagar Sitther and Elizabeth Soto Albrecht work on daily prayer responsibilities as well.

The prayer team attends each worship service, sometimes circling the room and praying, sometimes sitting on stage and always listening, trying to stay in tune with the convention, and praying for the general well being of the people.

Before their roles in prayer team leadership came along, Mast and Horning had both been delegates to conventions. When the opportunity arose to be prayer team leaders in Columbus, they jumped at it.

“I enjoy it,” Horning said.  “When I was asked to serve here at Columbus, there was no hesitation.  You’re tired at the end of the week, but I’ve seen that folks really appreciate what we do.”

With plenty of crafts, story time and laughter – and, in some cases, crying – the children’s convention includes 314 registered infants, preschoolers and children grades K-5. Among the energetic faces, it could be easy not to note that there are five sets of twins aged 7 to 9.

Hannah and Tyler Hedderick, age 8, of Union City, Pa.
Parents: Jeremy and Shawna Hedderick
Convention highlights: “Swimming in the pool!” said Hannah. “I get to go swimming tonight!”Tyler said he liked making crafts, particularly the Holy Spirit Mosaic he was working on during the interview.
Favorite thing about being a twin: “We can play together everywhere and anywhere!” the twins said, but added that they “sometimes fight,” too.

Daniel and Rebekah Holsopple, age 9, of Archbold, Ohio
Parents: William “Bill” and Beth Holsopple
Convention highlights: Everything, they said, “but especially the games” added Daniel.
Favorite thing about being a twin: “Playing video games together,” said Daniel.
Rebekah said they like to share the games, and also their Nintendo DS … although “we do fight over who gets to play the DS game first,” she added.

Names: Joel and Kara Kornhaus, age 7, Fredericksburg, Ohio
Parents: Robert and Lila Kornhaus
Convention highlights: Kara said, “I’m pretty sure I’ll like this teddy bear walk and story.”
Favorite thing about being a twin: “We really like playing Legos together,” said Kara.
Joel added, “When I forget my homework at school, we can make copies of Kara’s.” It’s handy being a twin.

Names: Hannah and Kate Landis, age 7½, Sellersville, Pa.
Parents: Jeff and Sharon Landis
Convention highlights: “I think I will like the Teddy bear story time that we’re going to now,” said Hannah. Kate chimed in that she likes “all of it.”
Favorite thing about being a twin: “If you’re really bored, you get to play together,” explained the twins together, though “sometimes we hurt each other and wrestle.”

Brandon Long/Photo Jennifer Steiner, Goshen, Olive Mennonite Church member and Goshen College alum donates blood Wednesday for the Red Cross blood drive.

The line that formed outside of Hyatt Union A was a testament to Mennonite generosity, this time with blood.

“They weren’t expecting this many people apparently,” said one young adult standing in line at 2:30 p.m. Even donors with appointments waited 30 minutes for their donation chair.

“I had a 2:30 appointment,” Jennifer Steiner said at 4 p.m. after her successful donation. “Waiting a few hours was worth it to give blood.”

Tim Wahlstrom, from Newport News, Va., said he’s had to wait longer for less fun stuff so the wait did not bother him. “(I donate blood) to do good and it doesn’t cost me anything,” said Wahlstrom.

Steiner, of Goshen, Ind., donated at the Charlotte convention and then had to wait a year to donate again because of a trip to Africa. Overseas travel turns away many eager Mennonite donors.

Others like Allison Brenneman of Goshen, Ind., are turned away because of a low iron count. “I’m going to try again tomorrow,” said Brenneman. “One worker said I just needed a big t-bone steak.”

Yet the most common reason for turning away donors on Wednesday was a lack of beds. Around 4 p.m. an American Red Cross supervisor, Keith Starkey, told two walk-ins that the appointments were filled. “The way everything is going it will be touch and go,” said Starkey.

According to Norma Wasserstrom, the donor recruitment representative for downtown Columbus, 83 donors signed in on Wednesday and 70 are signed up for Thursday. The drive began with a goal of 50 donations each day.

Wasserstrom works with Experience Columbus to find convention groups interested in hosting a blood drive. Typically blood drives stick to a strict donation schedule, making these larger drives, with more walk-in donors, a challenge. Wasserstrom said additional staff have been added for Thursday’s scheduled donors.

Some walk-ins might find room but Rodney Wilson, from the Central Ohio Blood Region office, welcomes others to use a different local site.

“Our inventory is 600 short of where we’d like to be in central Ohio,” Wilson said. “We need everyone we can get. It’s great to see such a positive response to the blood drive!”

Editor’s note: Donors may also visit Ohio State University, just up High Street to the north, or Nationwide, a block away from the Convention Center.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

OSU Science and Engineering Library

175 W. 18th Ave, Columbus

9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

OSU College of Veterinary Medicine

1935 Coffey Rd., Columbus

10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Nationwide Plaza Donor Center

One Nationwide Plaza, Columbus

8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Friday, July 3

Holiday Inn

7007 N. High St., Worthington

11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Carriage Place Donor Center

4820 Sawmill Rd., Columbus

9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Jessica Schrock-Ringenberg said her family fit eight out of the 10 things that define a redneck, according to the list on one of her brother’s T-shirts.

Schrock-Ringenberg, a pastor at Zion Mennonite Church in Archbold, Ohio, revealed her fears to the youth during Wednesday evening worship.

“Physical scars aren’t as easy to cover as emotional scars,” said Schrock-Ringenberg as she described her family growing up in a cinder-block home in Kansas.

At age 13, she started sharing a bed with her mom because her dad threatened to kill her mom.

“It’s not like he’s a drunk or a druggie; he’s just really mean,” she said.

Her freshman year of high school her family kicked her dad out. Finally she hoped the fear would disappear; but it only changed. She compared her story to how the disciples responded to their fear in John 20:19-22. “They did the thing that all of us would have done; they hid,” she said.

Schrock-Ringenberg said she continued to hide her fears. “By the time I reached high school I knew what it would take to survive,” said Schrock-Ringenberg. “I became the person everyone else wanted me to be.”

On the outside she had it all together, but on the inside she was afraid, lonely, miserable and scared to death.

She found ways to cope. At her Mennonite college she titled herself a CK (convict’s kid) when in conversation with PKs (pastors’ kids) or MKs (missionary kids). She thought her weaknesses were unacceptable, but realized her fears held her captive. Just as Jesus led the disciples out of their hiding, she shared that we don’t have to be afraid because we don’t do it alone.

Quoting Morgan Freeman in “Million Dollar Baby,” boxing is an unnatural act. According to Schrock-Ringenberg, following Christ is also an unnatural act, as the Holy Spirit calls us to face our fears and “step into pain.”

“We spend so much time hiding who we are because we are scared of what others will think,” she said.

Schrock-Ringenberg concluded by inviting youth to imagine what the church would look like if its people would no longer be held by fear.

The worship leaders invited youth to write their own fears on mirrors they each received upon entering the arena.

Ken Medema ended the service with an improvised song about facing your fears.

MIke Yoder/Photo
Michael Reid Trice, associate executive for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, addresses delegates at a Wednesday morning session. Interchurch guests from other Anabaptist fellowships, invited to Convention 2009, were introduced to delegates at the Wednesday morning Delegate session.

Mennonite Church USA’s first delegate session of 2009 opened on July 1 with an ovation for the 60 young adults who are part of the 850-member body. Moderator Sharon Waltner then led the group through the approval of several special rules for this assembly and approval of the agenda for the week.

The major focus of the morning session was interchurch relations, with representatives introduced from six denominations: Mennonite Church Canada, Conservative Mennonite Conference, Brethren in Christ, Church of the Brethren, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Church of God (Cleveland) and a representative from Christian Churches Together.

“You among all of us (Anabaptists) have critical mass,” the Brethren in Christ moderator, Warren Hoffman, told the assembly. “Whatever it is we do together, (Mennonite Church USA) will be the ballast that holds us steady in community.”

The representative from Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Michael Trice, began on a lighter note. After asking how many delegates had family members who are Lutheran, he said, “You will know them by the kind of beer they drink.”

But Trice quickly turned to the troubled history of our two traditions and noted that in 2006 the Lutheran body addressed their forebears’ persecution and martyrdom of the Anabaptists during the Reformation.

“No church should use the state to impose its practices on another,” said the Lutheran statement. Trice also noted that a document being prepared for the 2010 Lutheran World Federation asks Anabaptists for forgiveness.

The delegates’ afternoon session was devoted almost exclusively to the Executive Board’s work. This included a joint financial report for the board’s Church Resources Committee; it showed that nine agencies and entities within Mennonite Church USA,  all except Mennonite Men, had net losses in assets for their most recently concluded fiscal years. In response to a delegate question, the moderator-elect, Ed Diller, said that no agencies or entities, including the Executive Board, are in dire financial straits.

“All agencies are making great progress in right-sizing their operations,” Diller said.

Moderator Waltner then spent about 20 minutes reviewing the work of the Executive Board over the last 10 years and elaborated on the board’s efforts during the last biennium to consolidate the current denominational structure. Referring to the board’s June 2008 proposal to create a single board for the denomination, Waltner said that although the proposal is now on hold, the initiative created some significant new alignments within the denominational structure.

“I’m not sure it would have happened without the (one-board) proposal,” Waltner said.

During open-mic time, table representatives responded to the Executive Board’s report. Most affirmed the Executive Board’s attempts to both listen and lead.

“We need a balance in (Executive Board) leadership between taking initiative and listening,” said Peter Epp, a delegate from Portland, Ore.

The afternoon session also included a report from the committee leading the search process for a new executive director for Mennonite Church USA.

Dick Thomas, a member of the search committee and nominee for moderator-elect, said that 85 people were nominated or applied for the job.

“It would have been nice to have a name to share with you here,” said the committee chair, David Sutter, “but we have said it is more important to find the right person than to meet a calendar schedule.”

Sutter said the committee is now in conversation with “a smaller number of people,” but they are still accepting applications and nominations.

Trisha Handrich/Photo

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Alan Christy of Columbus Children’s Theatre pilots an improv airplane during the afternoon children’s performance.

Carol Grieser, the coordinator of the children’s convention, wanted them to do something they would never forget. At past conventions, Mennonite children have visited zoos and museums.

Grieser knew that for some of the children, this was their third time at convention. “I try not to do the same thing so they have a variety of experiences,” said Grieser.

It was definitely an afternoon the children will never forget. Grieser invited the Columbus Children’s Theatre to spend the day with them.

“He loved it,” said Kathy Smith, mother of a fourth grader, Therin. “He already told me that when we go home he’s going to act with his friend.”

In addition to enjoying snack time, Therin Smith said he liked the freedom of the acting. “We could do what we wanted on the set,” said Smith. “And I also really enjoyed the bus skit.”

After three hard hours of working on scene dynamics, movement, spacing and other acting techniques, the children performed their new acting skills for their parents at 4:30, right before they were picked up. One group of children, led by a Columbus Children’s Theatre teacher, Amy Little, performed a skit with a red velvet blanket.

The children stood in a line and sequentially used the blanket to represent something, while the parents shouted out guesses.

One girl put the blanket on the floor, laid on her stomach and began to do a rapid breast stroke. The blanket had become a swimming pool. For other children the blanket was a snake, backpack, horse, wall, ironing board and trampoline. Tyler Shull crawled under the blanket and made little squeaking noises—it had become a mouse.

Other performances from the children included scenes from Charlie Brown and creative skits about a library book.

“I thought it was a great idea,” said Amy Mumbauer, parent of Sara. “The acting stretches them and lets them try new things.”

Sara added: “I think my favorite part was when we got to see all of the skits. That was fun.”

Fast Facts:

Founded in 1963

As a child Josh Rador from “How I Met Your Mother” attended classes

Mission statement: To inspire and enrich the lives of children and their families through live theatre and theatre education.

This summer the actors are performing “Sweeney Todd” and “Schoolhouse Rock LIVE, Jr.”

Youth from four different congregations boarded bus No. 13 Wednesday morning and assessed the seating situation: 16 benches for 47 people meant three to a seat with no room to spare. As the bus pulled away from the convention center, Mary Jo Martin, the servant volunteer leader for the Four Seasons City Farm project congratulated the groups on squeezing together. “It’s just another way to get to know people!” she said, promising the group she’d give them popsicles at the end of the day.

Nearly filling two benches, five members of the Spring Valley Mennonite Church youth group attending the convention — including sisters Elsa and Ria Jewell from Spokane, Wash., and their father Gary Jewell (also the church pastor) — listened to the rest of the bus sing a loud rendition of “On Top of Spaghetti.”

After dropping off one youth group at the YMCA club, the remaining three continued to their destination: a one-acre city site, formerly an abandoned lot, where Four Seasons City Farm cultivates organic vegetables and flowers. The garden is one of 11 plots of land within a mile radius in the city sold to the non-profit organization for $1 a piece.

Four Seasons City Farms shares its produce in three ways: one-third goes to volunteers from the community who join together to garden, one-third is donated to soup kitchens and food pantries and one third is sold to local farmer’s markets, including a booth at North Market (located near the convention center).

The distribution of the fresh food is still “trial and error,” according to Daniel Ingwersen, one of the founders of the farm. He said the organization recently donated 300 heads of lettuce to an area soup kitchen, only to learn “that this neighborhood, for example, does not like lettuce.”

Stephanie Kane, product and marketing assistant for Four Seasons City Farm, introduced the youth groups to their service work for the day. “Since it just rained, it’s the perfect weather for weeding,” she said.

The youth split into groups of five and hovered over beds of Swiss chard, beats, kale, herbs, radishes and zucchini, yanking weeds and chatting with each other.

“We definitely can use these 30 [volunteers] for a few days,” said Ingwersen.

John Hance and Garret King, both of West Liberty, Ohio, had difference perspectives on the garden work.

Said Hance, “I live on a farm, so this is not bad at all.”

King kept on task, but found the work a bit more tedious. “[But] it’s beneficial, so I’ll do it,” he said.

In the middle of the garden, beaneath a shelter donated from Home Depot, Ingwersen sorted out 5,ooo packets of donated seeds. “We had so many, we even gave some to the city,” he said, preparing to continue the cycle of green growth.

It turns out that Stanley Green, the executive director of Mennonite Mission Network, and the rest of the staff are as comfortable in the kitchen as they are in the mission field.

At the exhibit hall, Mennonite Mission Network has begun giving cooking demonstrations of simple dishes from locations where they have workers serving.

“The point is to give people a taste of the cultures and the stories from around the world,” said Ruth Lapp Guengerich, who works at the Mennonite Mission Network booth. “Last night, we had Stanley Green make a South African curry.”

This is the first convention at which the agency has done something quite like this. All the recipes are fairly basic, with the demonstrations usually lasting 15 to 30 minutes in length, with samples of the featured dish being handed out at the end.

Wednesday afternoon’s dish was a tomato salad with goat cheese, prepared by Janie Blough, who has been serving in Paris for the past 34 years. The agency is featuring different recipes twice a day, with showings at 3 p.m. and again at 9.

“The purpose is to bring people in, gather their interest and introduce them to what MMN does,” Blough stated. “The nice thing about this recipe is that you can do anything you want with it.”

Jacob Mack-Boll, a high school student from Lancaster, Pa., said, “The salad was delicious, and I loved the flavor that the basil added.”

Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

6 tomatoes

½-1 c crumbled goat cheese

6-8 basil leaves (rolled and thinly sliced)

kosher salt

olive oil

fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Cut tomatoes in half and scoop out seeds. Dice the tomatoes and let stand until all of the juice has been drawn out. Heap the diced tomatoes onto individual serving plates. Sprinkle the crumbled goat cheese and the salt on top of the tomatoes. Next, sprinkle on the thinly sliced basil leaves and drizzle olive oil over all. Add freshly ground pepper to taste, and serve.

Chase Snyder/Photo
Rachel Halder, Parnell, IA., responds to a question by Patricia Burdette during a videotaped interview at the Mennonite Women USA booth in the Exhibit Hall.

“Where do you have kitchen table conversations other than the kitchen table?”

Sitting in a chair at the Mennonite Women USA exhibit hall booth, I drew this question from a bowl as a camera stood a few feet ahead anticipating my answer.

The current theme for Mennonite Women USA is “Kitchen Table Theology.” Patricia Burdette, editor of Timbrel, is responsible for videotaping women at the Mennonite Women USA booth. She explained that the theme is from 1970s feminist theology, which discusses “the informal way that women talk about their theology over the kitchen table.”

Mennonite Women USA is wanting to acknowledge the issues of the church through the voices of women —“We’re encouraging women to come talk, share their opinions, and be videotaped,” said Burdette.

“The videos may be posted on the Web, and will eventually go to the Mennonite archives as a picture of women’s opinions in 2009,” explained Burdette.

Questions might be “What would you like to see Mennonite USA doing for women?” or “What are the current issues for women about the church?” But women are invited to share whatever they feel compelled to say in the five-minute time slot each interviewee is given.

Although this idea has received overall positive responses, there are a few frustrations, said Burdette: “A lot of women think this is a good idea, but then they say ‘Oh, no, don’t tape me!’”

And as for my answer, I have found a beautiful “kitchen table” in my living room at Goshen College, where I join with the women who have grown closest to my heart. There we sit and discuss spirituality, peace, current news, feminism, sorrows and joys.

Jim Schrag arrived at the adult worship service with the future of the Mennonite Church, the rising median age of Mennonites and the importance of a positive vision all on his mind.

Schrag, executive director of Mennonite Church USA, began his speech with the story of Hudson Taylor, a missionary to China. At one point during the voyage, Schrag said, the wind died and the captain requested Taylor to pray for a breeze. Taylor replied, saying that only when the sails were set would he pray to God for wind.

Schrag applied the analogy to the current position of the Mennonite Church: “Yes, pray without ceasing, but first unfurl the sails.”

Schrag spoke to the wrong and right visions facing the Mennonite Church.  “God sent us on a journey, but the sea has become calm,” Schrag said. “We can drift helplessly as any other church… or we can unfurl the sails of our vessel.”

An important focus of Schrag’s talk was the avoidance of passivity and the importance of positive action. Referring to his source scripture, Ezekiel 37 and John 20, Schrag said, “We need to be aware of our own dry bones, and the barred doors in our frightened retreat, locking the world outside.”

“We’ve grown accustomed to the calm of comfort and success that surrounds us, and we judge that our own exile is not such a bad thing after all,” Schrag said, referring to the exile of the disciples after Jesus’ death.

Schrag encouraged audience members to pay attention to the cultural currents that surround and influence the church, and to take necessary action. He challenged the worshipers: “Learn to listen, to see, to feel the presence of God.”

Schrag, who is from Newton, Kan., served as a pastor and worked as secretary for the General Conference before becoming executive director for MC USA.

Before Schrag spoke, Steven Brown, vice chair of Churches Supporting Churches, discussed the church’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Also, members of the band Honeytown led songs from all three hymnals, as well as original tunes, including “Breathe and be filled,” based on the convention’s theme.

Schrag asked the worshipers to stand, clasp hands, and join Patty Shelly in her song “The Lord lift you up.” Ken Medema finished the worship service with his gift for improvisational song, which included a story about an  8-year-old named Bubba  and the chorus to “Breathe and be filled.”

All of the chairs were filled in Ballroom 4 some 20 minutes before the seminar began and the youth entering after this point were told to sit on the floor along the wall, or directly in front of the stage.

Lynn Miller strolled about in front of the stage and joked with those who had just arrived and were squatting down onto the floor. Then he addressed the subject the youth had come to hear: “Sex, Drugs, and Rock n’ Roll: How to be a Christian without living in a cave or looking weird.”

Miller began the seminar with a short commentary on culture. “Music is not evil, right,” Miller said, “but it is not God.”

This theme continued throughout the seminar as Miller asked the audience to think of culture as culture, and nothing more.

“We take sin too seriously,” he said. “We think we can’t sin. We think we can be perfect.”

When the format shifted to a Q & A, Miller served as a sort of Mennonite Wikipedia, fielding questions like “Did Cain and Abel have to have sex with their mom?” and “When did you become a Mennonite?”

Miller opened the floor to any questions, but after the seminar, on the way to another, he stepped away from a youth questioner he had just finished a conversation with in the hallway, and said, “Those are the best questions, you know, the ones they are afraid to ask in front of everyone else.”

Miller was not raised in the Mennonite Church, and did not become connected with Mennonites until he had served in Vietnam for 10 years, become a hippy at Washington University and served with Mennonite Central Committee for three years in Botswana.

“I’m not related to any of your parents, and even though this beard may look Mennonite,  that’s just coincidence,” said Miller as he pointed to a white, and suspiciously Amish-looking beard.

Editor’s note: Lynn Miller will be giving the “Sex, Drugs, and Rock n’ Roll” seminar again on Thursday at 1:45 and 4:15 in Ballroom 4.

Knowing the way of snail mail, it’s a safe bet that few family members this week will receive postcards with the Columbus skyline reflected on the Scioto River at dusk.

Instead, those who aren’t able to attend Convention 2009 can refer to the nearly 15 pages of tweets from Mennonite Church USA. Followers can view up-to-the-second news about events and access links to photos and articles. New tweets are added several times an hour.

Tim Blaum, communications intern for Mennonite Church USA, plays a key part in developing new ways to reach a broader convention audience. Twitter and Facebook seemed like an easily accessible way for the public to follow along, he said.

Blaum aims to update Twitter almost hourly with links to photos on Facebook, reminders about big events, videos posted on YouTube and any other special happenings related to the convention, all in 140 words or less.

Different from just posting photos on the Mennonite Church USA Web site, posting photos on Facebook or links on Twitter allows viewers to respond and interact to the content, as well as upload their own photos. Blaum said many people arrive in Columbus as active participants with Facebook and Twitter.

As of Wednesday, there were 202 followers of Mennonite Church USA on Twitter, and 876 fans on Facebook.  Ideally, Blaum said, Twitter will be used even after the convention is over as a way to keep people involved. At the same time, he noted the importance of not being excessive in posting information.

Representatives for The Mennonite are also involved with Twitter. Anna Groff, assistant editor of the magazine, often posts links to articles she is currently working on, and sees Twitter as a way to interact with readers, receive feedback and build a source base.

Groff began using Twitter about two months ago, so she already had a substantial number of followers — 150 — when she arrived at convention. Although she represents the Mennonite publication, her supervisers do not read over anything she posts, and readers know that it is Groff’s voice being presented.

Twitter “meets the readers’ desires to know what’s going on as it’s happening,” said Groff.

The Mennonite also has a Facebook page, with over 200 fans. Groff explained that using these social networking tools shows that the magazine is willing to experiment, and be open to new forms of communication.

There are also a few youth groups at convention who are tweeting and blogging about their convention experiences.

The youth group from Salford Mennonite Church in Harleysville, Pa., is trying to post at least two tweets a day, as well as write a blog.

Joe Hackman, the youth pastor at Salford, explained it as a way to make the church back home feel connected to the youth in Columbus.

“The kids’ parents are interested in what the youth are doing,” said Hackman. “This is just another way to communicate with them.”

There are about 20 people following the youth on Twitter. Hackman said he realized that not everyone will want to read about what the youth are up to; he is just making the information available for those who are interested.

The blog offers another way to share what they’re experiencing.

“Writing in a blog is more reflective and intentional than just having a conversation over the phone,” said Hackman. “It sharpens their focus, knowing that people will be reading what they write.”

Contrary to some perceptions that mostly young people are interested in social networking, according to Lonnie Miller, a professor at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, the fastest-growing demographic of Facebook users are those 35 and older. He presented a seminar entitled “A conversation about our tools: A dialogue on our Facebook, YouTube and text messaging world.”

Groff said she would consider the majority of her followers to be around the age of 40, or older.  Hackman also mentioned that some Salford followers (not including parents) are in their 70s.

That was one of the challenges identified by youth leaders at “Beyond With: New Resources for Youth Leaders,” a seminar held on Wednesday at Convention 2009.

Other challenges that came up were how to capture the interest of youth, and how to address the issues they struggle with. Leaders from smaller churches also talked about how difficult it is to teach small classes made up of youth from the grades eight to 12.

When asked how they try to meet the needs of youth, several seminar participants indicated that they ask young people to submit ideas for lessons, and then do research to come up with answers.

The seminar leader, Eleanor Snyder, who directs Faith and Life Resources for Mennonite Publishing Network, shared new resources for youth leaders such as Merge, which can help youth groups prepare for short-term mission and service trips; Youth Worship Source Book, which can help them think about, and plan, worship; and Beyond our Fears, which can help them think about how to respond as Christians to natural disasters and pandemics.

In response to a question about online resources, most of the 30 seminar participants indicated they would welcome more downloadable items for use with youth groups and Christian education classes.

A maple tree is growing in the middle of the exhibit hall. Eventually, that tree will be planted outside the Adriel School in West Liberty, Ohio.

The landscape display located next to the college and university booths also includes butterfly bushes and rose bushes; it sits next to a circle of 12 hickory rocking chairs for people to relax in.

The Communications Reference Council, which created the layout for the exhibit hall, provided funds for the living landscape. The council is made up of representatives from five organizations: Mennonite Education Agency, MMA, Mennonite Publishing Council, Mennonite Mission Network and Executive Leadership.

“We’re trying to bring a sense of cohesiveness,” said Ron Gingerich, art director for Executive Leadership. “We should be more about relationships than organizations.”

Gingerich said creating a display with living plants and bushes was a small, almost symbolic, way of bringing about environmental awareness.

“The idea of using a living landscape seemed to resonate with the convention theme,” Gingerich said. “Trees are life giving, oxygen producing and sheltering.”

Dutchman Hospitality loaned the 12 rocking chairs, which are available for purchase at $200 each. Each chair is handcrafted by an Amish family from Holmes County, Ohio.

Gingerich hired a landscaping company from Ohio, Winnscapes, to design the display, which is watered every other day. The company chose plants and bushes ideal for indoor conditions.

Coffman Stone, also an Ohio company, provided the concrete border for the display, which was designed in a half circle shape at the request of the Communications Reference Council.

The landscape display will find a new home on the grounds of Adriel, a child welfare school located in West Liberty, Ohio, after convention. Marty Lehman, Mennonite Church USA director of communication and development, knew the administration and staff from having worked there.

“It was something local we could support,” said Gingerich.

From the loading docks outside the exhibition hall, Mennonites with hammers in hand will help a family rebuild their lives in Mississippi.

Youth groups and congregations are helping Mennonite Disaster Service build a house there that will go to Kristy Barnes, a single mother with three children whose house in Delisle, Miss., was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.

Throughout the week volunteers can sign up, in groups of up to 15, to work specific time slots between 10:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. There are plenty of slots available. Jerry Grosh, director of field operations for Mennonite Disaster Service, said that no previous construction experience is necessary, “just willing hands and hearts.”

The goal of the house project is to get people interested and involved in M.D.S. “This house demonstrates what a congregation can do to build a house,” Grosh said.

Congregations can do similar building projects at their home churches, through the Partnership Home Program.  Instead of the entire congregation traveling to a disaster site, they can build the home at their church, ship it to the location and reassemble it.

“If a church does this in their parking lot 100 people can hammer a nail in,” Grosh said. “This is a way to let a lot of people know what M.D.S. is in terms of responding to disasters.”

Only about 10 percent of the house will be built at the convention. Group volunteers will work with six skilled workers — who are devoting the whole week to the house — to build its shell. “The goal is not efficiency; the goal is to connect people with home owners … and allow people to participate who wouldn’t have the time to go to California to build a house,” Grosh said.

The shell of the house is expected to be completed on Friday. There will be a dedication at 11 a.m., on Saturday, at the house site outside by the loading docks. Following the dedication the house will be put on a semi-truck, bound for Mississippi.

Brandon Long/Photo
Shane Hipps addresses the crowd at Wednesday morning’s youth worship service at Nationwide Arena.

Taking “center ice” in the Nationwide Arena for the first morning youth worship service of the convention could feel like an opponent lining up against the Columbus Blue Jackets hockey team, who call the space their home.

Sleepless, travel-lagged teenagers without glow-sticks found it difficult to sustain the standard beach balls that bounce through the crowd during most services. Even a brief conga line and energetic step dance during the morning music struggled to rouse the crowd trickling in from the rainy streets of Columbus.

Then, Shane Hipps took the stage.

“I made it my mission in life to become a dancer,” Hipps told the crowd before inviting everybody to stand and learn his patented “Booty-X” dance. “It will change the world.”

Hipps’ moves had more to do with his last name, he said, than with his message, but he won over the crowd before diving into a discussion on ancient languages.

“We’ve lost sight of one of the most powerful and profound truths of the Bible,” Hipps told the assembly.

In Hebrew, the language in which the Old Testament was originally written, the word ruach means both breath and spirit. The same is true for the Greek word pneuma, found in numerous New Testament writings.

As the Holy Spirit was transmitted to the disciples through breath, Hipps encouraged the youth to see every breath as a gift from the Spirit.

“The fullness of God’s power lies in each and every breath we take,” he said.

“If you want to understand the nature of God, understand the nature of the breath you just took.”

Inviting the audience to breathe along with him, Hipps fleshed out this metaphor.

Our breath cannot reject or judge us, he said. Even if we don’t want it to, breath will flood into our bodies and give us life, just like the Holy Spirit.

Breath – which Hipps referred to as a “divine kiss” – is a gift which cannot be earned.

“If you ever wonder where God is,” Hipps concluded, “just breathe deeply.”

Brenda Matthews wants young people to step into their spiritual destiny.

Adorned with glow sticks, youth and sponsors were standing and cheering within minutes of Matthews taking the stage. Matthews, a poet from Chicago known as “Mama” Brenda, spoke Tuesday night in the opening worship at the youth convention.

Times are hard, Matthews said, and youth of all Christian denominations are well placed to spark a spiritual revival nationwide.

“It’s time to get suited and booted, and get your butt in gear,” said Matthews, who was speaking at a Mennonite Church USA convention for the third time.

She reminded the youth that they are in a crucial time of life, urging them to take what they learn home with them and get to work.

“It’s time for you to step into your spiritual destiny,” Matthews said. “Don’t take this time for granted.”

Matthews spoke passionately about claiming one’s faith and seeking God, especially as young people can be drawn into sex, alcohol and drugs.

Even when youth make poor choices, God cares for them intimately, Matthews said.

“The Holy Spirit knows our faults and never gives up on us,” she said.

Matthews is also praying for youth to have a renewed experience of the Holy Spirit.

“The Holy Spirit is the part of God that lives inside of us,” she said.

Matthews compared the Holy Spirit to the battery in a car, giving us the power we need to work for God’s kingdom.

“The Holy Spirit is the juice,” she said.

Matthews invited youth to stand and raise their hands as she prayed for the Holy Spirit to fall afresh on their lives.

“We need you to be a witness and not be ashamed!” she said.

Tuesday evening’s opening adult worship focused on the theme “Gathered in God’s Spirit.” Juana Nuñez told the gathering that the same Spirit that was present at creation and in Jesus’ life and ministry is the same Spirit present with us today.

Nuñez, a certified part-time chaplain with Marketplace Chaplains USA and moderator of Iglesia Menonita Hispana, presented her message in Spanish, while her daughter Alexandra Bucher translated.

In Jesus’ ministry, Nuñez said, the Spirit rested on Jesus; acknowledged Jesus as the authentic Son of God; and was present in Jesus’ daily life and in his sacrifice, death and resurrection. “The same Holy Spirit that worked in Jesus’ ministry works among us today.”

When Jesus came among the disciples after his resurrection (John 20:19b-21), his presence calmed their fears, and he breathed on them. Then at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11), the Spirit came in fire and wind upon the newborn church. “The same Spirit that initiated Jesus’ mission,” she said, “is the same Spirit that initiated the mission of the church.”

With the power of that same Spirit, the church today is called to practice mission, Nuñez  said. “Mennonite Church USA has been greatly blessed, and we are to bless others,” she said. The method used by God to change the world has not changed, she said. The key is to spread the good news of Jesus.

Nuñez, the first woman to be elected as moderator of Iglesia Menonita Hispana, is also co-pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer in Apopka, Fla., with her husband, Eligio. Nuñez was born in the Dominican Republic, while her daughter was born in the United States.

Meeting in Columbus, Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009 is hosted by two area conferences, Ohio and Central District. Conference ministers Tom Kauffman (Ohio) and Lois Kauffman (Central District), who are not married to each other, welcomed participants.

The worship leaders, Regina Shands Stoltzfus and Joel Miller, went on to welcome the span of people from various backgrounds as well as interchurch guests from Mennonite Church Canada, Conservative Mennonite Conference, Brethren in Christ Church of North America, Church of the Brethren, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) and Christian Churches Together.

Stoltzfus and Miller invited a representative from each of the 21 area conferences in Mennonite Church USA to bring a vessel of oil and pour some of it into a single vessel at the front, where an oil lamp burned. Miller called the lamp a reminder of the one Spirit in the church.

Talashia Keim Yoder did an interpretive dance during a reading about the Spirit’s work in creation and in Jesus’ life. Ted and Co. (Ted Shwartz and Trent Wagler) performed a drama about Peter and John meeting Jesus after he was resurrected.

The exhibit hall is a central feature of every Mennonite convention.  Mennonite schools, missions and companies set up their booths to attract students, customers and interested parties, and free stuff flows like water.  Magnetic clips, letter openers, pens, T-Shirts and a mountain of candy are given away by hopeful exhibitors.

The floor at Columbus 2009 is divided into multiple sections: education, missions and publishing.  The colleges and universities all have booths, hoping to woo the Mennonite youth with promises of a superior education, a better future and, of course, lots of free gear.

Local churches like Agora Christian Fellowship are present, as well as national and international organizations like Ten Thousand Villages, Mutual Aid Exchange (MAX) and Eastern Mennonite Missions.

Tantalizing booths aren’t all there is though.  One half of the floor is devoted to recreation, including volleyball and basketball courts, and a kiddy-sized plastic playground.

Navigating through the forest of pillars with signs for various activities and Mennonite institutions is no problem for conventiongoers; as the doors open for the first time, just after the evening worship service, a large crowd had already gathered, and upon a hearty “GO!” from a staffer, eager youth stormed in, laughing and yelling as they ran to the booths.

The first Pastors’ Day began many hours before opening worship for Convention 2009.

In opening remarks, James Schrag, executive director of Mennonite Church USA, spoke about the “crow’s nest calling,” a metaphor representing the pastoral vantage point.

“From my humble view,” said Schrag, “a pastor’s role is longer, wider and deeper than any other in the church.”

At least 250 pastors, a quarter of all the pastors in Mennonite Church USA, sat at discussion tables to listen to the first presentation, a lesson on “Understanding the Missional Church,” by Craig Van Gelder, a professor of congregational mission at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn.

Van Gelder, who also taught domestic missiology at Calvin Theological Seminary, addressed the power of change, especially at the margins and from above.

In his overview of church transformation, Van Gelder spoke about contrasting views of church: the instrumental view places the church as the acting agent, whereas the missional view of church places God as the primary acting subject.

Van Gelder encouraged the Mennonite Church to “live more deeply to understand God more fully.”

For Clyde Kratz, a pastor at Zion Mennonite Church in Broadway, Va., the topic of the missional church is not new.

“It’s something I have been reading about for a while,” he said. “This is reinforcing the things I’ve already heard, as well as stimulating some rethinking.”

The topic of the trinity is something that isn’t often talked about in the Mennonite Church, Van Gelder pointed out.

Phil Kniss, a pastor at Parkview Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Va., thinks it’s important to see the trinity “as an example of relational diversity that we can base our other relationships off of.”

According to Dorothy Nickel Friesen, the Western District conference minister, an annual pastor’s meeting is an excellent way to resource pastors, open up conversation and provide inspiration.

She said an annual pastoral gathering will “bring us together and make us more approachable in a local context.”

Other events throughout the Pastors’ Day included seminars and a discussion about the Corinthian Plan, which is intended to provide health care for pastors, regardless of congregational means.

Groups from Berkey Avenue and Kern Road Mennonite Church, both from northern Indiana, each rode several hundred miles to Columbus. Berkey Avenue riders saw 231 miles from atop two wheels.

This convention bicycle trip is not the first for Berkey Avenue Mennonite Church. Seven years ago, a group rode 500 miles to the Mennonite church convention in Nashville, Tenn. Lois Mast, one of the congregation’s youth sponsors, said, “We had about 10 youth involved in that ride out of approximately 15, and the trip seemed to be a positive experience for everyone involved.”

Other than exhaustion and sunburn, Mast reported no major mishaps during the Nashville ride–though there was a hit-and-run incident involving a squirrel.

“One of our riders couldn’t dodge [the squirrel] so she ran over it, and killed it,” said Mast.

This time around, the Berkey Avenue pack of cyclists included 17 youth and four sponsors. Four other individuals assisted the bicyclists, driving vehicles loaded with gear and supplies. Lois and her husband John coordinated the 4-day trip, mapping out the best route, and the group completed several long practice rides.

“Obviously a trip like this requires experience and a high level of fitness,” said Lois Mast.

Though physically demanding, John Mast said the group was grateful for good weather throughout most of the trip with the exception of a brief shower.

“The only rain we had,” said John, “was Sunday morning. We took a break at a shelter before it began to downpour for an hour.”

The Berkey pack found no difficulty encountering hospitality along the way. The group of 25 found refuge overnight with Grace Community Church (Bryan, Ohio), Bluffton (Ohio) University and Prospect (Ohio) United Methodist.

“It was a blessing to see the church open their doors and homes,” said John Mast. “It was humbling to see how we’re all in God’s family.”

Kern Road Mennonite Church (South Bend, Ind.) experienced similar hospitality from churches en route to the convention site. Since this was the group’s first time biking to convention, Kern Road, led by Ben Martz, was unsure what to expect.

“The idea came about when one of the youth suggested it as a joke,” said Ben Martz, who led the group.

But the joke became a serious plan when Martz began the work to coordinate a bicycle trip to Columbus. Three months and several training rides later, the group of six youth, three sponsors and one support vehicle departed from South Bend.

“The only thing that had us worried,” said Martz, “was that I cut off my finger doing house work the Wednesday before the trip.” But despite Martz’s wound, the group’s trip was graced with good weather and only a few surprises. After flipping a bike, one youth took a break from biking for a day and traveled with the group’s support vehicle.

“Other than a few scrapes and bruises,” said Martz, “[the youth member] was fine.”

Sore and fatigued, the Berkey Avenue cyclists nonetheless arrived safely in Dublin, Ohio, just outside of Columbus, at noon on Monday. Kern Road followed one day later at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. All were ready for relative ease of walking on two legs for the week.

And they need to be, as getting to convention can be expensive. First comes the early registration fee: $50. Then there are meal tickets: $188. Transportation can total $400 or more per person. Lodging adds a few hundred dollars. Extras include service project fees, T-shirts, choir music and a convention DVD.

To go to convention, many youth groups participate in fund raising–early and often.

Tabor Mennonite Church in Newton, Kan., and Casa del Alfarero (The Potter’s House) in Pasadena, Texas, have been partner congregations for three years, so it made sense to combine resources to help each other with convention fund raising. Casa del Alfarero made 160 dozen tamales, while Tabor Mennonite filled orders and sold them. The tamale sales raised half of the money needed to cover convention costs for Casa del Alfarero, which “was a tremendous help and a blessing,” said Christian Baeza, a leader of the youth from Casa del Alfarero.

For 25 years running, Iowa’s Lower Deer Creek Mennonite Church has relied on a winning combination of three fundraisers. In the fall, the youth earn $1,500 to $2,000 selling homemade potato chips, hot dogs and specialty sodas including sarsaparilla at an annual fall festival held in Kalona, Iowa. In December, they sell Christmas greenery, and every other month the group cooks a meal at the church.

Mary Stutzman, Lower Deer Creek youth sponsor, said that fund raising has multiple benefits. “The youth take ownership in the trip. They enjoy working together and there is something fun about it,” she said. “It’s just a good camaraderie thing; it builds unity within the group, and [also] brings out leadership skills. The youth also talk to people they don’t know from school or other places.”

First Mennonite Church of Iowa City, Iowa, took advantage of its location. The church is only three blocks from Kinnick Stadium, where the Big 10 Iowa Hawkeyes play their home football games. Since the church owns a large property, the youth group parks cars for people attending the football games. Brenda Litwiler, one of the youth sponsors at First Mennonite, said, “On a typical Saturday, we average 500 cars, give or take. At $15 a car—much more for RV’s—we do pretty well. You do the math!”

That math is, in fact, around $7,500 per game. Though the earnings are impressive, the youth sometimes grumble. “It involves getting up very early, [by] the youths’ standards, and standing out in the cold, rain or immense heat for many hours and dealing with people who may or may not be happy with the parking situations,” explained Litwiler. Each person works four games during a season. By dividing up the season that way, the youth group is able to raise enough money to send everyone to the convention, and still tithe 10 percent to the church.

Harrisonburg (Va.) Mennonite Church sometimes sends as many as 80 people to convention, which requires multiple fundraisers. This year, though, they number 45. A pancake lunch and servant auction raises around $3,000 in the fall. At Christmas, the youth group takes homemade goodies to each Sunday school class as a “Coffee Break,” with donations bringing in another  $2,000 or so. January brings a potato bar and the spring  a coin drive, both of which raise somewhere around $2,000 each.

Glen Guyton, youth pastor of Calvary Community Church in Hampton, Va., recommends creativity. He said, “We particularly involve food and fun, because those are two things people don’t mind paying for.” In the food category, the youth group operates soda and snack machines at the church, and they sell homemade cookies every Sunday.

For fun, the Calvary Community youth group rents a roller skating rink for two hours. Youth invite their friends, who pay a small fee. A party at the rink can net $200 or more.

The church’s Fabulous Fifties Family Night brings in people from across the community for 50s music, hamburgers, chicken strips and apple pie.

Guyton said Chick-fil-A also boosts revenue. “You get 15 percent of the proceeds depending on how many people you invite to Chick-fil-A,” he said. “Over 200 people come out to our family night. The cow even came to church. We passed out fliers, and for dinner our Bible study went and ate at Chick-fil-A.”

Silverwood Mennonite Church of Goshen, Ind., is known for selling perennial sale. “Come spring, people simply split their plants that are coming up and donate them to us so we can sell them,” says Janice Troyer, the youth ministry leader. At the sale, which is always held on Mother’s Day weekend, the youth help sell the plants and deliver them to buyers’ cars.

“In the past we have made between $1,800-2,000,” Troyer said. “The other great thing about this fundraiser is that it pulls in a lot of community people rather than just hitting up our congregation for funds.”

Silverwood is also a confectioner. The youth pre-sell four different kinds of candy—by the pound—starting at the beginning of November; in December, the group makes peanut brittle, peanut clusters, chocolate peanut brittle crunch and chocolate caramels. “[Making the candy] is quite a production, but we really have it down to a system that works well and efficiently,” Troyer said.

The day is divided into two 4-hour shifts, and each youth group member must work one of the shifts if they want to attend convention. The goal is to make as much chocolate to fill the existing orders, and then make extra to sell later.  Silverwood usually makes around 600 to 700 pounds a year. This year the sale earned $2,600.

Eighteen months ago, in the Columbus Regency Hotel, a balanced group of 24 organizers — 12 representing the youth convention and 12 the adult convention — met to determine the 2009 Convention theme. Two and a half days later, the task was finished.

“The theme is not about all we want to do,” said Jorge Vallejos, director of convention planning, “but to understand where God is at work and trying to be sensitive to that.”

The selection process began by writing ideas onto giant sticky-notes on an art easel. The potential themes were then posted on the walls until the walls were eventually covered in ideas. After the brainstorming, the group of 24 split into the youth and adult planning committees to narrow down the ideas. The plan was for the two groups to come together after the breakout session to present their ideas and look for similarities.

At the end of the joint meeting, the group was close to consensus but running out of time.

“We selected three representatives from each of the committees and empowered them to sort out of the differences,” said Vallejos. The group of six was told their decision would be final. “We gave them 90 minutes,” added Vallejos.

While the group of six stayed to make the decision, the remaining 18 representatives went into an adjoining room to pray for them. Ninety minutes later, the group of six presented the chosen phrase: “breathe and be filled.”

“I believe that God has been good to us, and that every theme picked has been one that speaks to the church,” said Vallejos.

Sixty-one agencies will be accepting volunteers throughout the week, many of which will take a new group each day. Servant project groups will leave around 12:30 each day, after a brief orientation session in the Convention Center.

Many youth groups consider service projects a necessary aspect of Mennonite conventions.

“Its always kind of our expectation,” remarked Jo Ward Selman, a youth sponsor from Waterford Mennonite Church in Goshen, Ind.  “We always do a service project.  It’s never a question: the kids just ask ‘What are we doin’?”

The youth of Vincent Mennonite Church, in Spring City, Pa., feel the same way.

“This is the fourth convention we’ve gone to and we’ve always done the service projects,” said Loren Ruth, one of Vincent Mennonite’s youth sponsors.

The assignments will vary greatly depending on the agency each youth group works with.  Arloa Bontrager, the Servant Project coordinator, and her team, Caty Wall and Lori Hershberger Blair, arranged all of the service locations by cold calling organizations and seeking the cooperation of Robert Seed of Keep Columbus Beautiful.

From picking up trash to helping young children in Vacation Bible School, to removing honeysuckle from a waterway with City of Columbus Watershed Cleanup, most anything is possible for adventurous volunteers.  Youth groups are able to request certain types of work, but for the most part, they find out where they are going and what they are doing at the orientation meeting, just minutes before leaving.

The great diversity in service options is partly due to the response of the city of Columbus to the convention’s infusion of Mennonites.

“The city has been overwhelmingly gracious in receiving people,” Wall said.

As a member of the Executive Leadership staff, Miller heard about the over-sized name tags and volunteered his services with a paper cutter from the convention office. Across from the T-shirt distribution table, Miller began trimming down name tags before 8 a.m. on Tuesday for anyone who stopped by.

“I started with the intention that I would cut only the name tag,” said Miller. Yet he discovered it made more sense to cut the whole packet, meal tickets included. One woman in line called Miller a brave man to tackle 3,000 name tags. “3,000? I thought it was only 8,000,” said Miller with a smile.

While Miller doesn’t know the exact number of name tags he’s cut, he said it’s been fun to get to meet everyone. “I’m finding this is a great reunion time,” said Miller. “I met up with an old softball player from the 60s, John Burkey.”

Miller narrated his system as he cut Zach Dey’s name tag: start at the top, swing around, take the side off, turn it around again, and there it is. A perfect fit. The stack of youth group name tags beside Miller’s paper cutter doesn’t fade his friendly smile, “Who’s next? Ah, the Goerings from Moundridge.”

Miller hasn’t decided how long he’d be around to aid what one attendee called the “OC [obsessive-compulsive] Mennonites.” If Miller isn’t at his post, make-shift folding or tearing might be the next best option.

Like the invitation in that warm-sounding Taizé chant—though it is most often sung in Latin—Sunday’s Taizé service welcomes all conventiongoers to come and be filled. Though convention is a week of unique, inspiring services for adult and youth, the Taizé-style experience planned for the final joint worship service on Sunday at 9:30 a.m., in the convention center’s adult worship hall may be new to many Mennonites.

According to Janeen Bertsche Johnson, worship leader of Sunday’s Taizé service, the convention committee decided to close the week with this style “because they wanted to have the opportunity to experience our convention theme ["Breathe and be Filled"] in our worship.”

Taizé is a contemplative form of devotion—a quieter, reflective service that “bridges very well between people who like a more liturgical form of worship, and the contemporary style of worship where songs are repeated and you don’t have to think about all the words,” said Bertsche Johnson.

Meditative in style, Taizé services consist largely of singing, scripture readings, prayers and short periods of silence, and there is no sermon. Songs are repeated multiple times, said Bertsche Johnson: “While the congregation is singing, the soloists and instrumentalists play music on top so it becomes a rich tapestry of musical prayer.”

This repetition gives “the feel of both ancient chant and reflective contemporary Christian choruses,” she continued.

Taizé has attracted young adults and youth from around the world, and many Christians have traveled to Europe for services and training since it was established in 1940. The original community in France has had gatherings of 50,000 people from around the world. Although started by Protestant brothers, the community now has brothers from Catholic backgrounds as well. Similar to Mennonites, reconciliation has also been a significant influence on the Taizé community.

Mennonites may be more familiar with Taizé worship than what they would think, with almost 20 Taizé songs in the three Mennonite hymnal books: A Worship Book, Sing the Journey, and Sing the Story. A few of these songs will be included in the Sunday Worship such as “Holy Spirit, Come to Us,” O Lord, hear my prayer” and “Come and fill our hearts.”

Bertsche Johnson is the campus pastor at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. A Taizé worship leader and teacher for 20 years, she has also visited the Taizé community in France, attended North American Taizé gatherings and  trained as a cantor.

Musicians for the service include Brian Wiebe, Caleb Wiebe and Hannah Johnson (Goshen, Ind.); Tom and Lois Harder (Wichita, Kan.); Phil Hart, Neil Leonard, Thomas Leonard, (Columbus, Ohio); and Hal Hess (Cincinnati). Scripture readers are Nathan Detweiler (South Africa) and Femi Hollinger-Janzen (Goshen, Ind.).

“About fifty percent of our new people come from other traditions,” says Steve Goering, who, with his wife, Susan Ortman, serves as pastor of the congregation.  “That really keeps us alive and brings new ideas into our group on a constant basis.  Our new people really enrich us.”

The participation of the congregation at large is an important part of Columbus Mennonite’s identity.  Their worship service is planned by a new person or group each week, with something for everyone.  For Susan Ortman, the variety of the music is especially impressive.

“One Sunday we’ll have all a capella singing, and the next Sunday we’ll have violins and cellos and drums accompanying the singing,” she remarked.  “We have huge musical talent in the church, and people who are committed to bringing that variety.”

Columbus Mennonite is very receptive to suggestions from congregation members.

“We are a church that is progressive in its thinking and in its worship and I think this is one of the keys to young people enjoying the church,” Steve Goering said. “We really try to be a relevant church. We’re willing to talk about all the different and difficult issues in our society within the context of our faith community.”

Columbus Mennonite Church’s history is laced with the kind of inclusiveness and variety that the pastors describe.  After its foundation by Ohio State University graduate students in the 1960s, Columbus Mennonite (then Neil Avenue Mennonite Church) became one of the first churches to be affiliated with two separate conferences.  Since then, the church has changed location several times, and is now located in Clintonville, about five miles north of downtown Columbus.

From a membership of 74 in 1970, Columbus Mennonite’s attendance has grown to between 160 and 170 people each Sunday.

“We have a broad range, from many new young adults and young families with children, to people who have been with the congregation for fifty years,” he commented.

To complement their worship services, Columbus Mennonite members are also highly involved in ministries, both in Columbus and internationally.  The congregation has a strong relationship with BREAD, a coalition of 50 area faith communities that work with health care and housing issues in Columbus and in Franklin County.

Many Columbus Mennonite members have participated in Mennonite Central Committee service terms.  One couple, Danielle and Brandon Donelson-Sins, will head to Indonesia this summer with MCC.  The youth group at Columbus Mennonite regularly volunteers at Agora Ministries, an outreach of Agora Christian Fellowship, the only other Mennonite congregation in Columbus.

Agora Christian Fellowship, which was established in 1996, is heavily focused on outreach programs in Columbus’ inner city neighborhoods.  The founding pastors, Rich and Becky Bartholomew, host community events and ministries for youth on Wednesday and Saturday nights, and many of these young families and their families also attend Sunday morning church services.

Job-training is also part of the mission that Agora carries out.  Neighborhood kids can get paid for doing chores around the church, and as they get older they are moved into more official work positions.

On Tuesday night, Agora plans to hold a grill-out as a fund-raiser and meal option for conventiongoers.  Each day, some of the youth groups that have signed up for service projects will head to Agora’s headquarters to learn about their mission and do  work in the neighborhood.

Mike Yoder/Photo
J.D. Nafziger, left and Lynelle Yoder, both of Goshen, IN., trim their ID cards and toss the trash in the convention center’s recycling bins Tuesday, June 30. The recycling bins take unsorted plastic, glass, paper and metal making it easier for people to recycle all their trash in one location.

Sharing a songbook with your pew partner is nothing new, but at this convention there will be more sharing with the elimination of specially printed songbooks – one of the many ways Columbus ‘09 is trying to make less of an impact on the environment.

“Sustainability has not been largely on our radar until the last two to three years,” said Rachel Swartzendruber Miller, associate director of convention planning. “Part of that has been brought about by the [Mennonite] Creation Care Network. … [They] really started encouraging us to look at sustainability.”

The Mennonite Creation Care Network – a network of people engaged in sustainability efforts within the church – created a “Green Guideline for Conference Planners” that encourages planners of regional and national assemblies to hold gatherings that place less of a strain on the environment.

“It has been good to see the convention planners thinking and working more at greening a large gathering,” said Luke Gascho, chair of the Creation Care Council, a leadership arm of the network. “We worked as the MCCN council in encouraging the planners to use the Green Guidelines which we developed about two years ago.”

Along with asking people to bring their own songbooks, planners ordered convention bags that are made out of recycled material.

“[In previous years] we went with the most affordable options but now we’re willing to pay a little extra to have recycled materials,” Swartzendruber Miller said. “And that’s something that’s becoming more of a priority.”

Also, unlike in years past, there will be no off-site events that require buses to haul thousands of youth and their sponsors.

Swartzendruber Miller recognizes that some of the changes – like the discontinuation of the convention songbook – might be a difficult for some people, “but we really hope that having sustainability as more of a focus, they’ll understand why we want to make that switch,” she said.

While planners may not have been as mindful of sustainability concerns at previous conventions, Swartzendruber Miller said they were ahead of the times in some respects.

“One of the things we did before it was cool was not to change linens every day,” Swartzendruber Miller said. “It was difficult at some points to convince hotels to do this because it was just not on their radar at all, and so now it’s becoming much easier to do this because it’s in the media and it’s hip and trendy to be green. … In that way we’re ahead of the curve, but in other ways we still have a ways to go.”

And with thousands of people in one building, choosing the convention center was also a priority.

The Greater Columbus Convention Center is in the application process to become certified in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). LEED is a nationally recognized third-party program that recognizes the operation of high-performance green buildings.

One way the convention center will become more sustainable is by using a single-stream recycling system.  Instead of separating all recyclable materials, they will be able to go into the same container: plastic with glass, for example.

Lighting will be managed more efficiently, with Neptun induction lamps; which save electricity, contain no mercury and last up to 10 years; motion detector switches; and a centralized lighting system controlled from one computer.

The convention center also uses an HVAC system that monitors heating and cooling from one room, adjusting the temperature according to occupancy. And for cleaning materials, the convention center uses Green Seal products that have less of an impact on local water systems and indoor air quality.

A day into the convention, however, there have been a few complaints about sustainability practices.

Many conventiongoers are wearing long-sleeved shirts due to the air-conditioned convention center, which is kept at an average temperature of 71 degrees.

Additionally, some attendees are complaining about the volume of waste generated by Aramark food services, which uses Styrofoam trays and cups and disposable plastic silverware in the dining hall.

“We’re kind of talking baby steps this time and making some noticeable changes,” Swartzendruber Miller said. “Our hope is to be classified as a green convention by 2011, which will be held at Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh you’ll start to see major shifts.”

Mike Yoder/Photo
A youth group from Vincent Mennonite Church in Spring City, Pa., get their bearings after registration Tuesday morning at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio. The group planned to participate in a Servant Project Tuesday afternoon, distributing information on food banks and medical clinics to low-income neighborhoods.

Although registration for Columbus set no records, nearly 8,000 Mennonites will be in attendance, surpassing the convention in San Jose by over 1,500 people.

As of 6 p.m. on Tuesday, registration totaled 2,935 adults; 4,284 youth and sponsors; 286 junior youth and sponsors; 314 infants, preschoolers and children K-5; and 250 volunteers.  That adds up to 7,819 people.

The turnout compares favorably with the number of registrants for past conventions: 6,247 people registered for San Jose in 2007; 8,541 for Charlotte (a joint convention with 7,720 Americans and 821 Canadians) in 2005; and 7,867 for Atlanta in 2003.  The convention in 1999 in St. Louis set an attendance record, with more than 9,000 people.

Scott Hartman, the registrar for Convention 2009, said the slight drop in attendance may be due to the nation’s economic recession, the most severe in decades.

Despite that economic cloud, many people were quick to register.  It took only three minutes for Sandra Lapp, a pastor at College Mennonite Church in Goshen, to register for this convention of Mennonite Church USA.

Online registration opened at 8 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 1, and by 8:05 a.m., 100 people had completed registration.   By the end of the day on Monday, 2,600 people had registered online.

It took a month for registration numbers to reach this same amount for the last convention in San Jose in 2007.

Lapp signed up 31 youth and sponsors as soon as registration opened the first morning.  Lapp held the position of interim youth pastor until January and will be attending the convention with the youth group as a sponsor.

“It was my goal to register early, but I didn’t think I would be first!” said Lapp.

Lapp’s top priority was to book a hotel that was close to the convention site and provided free breakfast.  Although her first choice of hotels was already full when she was ready to book rooms, she was still able to get reservations at the Hyatt Regency, which is connected to the convention center.

According to Hartman, the main reason people register early is to ensure getting the hotel of their choice.  Executive Leadership’s Convention Planning staff have 13 hotels on hold for convention use (11 downtown and two in the Dublin area).

Jorge Vallejos, director of convention planning for Mennonite Church USA, said, “I think there is a level of excitement surrounding conventions and people just want to be a part of it.  Plus, it’s obvious people have done their homework and know which hotels offer free breakfast or free Internet.”

Hartman said that usually 90 percent of people who register do so by the early registration deadline.  This year, the early registration deadline was in April.

Online registration became an option in 1999 and is now the most popular method of registering for Mennonite Church USA conventions.  Only 15 registration forms were mailed in by the end of January.

Although people registered at a rapid pace during the first days of early registration, it didn’t take long for things to slow down.  By Dec. 31, 3,459 people were registered.  At the end of January, Hartman estimated receiving an average of around 20 forms per day.

Online registration closed on June 24, and meal plans are no longer available for purchase.  Any new registrations must be made on-site either on Tuesday, June 30, in the Grand Ballroom Concourse, or during the rest of the week in Show Office No. 2.

Sheldon Good/Photo
Customers gather around A Touch of Earth coffee in North Market. Built in 1876 and reminiscent of Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, the North Market is home to 32 local merchants that offer a variety of bagels, bratwursts, beads and bouquets.

As you enter the city named for the man who sailed the ocean blue, you might feel a bit claustrophobic. That’s because you’re at the geographic center of Ohio, among approximately 8,000 other Mennonites and within 550 miles of half of the U.S. population.

Chances are you’ll spend most of your convention week inside the walls – which you’ve now realized are quite asymmetric – of the Greater Columbus Convention Center. You’ll breathe and be filled within these walls. But perhaps you’ll get the urge to befriend the surrounding city.

Let’s take a stroll.

Stand outside one of the glass entrance/exit areas along North High Street. Notice there’s no light rail. You’re not in San Jose anymore. Columbus is the largest metropolitan area in the country without a passenger rail service of any kind (light rail or passenger train). In fact, the doors you just exited stand directly over the former Union Station.

Which way to turn?

Left takes you to Nationwide Arena, where the Blue Jackets (NHL) play. The arena district is the entertainment hub of the city. Go here for fine dining and live entertainment.

Right takes you to the Short North Arts District, near Goodale Park, a 40-acre retreat along the corner of the Victorian Village.

Go straight, and you’ll hit the North Market. Built in 1876, this market is reminiscent of Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia (yeah, Philly ‘93!). The North Market is home to 32 local merchants that offer a variety of bagels, bratwursts, beads and bouquets.

Let’s turn right down High Street, in the general direction of Ohio State University (the largest university in the country) and grab some grub.

Don’t look up though — that’s a giveaway that you’re a tourist. And take off that Mennonite Church USA lanyard from around your neck.

Notice the Byzantine-like Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral (which challenges the LEGO-style architecture of the convention center). If you want a leg up on the next Mennonite assembly, visit the parish – it’s a member of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh.

Walk toward Goodale Street. This is the beginning of your bohemian adventure among the Short North Arts District, a milelong stretch of restaurants, shops, galleries and green spaces (similar to the tree-lined First Street in San Jose).

Surf and turf greet hungry travelers. Bluefish Seafood On the Cap to the right; Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse on the left. We’re bourgeois Mennonites not aristocratic New Yorkers. Let’s continue on.

As you approach the I-670 crossover and the first of many wrought-iron arches, the options multiply (the formerly wooden original arches were built in the early 1900s).

Don’t be alarmed, though. If you don’t like change, you might sample the espresso at the convention center’s closest coffee shops, which sit catty-corner – Cup O’ Joe’s and Starbucks (W. Poplar Avenue).

According to the Nashville 2001 mPress, Mennonites love ice cream. Ben and Jerry’s ran out of ice cream at the OpryLand Hotel. Thankfully there’s a Coldstone Creamery on the left. Don’t worry – it costs just as much.

But the Short North is renowned more for its murals than its ice cream.

Two of the city’s oldest murals decorate Milley Alley. On north wall of Utrecht Art Supplies sits a mural of Columbus’s original Union Station (now the site of our convention center). On the south wall of Union Station Café is a 100-foot-long collage of trains. Both were painted by Greg and Jeff Ackers in 1989.

The Short North’s most recent mural is on the opposite side of High Street. Curtis Goldstein and Michelle Attias painted this recreation of George Wesley Bellows’s “Cliff Dwellers” in 2004. Notice the chimney.

For more historic encounters, head east to the Italian Village. This area was one of Columbus’s first suburbs and was annexed in 1862.

But we still haven’t found lunch.

For a quickie, try the $7 shawarmas and gyros at Happy Greek (660 N. High St.).

In a large group? In the spirit of Happy Greek, consider a hummus appetizer along with your deep-dish pizza at Fabian’s, one block farther, on the left.

A frugal eater? Five dollars will get you the most food – pound per dollar – at Phillip’s Coney Island restaurant (747 N. High St.)

Finally. Dessert. If you didn’t already fall victim at Coldstone Creamery (or even if you did), stop for a scoop at Jeni’s (corner of High and E. Lincoln Sts.). Thai Chili, Gravel Road and Black Coffee highlight the signature flavor list. Remember Cup O’ Joe’s? They roast their own beans, which flavors Jeni’s Black Coffee flavor.

It’s almost time to get back for the afternoon seminars. Almost.

Walk two blocks down Buttles Avenue. If your breathing gets easier, it’s more than just your metabolism going to work on your Jeni’s waffle cone. You’re approaching the northeast corner of Goodale Park.

Too bad the convention didn’t start on the weekend. The Community Festival (ComFest) – according to comfest.com, arguably the largest free, noncorporate urban music and arts festival in the country – was held here June 26-28.

Take a stroll through the park (past the pond), and wind your way back to Goodale Street. This street takes you back to High Street, the beginning of our trek.

You’ve now successfully traversed the surrounding quarters of downtown Columbus. You no longer have to wonder why Money magazine voted Columbus the eighth-best city to inhabit.

But you’re now left with a new question after all that walking: why doesn’t Columbus have a light rail like San Jose?

Don’t worry – Pittsburgh and Phoenix both do.

Editor’s note: Sheldon Good wrote this article while he was finishing his senior year at Goshen College, well before the convention. He reported the story courtesy of Google and the Internet.

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Of course, these inflatable mattresses and rollaway beds were not the sole reason the 2009 Mennonite convention is meeting in Columbus. But it was a factor as Columbus bid for the third time to host the convention.

Hyatt, the largest hotel in the city, offered to stock 300 twin rooms with additional high-quality inflatable mattresses for the youth groups who will be staying there. The committee thought about putting adults at this hotel, but the Hyatt wanted to host the youth.

Choosing a convention location is a long-term process, beginning with narrowing down a list of possible cities to three primary candidates at least three years before the convention will take place. The director of convention planning, Jorge Vallejos, along with Ron Byler, associate director of Mennonite Church USA, and  Rachel Swartzentruber Miller, the associate director of convention planning, travels to each city for evaluation.

“What I do is a site inspection,” Vallejos said. Each city is critiqued on numerous aspects such as the price of meal plans, average hotel rates and traveling distance for participants. Even factors such as sales tax and hotel tax rates are considered to estimate the true cost of living in a given city for convention week.

“It took three tries to get it right,” added Vallejos, but this time Columbus was a more competitive option compared with the other cities.

After evaluating all three cities, Vallejos, Byler and Swartzentruber Miller rate each city and make a final recommendation to the board of directors of Mennonite Church USA, who then make the final location decision. “My job is to bring the best recommendation based on space and costs,” said Vallejos.

As expected, the decision for Columbus included a combination of these factors of space and cost. Columbus had been considered as an option in both 2005 and 2007.

There is no official rotation based on ease of access for the East and West coasts, but the board takes geography into account. “We never go back to a city twice because we always want to reach a new group of people,” said Swartzentruber Miller. Along with Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis were top contenders for 2009.

Meal plans also favored Columbus. Vallejos gave the Greater Columbus Convention Center reasonable meal plan prices and sample menus,and  the center  returned the most competitive meal package offer.  On his visit over three years ago, Vallejos met with the general managers of Columbus’ hotels to discuss the Mennonite convention’s needs, concerns and price range. According to Vallejos, these general managers then went back to their sales representatives and said, “Make this work.”

Once a convention site is officially chosen, the work for Vallejos and Swartzendruber Miller is far from over. They attend every convention, serving as the on-site managers.  ”There are a million things going on behind the scenes,” Vallejos added. “If the participants think things have gone smoothly, we’ve done our job.”

Pittsburg will host the convention in 2011. This decision was made earlier than usual due to shifts in the economy. According to Vallejos, choosing and securing a location before economic issues became more complicated was key in keeping the convention affordable.

Mennonites will travel to Phoenix in 2013 for the first convention in the Southwest. “Phoenix put together a phenomenal package for 2011, but we needed to get to another area of the country before we went to back to the West Coast,” said Swartzentruber Miller. “They were able to keep their rates very similar to the 2011 prices.”