Volume 4 , No. 4
December 200 8

Council Corner	2
Youth - Adult Faith Discussion	3
Adult Forum	4
New at CMF	6
Ten Thousand Villages	7
Advent 2008	8
Inside this issue: Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship Page Volume 4, No. 4 December 2008 Pastor's Perspective

It has been a privilege and a learning experience to serve on the planning committee for the Mennonite Church USA convention that will be taking place in Columbus next summer. Part of what I've learned is how much work goes into these gatherings and how significant the conventions are for the way the church moves forward in its identity and its calling. It's the one time when Mennonites around the country have the opportunity to have a collective experience of worship, discussion, service and learning. The messages delivered, decisions made, and relationships formed go a long way in helping shape how individual congregations grow in their own mission and identity. Now is a good time to make sure that week in your summer is reserved for the convention. The convention begins Tuesday evening, June 30, and runs through Sunday morning, July 5. If your work gives you Friday of that week off for the July 4 ^th holiday (which is actually on Saturday) you can make the whole convention with taking only two days off of work. Also, now is the time to register. Registration opened on December 1, and an early registration enables you to reserve the hotel of your choice (the ones right around the convention center are the most popular). Online registration is easiest: www.mennoniteusa.org/convention . This website is also a good place to read up on more features of the convention. It would be great to have as many CMFers attend the convention as possible. If you need more convincing, here are ten good reasons to go to Columbus 2009:

1.       Of all the places it could be held, it's in Ohio ! only two hours up the road, greatly reducing travel costs. If you are to go to only one convention, this will be the most accessible.
2.       Bring the whole family so each member can participate in their own Gathering. For certain blocks of each day, adults, young adults, youth, junior high youth and children all have separate gatherings that are             fully programmed with materials and activities that are appropriate to the age. There is also a nursery.
3.       Hear excellent and challenging speakers . Among the speakers for the adults are Shane Claiborne and Jim Wallis, and among the speakers for the youth are Brenda Matthews (a favorite from past conventions), Leonard Dow , and Shane Claiborne (he gets double duty).
4.       Meet other Mennonites from around the country and connect with those you already know.
5.       Participate in a Servant Project . Sign up for a chance to spend an afternoon with one of the many projects throughout the city that we will be engaged in.
6.       Attend seminars . Seminars in the past have ranged from topics of peacemaking to biblical interpretation to greening your congregation to financial management to sexuality to globalization to parenting.
7.       Listen in on or participate in discussions around issues the denomination is working with. Two issues on the table this year are: working at finalizing a program to see that all pastors in MCUSA are covered by health insurance; and discussing what it means to be a Christian in the 21 ^st century, living in the most powerful nation on earth. What unique calling do we have as peacemakers and followers of Christ?
8.       Get a taste for all the agencies and missions of the Mennonite Church through visiting the large exhibit hall .
9.       Come see many CMFers involved in leadership roles .In Columbus Ed D. will move from being moderator - elect to being moderator (lead lay member of the denomination).  Ron and Linda H.will be involved in Mennonite Education meetings. I will be a worship leader for the adult worship sessions.  Hess will be the choir director.   John B. is drama for the junior high youth gathering, and Nick M. will besign language translator.
10.      Sing hymns with thousands of other Mennonites.you have another reason?

Sitting at the Feet of the Elders
[T]hey found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

On Sunday, December 7, the youth in Pastor Joel's catechism class participated in a unique inter - generational learning experience. This was the second of two Ask - an - Adult events (or youth - adult faith discussions; a catchy name has yet to be adopted) planned by Pastor Joel and modeled on the account of the boy Jesus in the temple in Luke 2. A panel of adults was invited to respond to faith questions posed by Jonna, Elizabeth, Jake, Emma, Brianne, Emily and Ryan. The first discussion on October 19 focused on questions about beliefs and the Bible; the second, on December 7, dealt with questions of personal faith experience and the faith journey. Judy H., Rachel S., Keith L. and John B. were the brave adults who took questions in the first round; John K. and Hal H. joined Judy and Rachel in the ``hot seat'' for round two. Parents and other interested CMFers were invited to listen in.
         At the December event, the panelists were asked to share a favorite Bible story or passage; to describe how baptism had affected their life; to share how their views changed as they got older; to recount experiences that greatly influenced them; and to say why they chose to remain or become Mennonite. The responses reflected the wide variety of backgrounds and faith experiences of the panelists. Judy and Rachel represented non - Mennonite faith traditions, coming from the Episcopalian and Wesleyan churches, respectively; while John and Hal spoke from the perspective of having grown up as Mennonites. All experienced baptism at different ages and viewed the significance of baptism in different ways. The formative experiences that each panelist recounted allowed those in the audience to see connections between those experiences and the beliefs and priorities they now hold. One youth later noted that now she understands why issues of peace and justice are so important to so many at CMF. Hal and John, speaking from the more senior end of the age spectrum, both noted that they hold fewer and fewer certainties as they get older. Rachel noted that one of the reasons she became a Mennonite was the freedom and space to explore these uncertainties within the community of faith.
         Pastor Joel plans to make these youth - adult faith discussions a regular part of the catechism class. This is good news for all who enjoy learning from one another in the faith community. The opportunity for youth to question and learn from the experiences of their elders, the chance for the elders to think about and share their own responses, and the invitation to other adults and children to ``listen in'' were valuable to everyone involved. May the conversation continue!

Jan and Stan A.
Stan A. considers his a success story despite his layoff from Zumbiel Box, where he spent 18 years in the printing department. Despite the subsequent fall into homelessness. Despite the 24 months of harsh outdoor life in a tent on the tracks in Oakley. Even despite his wife Jan's cervical cancer diagnosis in March of this year. ``Here we are,'' he told me recently, ``cancer - free and off the tracks, and the only thing we did differently was to come to your church.'' In his less rational moments, when he is overcome by the unlikelihood of this turnaround in their luck, he is likely to call it a miracle.
         Stan was born in Cincinnati, and as a 14 - year - old, ran away from home. He joined a traveling carnival company for a short two weeks before the sheriff's department found him and returned him to his mother. Twenty - five years later, telling his runaway story to friends, he learned that one of them had worked in the same carnival and that it was her uncle he had worked for. Whether it was due to this coincidental piece of shared history, or their strong mutual attraction, Jan and Stan soon became man and wife.
         It was while they were living on the tracks that Jan was diagnosed with cancer. Her diagnosis was made by a doctor on the mobile health care van that targets the homeless. Pastor Joel wrote in his Musings of that trip to Over - the - Rhine with Jan and Stan and his gratitude for the network of health care workers and resources that provided a safety net for them.
         When I asked Jan how she was able to remain so strong and focused during her cancer treatment, she said she has known a lot of hardship in her life. She has learned how to look out for herself, but she struggles even now with feelings of being all alone. Without Stan and the support of CMF, she says, she doesn't know what she would do. Stan chimes in that it was her ``lack of having'' that has made her so gracious to others.
         Jan has recently had cataract surgery on one eye and looks forward to having her other eye ``done'' in early December. She is a little worried that with corrected vision, she will no longer be eligible for SSI, which for the moment is her only income. But she has a strong advocate in Judy VH, who is ready to handle some of the red tape of dealing with the SSI bureaucracy.
         ``What do you want CMFers to know about you?'' I asked Stan, thinking he would point to a long career at Zumbiel and his strong work ethic. He thought a minute and said that it has amazed him how much the caring of others can change your life.

Volume 4, No. 4
December 2008

Adult Forum Book Study Asks:
How Much Is Enough?

One of my favorite metaphors for the creative process for imagination is compost. Compost is messy; compost is organic; compost is alive. Compost takes useless, sometimes rotten, waste material and recreates it into something useful and profound, something that encourages more growth, more life, more creativity. Whether the recently concluded book study on Simpler Living, Compassionate Life: A Christian Perspective provided any fuel for the Adult Forum creative composters is a matter of opinion. Certainly, there were fertile conversations in the ten weekly sessions about how to live a simple lifestyle in a complex and affluent society.
         Some of the questions addressed by the group included the nature of simplicity and the definition of ``true abundance,'' defining the limits of ``enough,'' the healthy use of time and money, the ethics of food choices, and the role of community in enhancing our choices in all of these areas. The book provided readings from a variety of sources: ecologist and theologian William Stringfellow, simplicity guru Cecile Andrews, sacred disciplines master Richard Foster, and farmer - poet - philosopher Wendell Berry, among others. We considered how our worldviews are shaped, and how to reshape the areas that exist in conflict with the prophetic edict to ``Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God'' (Micah 6:8).
         Some compelling ideas from the text include this definition of the ``abundant life'' from an essay by Michael Schut:
The abundant life is characterized by freedom: freedom to define our security and well - being in terms of relationship with God rather than the amount of stuff we've accumulatedfreedom to live a theology of enough. It is not the freedom associated with the Western notion of individualism: free to do anything and go anywhere while paying no attention to the consequences. Rather, the abundant life recognizes that the flip side of freedom is responsibility to the community. (30)

         Schut is not the only writer in the book to link community so directly with simplicity and true abundance. William Gibson, in his chapter ``Abundance as Community'' writes:
Consumerism is itself a substitute, a most unsatisfactory, though addictive, substitute for that which makes human life meaningful and fulfillingloving, caring relationships with one another, in which we accept and affirm our dependence on one another, and all the ways in which we may free each other for everything true and good and creative that each of us has in himself or herself to become. In short, consumerism is a substitute for community. (137)

These notions of freedom and community circled in our discussions around what the intentional forms of community espoused in the reading might mean for the CMF community, divided as we are geographically.
         Another appealing idea, concerning the sacredness of time, was expressed by Gerald May, who suggests ``three kinds of spaces in your life:

little moments in the midst of work and play, regular set - aside times each day, and periodic longer times of authentic retreat. In all these, and in the rest of your time as well, I hope you will see the spaciousness of the immediate moment: the spaciousness of presence. In this single moment, here and now, all three kinds of spaciousness come together: form because it is here, time because it is now, and soul because aliveness if birthed in immediacy. (51)

Finding space and time in our lives to be ``mindful'' of the immediate moment is only the beginning of realizing how cluttered our lives sometimes are with noise, consumption, and stuff.
         Simple living is not a new idea. As Mennonites we sometimes flee it, often yearn for it, and usually find it hard to achieve in our urban and suburban settings. In the concluding session of the book study, the group generated som e possible ideas for creative solutions to simplicity and community in Cincinnati. Some ideas are already in progress or have been done by CMF members in the past like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares and a CMF sharing list. Other simple ideas include a community vow to use public transportation and use ride sharing to get to CMF functions, or to cut down on eating out to save gas and to make better food choices.
         Some bigger ideas included living closer to the church building in intentional community and communally buying property to create a community garden or other areas of green space. These are just a few ideas from the list. If you'd like to see more let me know and I can send you our ideas (lehmankfuse.net). These discussions are not over. Later this year we will be having Adult Forum sessions focused on the cookbook Simply in Season, considering more specifically our food choices.
         Dig deep under the top layer of compost. Smell that living soil. Feel how hot it is, cooking down deep inside? That means the enzymes are doing their work, creating fertilizer, a new layer of topsoil, something to look forward to in the Spring.

Ten Thousand Villages Has an Education Committee!

We aim to increase awareness of our store, tell the artisans' stories and celebrate their artistic spirit, and create awareness of, and involvement with, global economic issues.
         We're looking to connect with high schools and colleges. We already are a ``partner in education'' with Clark Montessori; weexpand our involvement with them. A speaker's bureau, which earlier was begun by Karen D., already has presented to many community groups. These two committees will join together in the New Year.
         CMF members on this committee are Hal H., Joel M., Sheryl NN and Christine S..
         One of the main issues we hope to inform our audience about is fair trade. Many people have no idea what it means. There are four (4) defining characteristics:
·         A living wage is paid to the artisans. Fair trade focuses on the artist. The artist can feed her family and experience less gut - tightening with the security of earning a living wage.
·         The artisans work in cooperatives where they are treated with dignity, honor and respect. 70% of the artisans are women. The cooperatives determine the wages and cost of the products. Living wages are used for food, medicine, education, house upgrades, and digging community wells.
·         Ten Thousand Villages, a non - profit organization, is committed to long - term relationships. Created by the Mennonite Church, it has been doing this for decades. They have built strong relationships with cooperatives. Strong relationships build security and trust. Ten Thousand Villages is also involved in product development.
·         Fair Trade is about engaging in environmentally sustainable practices. Materials are made from local products (paper, wood, glass, fabrics and recycled materials). The ``green seal'' is all over Ten Thousand Villages merchandise.

         We welcome any suggestions about possible speaking engagements!

Volume 4, No. 4
December 2008

Council Corner
October brings the annual transition of old committee members to new.to the many members who have agreed to serve on committees to help CMF run smoothly and move forward in new activities, projects and goals for the upcoming year.serving Church Council this year are Rebecca B. (Treasurer), Beth B., Rosella C., Linda H. (Chair), John K. and Jim M..  Many thanks to outgoing Council members Greta H. and Steve H..  Greta as Council Chair oversaw installation of a new sign, the sanctuary renovation, a stairway removal, and the resolution of a difficult rental issue.  Steve as treasurer always kept us informed and up - to - date on the financial health of CMF as he unselfishly spent many hours each month dealing with the monetary matters of the church.  Our new Council looks forward to serving you and can be contacted either through email or by phone.

Advent 2008
Advent approaches, and this year the theme for our Advent worship is ``Let Your Face Shine.'' We will be following the materials prepared by the Advent 2008 writing team, which was from the Ohio Conference and included Pastor Joel and Abbie M.. Abbie's input was primarily in the children's story area.
         In introducing the Advent theme, the team wrote, ``Like eager children waiting for the arrival of expected guests, we long to see God's face in Advent season. We yearn to experience God's fullness in our lives. As we worship during these weeks, we will catch glimpses of God's face in the scriptures around which we gather. In the songs we sing and the prayers we offer, we will respond to the God we meet, the God who is even more amazing than we can imagine.''
         The structure of the services will be familiar: Gathering, Confessing, Praising, Hearing God's Word, Responding and Sending; what will be new in Advent is the theme, ``Let Your Face Shine.'' The team felt that this focus has a double meaning: ``It is not only our plea to God, but a call for us to become part of the shining transformation of our world. Our faces can reflect the light of God as we welcome the Divine to dwell among us, embrace the way of Jesus, work for justice, and open our arms to include all whom God welcomes. Righteousness and peace are united in our world when God's people join in God's mission to reconcile and restore all things.''
         In both the sermon and children's story, worshipers will consider faces in the world around them and how they reflect God's face.
         The Advent writing team posed the following questions for weekly reflection:
·         November 30     
         As we begin the Advent season we are invited to repentance, to turn, to take a posture of yielded openness to God. Does God feel hidden from us? Do we yearn to live in God's truth? Or would we rather remain hidden from God?
·         December 7      
         As people of faith, we live in the paradox of God bringing comfort to the brokenhearted while also upsetting those who are comfortable with the status quo. Where in our lives are we content with the status quo? In what ways is God pushing us beyond our ``comfort zone?'' Can we trust God with ourselves?
·         December 14     
         The texts for this week invite us to both actively prepare and wait for God's coming. In what ways are we actively involved with God's arrival? Can we say we are ``pregnant and waiting'' like an expectant mother preparing for the baby's arrival?
·         December 21     
         We celebrate the arrival of Immanuel, of God with us! Have we made room for the baby? Are we making room for God to dwell in our lives and hearts?
·         December 28     
         We are reflecting the face of God to those around us as we celebrate this new baby! How are we letting our faces shine with joy?
·         Epiphany, January 4
         The magi show us the welcoming face of God. Do we believe there is more than enough of God's light, grace and mercy for all people?

Volume 4, No. 4
December 2008

Adult Forum Schedule

November 16 January 25
Book study (Jim M., facilitator)
Road Signs for the Journey: A Profile of Mennonite Church USA

February 1 22
End of life issues (Healthcare Access Taskforce, facilitators)

March
TBA

April 5 May 17
Simply in Season (Carol M. and Jeanne B., facilitators)

Pastor's Perspective (cont.)

Online Registration Soars
for Convention 2009

Have you registered for Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009? More than 2,600 people registered within 24 hours of the opening of online registration for the July 2009 event, reports Marathana Prothro of Mennonite Church USA. It took a month for registration numbers to soar this high for the 2007 convention in San José. By 8:05 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, December 1, 100 people had completed registration forms online. By 9 a.m. the same day, that number rose to 1,292 and the first hotel was sold out.