Canadian Mennonite
Volume 12, No. 20
Oct. 13, 2008


Viewpoints

Readers Write

We welcome your comments and publish most letters sent by subscribers intended for publication. Respecting our theology of the priesthood of all believers and of the importance of the faith community discernment process, this section is a largely open forum for the sharing of views. Letters are the opinion of the writer only—publication does not mean endorsement by the magazine or the church. Letters should be brief and address issues rather than individuals.

Please send letters to be considered for publication to letters@canadianmennonite.org or by postal mail or fax, marked “Attn: Readers Write” (our address is on page 3). Letters should include the author’s contact information and mailing address. Letters are edited for length, style and adherence to editorial guidelines.

Mennonite agencies charged with bias against Israel

How sad that Donita Wiebe-Neufeld (“From throwing rocks to living stones,” Sept. 15, page 4) cannot see the contradiction in her own words. How unfortunate that the group she represents has so often squandered the opportunity to work for genuine peace in the Middle East.

Wiebe-Neufeld quotes Shirley Roth, a director of Nazareth Village, “Being Mennonite has been tremendously helpful. We are seen as being neutral, someone who listens and takes them seriously.” Alas, the “them” in regard to the Holy Land has always been one side in the conflict, to the complete exclusion of the other.

As Wiebe-Neufeld quite honestly and accurately writes, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) that sponsored the learning tour to the Middle East “aligns itself with local Palestinian and Israeli groups working for peace.” She goes on to point to “Zionism” as the culprit for the troubles in the region. Can MCC choose one party to the conflict, dismiss the millennia-old connection between the people of Israel and her land, and still expect to act as an honest broker between sides?

Alas, MCC is only the tip of the anti-Israel iceberg that Mennonites have floated for decades. Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) never fails to highlight the misdeeds of a small number of hot-heads in the settler population—that are condemned by the vast majority of the Israeli population—but has been oblivious to the virulent anti-Semitism disseminated regularly to children and adults through Palestinian television, mosques and textbooks. Nor did CPT record the desecration of the Tomb of the Patriarchs on the first day of Ramadan, when Arabs urinated next to the Holy Ark.

Why, in general, have Mennonite teaching materials, films and statements been silent regarding rocket attacks aimed deliberately at civilians in southern communities located within Israel’s original 1948 borders—far from the “occupation”—unless the Mennonite leadership believes that all of Israel is occupied?

How should Jews in Israel regard MCC representative Alain Epp Weaver’s call on them to affirm their exilic obligation by turning their backs on Zionism and embracing a bi-national arrangement that will erase the Jewish State? And if many Mennonites share this theology, do they naively believe that Jews can still take them seriously?

On Sept. 25, Mennonites and Quakers hosted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, for dinner, days after he turned up his hatemongering a few notches with his tirade at the United Nations. It is not the first time that Mennonites have reached out to the person who has said again and again that Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth, and has argued that the Holocaust did not take place. At what point does failure to condemn become complicity with an architect of a new planned holocaust?

Why have Mennonites not offered to sit with leaders of the world Jewish community, or leaders of the State of Israel?  Is Ahmadinejad the only one worthy of respect?

The historic Peace Churches enjoy enormous respect for their convictions. Who can forget the lessons taught to a nation in awe after the Amish school massacre? Where other churches often satisfy themselves with empty resolutions at conventions, Mennonites have directed resources to real hands-on projects that bring Israelis and Palestinians together.

How many more Israelis and Palestinians could be brought together by genuinely neutral mediation? But as long as Mennonite leaders persist in unfair, unbalanced and hostile treatment of Israel, God will have to find himself other helpers in his continued quest for peace.

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein and Lou Adler, Los Angeles, Calif.

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein is director of interfaith affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Leo Adler is director of national affairs for the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies.

Travel cuts, encouraging young pastors key to future of MC Canada

Two issues stood out in the July 28 issue:

1. Going green. Travel on the current scale is a post-World War II development. The current costs of energy have made us more careful in how much we use our automobile. The amount of gasoline consumed has decreased.

I would suggest that another way to change energy use is to have the meetings of Mennonite Church Canada every second year, instead of annually. As a member of the former Mennonite Church, the continental meetings were held on a biennial basis. In the past, we attended a few such meetings south of the border. They still stand out as highlights for us. With the youth convention held in conjunction with the main event, there was an energy there that was contagious. The meetings we attended were closer at hand than the places where Mennonite Church Canada meets when it is held outside of Ontario, which is most of the time.

I will believe we are serious about being green when we condense our travel to church meetings and make them greater events when they do happen.

2. Pastors for the future. When I see potential in young people in terms of leadership, I suggest to them that they consider the pastoral ministry. At times, this has happened when I served as a judge at the Ontario youth quizzing events. It is often possible to see potential in our youths in such a setting. We do not lack potential leaders, but our youths have so many options today that the pastoral ministry is one of numerous choices. Still, I keep suggesting to young people that this is something they should consider.

We once attended a church service where the pastor was a former student of mine. He told the congregation that I had suggested to him as a student that he become a minister. I had forgotten that I had done so. Following the service, a number of people came to me and thanked me for suggesting it to him; he had obviously found his place in life. The only drawback, though, was that it was in an Anglican church and not a Mennonite one!

Kenneth Cressman, New Hamburg, Ont.

More than one desert in Canada, reader maintains

Re: “Service and spiritual discipline in the desert for Eden youths,” Aug. 18, page 20.

I would just like to inform Rob Brown and B.C. correspondent Amy Dueckman that the desert in Osoyoos, B.C., is not the only desert in Canada.

You must visit Manitoba and go to the Spruce Woods Provincial Park, where you will find the Carberry Sand Hills, or Camp Shilo, where armies from around the world, mostly Germany, come to train.

Erna Bergmann, Morden, Man.

Environment should top Christians’ priority list

I hope this letter is only one of many that are written in response to Kevin Schroeder’s letter to the editor in the Aug. 18 issue (“Don’t place the environment above human beings,” page 9). To say that his letter reflects disturbing theology is an understatement.

I do share Schroeder’s belief that the earth is a gift from God, a gift we must share with all God’s creatures. No doubt God created the earth and all that is in it for us to use, but not to abuse. The Almighty did not offer this beautiful planet for us to chew up and spit out like spoiled, reckless, selfish children.

Our culture of over-consumption flies in the face of God’s generosity. The scriptural basis for environmentalism is broad and deep; it transcends proof- texting. One can’t pull out a verse on global warming because it is only the last two centuries of human greed that have created this problem.

The truth is that the entire Bible speaks of a creator who shows boundless love and also expects a mature response to this love. This response was modelled by Jesus in his examples of gentleness, humility and giving. The challenge for us as Christians in this time is to follow Jesus’ example in a world that continues to cling to the fallen ways of greed and domination over other people and the planet that is God’s gift to us.

This is not a distraction, as Schroeder argues. I believe it to be our highest and most urgent priority as children of God and disciples of Jesus.

Scott Morton Ninomiya, St. John’s, Nfld.

Christ’s compassion for lost sinners extended to death on a cross

How painful it was to read in the pages of Canadian Mennonite (“Postcard Project sends controversial letters on homosexuality,” June 23, page 12) that a group of Mennonites in Winnipeg is “asking for support in its desire to change the church’s position that homosexual activity is sinful.”

Do we not have a clear, sound scriptural basis to say no to dialogue? Is it possible that Mennonite Church Canada is so easy and soft on homosexuality—for that matter, sin and such—that people feel free to make such a proposal?

It seems that one part of Scripture in connection with this issue has been totally ignored: the Letter of Jude. If we read and re-read it, statement by statement, we will find that it refers directly and plainly to Sodom and Gomorrah, the spawning places of homosexual practice. We also need to note that, although Jude stresses the ugliness of this sin, there is a ray of hope in verses 22 and 23.

As for Aiden Enns’s “Transgressing privilege” column (June 23, page 12) that pointed out the people with whom the Saviour dealt with in compassion and love—that he did indeed! And he still does, when we seek him, even in the dead of night, and repent and confess our sins. In all this, we need to remember Jesus’ words in John 3:3: “I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

And about the love of God? When we read the account of Jesus dying on the cross and his excruciating cry, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” he suffered for our very lostness, our very hopelessness, our very sins. We need to realize that the love of God has teeth in it. It is a love unspeakable!

Can we look to our theologians to help us in dealing with this sin of homosexuality?

Peter Unger, Abbotsford, B.C.

Mennonite Church needs consistent sexual ethic

Re: “Pushing sexual boundaries takes church away from God,” Sept. 15, page 15.

I was very interested to see Gerhard Janzen mention homosexual activity and sodomy separately, since most people incorrectly assume they are the same. To the church fathers, sodomy was “venereal pleasure,” an excess of desire. Any sexual encounter that could not result in reproduction was “sodomy” to differing degrees (see Mark D. Jordan’s The Invention of Sodomy). Contraception and oral sex would be out, then, but Mennonites have been reluctant to condemn these acts.

This highlights the quandary about boundaries that Janzen raised. Where can we justifiably draw the lines and when do we fall off the edge of the earth? By what principle can intentionally non-reproductive male-female intercourse be blessed by the Mennonite Church (and presumably by God) but condemned in same-sex couples? Or how is the church going to deal with inter-sex Mennonites when it finally becomes aware of them? (An inter-sex person is an individual who may be born an ambiguous gender and whose DNA will be a combination of male and female chromosomes.)

Fixating on particular boundaries and selecting individual passages of Scripture out-of-context is not the answer. Things will only get more complicated if we try to cram the experiences of 21st century Mennonites into the worldviews of centuries past. 

We need an ethic that deals with divinely created beings and with all of Scripture, tradition and experience. I would propose that we start by trying to understand how people in a relationship are going to flourish today, not 200 years ago.

We don’t simply throw past boundaries out the window. Rather, we thoughtfully consider their intention and application to our lives today. The church still has a message for modern society about healthy relationships and good sex, but many of us confuse it with traditionalism. Proclaiming a liberating message of hope is a huge risk—but with love for God and neighbour on our minds and prayer on our lips, we may just move closer to the heart of God.

Jacob Quiring, Cambridge, Mass.

From Our Leaders

On being ‘a place of refuge’

Rob Tiessen

Twelve years ago, I stepped into the program director’s position at Camp Squeah with a simple goal: Don’t mess up what’s already working well. Thanks to a strong supporting community of faith and a succession of selfless, servant-hearted leaders who had forged the path before me, Squeah had developed a solid reputation for its summer program and hosting annual church retreats. At that time, Camp Squeah was expanding its vision to become more relevant year-round, focusing on outdoor educational opportunities for school groups and fall and winter retreats.

The subsequent growth spurt endeavoured to include campers of all ages from a variety of denominational churches, backgrounds and circumstances. In turn, Camp Squeah grew to become more than merely an extension of our Mennonite Church British Columbia congregations’ Sunday school program.

It has, in fact, become a place for outreach and evangelism; a ministry of service and hospitality; a centre for leadership development and discipleship training, which has been vital to the health of our conference; a relevant partner agency serving not only the MC B.C. community, but the B.C. communities of Hope, Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland and beyond.

Camp ministry demands a significant investment of time, energy and physical resources. Is it worth it?

Camp ministry demands a significant investment of time, energy and physical resources. Is it worth it? What benefits do participants—from children to adults—receive from the experience?

Camping has long been considered one of Christianity’s most effective methods for impacting lives and strengthening the church. For decades, leaders in all denominations have realized that the spiritually focused, challenge-oriented temporary community inherent in Christian camping is unsurpassed for awakening faith, instilling character and implanting godly values in participants, regardless of age or background.

Why is a camp weekend or week so effective? Camps and retreat centres are not home. They are not church. They are not the workplace. They are places unlike anywhere else, where people can set aside the barriers of routine and the hustle-bustle of 21st-century life to focus on God’s truth and one another. In quiet settings, people experience needed relief from daily schedules, valuable time to reflect, and opportunities to form, strengthen and renew relationships.

Camp Squeah, in the local Salish dialect, alludes to a “place of refuge.” We recognize that life is busy, full of significant activities and events. We also realize that there are appropriate times to withdraw from the pace of life.

In response to our mission statement’s call to be a “place of refuge . . . where campers of all ages can build relationships, grow and be nurtured,” we are currently adding long-anticipated adult-friendly accommodations. (See “?‘Ground blessing’ at Camp Squeah,” Sept. 29, page 13.) This will allow us to more relevantly serve our diverse and aging community.

Rob Tiessen is the current interim executive director at Camp Squeah.

New Order Voice

How to hear a sermon

by Aiden Enns

A good sermon, like a good column in a magazine, should both challenge and uplift.

Alas, too many messages err on the side of entertainment (an obvious temptation for charismatic types). Or they offer too much irrelevant information (a temptation for the highly educated). Some sermons repeat the same message over and over, and others are just plain boring.

Let’s not leave the fate of our minds in the hands of lack-lustre preachers. We, the listeners, can create our own mood, our own healthy mental environment. We can use the sermon time as an occasion to reinforce a message of hope, even if it’s only in the congregation of our own thoughts. After all, the church experience is more than just another consumer-serving entertainment event.

Perhaps what I’m saying sounds negative. It’s true, I have problems with most of the preaching I hear. But that’s okay, isn’t it? I still love the preachers. I still love the Mennonite Church. My goal is to make it a positive, group-building thing. To that end, here’s what I do when I’m having difficulty listening to sermons:

Let’s not leave the fate of our minds in the hands of lack-lustre preachers.

1. Dissect the anecdote. For example: The preacher tells a story about giving thanks to God for small things, like finding an open parking spot close to the front of the store. Instead of looking at “the point” of the story, I look at the assumptions behind the story. In this case, the preacher has quietly condoned car culture and reinforced the shopping mentality. By bringing this to my attention, I have questioned the normalcy of cars and suggested that consumerism is problematic. See how stimulating this can be!

2. Find Jesus. It’s fun to listen to a preacher and pay attention to the social location of Jesus. Every preacher has a class bias, and so does God. Or, as Ron Sider says in his book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, “God is on the side of the poor.” Does the preacher put Jesus in a golf cart, picket line or soup kitchen? And is Jesus serving soup or standing in line? Is Jesus white in the preacher’s eyes, or a person of colour? This line of thinking helps stimulate my social conscience.

3. See boring as inspiring. The preacher may exhort on love with abstract words or give long-winded stories of missionaries overseas or saints through the ages. This mundane sermon can be a signal for transcendence to enter in.

Indeed, a boring sermon may actually be a gift. It’s a gift to us listeners because it forces us to come alive from within, instead of being stimulated from the outside:

Step one: See the blandness as bland. Acknowledge the ho-hum sermon as problematic.

Step two: Revise it in your head, let it ignite some passion, see the possibility. Wouldn’t it be neat if the preacher would connect us with the suffering right here in our community, tell us stories of people in need just outside our doors?

Step three: Thank the preacher—even if it is only in your heart—for creating a desert of inspiration by clearing the way for imagination to turn towards love and justice.

Step four: Leave the sanctuary aflame, having received the precious gift of inner wisdom. This may sound silly, but I’m actually serious. I truly believe the Spirit of Life is, at every moment, calling us to life anew. Why can’t that wonderful moment start with the next so-so sermon?

Aiden Enns can be reached at aiden@geezmagazine.org. He is a member of Hope Mennonite Church in Winnipeg and sits on the Canadian Mennonite board.

Out of the Box

The grind of pastoral life

Phil Wagler

Some chats with leaders from across Canada and denominational lines have unearthed some disturbing pastoral realities: weariness, despair and quandary.

One pastor friend, sporting a different brand of kingdom wear (he’s Reformed—I still love him, but of course I was predestined to!), reminded me that recent U.S. statistics show 1,500 church leaders leaving ministry monthly because of conflict, burnout or moral failure. They’re not taking a break; most have no intention of returning to the grind of pastoral life.

All this makes the whole idea of the “pastoral life” a horrible oxymoronic and sarcastic kick to the nether-regions. “Pastoral life” can conjure up images of quaint log cabins or hillsides dotted with cud-chewing, tail-swishing cattle. What I’m hearing—and granted this is not every leader’s current experience—is that the life of a pastor is anything but tranquil. This, of course, is nothing new. Leaders have always been fair game from without and within. Those who have experienced the church under persecution realize that the enemy always aims for those living the pastoral life first.

These current trends, however, are a revealing indictment of a church not facing overt persecution. Perhaps the enemy is using more subtle tactics. As an under-shepherd with my weary brothers and sisters, allow me make the following observations:

• The pastoral life is being made weary by the unrealistic demands of consumerist religious idolatry.

[Pastors] wonder if we’re still necessary when Oprah is more popular than Jesus, even in the church.

This sounds harsh, but a culture demanding what it wants, expecting what it wants, and generally getting what it wants, has invaded our churches without anyone asking for proper identification. We are idolatrous consumers who expect a church life that will feed our spiritual, fee-for-service, drive-through appetites.

Leaders are weary and burned out trying to meet these impossible demands. Too many have been told their job is simply to keep people happy. Too few have been given the charge to simply do the will of the Father.

• The pastoral life is plagued with despair by the dysfunctional mess of our age.

Every era has its quirks, but a unique challenge of this age is the rapid unravelling of the home. While the mess left by a hurricane through your home can produce some wonderful clean-up stories, pastoral leaders are dealing with increasingly complicated family dysfunction that leaves them without answers when they are expected to have them.

Too many pastors are being told they bear responsibility for fixing messes they didn’t create. Too few have been freed to call for the responsibility of the individual and the community to the repenting, embracing and healing process of increasingly broken lives.

• The pastoral life is left in a quandary by the unstoppable shift of culture.

The boundary lines have moved. The church no longer functions anywhere near the centre of cultural conversation. We are a side-show, a nicety for the old, unscientific and ignorant; at least that’s what the culture believes.

To be a leader of this chastised remnant of yesteryear is not a title many clamour after. Many leaders are baffled why pews are empty or their best-laid plans produce nary a blip on the radar.

We wonder if we’re still necessary when Oprah is more popular than Jesus, even in the church. Too many pastors have been told they must simply do what has always been done. Too few have been released to lead their community into full-fledged missionary engagement with the world as it now is.

Phil Wagler is pastor of Kingsfield-Zurich Mennonite Church and Kingsfield-Clinton, Ont. You can reach him at phil_wagler@yahoo.ca.

 


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