Joy Unspeakable Outreach, Revival, and Racial Integration in Steelton, Pa. By Richard Cline My name is Richard Cline. At almost 99, I may be the last living person who served at the beginning of Sharon Mennonite Church in Steelton. Myers Street, a mission church for white people, began in Steelton in 1935. Concerned also for black children, the mission decided to follow Bible school with a separate… Read More
Multiplying Pains Compiled By Brinton Rutherford Living things move through various life stages. A congregation, a living thing of sorts, also moves through stages. Any congregational change can produce growing pains. Multiplying a new faith community from an established church is one of those pain-generating experiences. Since a new faith community requires leaders, the sending church always sends away some of its leaders. Josef Berthold, pastor at… Read More
Expectant Hope Trusting God through all of life’s seasons By Marcia Mylin In recent years, Lancaster Mennonite Conference (LMC) has been experiencing growing pains. The process has been painful and costly in unexpected ways. Such remodeling is usually messy and can be stressful, especially when the finished product is not clearly seen. In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis describes it well: Imagine yourself as a living… Read More
A Brief Summary of the State of the Conference Address By L. Keith Weaver In this season of Lent, we posture ourselves in prayerful repentance, remind ourselves of the passion of our Lord and seek to say “no” to ourselves in order to say a greater “yes” to Jesus. Whatever the state of the conference, we maintain a humble dependence on the grace and mercy of God. It is only in Jesus that the new… Read More
More Stories Told at Celebration of Church Life On March 17 and 18 over 400 people gathered to worship, fellowship, network, and listen to stories. The assembly heard stories in full session with numerous additional stories during the two seminar blocks. If you were unable to hear these stories in-person at Celebration of Church life, you can see them at the Missional Church playlist on the LMC YouTube channel: youtube.com/user/2160LMC. Nelson Bechtold,… Read More
Manicure as Mission A Story told at the 2017 Celebration of Church Life By Khon “Keon” Tran While living in North Carolina a few years ago, I had a dream. I was in a shoe store where I saw a pair of sandals that I really liked. This was not normal for me because I do not like sandals. However, in the dream I liked them and bought… Read More
OPEN HOURS, OPEN SHOP By Jaye Lindo and Akeia Haddox-Rossiter If you visit Capital Christian Fellowship (CCF) in Lanham, Maryland, on a Thursday afternoon, you may think it is an unusual time for church. Cars begin arriving around 1:30 p.m., but they do not stop at the main entrance to the lobby. Instead, they stop at the far side of the church at a spot called “Janet’s Garden.” The… Read More
780 Miles from New York to Chicago A Pastor’s Prayer Walk is Full of Surprises, Hope, and Hospitality By Reverend Al Taylor In 2008, New York City churches began a men’s prayer walk in the Polo Grounds, a public housing complex in Harlem. After four homicides in a 30-day period, the objective was to walk into the roughest and most dangerous communities where gun violence and the death of young black teens… Read More