As summer winds down, we look back at activities that have taken place this summer—from facilities upgrades to community life celebrations. In June, the circle drive was repaved and wire installation was completed for TV monitors. CMC-MDS (Mennonite Disaster Service) Ministry Group installed 116 new LED lights throughout our church building, putting in about 96 hours of volunteer labor. College Mennonite Church hosted a week of Vacation Bible School, with 145 children in attendance.

In our worship services, we’ve had much to cele-brate, welcoming children and new families into our fellowship. In July, a delegation of CMCers was sent to Kansas City, Missouri, for the biennial Mennonite Church USA convention. You can read a report from their time there starting on page 7.

It has been a busy summer. We hope you enjoy the pictures in this issue.

A special thank you to all our CMC-MDS volunteers who gave of their time: Eileen Becker-Hoover, Merlin Becker-Hoover, Milton Cender, Dwight Gerber, Tom Gunden, John Hershberger, Willie Kanagy, Ron Kennel, John Kolb, Mike Landis, Leonard Penner, Myrl Nofziger, Gregg Nussbaum, Steve Slabaugh, and Bob Troyer

—Tina Hartman

Summer Days

College Mennonite Church Summer 2019

In this issue:

Lost in Wonder

Strategic Priority 1 Improvements

Impressions of Summer

A Glimpse of Community Life Commission Ministry Teams

Mennonite Church USA Convention 2019

2 SING! Summer 2019

We worship together

Every Sunday

9:15 a.m. – Songs for Gathering

9:25 a.m. – Worship Broadcast

Radio: WGCS 91.1 FM: The Globe

Online: www.collegemennonite.org

Greencroft Communities: Ch. 13

9:30 a.m. – Worship service

Interpretation in Spanish and, on

request, American Sign Language

11 a.m. – Fellowship and Christian

education classes for all ages

Pastoral Team Phil Waite, Pastoral Team Leader &

Worship Daniel Yoder, Christian Formation –

Youth

Pamela Yoder, Pastoral Care Talashia Keim Yoder, Family

Ministry

David Maldonado, Outreach

Madeline Maldonado, Outreach Rex Brake, Pastor of Deaf Christian

Fellowship

Luis Tapia, Guest Pastor

College Mennonite Church is a welcoming congregation of Mennonite Church USA,

an Anabaptist community of believers.

To learn more go to:

www.collegemennonite.org www.mennoniteusa.org

Lost in Wonder

Recently I was at a farm in Kansas on a hot summer night,

enjoying the breeze and looking up at a clear night sky. It was

wonderful, and I was full of wonder. Wonder invites us to humility

and submission (gelassenheit), a sense of something so great

and so beyond (transcendent) that all we can do is accept it for

what it is with gratitude and joy.

We live in cynical times. Mistrust is high. We are suspicious of

each other, and we are skeptical of the institutions that express

our collective life. One of the casualties of the doubting posture

is wonder. We are unable to take things at face value.

This fall in worship we will set aside our skepticism and embrace

a sense of childlike awe and gratitude at the grandeur and

bounty of creation. We will restore our sense of wonder at God’s

beauty, which invites us into a spirit of joy and celebration for

who God is. —Phil Waite

SING! Summer 2019 3

Strategic Priority #1 states, “We will embrace

diversity and improve our practices related to

welcoming and actively including and inviting others

into our physical space and spiritual community.”

One of the goals for priority #1 is “transforming our physical space to be more welcoming and to promote relationships and a sense of belonging.” As the pic-tures show, our physical space is being transformed.

Where Are We Going as a Congregation? What Is God’s Dream for the Future of CMC?

Circle Drive Repaving

Installing

LED Lights

CMC Library

Open House TV Monitor Wiring

4 SING! Summer 2019

Mennonite Women

Impressions of Summer

Hartman Family

Continued on next page

Welcoming Families

Ramos Family

Hartman Family

Weaver Family

Davidhizar Family

Pontius Family

Leaman Family

SING! Summer 2019 5

Welcoming Children

Max

Dakini

Five Mennonite churches came together for Vacation Bible School in June, with the theme “Jesus’ Upside Down Mission.” About 145 children, ages birth to grade 6, came together to learn more about following Jesus, using the book of Luke as our scripture guide. We formed community in family groups, worshiped together through song and story, worked on an

offering project for Safe Haven, ate snacks, and participated in Then-and-Now activities like a Pass-over meal, upside-down relay races, footwashing, and learning about people around the world. Many, many volunteers came together to make this a forma-tive week for all involved! —Talashia Keim Yoder

Vacation Bible School 2019

6 SING! Summer 2019

A Glimpse of Community Life Commission Ministry Teams

Funeral Ushers

This steady group of volunteers is at the ready to

provide a presence of welcoming and direction for

grieving families, as well as to others, coming for

CMC funerals/memorial services.

CMC-MDS

The Community Life aspect of the CMC-MDS Minis-

try involves assisting members and attenders with

small home repairs and projects that might be diffi-

cult to address for health or financial reasons.

Stephen Ministry Leaders

We currently have 15 active Stephen Ministers ready

and trained to confidentially accompany church

members through particularly tough times. Each SM

attends a monthly supervision session for support,

encouragement, guidance, and continuing education.

CMC Prison Reentry Leaders

The Prison Reentry Program strives to assist and

guide those released from prison toward independ-

ence. Many volunteer their time to walk beside reen-

trants in order to help facilitate the process. This min-

istry provides a safe environment in which reentrants

can do positive work toward successful societal accli-

mation.

Funeral Hosts

Several volunteers are equipped to help families dur-

ing times of visitations, funerals, and memorial ser-

vices. They serve as a hospitable presence, helping

with the logistics of setup and cleanup, offering direc-

tions around the facility, welcoming guests, and be-

ing available for various needs that may arise.

Pastoral Care Visitors

Our PCV Team is currently made up of 14 faithful

caregivers who visit many who are not able to attend

church services or activities regularly or at all due to

health or other concerns. Our PCV Team also assists

with offering communion, hospital and rehab follow-

up, bereavement care, and home blessings.

Some volunteers are not pictured above.

SING! Summer 2019 7

The delegates wrestled in table groups with the

“Renewed Commitments for MC USA,” an outgrowth

of the Journey Forward discernment process of the

past biennium. These commitments—Follow Jesus,

Witness to God’s Peace, and Experience Transfor-

mation—will be priorities for the work of the denomi-

nation in the next two years. The delegates also

adopted a “Churchwide Statement on the Abuse of

Child Migrants” (developed on-site) and approved

bylaws changes allowing congregations, confer-

ences, and constituency groups to add youth dele-

gates.

Joint youth and adult worship sessions focused on

John 20:19-22, identifying implications for our time of

the disciples’ interaction with Jesus during their first

meeting after the resurrection. CMC youth and adults

had prepared for convention together using the

theme scripture. During the opening worship service,

under the guidance of Talashia Keim Yoder, the

group presented a dramatic interpretation of the

disciples’ change from isolation and fear to gladness

as Jesus came among them.

“Unity is the starting point, not the result of our work.“ This insight from Tom Yoder Neufeld, part of his teach-

ing to delegates on Ephesians 1-3, is my takeaway from MennoCon19. Most of three delegate sessions were

devoted to the teaching of Yoder Neufeld, retired Conrad Grebel University College professor and author of

the Believers Church Bible Commentary on Ephesians. His presentations offered a hopeful word to Menno-

nite Church USA after years of controversy and a decline in membership from more than 120,000 to fewer

than 60,000.

Mennonite Church USA Convention 2019

Continued on next page

8 SING! Summer 2019

On the Monday before convention began, CMC youth

and adults participated in two service projects, one

clearing underbrush at Cave Spring Park and the

other assisting staff at the Adelante Thrift Shop. A

planned outing to Daniel Yoder’s home community on

July 4 was literally washed out due to heavy rain, and

as a result there were no fireworks. —Don Garber

Sing! is a publication of College Mennonite Church. Send inquiries to communications@collegemennonite.org. Marie Clements, Managing Editor Don Garber, Copy Editor Photographers include Dottie Kauffmann, Rex Hooley, Marie Clements, Higinio Luna

COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH 1900 S Main St. Goshen IN 46526-5218 Office hours: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.–Thurs. Phone: (574) 535-7262 E-mail: cmc@collegemennonite.org Web site: www.collegemennonite.org