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A weekend in Madison with CDC

Last weekend I was one of four Columbus Mennonite delegates to the Central District Conference annual gathering, hosted by Madison Mennonite Church in Wisconsin. Yep, Wisconsin. And we didn’t have near as far to drive as folks coming from Harrisonburg, Virginia or Pittsburgh, PA. Atlanta and Sarasota, Florida folks flew. There is some business that happens at these gatherings, but the main focus is fellowship, worship, and story-telling about what is happening in our congregations. The two year theme for our Conference is “Transformed Through Text and Table.”

On Thursday...

Crooked timber marriages

I’ve been noticing a lot of wedding anniversaries within CMC recently. June is a good time to get married, and Abbie and I have been a part of that club for 13 years now. On Tuesday David Brooks wrote a lovely Op-Ed in the NY Times called “Rhapsody in Realism, ” a reflection on the beauty of flawed people making marriage work. He cites an article on marriage he has appreciated whose first piece of advice was “Go to bed mad.” Don’t stay up too late until everything’s...

Church amidst differences

We had a nice vacation with Abbie’s family in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. A highlight: having childcare back at the cabin while Abbie and I hiked to a waterfall and old growth part of the national forest.

I’m writing this from the basement of the church where I was dedicated as a baby – Bethel Mennonite Church in West Liberty, Ohio. They hosted a lunch gathering today with about 20 area pastors to be in conversation with Ervin Stutzman, Executive Director of Mennonite Church USA. Ervin will also be in Bluffton this evening for an open town hall meeting. Conversation...

Softball formation

School’s out, summer has begun, and Eve has started softball practice. With baseball having been a significant part of my life from an early age, I can’t help but be involved as an assistant coach. Isn’t the standard progression of childhood development sit up, crawl, walk, run around the bases?

This is the youngest level of organized play and one of things I’ve noticed so far is how little these kids know about the sport. This makes perfect sense since they’ve never played before, but aren’t these things common knowledge? While hitting, you don’t have to swing at every pitch...

Final 12 Scriptures

And the winners are…

Our 12 Scriptures have been finalized. Thanks to all who submitted lists, and to the group that helped collect, group, tally, and discern (it’s not as easy as it may seem). The list of the “Troubling 6” is still being worked on.

I’ve listed the 12 Scriptures below in the order in which we’ll focus on them this summer. You’ll notice I’ve grouped them in five themes, although there are, of course, plenty of overlaps. Here are some other observations:

+ There are three Hebrew Scriptures and nine from the New Testament

+ Each of the Gospels...

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