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Ukraine and Mennonites, war and peace

In the late 1700s the Russian leader Catherine the Great issued a decree inviting Europeans to come settle the newly conquered lands of the Russian Empire in present day Ukraine. German speaking Mennonites answered the call. They had previously fled persecution in the Netherlands and viewed this as an opportunity to build a self-sufficient community. As pacifists they were also drawn by promised military exemption.

Mennonite colonies in Ukraine were built among the Nogais, semi-nomadic pastoralists who trace their lineage back to Genghis Khan. It was a tense relationship at...

Sanctuary updates: Edith, Pilar, pictures

Tomorrow, February 18, is the one-year anniversary of Edith leaving sanctuary. She lived in our church building for 40 months to avoid deportation. She has been living with her family in Columbus and now has a work permit.

Last week a group of us accompanied Edith to an ICE check in (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). She is under an order of supervision which includes sending ICE a monthly GPS-tagged picture through an app, and coming in person every four months. It’s a common arrangement for folks without a secure status. Edith was nervous because her ICE officer had...

Seeing with love

A lot of us spend a good amount of time and energy trying to change the world we see for the better. A recent collection of photos by Columbus photographer Ben Willis called The Home We Know is a good reminder that changing how we see is also vital. The Washington Post refers to his work as “a love...

Midweek Blog: Coming of Age

It has been a few years, but it is finally time to start thinking again about our Coming of Age Celebration. Barring any unforeseen circumstances with the pandemic, we will be holding this service on February 27th. The plan is to be back in the sanctuary, while also still streaming via Zoom for those unable to make it in person.

For those of you who are newer (or those who have forgotten since it’s been a few years), this is an opportunity for our current sixth graders to bless the congregation by planning and leading a Sunday morning worship service. These young people have...

Gratitude for Thich Nhat Hanh

In 2002 I was newly married, doing Mennonite Voluntary Service in St. Louis with Abbie, and in the middle stages of theological deconstruction. The collection of beliefs that had guided my youth and early young adulthood no longer made sense. There was no clear indication much of anything made sense.

It was during this time I discovered, read, and re-read a little book by the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh called Living Buddha, Living Christ.

I hadn’t encountered anything quite like it before – a Buddhist retelling his experience of coming to claim Jesus as a...

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