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“We believe Christians are called to a committed fellowship of believers.”

This is the first of five “We believe…” statements from the CMC Membership Commitment.  This coming Sunday we’ll read that statement collectively as we welcome 19 new members into the congregation.  The new members will participate in leading the service and will receive and serve Communion.  They’ll also share briefly from their faith journey and why they’re choosing to join up with the journey of this congregation.  It’s hard to do all that in one service with 19 folks, so about half will be...

You have likely started to hear rumors about the upcoming summer worship series.  Starting on June 11 and running through August 13, we will be exploring the results of our 12 Hymns Project (similar to the 12 Scriptures Project from three years ago).  During this worship series, we will center each service around one or two of the top twelve hymns or songs chosen by the congregation by exploring the theology of the words, the context or background, and how the musicality of the song enhances the experience of it.  There will be many opportunities to get involved,...

 

Today CMC hosted a training for how Columbus faith communities can be in solidarity with immigrants.  The event was put on by Faith in Public Life, Central Ohio Worker Center, Church World Service, and Columbus People’s Partnership.  There were 40-50 people present, four of us from CMC.

One of the presenters, Dan Nejfelt, talked about messaging and the media.  One of his topics has broad application for how we might talk to others about any topic of concern.

Dan noted there has been lots of research done about what makes for a compelling message.  He proposed a...

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and this coming Sunday (April 23) our worship service will be focused on how Christian faith informs our commitments to creating a safe and nurturing environment for children and youth.  In 2006, Columbus Mennonite adopted the Keeping CMC Safe policy which helps guide us in this work.  Part of the policy includes a commitment to ongoing training and education on abuse prevention at a congregational level. 

This worship service will count as training for...

Back in 1968 Elizabeth O’Connor wrote a book called Journey Inward Journey Outward.  That language was already an important part of her congregation, Church of the Saviour, in Washington, DC.  The book helped popularize this simple but profound notion of both journeys happening simultaneously.

Living in Washington, DC in 1968 must have been intense.  It was the height of the Civil Rights movement that was transforming into a national Poor People’s Campaign.  Although I believe the book was published before either happened, it was the year both Martin Luther King Jr. and...

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