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 message construction with these elements, in this order: Values -> Problem -> Solution -> Action Starting with values is a way of naming the Why of our concern and can establish common ground.  After naming the problem that conflicts with these values, a solution describes the outcome we want.  Dan encouraged us

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 anyone present.  Anyone interested in working with children this year will have a chance to fill out a paper application on Sunday, or they may fill one out at our website later.  For more information on the importance of this work and what congregations can do, check out the editorial, “You Can Prevent Abuse,” in the Mennonite World Review written by Anna Groff, executive director of Dove’s Nest.  We

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 Bobby Kennedy were shot dead. In the preface, O’Connor writes: “We cannot begin to cope with what it means to build a world community unless we understand how difficult it is to be in community even with a small group of people.”  Being the body of Christ, even in the small ways we care for one another, is

  Inspired by the CMC children playing in the labyrinth in the fellowship hall on Sunday.   One way to walk a labyrinth is to go slow, in quiet solitude. Savor each step. Mind the turns, the twists. They, like your life, fit a greater pattern not easily perceived. Go forward and, though you don’t know how to navigate you will arrive in the center. Or, you could run. You could weave and wind your way through, nearly dizzy with delight. Make a ruckus with friends, sister and brother. Stop occasionally for a dance break. Break dance your way into the center which cannot hold you for long. You move out as quickly as you came. The lines can no longer contain you. Either way, adults and children know this rule: Take off your shoes, for this is holy ground.

  Jim Wallis, longtime leader of the progressive evangelical organization Sojourners, is fond of saying that faith is always personal, but never private.  Faith ought to deeply impact us on the personal level, but, as Wallis’ saying goes, personal doesn’t mean private.  Faith, by its nature, affects the kinds of relationships we form and with whom we form them.  Wallis has persistently encouraged folks in the evangelical world to move beyond a “Me and God” mentality, finding ways to live out faith convictions for the common good. I’ve recently been pondering whether an additional saying is needed.  It might go something like this: faith is political but not partisan.  The Torah repeatedly speaks of fair treatment of workers, along with caring for the orphan, the widow, and the immigrant.  The Hebrew prophets decry the concentration of wealth and defend the cause of the poor.  Jesus continues in this tradition.  Faith