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What we don’t see

This Sunday we will celebrate six jr. youth coming of age. The scripture they have chosen to shape the worship theme is Jeremiah 1:1-14. After an initial call from the Lord to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah’s response that he is too young and cannot speak, the Lord asks him a question: “What do you see?”

Along with pondering this simple but profound question I’ve also been pondering what we don’t see – or what just goes unseen. Two weeks ago I was driving up to Bluffton for a pastor-peer meeting. As I traveled north the trees started to become covered with a thin, and then rather thick...

Commitment and the Art of Mentoring

In a few weeks, on February 1, six of the youth in our congregation will be leading us in the Coming of Age Celebration. As part of that worship service, we will also be kicking off the Mentoring Program by officially matching up each of the youth with a mentor who will walk with them through the coming year. From what I understand, mentoring at Columbus Mennonite has been an important ministry for a lot of people, but participation has faded in the last few years. I am excited to be a part of the renewal of this program, in part, because I know firsthand the blessing that mentoring can...

Borrowing faith

This past weekend I attended the Music and Worship Leaders Retreat at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center in western PA. The theme was PastPresentFuture, focused on bringing our whole selves into worship, and that worship itself is an act of extending our selves back into traditions we have inherited and forward into the future for which we hope.

One of the main resource persons was Lara Steinel, a cantor and leader of a progressive Jewish congregation in Kansas City. One of the lines she delivered was a quote from Rabbi Zalman...

2014 in review

2014 is gone, but it’s worth considering where all we have been and what we’ve done in the past year. With fear and trembling that I may be leaving out something crucial, here are some of the highlights from the year. Some of these are things that happen every year and are part of the annual rhythm of the congregation, others are unique to 2014. All of them are the work of an active community seeking to follow Jesus Christ and be led by the Holy Spirit.

Open mic night with music and stories + serving breakfast at Community Resources Center +hosting Central District Conference...

Singing as if life depended on it

After noticing its persistent presence on my Facebook newsfeed for multiple days, I caved and watched the three minute video of Naomi Feil, a Jewish woman, singing Christian songs to Gladys, an elderly woman with Alzheimers. While singing “Jesus loves me” and “He’s got the whole world in his hands,” Feil affectionately strokes Gladys’ face, matching her volume and pace to the intensity of movement and emotion expressed by Gladys, who is unable to speak. At the end of the clip, Gladys, through a soft but clear whisper,...

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