Author: Admin account

EMHS students brave cold to plant American Chestnut trees

On February 27, a group of students from Eastern Mennonite High School braved wintery conditions to plant 220 seedlings of the American chestnut tree.

‘We had forecasts of inclement weather, which included up to an inch of freezing rain and ice. It created a lot of challenges to our planting plans,’ said Loren Hostetter a volunteer with the American Chestnut Cooperator’s Foundation (ACCF) who coordinated the planting. ‘However, we had a group of very energetic and determined students who would not be denied the chance to participate!’

The planting was funded in part through a grant from JoinTrees, a campaign launched last fall by Mennonite Men, the men’s organization of Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA, to plant one million trees by the year 2030. While some individuals and organizations have funded their own tree planting initiatives as part of JoinTrees, this is the first planting funded by a grant from JoinTrees.

‘This first project with Mennonite Men funding was especially exciting as it was part of an important work of restoring the American Chestnut,’ said Steve Thomas. ‘With this we are not simply planting any tree, but a keystone species in the ecology of God’s creation in eastern hardwood forests.’

The planting is part of a larger initiative of ACCF to reintroduce the American chestnut, a native species once the dominant tree in the Appalachian range, after it became functionally extinct from the American chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) in the 1920-1940s.

Although the group’s goal had been to plant 300 seedlings, they needed to limit it to 220 seedlings because of weather conditions and restrictions on how many people could participate in the planting due to Covid. Hostetter said that they plan on concluding the planting in September when they will have more favorable weather.

To find out more information about the JoinTrees campaign, visit mennonitemen.org/jointrees. If you, your congregation, or your organization would like to support JoinTrees or get involved, please contact Mennonite Men at mm@mennonitemen.org. Photo courtesy of Loren Hostetter

March 23, 2021
JoinHands grant enables African Community Church of Lancaster to grow its ministries

This past fall, Mennonite Men presented a grant of $40,000 to African Community Church of Lancaster (ACCL) for their new church building in Manheim, Pennsylvania through JoinHands, Mennonite Men’s program to provide grants to help new congregations acquire their first church building. After renting space from other churches for several years, the congregation recognized the need for their own space so that they could hold longer worship services, prayer meetings, and have increased space for children and youth activities.
The grant from Mennonite Men enables ACCL, an MC USA congregation in Atlantic Coast Conference, to make necessary improvements to the property and furnish some of the rooms in the church building.
While members of the church are taking precautions due to the pandemic, having their own space allows them to expand not only their congregational ministries, but outreach to the community as well.
The congregation, which is made up mostly of members with roots in Eastern and Southern Africa, including Kenya, Nigerian, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, holds an annual summer event inviting neighbors to share African food with them, and they are exploring ways to do a safe, socially-distanced version of the event this summer. They also hold a yearly conference to evangelize and make disciples, which they are looking forward to hosting at their new building in the future.
2020 was Mennonite Men’s biggest year ever for JoinHands, with a total of $170,000 granted to five congregations. Mennonite churches Mennonite Men assisted this year were all ethnic-racial congregations serving African, Chin, Haitian and Hispanic communities of faith.
If your congregation is a Mennonite congregation that is 10 years old or less and is looking to acquire its first building, you can find out more about the JoinHands program at mennonitemen.org/joinhands or by contacting Mennonite Men at mm@mennonitemen.org.

March 18, 2021
Seedling bouquets as creative Valentines gifts

This Valentine’s Day, members of Ambler Mennonite Church in Ambler, Pennsylvania are surprising their loved ones with a ‘green’ Valentine’s Day Care Package. Inside, recipients will receive a ‘bouquet of trees,’ in which one dozen tree seedlings were donated for planting in their honor. The congregation is doing this as a way of supporting JoinTrees, Mennonite Men’s campaign to plant one million trees by 2030. In total they’ll give 46 bouquets, for a total of 552 trees.

‘This bouquet of trees is truly life-giving!’ said Gretchen Merryman-Lotze. ‘Trees have the remarkable ability to sequester carbon, moderate climate change, and cool the earth. By supporting Mennonite Men’s campaign to plant one million trees by 2030, we take confidence in knowing that our seedlings will be planted in locations where they can be watered and cared for in order to grow, thrive, and heal our planet.’

This project was coordinated by the church’s ‘Green Team’ as an eco-friendly alternative to the more traditional bouquet of cut long-stem roses, which are often grown with harmful pesticides, shipped long distances, and require refrigeration throughout transit. The idea developed after realizing that February 14 falls on a Sunday this year, providing the congregation with a unique opportunity to share their love for others and the planet.

If your congregation or group is interested in creative ways to support JoinTrees, please contact us at mm@mennonitemen.org. If you’d like more information about JoinTrees, you can visit mennonitemen.org/jointrees.

February 8, 2021
Riverton Fellowship Circle donates $30,000 to JoinHands program

When the Mennonite Church Manitoba congregation, Riverton Fellowship Circle, decided to close this summer, they decided to ‘pay it forward’ in a number of unique ways. 1. They gave their building to the Riverton Friendship Centre, the drop-in organization they were born out of. 2. They gave $30,000 back to JoinHands (formerly Tenth Man), a program of Mennonite Men that provides grants to help new congregations acquire their first church building. Riverton Fellowship Circle had received a grant from Tenth Man to build their building, and they wanted to enable another congregation to build. 3. They established bursaries for indigenous young people to participate at Camps with Meaning and study at Canadian Mennonite University.

February 1, 2021
Zoom Conversation on Racial Reconciliation on January 23, 2021

As a part of God’s reconciling work, we are called to dismantle racism and build relationships across racial divides. On Saturday, January 23, 2021, from 9:00 – 11:30 a.m. EST, Mennonite Men will be hosting a Zoom meeting, open to all genders, with members of Seeking the Beloved Community, a group of Black and White men in Elkhart, Indiana, who have been engaged in this work for seven years. A number of these are pastors and members of Mennonite congregations. This is a regular, open, monthly meeting of men seeking to build relationships, especially among men. They seek to deepen bonds with each other, across race and culture, within families, among local churches and neighborhoods. They seek to confront racism, expose privilege, and engage in activities that promote shalom and demonstrate God’s Beloved Community.

This interactive Zoom meeting will consist of presentations from members of Seeking the Beloved Community, whole group conversation, and breakout sessions. As we engage with this group, we will discover

· What happens when Black and White men come together,
· The gifts and challenges of building such relationships,
· Hidden truths and fears revealed in our gatherings,
· How we change as a result of our experience together,
· Personal experiences of privilege, racism and change,
· How building community helps as a step to dismantle racism,
· Ways the Spirit works to form God’s beloved community.

Through this event, we will encourage deepening relationships across racial forms of belonging, dismantling racism, and participating in God’s community.

We suggest a donation of $25—all of which will go to Seeking the Beloved Community to minister to needs in their neighborhoods. However, we invite anyone to participate regardless of ability to make a financial contribution.

Register for this event at https://seekingthebelovedcommunity.netlify.app/ and we will send a Zoom meeting link to you.

‘The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of (humanity).’ –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

December 21, 2020
Men’s Retreat at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp

Early March as the warm weather and longer daylight hours inched closer,
men gathered at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp for the annual Men’s Retreat
hosted in part by Mountain States Mennonite Conference. This retreat was
attended by 46 men and was filled with laughter, good singing, and much
conversation. Saturday afternoon the tradition continued of competing in Human
Curling (a RMMC original game which combines the thrill of bumper cars and the
strategy of chess), showing off people’s competitive side and youthful energy.
There was also a snowshoe hike around camp to see the “Elders”, the oldest and
largest trees at camp.

Steve Thomas, US Director for Mennonite Men, facilitated the worship sessions during the weekend on “Celebrating God’s Love, Grace and Compassion in Our Everyday World.” He led participants in reflecting on their image of God and offered table discussion groups to explore questions and ideas together.

A few comments from the retreat evaluations are below.
“I appreciated Steve’s ability to connect with us.”
“Steve’s messages were insightful and left much to reflect inviting further research.”
“I appreciated that Steve did not tell us what our image of God should be, but facilitated our exploring what our image of God actually is.”
I appreciated interactions with other men, both informally and as part of the presentation by Steve.

–By Jenelle Roynon, program director for Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp.

March 30, 2020
Waterford Church in Goshen gives a tithe of its building project to JoinHands

Welcoming Spaces 3.0 will turn into a welcome addition to Mennonite Men’s JoinHands program, thanks to a contribution from Waterford Mennonite Church.
In late 2018 Waterford began its ‘Welcoming Spaces 3.0’ campaign, seeking to make several improvements in their physical facilities to create a more inviting space for guests and regular attenders alike. To date, the church in Goshen, Indiana, installed an ADA-compliant ramp in the sanctuary, providing access to the platform for those with physical limitations. They also repaved the parking area to provide a safer and more attractive surface to a lot that had significant cracks throughout. Welcoming Spaces 3.0 followed earlier Welcoming Spaces campaigns for facility improvements.
Drawing on a model used by other congregations, Waterford chose to ‘tithe’ from its campaign, providing resources to other groups seeking to provide more welcoming spaces, with plans to make Mennonite Men the largest beneficiary of the tithe. To date, Waterford has contributed $5,000 to JoinHands.
‘Although by most standards, this is not a major capital campaign, in my 15 years pastoring here this is the largest project we’ve done which required fundraising,’ said Pastoral Team Leader Neil Amstutz. ‘I have found Waterford to be a generous and responsive congregation when special needs have been brought forward. There is always a healthy dialogue between advocates of money spent ‘for ourselves’ versus money spent ‘for mission’. This campaign gave us the opportunity for our physical improvements to also bring benefits far beyond ourselves for churches that are growing.’
The Waterford contribution to Mennonite Men is anticipated to grow, said church leaders. ‘As we began our projects, we knew of at least three significant needs we wanted to address,’ said Jan Oostland, the church’s facilities manager. ‘We’ve improved two significant spaces with the ramp addition and parking lot repairs, but we also knew we wanted to address some issues in our fellowship hall. In the months to come, we’ll be fleshing out what that will look like and perhaps consider some other needs.’
‘Grounded in our gratitude for the gracious God we serve, it has been exciting to see many in our congregation prayerfully respond with generous offerings,’ said Lyle Miller, Welcoming Spaces 3.0 coordinator. ‘As we invite people to participate in the remaining activities, we anticipate being able to send even more to JoinHands. We are thankful for the ways Mennonite Men helps men ‘grow, give and serve as followers of Jesus.”

March 4, 2020
JoinHands Gives Assistance to Centro de Alabanza de Filadelfia

At the beginning of this year our director, Steve Thomas, was able to present in person a grant of $40,000 to Centro de Alabanza de Filadelfia congregation in Philadelphia, PA.

Centro de Alabanza, a member of Franconia Conference, is a community of faith in South Philadelphia, made up of mostly migrant families. With a weekly attendance of 120-130, this congregation has a rich diversity of members from Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, the United States, and Venezuela. As an intercultural congregation, their members not only worship together, but also care for one another across cultures as one community in Christ.
It began 12 years ago in a living room as a growth group and later started doing services in public with the Philadelphia Praise Center community. The congregation is located in a strategic place that allows them to develop several ministries with the community, such as collecting clothes and giving them to the most needy people. Centro has been developing an environment of community and brotherhood.
The congregation is unusually active in its life and work together—with worship services on Sundays and Tuesdays, Bible studies on Thursdays and Saturdays, women’s service groups, weekly youth meetings, and focused outreach in their community. Their youth meet weekly for fellowship and study and frequently help lead worship and distribute food in the community. The church is also active with Instituto Bíblico Anabautista (Anabaptist Biblical Institute). A significant part of their ministry is providing a safe place amid drugs, gangs, violence, racism and anti-immigrant attitudes in their community and meeting the needs of immigrants in their neighborhoods.

February 29, 2020
JoinHands Gives Assistance to Centro de Alabanza de Filadelfia

At the beginning of this year our director, Steve Thomas, was able to present in person a grant of $40,000 to Centro de Alabanza de Filadelfia congregation in Philadelphia, PA.

Centro de Alabanza, a member of Franconia Conference, is a community of faith in South Philadelphia, made up of mostly migrant families. With a weekly attendance of 120-130, this congregation has a rich diversity of members from Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, the United States, and Venezuela. As an intercultural congregation, their members not only worship together, but also care for one another across cultures as one community in Christ.
It began 12 years ago in a living room as a growth group and later started doing services in public with the Philadelphia Praise Center community. The congregation is located in a strategic place that allows them to develop several ministries with the community, such as collecting clothes and giving them to the most needy people. Centro has been developing an environment of community and brotherhood.
The congregation is unusually active in its life and work together—with worship services on Sundays and Tuesdays, Bible studies on Thursdays and Saturdays, women’s service groups, weekly youth meetings, and focused outreach in their community. Their youth meet weekly for fellowship and study and frequently help lead worship and distribute food in the community. The church is also active with Instituto Bíblico Anabautista (Anabaptist Biblical Institute). A significant part of their ministry is providing a safe place amid drugs, gangs, violence, racism and anti-immigrant attitudes in their community and meeting the needs of immigrants in their neighborhoods.

February 29, 2020
JoinHands Helps Haitian Mennonite Church in Homestead, Florida

At the beginning of this year our board chair, Lonnie Bartel, presented in person a grant to Unity God of Church in Homestead, Florida.

Our last grant for $40,000 went to a Haitian Mennonite church in Homestead, Florida. Unity church is an active congregation of 45 members, many of whom are newcomers from Haiti. They have two services each Sunday – morning and evening – and have services on Monday and Friday evenings. In their outreach ministry, they seek to serve needs in their community, especially those of immigrants in their part of south Florida.

This grant will go toward their ability to purchase a larger building. They hope that having the additional space will expand their outreach in the community.

February 12, 2020