Carpool, Bike, or Walk to Church, Sunday, Oct. 12!

October 1, 2008 | posted by Lars under on the way together, press | Leave a Comment

Bike to church! Walk to church! Carpool, unicycle, or skateboard to church! On October 12, members of Virginia Mennonite Conference churches are invited (encouraged!) to connect with others from their church and decide together whether they’ll use 4, 2, (1,) or no wheels to get to church. As a part of the Body of Christ, this is one way to witness to the healing and hope of Jesus Christ, and not comply with the frenzied, isolated, and consumptive patterns of the world.

It’s not a new idea. People have been re-imagining transportation for a long time — for some, using alternative transportation to get to church is old hat — and for that, our hats are off to you! You’re our role models here! But, for many, the idea of walking, biking, or even carpooling to church is new, so here are some reasons to try it out on October 12.

Most notably, this is an opportunity to practice caring for all of God’s Creation. Noticing and reducing consumption is one way to exercise good stewardship of the natural world and to begin living at peace with others, since many wars are fought over scarce resources, like oil.

Less obvious is the gift of change. The simple act of altering the routine can provide a new perspective on the ordinary. Often, it is in these moments of heightened awareness that God speaks and appears most vividly.

Starting with the money saved, participants can help young leaders from the global south attend the Global Youth Summit and Mennonite World Conference Assembly in Paraguay next summer. AMIGOS, the global network of Anabaptist young adults, is trying to raise a final $30,000 to provide assistance to youth from the global south who would like to participate in the gathering as delegates of their church conferences. While the cost for one youth delegate to travel to and attend the summit is approximately $2,500, together, by sharing resources, the church can help make this happen.

Contributions can either be made here, or by mail to Virginia Mennonite Missions, Attn: ‘on the way, together’, 901 Parkwood Drive, Harrisonburg VA 22802.  Virginia Mennonite Missions will pass all funds on directly to Mennonite World Conference AMIGOS.

Printed in the October, 2008 issue of the Virginia Mennonite Conference Connections.

Promotional material is available on the press page.

You have heard it said …

May 23, 2008 | posted by Lars under preparation, updates | Leave a Comment

…that a group of young adults are biking to Mennonite World Conference in Paraguay. And I tell you, it’s true. Jon Spicher and I are organizing this project and, with the help of many of you, we’re just getting off the ground.

The idea sounds crazy, but it’s one that has been rumbling around in conversation for quite a while now, and we’re not the only ones talking. Here, the idea has evolved like this:

Two summers ago, a group of North American young adults biked across the country, calling themselves BikeMovement. As they biked, they reflected on and talked about their experiences with the church. Their conversations took place in churches, on bikes, and around campfires. They wanted to encourage the North American church to re-envision what ‘church community’ looks like, with the reminder that the early disciples of Jesus were a very organic and motley crew.

We followed them vicariously across the country, and when some of our friends on that trip returned, we continued the conversation. As we talked, we began to recognize that the voices present in the conversations that summer were largely those of white, middle-class young adults - and only a fraction of the church as a whole.

So the need for a broader conversation about being a community relevant to Jesus’ teaching and call seemed clear. The idea of biking to Mennonite World Conference assembly in Paraguay has floated around prior to this, but we think that the action of listening to and sharing stories of the church as we ourselves journey towards the global gathering has the potential to edify and connect the church as a whole - first the Anabaptists, but really all believers.

So, we’ve been actively exploring the possibilities of riding our bicycles over approximately 7,000 miles and 7 months from Harrisonburg, Virginia to Asunción, Paraguay as a way to foster this sort of storytelling and listening, appreciating and critiquing. As an extension of the experiences, we will find creative ways to record our conversations and share them on this website to invite others’ engagement. For the adventurous individuals, we welcome cyclists to join us for sections near their communities; we’d love to hear from you if this vision and journey get you excited like they do us! And of course everyone is welcome to participate by commenting on posted material and continuing to listen, tell stories, and converse about how we can be a family that is radically relevant to God’s Word.

As with the first BikeMovement, we also will be raising money for AMIGOS, so that young adults from all over the world can attend the assembly in Paraguay. In 2006, AMIGOS set the goal of raising $100,000 ahead of the assembly, the remainder of which - $30,000 - we want to raise.

The Church is global and the Church is organic. We hope this project will remind us of that and stir us - together - to follow Christ more faithfully. But this is too much for us alone, for we are only the (two-wheeled!) vehicles.

Together, we follow…

Anabaptists around the world

May 23, 2008 | posted by Lars under mwc, preparation | Leave a Comment

well, not quite, but it’s at least a map showing the distribution of Mennonites, Brethren in Christ, and related churches around the globe.

Check it out: http://www.mwc-cmm.org/Directory/worldmap2003.pdf

Paraguay 2009

May 23, 2008 | posted by Lars under assembly, mwc | Comments (3)

Information about Mennonite World Conference Assembly 15 in Asunción, Paraguay next summer and how to register can be found on their website, here.

Denver Steiner produced this nice video on the history of MWC Assemblies and the upcoming gathering
read more…