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Making Partners and Making Space (Anabaptist Values 16)
This week, in our series, we shifted from our focus on community to a focus on mission, but this shift begins with a bit of a bridge idea. How do we, as a church, embrace our commitment to welcome and create space for whomever is next to partner with us on our common mission, our…
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Oaths and Truthfulness (Anabaptist Values 15)
What does it mean to be people of God’s covenant love, and God’s truth? Our aim is not simply to be “truthful” but to be people that radiate God’s truth, being, and covenant love.
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The Gospel of Minor Threat or Anabaptist Values 13: Holiness
This week we talked about holiness as a movement, as an encounter, as a way of being that we are growing into and being transformed into, we even talked about holiness as an aroma (thanks Rob!), and we also talked about holiness as a process of our being and becoming God’s children. That is, in…
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Being a Little Weird or Anabaptist Values 12: Non-Conformity & Simplicity
This Sunday, Judy took on the task of considering the values of non-conformity and simplicity. We were left contemplating what it means to be a little weird, to not conform to the patterns of this age, to not give into the patterns of domination, violence, greed, and exploitation.
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Who Are the Gate Keepers? or Anabaptist Values 11: Discipline and Accountability
“Does that mean ‘my’ interpretations don’t matter?” No! Not at all! We should, however, be trying to always read better and understand our own limits. But also, honestly, if you come from a particularly dominant group of intersectionality your interpretations in all reality have already mattered too much for a long time. Sometimes when we…
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MCUSA Issues Resolution “Seeking Peace in Israel and Palestine”
At the Wednesday delegate session of the MCUSA biennial conference in Orlando last week, The Mennonite Church USA voted near unanimously (98%) on a resolution entitled “Seeking Peace in Israel and Palestine.” The resolution was the product of years of deliberations, self-reflection, meeting and video conferences and engagement with representative voices, which included many Mennonites…
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Anabaptist Values 10: Stewardship
How we use our money ties to our core values. Jesus had a lot to say about money—how we horde money, how we exploit others with money, how we view the world out of scarcity, how we should seek economic justice, and how we should live in a community that cares for each other with…
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Anabaptist Values 9: The Fullness of Christ
We are the body. We all are gifted. We have all been called and empowered, and as the body of Christ, no one part of the body dominates another. We may have many giftings, but they come from One Spirit. Our giftings all find their source in that One Spirit, as does our body, and…
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Anabaptist Values 8: Baptism
This week, we talked a little bit about baptism, and we had a chance to touch on some reasons why Anabaptists rejected infant baptism, how baptism functioned as a means of cultural imposition (and even domination), Dorothy Day and the idea of the mystical body, and our being as new creation walking in newness of…
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Anabaptist Values 7: We Are Family
This week we celebrated PMC’s 31st birthday! We had a picnic, there was bocce, and we had an opportunity to talk about our community as a family. Included this week are three different reflections. Lisa Muthiah and Margie Cameron both offered their own stories and reflections on what it means for them for PMC to…
Pasadena Mennonite Church 