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Our group is planning and organizing a 6-week
peace and justice
teaching tour of the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference by Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary O. T. Professor Emeritus Perry Yoder. Perry and his wife Elizabeth grew up in the Willamette Valley and are graduates of Western Mennonite School is Salem, Oregon. This page will document the details of their visits to the different areas of our conference as plans develop. A calendar of events provides a snapshot of their visit.
September 29 - October 1 Seattle and Evergreen Mennonite Church October 6, Washington Pastor's Cluster October 7, Mennonite Country Auction, Menno Mennonite Church, Ritzville, WA October 8, Joint Worship Service, Menno Mennonite Church, Ritzville, WA October 13,Young Adult Event, Zion Mennonite Church October 14, Saturday Seminar, Zion Mennonite Church
Peace and Justice: definitions and relationships Atonement and Peacemaking O.T. Violence and Nationality as it relates to American and Middle East Politics Witnessing to the State October 15, Zion Mennonite Church, Hubbard, OR
October 20, Idaho Pastor's Cluster October 21, Idaho Churches Weekend Seminar October 22, Idaho Mennonite Congregation October 26 - 28, Regional Peace Gathering, Albany, OR October 29, Sunday morning visit to valley congregation to be determined Sunday, October 29 Young Adult Event, Salem Mennonite Church 4:00pm Presentation: Jesus' God: Justice, Vengeance and Reconciliation or Understanding Wrath and Judgment of God in the Bible 5:00pm Peace potluck 5:45pm Open discussion on topic November 2 - 5, Annual Members Meeting, Drift Creek Camp
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Notes on Planning:Our Peace and Justice group has had the goal of planning and sponsoring a weekend seminar on a peace and justice topic since its beginning in December 2004. We had such a good series of these events in the area that the idea was put on the back burner. We picked up the discussion in the fall of 2005, this page includes a journal of significant events in this project. Most recent journal entries are at the top. January 16, 2006 1) The Regional Peace Gathering plans to invite Perry to lead their Bible Study sessions. 2) Zion leadership has accepted the invitation to host Perry as requested, see December 19 (4) below. 3) Western Mennonite School has agreed to working on some combination of the following: assembly, chapel, class, faculty meeting, etc. 4) Drift Creek would like to use Perry as a resource for their annual meeting. 5) John (Gingerich) and Sheldon (Burkhalter) will arrange (week of Jan 23 - 27) a second conference call with Perry to: • review/clarify status of events planning calendar • select a name for this activity • consider extending calendar to Nov. 10 - 13 to include Annual PNMC Pastor’s Weekend Retreat • consider additional events and seminar/workshop/sermon topics, if any • decide process/procedures for negotiating details of each event • discuss travel preferences; distant and local • review guidelines for travel, lodging, meals and associated expenses. 6) We agreed to apply for the AJ Muste grant as an additional funding source for this activity with the approval of Sheldon (Burkhalter) and Matt (Friesen). December 19, 2005 Leadership in the following regions have eagerly accepted the opportunity to plan a visit by Perry: 1) Sept. 29 - Oct. 1 dates have been eagerly accepted by Seattle (Weldon Nisly) and Evergreen (Jeanne Rempel) Mennonite churches. 2) Terry Rediger, Menno Mennonite Church, responded that they would be glad to have Perry speak at the joint worship service (Oct. 8) following their Mennonite Country Auction, meet with the Washington Pastor cluster preceding the MCA (Oct. 4 or 5) and invite Perry and Elizabeth to volunteer in a booth of their choice at MCA on Oct. 7. 3) Idaho churches have accepted the October 20 - 23 weekend for Pastor’s cluster meeting, weekend seminar and Sunday services 4) Agreed we would like to host an event at Zion Mennonite Church on the Sunday (October 15) following the Oregon Mennonite Festival, to include much or all of the following: (a) adult education during SS hour (b) sermon during worship service (c) fellowship dinner (invite local churches: Calvary and Pacific Covenant) (d) afternoon/evening seminar for valley congregations 5) We suggest some level of participation in a south-valley congregation on Oct. 29 following the Regional Peace Gathering, Oct 26 - 28, being planned for Albany. This will need to depend on Perry's level of participation in the Peace Gathering. We agreed it was time to post our calendar on our web site for interested parties to reference for their planning, and to ask Sheldon Burkhalter and Matt Friesen for permission ot use the PNMC treasury for accepting donations and other funds. Permission granted on December 20 by phone conversations. We recieved notice the our Spread the Peace Grant had been approved for the full amount of $1000 and that we should notify interested individuals of our plans and give them the opportunity to make cash contributions to PNMC PNMC P/J Committee with “Perry Yoder visit” noted in the memo line. December 5, 2005 Submitted Application for Spread the Peace Grant sponsored by Peace and Justice Support Network of Mennonite Church USA, in the amount of $1000. Agreed to the following priorities for selecting areas for Perry to visit, Level 1: Regular scheduled PNMC events October 7, Mennonite Country Auction, Ritzville, WA October 14, Oregon Festival, Albany, OR October 26 - 28, MC USA Regional Peace Gathering, Albany, OR November 3-6, Drift Creek Camp Annual Members meeting, Lincoln City, OR Level 2: Weekend events in the following regions Seattle area churches, Seattle, WA Central Washington churches, Ritzville, WA Idaho churches, Boise, ID North Willamette Valley churches, Hubbard, OR South Willamette Valley churches, Albany, OR Level 3: PNMC organizations and agencies Western Mennonite School, Salem, OR Mennonite Village, Albany, OR PNMC Board of Directors PNMC Pastors Retreat Level 4: Other Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA George Fox Evangelical Seminary, Portland, OR Note on finances: We suggest the following for your review, comment, suggestions... a. Our planning group in consultation with PNMC will be responsible for securing funding for Perry and Elizabeth's: travel and expenses to/from the Northwest travel and expenses between areas of teaching b. We believe hosting congregations should be responsible for travel expenses, meals, motels and other expenses related to visit in their area. When able, contributions to the combined expenses will be appreciated. Note: Perry indicated that being hosted in homes is fine if they don't have to do too much "socializing" that tires them out and requested some motel lodging for more complete rest and relaxation. c. We need some guidance on who should keep the purse for this event; someone to deposit funds collected and write checks for expenses. We want to be sensitive to the fact that both PNMC and Zion have volunteer treasurers. Note: I think it's important to remember we are blessed with generous members in our congregations; we should make our needs known. Some will assist with the event planning and leadership; others will offer hospitality at the events or in their homes, many will share their cash; maybe some an available car, motor home, or tanks of gas. November 25, 2005 Sheldon and John had a very enjoyable and productive 45-minute conference call with Perry; following is our notes from this visit... Notes from 11.25.05 conference call w/Perry Yoder (Sheldon and John) Seminar/Workshop Topics suggested by Perry Yoder, professor of OT emeritus, AMBS • Jesus’ God: Justice, Vengeance and Reconciliation • Theology in relation to Christology • Meaning of Shalom • Shalom Economics • Atonement & Peacemaking • Justice & Peace, definitions and relationships • Understanding Wrath and Judgment of God in the Bible • Creation and Renewal (Job) • Witnessing to the State, based on OT prophets and John Howard Yoder’s “The Christian Witness to the State” Sermon Topics suggested by Perry (could also be workshop topics) • Workers in the Field Parable, equal pay for unequal work • Cursing Psalms, understanding their relevance Understandings for planning • Perry has penciled in dates for trip to NorthWest, last weekend in September through second weekend in November • he is commited to the Peace and Justice mission of the church and understands limited budgets of these groups and conferences, so does not request honorariums (this does not mean we should not provide them) • we need to cover all travel, food, lodging and related expenses for Perry and Elizabeth • OK to stay with host families, but need need some time alone (motels/RV) • need couple of free days (3?) each week for rest and recreation • will make his own arrangements to visit family in the area • no particular attachment to any congregation, been away for 45+ years • open to visit to Western Mennonite School, would need to be understood that it would be teaching and not evangelistic as they may expect • open to all the audiences we’ve listed; we would need to prioritize, eliminating some as schedule restricts • next communication following Regional Peace Gathering (w/Leo Hartshorn and Valerie Wideman) planning meeting in January Scheduling Weekend events: Since weekends are a premium, we would like to follow these guiding priorities as we make decisions scheduling weekend events: (a) seek to have the greatest impact for the most number of people (this suggests larger, easily accessible locations) and (b) select settings that bring people together from several congregations permitting more people to hear Perry and bringing people together for fellowship and mutual support. November 21, 2005 At our November 21 meeting, we made this the primary topic of discussion. It was important to us to have the blessing of our pastor and Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference (PNMC) leadership from the outset so we invited the following conference leaders to join us for the discussion: • Sheldon Burkhalter, Conference Minister, • Charlotte Hardt, Conference Moderator-elect, • Duncan Smith, Conference minister • Jon Yoder, Chair of Christian Nurture Committee • Our pastor, Todd Lehman is a member of our group All were eager to participate, but Duncan was unable to attend due to a last minute conflict. We had a very productive meeting resulting in the decision to contact Perry Yoder, recently retired writer and professor of Old Testament at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, exploring his interest in and extended preachingand teaching tour of PNMC. It was agreed that our group should shoulder the primary responsibility for planing and organizing this event with regular communication with conference leadership, including Matt Friesen, PNMC Peace and Justice Committee chairperson. John and Sheldon were given the assignment of arranging a conference call with Perry to explore this idea. |
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