2020/01/06

KAC Timeline – Korea Anabaptist Center

KAC Timeline

2001

KAC opening in Seoul (Nov 2)
- Founding members include Tim Froese, KyongJung Kim, and Lee JaeYoung, as well as 3 steering committee members (Lee YoonShik, Ahn Daniel, and Cha SungDo from Jesus Village Church)
Supporters include JVC, MVS grads, other individuals
Sheldon Sawatzky visited and gave a message at the opening worship service
Publications include:
- Anabaptist history and confession
  ~ A combined book of small articles on Anabaptism and
  ~ The Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective

2002

KAC Library is set up
Education
- Victim and Offender Mediation Program at Soongsil University
  ~ Erwin Wiens – guest speaker, Lee JaeYoung- KAC staff
Service Work: IVEP
- Kim JiYun – KAC’s first Korean IVEPer, served in Canada
Networking
- MMN Learning tour led by Stanly Green
- Kim KyongJung visit to Canada
- MC Canada office, Charleswood Mennonite Church, Pandora Press
- Office location changed

2003

Major Event: US invade Iraq
- Sister Ryu Eun-Ha witnessed to the violent situation for Peace and Justice
- SIV(Salam Iraq Volunteers) include:
  ~ A group of Korea volunteers organized and sent to Iraq for service and relief work
  ~ The Frontiers, Dongahn Presbyterian Church, and KAC
Publications
- Anabaptist Seeds – Arnold Snyder
- Is a peace church possible – Alan Kreider
Peace education
- World Friendship Center invited KAC staff to visit Hiroshima in Japan for peace education and networking purposes
- Peace and Peer Mediation Workshop led by Robert Harries and Lee Jae Young
- Lee JaeYoung participated in MPI (Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute) in Philippines
Peacebuilders education program
- Guest speakers include Alan and Elenore Kreider, teaching on the Early Church and Anabaptism
Service Work
- IVEP: Ko Il-Young served in Ontario, Canada
- SALT: Anita Streicher from Canada
- CMU Intern: Cheryl Woelk from Canada
Networking
- Lee Wheeler (MCC worker) shared his trip to North Korea as an agricultural specialist
- House of Sharing (A shelter for women under Japanese colonization)
- Mennonite World Conference in Zimbabwe
  ~ JVC became an associate member of Mennonite World Conference
  ~ Tim Froese, Kim KyongJung, and Erwin Wiens participated in the event

2004

Publications
- Worship and Evangelism in Pre-Christendom by Alan Kreider
Guest speakers Harry and Agnus Huebner from CMU, Canada
Service Work
- IVEP: Kim HongSeok, served in USA
- SALT: Rachel Vermeer from Alberta, Canada
Networking
- AMC (Asia Mennonite Conference) executive committee gathering
- A Hibakusha from World Friendship Center visited
- House of Sharing
Tim Forese family returned to Canada
KAC’s English language Institute, Connexus, is started

2005

Publications
- Building on the Rock
- Mennonite Story
- Peace and reconciliation as a new paradigm
Guest speaker Jacob Elias from AMBS
Peace education
Service Work
- IVEP: Seo Eunji served in BC, Canada
- SALT: Lauen Sauer and Douglas Friesen from Ontario Canada

2006

Major event: Asia Anabaptist Discipleship Training Program (AADT)
Guest speakers
- Tom Yoder Neufeld
- Anthony Brown
Education
- Theological Joint Consultation together in Macao for Anabaptist Seminary
- Conflict Prevention Seminar
Service Work
- IVEP: Oh Eun Kyung served in MCC office, Akron, Pennsylvania, USA
- SALT: Kevin Leeder
Networking
- Helped church-to-church exchange program
- Trip to visit Japanese Mennonite churches in Tokyo area
- Korean Anabaptist Mission Fellowship (KAMF) formed

2007

Publications
- Mediation training manual
- Hutterite life
- Confession of faith in a Mennonite perspective
- Discipleship as political responsibility
Education
- Hun Lee
- Christian Peace Academy
- Hizakias Asefa
Service Work
- SALT
Networking
- Grace and Peace Mennonite Church
- Korean association of church community
- Korean Anabaptist Mission Fellowship (KAMF)

2008

Publications
- The History of the Hutterites – John Hofer
- Claus Felbinger’s Confession of 1560
- The Radicals DVD – Korean subtitles
- Work and Rest in Biblical Perspective – Waldemar Janzen
Guest Speakers Mark and Mary Hurst
- Anabaptism and Homeschooling
- Peace education
  ~ Conflict Resolution
  ~ Restorative Justice
Service Work
- SALT: Sarah Wilson, served in Sarangbang Community Church
Networking
- Korean Anabaptist Mission Fellowship (KAMF)

2009

Publications
- Anabaptist Vision
- Ein Esndbrief Bruederliche Gemeinschaft das hoechste Gebot der Liebe Betreffend – Andreas Ehrenpreis, 1652
Education
- Christian Peace Academy
- Speakers Pat and Earl Martin
Networking
- North East Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute (NARPI) – first year; network-building stage
- Peace camp in China
- Dandelion Community
- Bible Korea
- MCC Korea Reunion
- Korean PAX team visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
- Mennonite World Conference
- Korean Anabaptist Mission Fellowship (KAMF)
- KAC 8th anniversary
- KAF 1st gathering in LA

2010

Publications
- Dying to Live with Christ – Merle Ruth
- Journey Toward Reconciliation – John Paul Lederach
- How Christians made peace with war – John Driver
- Changing Lenses – Howard Zehr
Education
- Parmer Becker
- Al Fuelutes – Trauma Healing
- Kim ChangKyu – Hubmiar’s view on Anabaptist salvation
- Restorative Justice
Networking
- North East Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute (NARPI) – second year; foundation-laying stage
- Peace camp in China
- KAC 9th anniversary
- KAF 2nd gathering in Calgary, Canada; 3rd gathering in ChunCheon, Korea

2011

Education
- Peace-building workshops led by Joe and Janet Campbell
Service Work
- IVEP: Park Jin Ju served in Elmira, Ontario; Song Yeoreum served in Pennsylvania, USA; Kim Seung-Hwan, served in Denver, Colorado
Networking
- North East Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute (NARPI) – third year; operation stage
- Peace camp in Korea
KAC and Connexus separate; KAC moves to ChunCheon city and Connexus moves to Deokso
KAC 10th anniversary

2012

Education
- Kingdom builders led by Erv Wiens
- Boundary workshop led by Marian Wiens
Service Work
- IVEP: Jung Su-Hyun serving in Pennsylvania, USA
- SALT: Deborah Wiens from British Columbia; Alexandra Loeppky and Jessica Klassen from Manitoba
- YAMEN: Cindy Tristiantanri from Indonesia
Networking
- Asia Anabaptist Diakonia Conference held in Salatiga, Indonesia
- MCC Korea Reunion
- Global Anabaptist Service Network
- MWC general council

예수촌 Anabaptist Movement Flourishing in South Korea | Mennonite World Conference

Anabaptist Movement Flourishing in South Korea | Mennonite World Conference

Anabaptist Movement Flourishing in South Korea

John D. Roth, MWC Faith and Life Commission secretary, was invited to speak at the Korean Anabaptist Conference held in January 2016. Photo: Austin Headrick.

Release date:

Monday, 15 February 2016

Goshen, Indiana, USA - On 30 January 2016, nearly 100 people gathered in downtown Seoul, Korea to participate in the first Korean Anabaptist Conference. The goal of the gathering, according to Bock Ki Kim, director of the Korea Anabaptist Center and co-sponsor of the event, was “to introduce Anabaptist theology and values in a public, academic setting” and to “challenge ourselves as Korean Anabaptists to see who we are and what we have to do in South Korea.”

Participants listened and responded to presentations by five speakers on the theme of “What is Anabaptism and Why is it Needed in Korea?” Presenters included John D. Roth, secretary of the MWC Faith and Life commission and director of the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism at Goshen College; Baptist seminary church historian Byung Doo Nahm; Sang Kyu Lee of the Presbyterian Kosin Theological Seminary; conference organizer and Baptist professor Ki Hyun Kim; and Won Bum Jung of the Daejeon Theological Seminary.

In the conversation following the presentations, the question of nonresistance sparked the most vigorous exchange. For the past 60 years, South Koreans have lived in the shadow of a nuclear power to the north. Consequently, military service is an important part of Korean cultural identity, especially for young men. The only recourse for conscientious objectors is imprisonment, a choice recently exercised by Sang Min Lee of the Grace and Peace Mennonite Church in Seoul, but his decision remains a highly controversial topic among Korean Anabaptists.

Today, South Korea is home to one of the most creative and dynamic expressions of contemporary Anabaptism anywhere in the global church, with potential for explosive growth in the future. The origins of Korean Anabaptism can be traced back to multiple sources. In the decades immediately following the Korean War (1950–1953), Mennonite Central Committee had a modest presence in the country. In the 1980s, several key Korean leaders, based in part on their contact with MCC personnel, began independent theological study of the Anabaptist tradition. Several pursued training at Mennonite seminaries in North America. In 2001, a more formal relationship with Mennonite Church Canada Witness, combined with the energetic leadership of members of the Jesus Village Church, led to the formation of the Korea Anabaptist Center, which has since served as an important resource to the growing movement.

Dae Jang Gan Press has overseen the translation and publication of nearly 100 Anabaptist-Mennonite books into Korean. In fact, church leaders and others celebrated the book launch of the Korean translation of John D. Roth’s Beliefs: Mennonite Faith and Practice before the conference began.

Through this Korean Anabaptist Conference, various Anabaptist groups came together to offer a unified voice within the larger Korean Christian context.

“People want to see a healthy, biblical church, justice in the public square, and a tangible community based on the Anabaptist movement,” says Bock Ki Kim. “We hope that the conference can be a small catalyst for the future movement as well as a clear invitation to the participants to follow the way of Jesus Christ in their daily lives.”

-MWC Release by the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism

The World Fellowship Sunday celebrations at Jesus Village Church, one of the oldest Anabaptist-related congregations in South Korea. Photo: Bock Ki Kim.

A participant comments at the first-ever Korean Anabaptist Conference in January 2016. Photo: Austin Headrick.

Click here to see a high resolution version of the cover photo. Click on the other photos to see the high resolution versions.

Geographic representation:

Asia and Pacific

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1812 We can become one again - MCC is back in South Korea

We can become one again

12.31. 2018 Posted By: Ron Byler

Photo: Adults from right are Jae Young Lee, Karen Joy Spicher (Jae Young’s wife) and Hyung Gon Lee (Jae Young’s father). The children are Jae and Karen’s children. Jae Young is director of the Peace Building. Photo by Ron Byler.

Only when Babylon’s 70 years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. –Jeremiah 29:10

Just after the Korean War in the 1950s, Hyung Gon Lee was a farm manager for the Mennonite Vocational School in Taegu, South Korea, established by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) relief volunteers.

Following the war, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. Food, fuel and electricity were scarce and there was massive unemployment. A third of all the houses in the entire country were destroyed, as well as almost half the industrial facilities.

Mr. Kim’s rural school at Shin Dong, South Korea (circa 1956 – photographer unknown), with tin roof made from MCC meat cans. Photo provided by the author.

Beginning in 1952, MCC set up feeding stations and distributed clothing and bedding. Hyung Gon says MCC provided a serving of milk and rice to 5,000 people each day. The vocational school trained hundreds of orphans for jobs in post-war South Korea.

I heard second-hand from one of these orphans who is now a successful businessman in Chuncheon, “Every Thursday the MCC truck would come in and we were so excited because we knew we would have meat in our soup that day.” He said the tin from the meat cans was later used to repair house roofs.

More than 75 MCCers from North America served in South Korea from 1951 to 1971. Rapid economic growth in the country meant that MCC could leave South Korea after just 20 years in the country.

In the 1990s, South Koreans who were studying from the Bible on their own decided that Anabaptism best described who they were as Christians and Jesus Village Church 예수촌, and later, Jesus Heart Church, were formed.

Today, MCC is back in South Korea, and its ministry focuses on providing peace education in the northeast Asia region, being a reconciliatory presence within the two Koreas and providing exchange opportunities for young adults from Korea, northeast Asia and North America to learn more about what it means to follow Jesus.

One MCC partner is the Peace Building and the Korean Peacebuilding Institute (KOPI) begun by Hyung Gon Lee’s son, Jae Young Lee, and others. KOPI’s 15-member staff teach restorative justice and peace building skills in the public schools, to the local police and elsewhere.

“Without the scholarship MCC gave me to attend the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, I couldn’t be doing what I’m doing today,” Jae Young tells me.

Jesus Village Church and Jesus Heart Church meet together for worship in Chuncheon, South Korea. Photo by Ron Byler.

Jae Young also partners with others, including MCC, in the annual two-week long Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute for peace activists, practitioners and educators.

We sit in the Peace Building coffee shop with Jae Young and his father, Hyung Gon, and talk about the possibility for peace between North Korea and South Korea. When Jae Young hears about MCC’s peacebuilding work in North Korea, he says he remembers MCC’s work at the Mennonite Vocational School 70 years ago.

“What MCC did in the past in Korea touches people like me who are working in the same spirit of peace today,” Jae Young says. He believes the young people he trains today will be part of bridge building between the two Koreas tomorrow.

Jae Young’s father, Hyung Gon, points to the prophet Jeremiah’s hope for Israel that the Jews could return to Jerusalem 70 years after their exile in Babylon. Hyung believes that 70 years after the war in Korea began, north and south can become one again. “We are brothers and sisters,” he says, “and MCC is helping to build trust between us.”

Ron Byler is executive director of Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

Personels - Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) - Korea

Personels

Yoon Shik Lee

Bong Gi Choi (Peace Fellowship Church, Virginia Mennonite Conference pastor) - Virginia

Hun Lee

BokKi Kim

James Lee (Virginia Mennonite Conference pastor) - Virginia

Hur Hun

JaeYoung Lee

KyungJung Kim

Sang Jin Choi (Fourth Street Community Fellowship, Virginia Mennonite Conference pastor) - Washington, DC

202-939-0754(w), 571-259-4937(cell), 202-939-0864(f), appachoi@gmail.com, www.iamappa.org

-MCC Washington Office (reference committee member), MCC East Coast Washington Offfice (reference committee member),

-Washington Annabaptist Peace Center (board member)

Mennonite Vocational School (1953-1971) - Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) - Korea

Mennonite Vocational School (1953-1971) - Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) - Korea

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) - Korea

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HOME: Dedication to...‎ > ‎MCC in Korea‎ > ‎The Analysis of the MCC's Economic Justice Policies toward South Korea‎ > ‎Economic Justice Policy for Education‎ > ‎
Mennonite Vocational School (1953-1971)

From its beginning, MCC has been concerned about child welfare. The minutes from a 1920 MCC meeting in Chicago state that “orphanage work may be opened on the field if such seems needed and advisable.”46 MVS was MCC’s largest project in Korea. MVS was founded in October 1953 near the town of Kyung San in Kyung Sang Book Do soon after the Korean War cease-fire.47 A seventy-eight acre plot of land was purchased by MCC for the establishment of a vocational school at the junior and high school level for older orphan boys. The site was originally planned by the Japanese (during the period of Japanese rule ending in 1945) to be used as an agricultural college. With the withdrawal of the Japanese forces from Korea, many of the twenty-seven buildings were never completed.48 the first program of this school was the agricultural program. The objectives of the farm program were to provide practical agricultural work experiences for all students, to help with financial support for the educational program, and to serve as a model to neighboring farmers and thus aid in the extension of service.49 Older orphan boys were taught agriculture and worked in the rice farming project.50 Christian Children’s Fund (CCF) helped in partial support of some of the younger orphan boys, while major support came from MCC “sponsors” in the U.S. and Canada.51

In 1954 MCC Korea started to repair many of the buildings. They were assisted in the task of rebuilding and repairing the physical plant with grants of money and materials from UNKRA (United Nations Korea Reconstruction Agency), UNCACK (United Nations Civil Assistance Command of Korea), and AFAK (Armed Forces Assistance to Korea- the organization through which the various branches of the U.S. Armed services in Korea gave aid to schools, hospitals, and other welfare institutions).52 The farm project consisted of a physical plant of more than 60 tillable acres of land with some 40 buildings and a native staff of more than 20 people.53 This included teachers, vocational instructors, farm personnel, laundry workers, cooks, etc.54

The objectives of MVS were to teach basic academic skills, vocational skills, and Christian moral education. The technical educational program included academic subjects and training in metal work, printing, carpentry, and agriculture.55 The Christian moral education program provided spiritual and moral guidance so that a graduate can be a positive and in many cases Christian, influence in society.56 In 1959, the first class of 23 students graduated from MVS.57 In 1961, MCC bought a house that served as a Boys’ hostel for graduates from Mennonite Vocational School (MVS) in Taegu. On March 1, 1961, twenty–one graduates moves into the hostel. Graduates could live in the hostel until they found a job and a house.58 In spring of 1963 the building programs got underway with the arrival of Walter Rutt. Walter Rutt was a supervisor to this construction program.59 Through this project a new principal’s house, the Byler dormitory, and kitchen and dorm parent’s rooms were built for MVS, as well as two churches within one mile of the school.60

Mennonite Vocational School added a new class in typing in 1965, and a class of electronics – radios and basic electronics, in 1966.61 In 1967 MVS had changed to a three-year school for only high school age boys.62 MVS applied for accreditation from the government as a technical high school, because without an official diploma it was difficult to enter or gain employment. This was a very serious problem for MVS students. In December, 1962, a conference was held at MVS, reviewing problems and suggestions for possible changes. The main topics of that conference were government accreditation, clarification of objectives of school program, the guidance of students, teacher-pupil relations, etc. Unfortunately, however, MVS was not able to obtain sanction as a technical high school for orphans from the Korean Government. All of MVS’s properties and responsibilities were turned over to the MVS national board of directors on July, 1969.63

A total of 332 students graduated from MVS. MVS principals included L. Robert Kohls, Kenneth Brunk, John Zook, Leland Voth, and Dong Keun lee. Even thought MVS was changed, its efforts and results during its 20 year history were very admirable. By the survey of MVS graduates conducted by Prof. Man Choon Kang on June 21, 1965, the employment and income level of MVS graduates were higher than those from other vocational schools. By Professor Kang’s survey, 26.9% of those employed are in clerical type work, as compared to 6.3% for KAVA (Korea Association of Voluntary Agencies); 11.5% are in management type in contrast to KAVA’s 7%. This was primarily because many of MVS students had English Ability in speaking and writing including technical ability.64 While 88% of MVS graduates claimed to be leading a religious life, only 72.2% from KAVA claimed it.65 And 9.5% of MVS and 18.1% of the KAVA groups left their faith after being taught it.66 Now many graduates are working as engineers, business managers (including top managers), teachers, pastors, artists, and so on.

-------------------------

References

46. “Monthly Aid Helpers 1000 Children,” The Mennonite, November 9, 1965, p.698

47. MCC Korea 15th Anniversary Brochure, 1968, p.10.

48. See The Report on the Kyug San Mennonite Vocational School for Orphan Boys Submitted to the United Nations Women’s Guild, May, 1955, and The Asia Foundation, January, 1956.

49. See The Report of MVS Conferences held at MVS, reviewing present program and suggestions for possible changes on Dec. 1962, found in the file entitled “MVS Reports 1954-1970,” Box 1, File 41, in the “MCC Korean Files, AMC.”

50. The Annual Report of the MCC, 1953, Relief Section, p.12.

51. Ibid., p.12.

52. See The Report on the Kyong San Vocational School for Orphan Boys Submitted to the United Nations Women’s Guide, May, 1955; The Annual Report of the MCC, 1955, Relief Section, p.2.

53. Ibid., p.12.

54. The Annual Report of the MCC, 1954, p.2.

55. The Annual Report of the MCC, 1956, Relief Section, p.6.

56. See MVS Report Operated by MCC Korea, Feb. 27, 1963, pp. 2-3, found in the title of entitled “MVS Reports 1953-1963, Box 1, File 41, in the “MCC Korean Files, AMC.”

57. The Annual Report of the MCC, 1959, Relief Section, p.A-8.

58. The Annual Report of the MCC, 1961, Relief Section. P.A-19.

59. Reports and Statistics for 1963, p.A-19.

60. Reports and Statistics for 1964, p.A-24; See “Couple in Middle Sixties Complete Korea Service Term,” in The Canadian Mennonite, April 12, 1966. Mrs. Gladys Rutt was suffered in a near fatal illness at the beginning of 1964. However, the Lord answered and restored her to health. She taught English at MVS.

61. The Annual Report of the MCC, 1965, p.A-22; The Annual Report of the MCC, 1966, p.A-15.

62. The Annual Report of the MCC, 1967, p.A-18.

63. The Annual Report of the MCC, 1969, p.A-11.

64. Some MVS students would participate in a national English speech contest. Two students won second and third prizes on Jun 13, 1959.

65. Chung-Suk Chung, a student of MVS, demonstrated his vocational school life as follows: “A conversation of my life had come in Mennonite Vocational School. I had an examination to enter Mennonite Vocational Middle School and I passed. It was an agreeable place to me at my first sight. It seemed so peaceful enclosed with small mountains and short pine trees on them and houses and buildings with tiled roofs. In this wonderful place my closed eyes upon the world of Christianity began to open and I found my Shepherd, nay, I was found by Him and given the vision that I could see the path to heaven.” See Chung-Suk Chung, “Story of a Korean Boy,” The Mennonite, September 25, 1962, pp.621-623.

66. The Recommendation on MVS and Orphans by Kang, Man Choon, found in the file of entitled “MVS Reports 1950-1970,” Box 1, File 41, in the “MCC Korean Files, AMC.”

MVS 75th anniversary webinar

Free From Harm Website Chronicles Meat and Dairy Farmers Who Turn Vegan

Free From Harm Website Chronicles Meat and Dairy Farmers Who Turn Vegan

SO MANY MEAT AND DAIRY FARMERS ARE GOING VEGAN, THERE’S AN ENTIRE WEBSITE DEDICATED TO THEIR STORIES

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December 18, 2018

Charlotte Pointing

SENIOR EDITOR, UK | SOUTHSEA, UNITED KINGDOM | CONTACTABLE VIA CHARLOTTE@LIVEKINDLY.COM

Charlotte has an upper second class honors in History from Oxford Brookes University and a postgraduate certificate in Cultural Heritage from Winchester University. She loves music, travel, and animals. Charlotte resides on the South coast of the UK.

As more and more consumers opt to eat plant-based foods for their health, the environment, and for the animals, meat and dairy industries are suffering. Some farmers are accepting that the future is beginning to look vegan, and they’re changing their lives and their farms to match.

In a section on its website named “Sowing Change,” animal advocacy nonprofit Free From Harm documents the stories of those who have decided to live and work cruelty-free. According to the site, these farmers now recognize that “humane” farming can only ever involve the farming of crops and not the exploitation of animals in any form.

According to the site, the farmer’s profiles “are hope-filled proof that even those who stand to lose most by renouncing animal exploitation are capable of a massive change of heart.”

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For some, like Marloes Boere who grew up on a farm in the Netherlands, it was watching the heartbreaking separation of mother cows and calves in the dairy industry that encouraged the shift to veganism.

Boere writes in her profile, “I am horrified that we live in a world that teaches children it is acceptable to invade and exploit motherhood in such a violent way. No one should support this. Mother’s milk is baby food and cow’s milk is for baby cows.”

For others, like former beef farmer Renée King-Sonnen, it was watching friendships form and be torn apart when cows are divided and then loaded up for auction and slaughter. King-Sonnen now runs a farm sanctuary – on the same land she used to farm cows for meat – where she rescues cows, pigs, chickens, and other farm animals in need.

As well as documenting the ethical epiphanies of former meat and dairy farmers, Free From Harm aims to educate consumers on the health and environmental benefits of going vegan. It also highlights the positive benefits a global reduction in animal agriculture could have for the human race; if there were less factory-farmed animals to feed, more crops would be available to feed the growing population.

The Sowing Change section of the Free From Harm website is consistently growing, with profiles regularly added from farmers all over the world, who – like former dairy farmer Cheri Ezell – have stopped exploiting animals for monetary gain.

Ezell states in her profile, “There is now for me a very clear distinction between humane farming and inhumane farming. Humane farming is cultivating a plant-based diet. Inhumane farming is breeding any sentient being for production and consumption.”

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Can Mennonite Voluntary Service be saved? | Mennonite World Review

Can Mennonite Voluntary Service be saved?

Jan 8, 2018 by Hillary Watson

In 2009 when I graduated from college, I chose to go into Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS). I made the choice independently, only to discover that many of my friends were also choosing a year of service in cities across the country. The program was expanding rapidly. It added two units in 2009-2010, and for some time that spring, had a waitlist of young graduates eager to serve.

In 2015-2016, MVS closed half its units due to declining participation. In spite of downsizing, the program is struggling. This year, after hosting just two participants in a unit designed for eight, one congregation in a popular city is debating a “sabbatical year” in 2018-2019.

What happened? And is there any hope of saving it? This is my evaluation as a pastor, participant and general observer of dying religious institutions.

A (very) brief history

Mennonite Voluntary Service began in 1944 as a response to government-mandated alternative military service. The Peace Problems Committee (a committee I believe should be revived if for no other reasons than its name) outlined a program for young conscientious objectors facilitated by the church instead of the government.

For generations, young adults volunteered for one or two years post-college. Many Mennonite Church USA congregations began in the 1950s and 1960s out of the voluntary service units, including the congregation where I grew up. In this way, the service programs became a catalyst for the Mennonite church’s urban shift.

In recent years, MVS has been an entry point to young adults looking to move to a city for the first time or seeking a career hold in a new field. MVS maintained a high rate of program alumni being hired into full-time positions, and many young people stayed in their newfound homes, attending their host congregations.

Challenges or deal-breakers?

Arguably, the writing was on the wall for MVS long before 2010-2011, but that year marked a dramatic change in the program. That year, the program lost its eligibility for AmeriCorps funding, a position that allowed young adults to earn $5,000 toward existing college debt or future education costs. Shortly after that, MVS began requesting that young adults raise money in order to participate. The program now asks participants to raise $3,000 from their home communities (but offers some assistance).

Even with AmeriCorps, MVS is far from lucrative — although daily expenses are covered and the program builds in funds for monthly special events, participants have $50 of spending money for each month. I was one of the participants who received AmeriCorps in the final funded year. Would I have done MVS if I had graduated in 2010? In my financial situation, it simply wouldn’t have been possible.

I don’t know why MVS wasn’t able to regain their AmeriCoprs status — but the odds for re-establishing it now are not good. Donald Trump’s 2018 budget proposes cutting AmeriCorps entirely.

Factors beyond our control?

Even without AmeriCorps worries, MVS faces an uphill climb. Three historical trends have been undercutting the program’s fundamental assumptions for at least a decade:

MVS originally began as a service alternative for conscientious objectors. As the country slides into a state of endless war (noted by a 2015 MC USA resolution), and the likelihood of a draft dims, so does a likelihood of increased MVS participation.
The rising cost of college makes a year of service increasingly untenable for young people saddled with debts the size of a home mortgage. And at the moment, that record-setting student debt is dovetailed by record-low unemployment. The average student graduated with $37,172 in loans in 2016, while in June of 2017 unemployment dipped to 4.3 percent, its lowest level in 16 years.
In the 1950s and 1960s, MVS benefited not only from conscious objection but also urbanization. As farm jobs declined and Mennonites moved out of rural areas, MVS was a natural catalyst into cities. Today, many Mennonites are already growing up in urban areas and often leverage their college educations to access the communities they want to live in.

But broader trends are compounded by changes in the church. Mennonite Mission Network has been rattled by the fissure of MC USA. Some exiting congregations cut all ties, while others continue supporting MMN but with fundamentally different priorities than the MC USA congregations. There’s also the reality of the aging church — there are just fewer young adults than there were 40 years ago.

In addition, MVS has struggled with racial and gender disparities in the population of young adults who choose to serve. Non-white participants enroll at low rates and are more likely than white participants to drop out of the program midway through. (When I inquired about this as a participant, the best answer I received was, “It’s just hard for a volunteer to be the only non-white person in their house.”) MVS is also disproportionately female and has been for years. It’s possible that, as a program targeted at college graduates, it is echoing the national trend of women attending college at higher rates than men. It’s also true that, in general, most congregations have higher numbers of adult women participating than men.

Solutions and reinventions

Is there hope for MVS? Can the program be saved? Obviously, that’s a subjective question. MVS is on a downhill slide, largely for demographic reasons beyond their control.

The church can, and ought to, reinvent the program to match current realities. It may require a year or two hiatus or massive restructuring at MMN. But here are a few ideas:

Resolve the financial issues through modern funding strategies. This could happen with other Mennonite agencies, like MEDA, which has strategies for increasing quality-of-life and economic opportunity in developing countries. Or, MVS could look for grants through major funders like the Lily Foundation (which has supported religious — and particularly Mennonite — endeavors in the past). Or perhaps look to public-private partnerships. Charitable contributions are trending corporate, and as a denomination known for peacemaking and social justice, Mennonites could be an attractive partner.

Resolve diversity issues through targeted, supported houses. Would men be more likely to participate if there were male-only MVS houses? Would people of color have higher completion rates if they could support each other through the program? Possibly, but the houses would need more than peer support. Could a male house lead talk about the history of conscientious objection and help men understand their masculinity in relation to social services and volunteerism? Could MVS partner with a non-white or multi-ethnic congregation like Philadelphia Praise Center or Living Water Community Church to create or re-purpose new service houses?

Focus on affordable housing in expensive cities, but let creativity take precedent over service. MVS made a smart decision to keep open their houses in high-growth cities like New York, San Francisco and Seattle. But even those units are struggling. Could those houses let go of the volunteer structure, and instead offer faith-based community housing for young adults pursuing art, church planting or more broadly defined service? Why not convert those houses into semi-independent co-housing units designed to foster creative community? Sell other houses and offer each house a “creativity stipend” for collaborative endeavors like developing a new play, hosting an arts series or alternative spiritual communities.

Reverse the geographic trend. Three decades ago, MVS brought rural Mennonites to the cities. Why not work with new rural and urban programs like Hungry World Farm or Oakleaf Mennonite Farm to bring Mennonites back to rural roots? Many young Mennonites are looking for sustainable growing skills — MVS could be a catalyst to connect and nurture radical new farm initiatives.

Target young people without massive debt (is this still a thing?). Why not combine MVS with Service Adventure, another program for young adults? Or, make MVS into a vocational training site designed to help young people looking for a break before or in between college, like DOOR’s Dwell (which has also had recruitment struggles). College debt isn’t going away any time soon; MVS should shift to focus to those Anabaptists who opting out of college, and seek partnerships with organizations that offer technical skills.

Go secular or interfaith. I know it’s a radical solution for a Christian organization — but in an increasingly diverse world, why not hand over several houses to become independent non-profits for interfaith housing? Many congregations already have partnerships with local mosques and synagogues. Create a nine-month peacemaking curriculum and let young people experience interfaith peacebuilding opportunities.

Partner with neo-Anabaptists and church planting congregations. Variation on a theme, I know. But why not pool MVS resources to support thriving mega and near-mega churches? Brian McLaren has long been a Mennonite dialogue partner and pastored at Cedar Ridge Community Church outside of Washington DC. Why not explore partnership possibilities with the DC MVS house? Or, partner with missional Mennonite congregations like C3 or Amor Viviente and rent or loan them houses for young missionaries beginning church plants.

Rely on a global economic downturn to boost enrollment in two or three years. Why was enrollment so high in 2009-2010? It’s no coincidence that a massive financial crisis hit the country the fall before that service year. It’s always possible that President Trump’s economic policies will cause a surge of unemployment, and MVS can be there to pick up the pieces. I wouldn’t bank on that strategy, though.

You probably have your own ideas about how to reinvent MVS. If you do, share them, and let’s make some change.

Hillary Watson is a full-time Mennonite pastor in suburban Chicago. She blogs at Gathering the Stones, where this first appeared.

Forest church combines worship with great outdoors | Mennonite World Review

Forest church combines worship with great outdoors | Mennonite World Review

Forest church combines worship with great outdoors
Growing network tells church buildings to take a hike

Nov 18, 2019 by Tim Huber and Mennonite World Review

While giving a weather report at the beginning of a worship service is usually cliché, on Oct. 20 in Wilmot, Ont., it would have been redundant.

Wilmot Forest Church — a new initiative of Burning Bush Forest Church and Wilmot Mennonite Church — doesn’t meet indoors.

Wendy Janzen, standing, leads a forest church worship experience Oct. 20 at Petersburg Crown Land Trail in Wilmot, Ont. Listening are, from left, Joel Musser, Hendrike and Felix Isert Bender, Hannah Cressman, Camile Cressman and Jessica Rivers. — Greg Yantzi

Worship services take place once a month, year-round, and seek to meet God surrounded by creation. It can be a way to build on worship experiences for traditional churchgoers and a neutral-ground outreach for meeting people who might be uncomfortable with more churchy settings.

“There’s just so many people who talk about having spiritual experiences in nature — that’s where they connect best with God,” said Mennonite pastor Wendy Janzen, a pioneer in the Wild Church Network of outdoor churches.

“I want to validate that. Yes, you are experiencing God in nature.”

Also a part-time pastor at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church, Janzen stumbled onto the outdoor concept during a 2014 sabbatical focused on churches that meet in different indoor locations such as gyms, community centers, hotels or bars. At the time, she had a conversation with a neighbor fed up with church.

“She just couldn’t go sit in a building listening to people talk. Her soul would be more nurtured going on a hike,” she recalled.

Later in the year, when Janzen was picking up her son from a forest school pilot project focused on pursuing education outdoors, the worship angle finally clicked.

After some informal testing, she started Burning Bush Forest Church in 2016 outside her role with St. Jacobs Mennonite.

Just like forest school isn’t about transplanting the location but making the surroundings a classroom partner, Janzen stressed that forest church is more than just moving a service, liturgy and structures outdoors.

“Creation or nature is part of our congregation as well and our worship leader,” she said. “Nature guides our worship and engages in worship with us, which I think is very biblical. There’s a lot of biblical imagery with that.

“Perhaps we’ve always looked at it metaphorically, but I think there’s precedent for seeing trees clapping their hands and the rocks crying out. All those things would be examples of us worshiping with nature and not just in nature.”

Attractive undertaking

For Wilmot Mennonite Church, woodland worship offers a fresh approach to community outreach. Pastor Susan Allison-Jones said the congregation is getting older and has come to a point where the majority of attenders have more financial resources than ability to get out and be active.

“What resources do we have to encourage and engage the community?” she asked. “I believe in looking outside our doors as a Mennonite community.”

Wilmot provides Janzen an honorarium, and the wider community is invited to come out and experience God in a new way.

And from a financial perspective, forest church is an attractive investment. There is no mortgage, rent or utilities.

While Burning Bush Forest Church isn’t considered a church plant, it has received some start-up funding from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. Janzen has used funds to purchase stainless steel cups for water or communion, a box of used blankets from a thrift store and an online course on spirituality and nature.

Yes, winter in Canada can be cold, but outside of freezing rain or lightning, there hasn’t been reason to cancel a service. Allison-Jones said the concept is personality-based, and people who want to be outdoors are the ones who will show up.

“People here still go out for walks. They take their dog out for walks. They go skiing and skating. Some of us don’t just hole up all winter,” Janzen added. “If those people can get out in winter, we can do forest church.

“We’re not sitting down for an hour. If you’re moving and dressed well, we can do it. . . . This isn’t everyone’s thing, and that’s why there’s regular church.”

It’s better outside

For those hearty souls who come out, it can be a powerful experience.

Janzen met a couple who had been regular churchgoers until the woman suffered a traumatic brain injury. It became unbearable to be in buildings with artificial light, crowds, amplified music and people wearing scents.

“They found out about this, and we had communion, and she was in tears because this was the first time in three years she had communion because she could not go into a building and be in church,” she said.

As outreach beyond Mennonites in the wider Kitchener-Waterloo area goes, it is still early, but word has also been circulating in Anabaptist circles.

Between forest church being mentioned in the Mennonite Creation Care Network newsletter and seminars Janzen offered at Rooted and Grounded conferences at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, she’s heard about Mennonites organizing similar activities in Virginia, California and Ontario, and she’s heard interest from pastors in Ohio, Indiana and Manitoba.

Janzen has never considered herself a church planter, but in nature things happen naturally.

“I’m not a risk taker, but sometimes God has other plans for us,” she said. “This has taken me by surprise — that it has been so powerful.”

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