PHOENIX 2013 NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2013 2013 is fially here, ad we are oly five moths away from our July 1 6 gatherig i Phoeix. This ewsletter cotais your secod istallmet of excitig covetio updates, from a whole slate of learig experieces focusig o justice issues, immigratio ad peacebuildig to a excitig lie-up of speakers ad activities for people of all ages. Worship speakers aouced As usual, worship services i Phoeix will be evets you do t wat to miss. We ve got a great lie-up of ispirig speakers. Adult worship speakers Moday eveig: Richard Twiss, see article o Page 3. Tuesday morig: Bishop Mierva G. Carcaño, a ative of Ediburg, Texas, ad a third-geeratio Methodist, is presidet of the College of Bishops of the Wester Jurisdictio of The Uited Methodist Church. She also has served as a pastor ad district superitedet. Thursday eveig: Megha Good, pastor of Albay (Ore.) Meoite Church, frequetly speaks o topics such as biblical hermeeutics, itegrative worship, ad the Church s geeratio gap. She previously worked with Duke Diviity School s Ceter for Recociliatio (Durham, N.C.) while completig a Master of Diviity. Friday eveig: Elizabeth Soto Albrecht, moderator-elect of Meoite Church USA ad a ordaied pastor, is coordiator of field educatio at Lacaster (Pa.) Theological Semiary ad associate chaplai at Lacaster Geeral Hospital. She has a Doctor of Miistry from Sa Fracisco Theological Semiary. Joit worship speaker Wedesday morig: Ervi R. Stutzma, executive director of Meoite Church USA, has served the church as a pastor, district overseer, missios admiistrator, coferece moderator ad deomiatioal moderator. He also was a professor ad dea at Easter Meoite Semiary, Harrisoburg, Va. Ervi holds a Ph.D. from Temple Uiversity i Philadelphia. I this issue Worship speakers Registratio remider Egagig immigratio ad udoig racism at covetio Opportuities to give Special evets Immigratio educatio liks ad resources The Earth is the Lord s
of God s Kigdom Youth worship speakers Moday eveig: Hal L. Shrader, lead pastor of Triity Meoite Church i Gledale, Ariz., was first draw to Aabaptism whe i college he first cosidered, What if Jesus was really serious about what he said i the Sermo o the Mout? He has a Master of Theology from Pepperdie Uiversity, Malibu, Calif. Tuesday morig: Isabel Castillo, a graduate of Easter Meoite Uiversity, Harrisoburg, Va., is the fouder of Dream Activist Virgiia ad co-fouder of the Natioal Immigrat Youth Alliace. I May 2011, the Uiversity of Sa Fracisco awarded Isabel a hoorary doctorate degree for her uwaverig advocacy for the passage of the Dream Act. Tuesday eveig: Rachel Swartzedruber Miller, vice presidet of admissios ad fiacial aid at Hessto (Ka.) College, formerly was director of Covetio Plaig for Meoite Church USA. She is a Ph.D. cadidate at Adrews Uiversity, Berrie Sprigs, Mich. Thursday eveig: Igrid DeSactis ad compay. A actor, director, playwright ad teacher, Igrid teaches at James Madiso Uiversity i Harrisoburg, Va., ad is artistic director of Fifth Wall Productios, LLC. She has a Master of Fie Arts from the Uiversity of North Carolia at Greesboro, ad has worked as a associate director of drama at Willow Creek Commuity Church. Friday morig: Luke A. Hartma is vice presidet for erollmet at Easter Meoite Uiversity, Harrisoburg, Va. He has served as a uiversity professor, head basketball coach, ad admiistrator of a diverse public school. He has a Ph.D. i Educatioal Policy Studies at Virgiia Tech i Blacksburg. Friday eveig: Gle Alexader Guyto is director of fiace ad covetio plaig for Meoite Church USA. A former officer i the U.S. Air Force, Gle followed a call to miistry ad served more tha 17 years at Calvary Commuity Church (C3) i Hampto, Va., with his wife, Cydi. Gle ad Cydi are ow campus pastors of C3-Sa Atoio (Texas). Juior youth worship speakers Marissa Kig is a professor i the Educatio Departmet at Hessto College. She also leads ad facilitates their uique first year experiece program. Marissa is bi-ligual i Eglish ad Spaish ad has spet importat time i her life livig i Mexico ad teachig i public schools i Phoeix, Arizoa. Dusti Galyo is i his 5th year as head coach of Hessto College s me s basketball team. He speaks to 1000 s of youth throughout the coutry every year. Dusti will make you laugh, cry ad most importat thik critically about how you re choosig to live your life. Hal Schrader. See above.
of God s Kigdom Dr. Richard Twiss, 1954 2013 by: Aette Brill Bergstresser Presidet of Wicoi Iteratioal was scheduled to speak at Phoeix 2013 Dr. Richard Twiss, presidet ad fouder of Wicoi Iteratioal With sadess we share the ews of the passig of Dr. Richard Twiss. O Saturday he etered a ew chapter of life commuio with the Creator. Twiss, 58, of Vacouver, Wash., a member of the Sicagu Lakota Oyate from the Rosebud Sioux Reservatio i South Dakota, passed away Feb. 9, 2013, after sufferig a heart attack earlier i the week i Washigto, D.C. He was slated to speak i Phoeix o July 1 at the opeig adult worship service of Meoite Church USA s bieial covetio. Twiss was presidet of Wicoi Iteratioal, a orgaizatio that works to promote commuity, stregthe culture ad foster spiritual vitality amog Native America or First Natios people. Wicoi meas life i the Lakota/Sioux laguage; Twiss ad his wife, Katherie, fouded the orgaizatio i 1997. Accordig to Wicoi Iteratioal s website, Twiss was committed to creatig opportuities for the bettermet of our Native people ad commuities through advacig educatio, culture, family ad spirituality i the Spirit of Jesus. He was a widely traveled ad popular speaker, activist, educator, author ad etworker amog iovative thikers withi the Native North America ad Idigeous commuity iteratioally. He held a doctorate i itercultural studies (cultural athropology, primal ad folk religios ad the history of Christia missio) from Asbury Theological Semiary, Wilmore, Ky. He ad his wife had four sos. Our prayers go out to the Twiss family ad Wicoi Iteratioal, says Gle Alexader Guyto, director of fiaces ad covetio plaig for Meoite Church USA. Brother Twiss was a dyamic speaker, ad we mour his loss. We pray that that his message ad miistry will live o through the may lives he has touched throughout the years. The covetio plaig staff asks that you please keep the Twiss family i your prayers. To lear more about Twiss, see http://www.wicoi.com/?cid=613. See also the heartfelt tributes to him from Red Letter Christia speakers ad authors at http://www.redletterchristias.org/we-miss-you-richard-twiss/.
of God s Kigdom Childre s covetio Covetio is for people of all ages, icludig babies, toddlers, preschoolers ad elemetary school childre. We ve got a team of three great coordiators who are plaig activities ad assemblig teams to play, teach ad hag out with your kids at covetio. Kim Ferris resides i Choctaw, MS alog with her husbad ad two childre. Her backgroud i Educatio prepares her to hadle the role of the preschool covetio coordiator. Curretly, she is employed i the Public School Sector as a Native America Tutor. She grew up attedig Choctaw Christia Church i Louisville, MS, where today she serves as a Suday School teacher. She ejoys workig with childre ad is passioate about helpig them i their success. Her iterests iclude, readig, attedig sports games, plaig/orietig evets. She looks forward to meetig ew people as she voluteers for this role ad makig the Preschool Covetio for Phoeix 2013 a success. Amy Nissley Stauffer, bor ad raised i Williamsburg, Iowa, joied the pastoral staff at Hessto Meoite i September of 2012. She has a degree i Elemetary Educatio from Uiversity of Iowa ad a Master of Arts i Christia Formatio from Aabaptist Meoite Biblical Semiary. Amy is married to Ardell ad they have two sos, Max ad Graham. Prior to the call from Hessto Meoite, she served as associate pastor at Bethel Meoite Church, Moutai Lake, MN. I her former coferece she served o the Cogregatioal Miistries Committee ad o the plaig committee for coferece Aual Meetig. Her philosophy of miistry is shaped by the uderstadig that we are formed by spiritual practices from the cradle o. Amy desires to be a lifelog learer ad brigs that passio for learig to pastoral miistry. Lidsay Rheiheimer graduated from Goshe College with a degree i Elemetary Educatio. She has served as the Director at Yellow Creek Daycare i Goshe, Id., a 1st Grade teacher, ad taught Eglish for 1st-4th graders i Costa Rica. She is curretly a Readig Istructor at West Goshe Elemetary School i Goshe. Lidsay grew up goig to Meoite covetios ad has woderful memories of the people she met ad the experieces she had. She is lookig forward to helpig create those memories for others. Arizoa Ceter ear the Phoeix Covetio Ceter provides a cool veue for meetig frieds.
of God s Kigdom Special evets While covetio is full of opportuities for learig, workig ad worshippig, we always like to take time out for fu ad fellowship as well. Be sure to pla ahead to atted these special evets: Trip to Wet Wild. Beat the Phoeix heat with a afteroo at Wet Wild, Arizoa s largest water park. We ve got discout rates, so be sure to register for this outig whe you sig up for covetio! Gospel cocert. Joi Toy Brow of Hessto (Ka.) College as he emcees a show featurig professioal gospel ad jazz musicias from across the church. Musicias will iclude: Mariell Walter mezzo-soprao, is celebrated for her ability to effortlessly cross musical geres ragig from opera, jazz, pop, gospel ad coutry music. She has appeared i classical solo egagemets throughout Europe, most otably at the Köler Dom, ad the Weier Stadthalle. More recetly, she has explored musical fusio projects i Chicago, USA ad Taipei, TAIWAN. Bor ito a Meoite family ad raised o a farm i South Dakota, Mariell feels her purpose is to ispire acts of oviolece ad compassio. As a recipiet of several vocal awards, Mariell eared a Master of Music degree i vocal performace from the Uiversity of Notre Dame (Idiaa, USA), ad a Bachelors of Arts degree i music from Bethel College (Kasas, USA). Jacqui Rozier is curretly servig God by providig religious/spiritual urture for the termially ill ad their families as Spiritual Care Coordiator with Hospice of the Wester Reserve i Clevelad. She also serves as Board Member with AAMA. She holds dual membership with Lee Heights Commuity Church ad Morig Star Baptist Church, both i Clevelad, Ohio. Jacqui is married to Arthur, ad has oe so ad five gradchildre. Improv comedy ight. Mokey Butler, a improv comedy troupe from Los Ageles, will offer a ight of clea, quick-thikig comedy for all covetio attedees. A outgrowth of the Mosaic Commuity i Los Ageles, the troupe believes that creativity is a atural outgrowth of Christia spirituality. They provide comedy workshops ad classes ad ejoy performig live improv shows. See www.mokeybutlercomedy.com. Ad the list could go o. To stay up-to-date with the latest o special evets, visit us olie at covetio.meoiteusa.org/. Register ow! Registratio for Phoeix 2013 has already begu, but it s ot too late to get i o the fu. Early bird registratio lasts through Thursday, April 25, 2013. We ve got fu activities for the whole family, so make it a vacatio ad come ad experiece the largest gatherig of Meoites i the Uited States! Like us o: Facebook (www.facebook.com/mcusa.covetio) Follow us o: Twitter (twitter.com/meco) #Phoeix13
of God s Kigdom Two opportuities to give At each covetio, we ivite participats to share gifts of moey to support miistries across the church. This July, you will have the opportuity to give to two compellig projects: Support the DREAMer fud. This fud provides help with applicatio fees for udocumeted youg adults who were brought to the Uited States as childre as they apply for the U.S. Dream Act defermet. Our goal is to raise $15,000, which will help 50 youg Meoites realize their dreams. Support Shie: a ew Aabaptist curriculum for childre. Support Meoite Church USA s goal of resourcig cogregatios i their Christia formatio resposibilities by helpig fud the developmet of a ew Suday School curriculum, Shie. Like its predecessor, Gather Roud, which is approachig its fial year i a eight-year cycle, Shie will teach childre from a Bible-based ad distictly Aabaptist perspective. Egagig immigratio justice ad udoig racism at covetio Udoig racism ad advacig itercultural trasformatio is oe of Meoite Church USA s primary priorities, ad we are committed to keepig this focus i frot of us at covetio. Gatherig i Arizoa, which shares a border with Mexico, provides may opportuities to lear more about immigratio ad peacemakig. We are plaig various special activities to egage our questios ad help us lear more about how these issues affect each of us ad our home commuities. Travelig choir. This choir, composed of covetio participats ad directed by Ke Nafziger of Easter Meoite Uiversity, Harrisoburg, Va., will travel to sites throughout Phoeix icludig a jail, a commuity ceter ad a retiremet village to sig sogs of healig ad hope. There will be oe rehearsal before performig. You must register to be part of this choir, ad space is limited. Flash mob. That s right. We re goig to make our presece kow i Phoeix through sog ad dace together. Watch our website for more iformatio ad to lear the ew Meo dace routie! Learig experieces. O Wedesday afteroo ad Thursday morig, we are makig time to egage immigratio justice ad udoig racism through a variety of activities ad workshops. Learig experieces will iclude a cross-cultural simulatio game, salsa lessos, Bible studies, a film festival, semiars o activism ad advocacy, ad more. Prayer walk. We will ed our time together i Phoeix with a prayer walk throughout the dowtow area. We will walk i prayer past places of hope ad places of sufferig, prayig for Phoeix ad also prayig for our home commuities, cogregatios ad the broader church. Borderliks ad Immigratio ad Customs Eforcemet (ICE) Detetio facility tours (for adults oly). While at covetio, you ca sped a day visitig the Arizoa-Mexico border ad learig more about what life is like i the borderlads. You ca also sped a morig tourig the Florece Detetio Ceter ad learig more about our justice system ad the process that immigrats must go through if they are detaied. You must register ahead of time to participate i these tours, ad space is limited.
of God s Kigdom Immigratio educatio liks Meoite Church USA Executive Board http://meoiteusa.org/executive-board/immigratio/ http://meoiteusa.org/executive-board/immigratio/statemet-o-immigratio/ (2003 Meoite Church USA Churchwide Statemet o Immigratio) Meoite Cetral Committee http://washigto.mcc.org/issues/immigratio http://immigratio.mcc.org/ http://westcoast.mcc.org/programs/borderlads Immigratio educatio resources Christias at the Border: Immigratio, the Church, ad the Bible by M. Daiel Carroll R. (also available i Spaish) Stragers i the Lad, a six-week study guide from Sojourers based o Christias at the Border. http://store.sojo.et/product_p/sg_sitl.htm MCC U.S. Listeig Project assesses attitudes about immigratio amog Aabaptist churches across the U.S. http://immigratio.mcc.org/resources#prit Missio Dei 19-Immigratio ad the Bible by M. Daiel Carroll R. http://www.meoitemissio.et/resources/missiodei/pages/immigratioadthebible.aspx (dowload); http://store.mp.et/productdetails.cfm?pc=1873 (prited copies) Dyig to Live: A Migrat s Jourey (33-miute DVD) http://dyigtolive.d.edu/; http://dyigtolive.d.edu/dyigtolivereflection%20guide1.pdf (4 sessios) Lovig Stragers as Ourselves: Biblical Reflectios (booklet) http://immigratio.mcc.org/resources#prit Ke Gigerich Meoite Church USA
of God s Kigdom The Earth is the Lord s take this cocept seriously, how would it chage day-to-day life? If I took this seriously, how would I live differetly? How would you live? Are we ope to chagig our behaviors? Commetators write that this psalm was probably used i festival processios. The begiig of Psalm 24 is ofte used to lead i worship a remider that God rules over all thigs ad created all thigs. If we allow it to, this text ca remid of us God s sovereigty, drawig us i to be i awe of our God. The words i Hebrew emphasize creatio, which icludes images of water a symbol of ustable chaos. It is ot just i the 21st cetury that we look aroud, askig questios about God s presece ad sovereigty. The people of God, livig i a broke world, have always had to recocile the already with the ot yet of God s kigdom. By Sherah-Leigh Gerber This piece first appeared as a blog o our covetio website: covetio.meoiteusa.org/ Visit the site to subscribe to receive covetio updates via e-mail. Sittig at a corer table, devourig the most delicious creamsticks, my dad ad I were reflectig o this phrase from Psalm 24. He was preparig a sermo as part of a series he has bee leadig at his church o the Purposeful Pla. I was rumiatig o the phrase, kowig I had this blog post to write! What does the earth is the Lord s mea i the face of Hurricae Sady? What does the earth is the Lord s mea whe scrollig through political posts o Facebook? What does the earth is the Lord s mea as we hear that frieds ad eighbors are sigig lad cotracts for frackers to begi work? Everythig. All. Extreme words we are taught to avoid. Is this poetic hyperbole? A rule with a few exceptios? If we Durig Advet, we are simultaeously called to be thakful while also beig lured ito creatig lists of wats ad competig to fulfill a myriad of obligatios. What does it mea to be i awe of God durig Advet? What is it like to be draw i by the majesty of our God, rememberig that the Creator of all took o flesh ad dwelled amog us? Part of the covetio theme is healed i hope. Is t the act of hopig quite risky? You ope yourself up for disappoitmet. You ackowledge that what you wat ad/or eed is beyod your ow ability to produce. Yet hope is at the heart of kigdom livig. We act ad live out of the hope we have i Christ. We worship because our God is mighty. We work for justice because of the call of God. We testify to the acts of God because we have experieced God s goodess. We rest i God because this is ot the ed. May it be so