Articles : Nov. 21, 2011
Editorial
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For what can we give thanks?
Another Thanksgiving is nearly here. Highways will be clogged with travelers, joined somewhere by the threat of nasty weather, ever the unwanted guest. Mercantiles and nonprofits alike hold their financial breath, hoping for annual holiday salvation. One or two family members overextend themselves, pining for a Norman Rockwell-approved magical moment of harmony and gratitude.
Feature
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MC USA health plan benefits church plants
When Jerry and Lori Acosta of Mathias, Texas, came to Wichita, Kan., in August to help launch a Hispanic congregation, they did not have health insurance for themselves or their four sons.
Letters
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Resisting war taxes
Five Mennonites participated in the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Council’s conference on redirecting income taxes to humanitarian causes on Nov. 4-6 in Kansas City. About 50 percent of income taxes are used for wars, past and present. Some shared of dealing with tax courts, threatening letters from the IRS and one person’s revelation that the phrase “unilateral disarmament” meant that ending the support of war (with taxes) starts with me.
News
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Lancaster assistant principal accused of sexual abuse
Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite High School assistant principal Steven Geyer was placed on administrative leave Nov. 4 after school officials received allegations that he sexually abused international students hosted in his home.
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Old Order’s steel wheels at odds with law in Iowa
OSAGE, Iowa — After the Iowa Supreme Court got involved, Groffdale Conference Old Order Mennonites and Mitchell County officials thought they might be able to sit down together and draft a compromise.
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Tree symbolizes deeper relations with Lutherans
WITTENBERG, Germany — Mennonites planted two trees in the Luthergarten in early October to mark the deepening of Mennonite-Lutheran relations.
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Sunshine to brighten Goshen rec center showers
GOSHEN, Ind. — People taking showers in Goshen College’s Roman Gingerich Recreation- Fitness Center will soon have the sun — and the physics department — to thank for their warm water. Members of the Sun Shower Collective, consisting of students, faculty and staff, are building solar panels to heat the water in the RFC.
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Singing together with love
NORTH NEWTON, Kan. — It was cause not for celebration, but for singing. More than 150 people gathered at Bethel College Mennonite Church Nov. 11 for an evening hymn sing that preceded the Bethel College drama department’s performance of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.
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Canadian MBs find unity on atonement
A Canadian Mennonite Brethren Bible study conference waded into a potentially divisive issue and found a denomination remarkably unified.
Sunday School by Halteman Finger
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Thrilling promise
It seems appropriate to consider the call of Abram and Sarai during the season of Advent. As we look back on the Messiah’s arrival as a fulfillment of older promises, we remember the most ancient of all: The audacious revelation to Abram that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3).
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