IMC News
Living Water Community Church offers a prayer of blessing for Pastor Sally Youngquist.
On Sunday afternoon, June 28, Living Water Community Church celebrated the rich ministry of their pastor Sally Youngquist who has accepted a new assignment as “Community Leader” of Reba Place Fellowship. The “farewell celebration” was a deeply moving worship service. Praise God for the clear testimony of Sally’s call to ministry. Living Water has benefited greatly through her good pastoring. Sally’s faithful service has resulted in a thriving and healthy congregation. Praise God. Thank you, Sally!
7/1/09
Ron Raber & Loretta Zehr burning the mortgage papers for
the Family Life Center at Prairieview Mennonite Church.
From Pastor Doug King:
On March 1, we held a celebration service giving God thanks for his blessings – the reason for celebrating was the paying off of the loan we took out for construction of the Family Life Center. We took out a 15 year loan for 132,000 and paid it off in less than 3 years! We had a wonderful time of celebration as we remembered God’s faithfulness and challenged to look ahead to now what? What is it that God is leading us to next? How can we continue to pass on the blessings of God we’ve received to others?
Prairieview burns Mortgage
after only 3 years into a 15 year loan! 3/10/09
Baptisms at Prairieview:
3/10/09
From Pastor Doug King:
On Sunday, March 15, 2009 we will be celebrating a baptismal service for 3 people, none of which grew up in Prairieview, Waldo or Flanagan Mennonite Churches)! God is working in the lives of people – he continues to draw people to him! God is Good!
This same weekend, March 14-15 will be doing the 30 Hour Famine. In addition to not eating, they will be doing a service project at a mission in Bloomington, and ending the famine by serving the congregation with a baked potato bar after the baptism service.
end. Her topic was "Speaking Out Against Violence" in which she recounted 4 stark stories of real life violence.
Through her presentations she warned the youth about how violence can creep into our lives through video games, movies, school situations, etc. She challenged and encouraged them to stand for what we know to be right even though we don't know the outcome. Finally, she called them to actively practice Christ's teachings as shown in the Beatitudes. She engaged the youth in lively discussion and group activities such as "taking the leap of faith."
Despite the extreme cold, several tried ice skating and tubing down the hill. Everybody enjoyed the huge gym playing basketball, volleyball and climbing the wall. A highlight for Tim McDowell was "making friends all weekend." He described the weekend as "awesome and raw." David McDonald loved the Talent Show.
An added advantage in attending this camp was connecting with three other Chicago-land churches: Christ Community Mennonite Church, Living Water Community Church, and Lombard Mennonite Church. The youth sponsors of these other churches and Pastor Cyneatha are planning youth gatherings to stay in touch and explore how we can collectively practice peacemaking.
Doug Swartz — February 5, 2009
On February 8, 2009 Raul Urcino was “licensed toward ordination” at Iglesia Cristiana Roca de Esperanza. Participating in this wonderful occasion were Conference Ministers Chuck Neufeld and Virgil Vogt as well as IMC Moderator, Roy Jimenez.
On January 25 IMC Conference Minister Chuck Neufeld presented Roland Kuhl with MC USA ministerial credentials. Chuck addressing the North Suburban Mennonite Church during the ceremony included these clarifications:
“…not only have you all found each other. You have enriched IMC by allowing the wider community to be a part of this wonderful development as well.
• Through the clear testimony of our brother Roland,…
• In response to the enthusiastic endorsement of Mark Vincent and Kay Kempf at the official “Credentialing” interview on January 17, 2009…
• After carefully examining Roland’s faith and his embrace of the “Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective” as well as his clear sense of call to ministry…
• And — in response to his obvious gifts for this calling, the Church Life Team of the Illinois Mennonite Conference has declared its joy and readiness to celebrate Roland’s ministry — ministry to you and ministry to the wider Mennonite Church USA — by recognizing the Ordination previously conferred on June 3, 1990 at McKernan Baptist Church, Edmonton, Alberta by the North American Baptist Conference.
Connecting!
CMC youth sponsor, reflects on recent Junior Youth Retreat
2/5/09 .
Raul Urcino “Licensed toward Ordination”
2/9/09 .
Roland Kuhl’s Ordination
1/26/09 .
I had the privilege to accom-pany four youth from Com-munity Mennonite Church of Markham, Illinois to attend the Jr. High Winter Retreat at Menno Haven Camp January 23-25, 2009.
Over the years we’ve attend-ed Camp Friedenswald retreats (our church is a dual-conference congre-gation), but this time chose to attend Menno Haven since our pastor, Cyneatha Millsaps, was providing the spiritual input for the week-
Dan Rusmisel’s Ordination
celebrated on Pentecost
“I had the privilege of being with the Community Mennonite Fellowship of Sterling on Pentecost (May 31) to celebrate Dan Rusmisel’s Ordination and to confer IMC and MC USA Credentials on him. Praise God for this pastor and his joy-filled congregation. Just look at them!” — Chuck Neufeld
5/31/09
60 years of service!
LeRoy and Pauline Kennel have chosen to transition away from their latest creation, the “church in a barn”, which they founded more than 20 years ago. Read more...
6/19/09
Interviewed by Living Water Senior Pastor Sally Schreiner Youngquist, Nuth shared his testimony with the congregation as one saved by God from the killing fields of Cambodia in 1979. Upon reaching Chicago, he learned through reading the Gospel of John that Jesus was the Messiah Buddha had pointed to in the Buddhist scriptures. Nuth learned from Mennonites that forgiving enemies is an important part of following Jesus. He has forgiven the Khmer Rouge for the atrocities committed against him and his country. He calls other Cambodians to do the same, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Nuth became a Christian in 1990 and was baptized in 1993, as a result of the mentoring he received at Reba Place Church in Evanston, IL. Together with a core group of members from Reba Place, he helped found the multi-cultural daughter congregation now known as Living Water Community Church on Chicago's north side in 1995. A growing group of 30 Cambodian adults join the English-speaking congregation for the first hour of worship, and depart for worship and teaching in the Khmer language the second hour. Nuth has been leader of this group since 2001.
Featuring joyful worship in English and Khmer, the licensing service was followed by a sumptuous feast of Cambodian food enjoyed by some 200 folks in attendance. Nuth plans a trip to Cambodia in October with Moses Samol Seph, a Cambodian Baptist pastor from California, to minister to some of the 700 young churches there who are sharing the good news of Jesus in a largely Buddhist context.
--Sally Schreiner Youngquist 6/26/09
IMC licenses first Cambodian pastor on Pentecost Sunday
St. Louis Mennonite Peace Center announces hiring of Executive Director
Living Water bids farewell to Sally Youngquist.
vows to continue its struggle to gain use of new building.
St. Louis, MO — June 17, 2009
On June 1, 2009 the St. Louis Mennonite Peace Center hired Margaret Smetana as its first full-time Executive Director. This is an important step for the St. Louis Mennonite Peace Center as the organization has been a primarily volunteer-run organization for the last 10 years. A hired full-time director offers sustainability to the Peace Center's dynamic and exciting community mediation services and school peace programs that are provided to people of all ages and faiths across the St. Louis Metropolitan area.
Smetana recently received her Masters of Social Work from Washington University's George Warren Brown School of Social Work, where she focused her degree in community and economic development. During her graduate studies she interned with the Peace Center's programs and was trained as a community mediator through a partner organization, Community Conflict Services. Smetana brings with her positive connections to the area's social work and social activist communities, knowledge from her undergraduate education in Political Science and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and service experience from a year of volunteer work with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
The St. Louis Mennonite Peace Center was created in 1999 as a joint effort between the two Mennonite churches in St. Louis, the St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship and Bethesda Mennonite Church. Its most successful programs include a growing community mediation program and a joint community and school garden. The Peace Center will also be increasing its involvement this coming year in a growing Restorative Justice School Program in the St. Louis Public Schools.
This is an exciting time of development for the Peace Center, which hopes to bring new peacemaking energy to the St. Louis Metropolitan area. For more information about the Peace Center or to contact Margaret Smetana, please email stlouismennopeace@hotmail.com.
6/28/09
Ten Thousand Gardens
The birthing of a ministry
Roland Kuhl, Pastor
— North Suburban Mennonite Church —
6/3/09
There is no identifiable starting point for this story because the Spirit of God is always weaving God’s Story through our stories and our stories through God’s Story. However, there is a point in the Spirit’s wondrous weaving that served as a catalyst for this unfolding story of God’s mission. MORE...
Sharing gifts and receiving blessings - being changed in the process of giving and receiving. That seemed to be the theme of Rehoboth’s 60th anniversary celebration July 17-19 as people gathered from Oregon and Nevada in the west to Ontario, Virginia, and Ohio in the east.
7/19/09
