The Lorraine Avenue Messenger Published by Lorraine Avenue Mennonite Church Wichita, Kansas November 2016

Worship during November

Sundays this month feature liturgical variety, beginning with All Saints Sunday, and ending with the First Sunday of Advent (can it really be that time again?!). The latter also officially marks the beginning of a new liturgical year (known in the lectionary as “Year A”). As with each Advent season, our “home grown” Advent Orchestra will accompany the hymns. Sermons will be based on the lectionary readings for each Sunday. Come, let us worship together!

Nov. 6 (All Saints Sunday): Sermon by Tom Haggai 1:15b-2:9; Job 19:23-27a,

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38 Don’t forget to turn your clocks back!

Nov. 13 (Stewardship Sunday): Sermon by Lois

Isaiah 65:17-25; Malachi 4:1-2a; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19

Nov. 20: Sermon by Tom

Jeremiah 23:1-6; Luke 1:68-79; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43

Nov. 27 (First Sunday of Advent): Sermon by Lois

Isaiah 2:2-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44

Faith and Politics One could argue that faith and politics don’t mix, that they are two distinct spheres of life, best kept separate. Faith is personal and private, some would say; politics are public (sometimes to a fault!). Our country is founded upon, among other things, the separation of church and state. This separation is indeed essential to the principle of democracy. On the other hand, one could argue that the Christian faith is inescapably political. One of the

definitions for the term “politics” in my desktop dictionary is “the total complex of relations between people living in society” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition). Is this not the central concern of Christianity? Perhaps not the way it is more widely observed in our country, in which personal salvation is the primary goal. But let us not forget that the namesake of the Christian faith, Jesus Christ, when asked what the greatest commandment was, gave two: love for God, and love for neighbor. Over and over, Jesus’ teachings emphasize that the way people live together matters more to God than, well, almost anything else. That means that Jesus’ teachings were—and are—political. That means that Jesus himself was—and is—political. Last Tuesday, I attended a “Forum on Christian Faith and Political Process,” lead by three members of the Mennonite Church of the Servant, here in Wichita. Jerry Truex opened the forum with the topic “Was Jesus Political?” After acknowledging that it depends on one’s definition, he answered the question with a resounding and well argued “yes.” Admittedly, much of Jesus’ ministry was characterized by a posture at odds with the politics of the time, a context Jerry called “a domination system” characterized by a patriarchal, hierarchical structure, sharp social boundaries, and an economy in which ten percent of the people controlled sixty-six percent of the wealth. It was partly Jesus’ advocacy for the poor, often in direct challenge to the social mores, that got him executed by the Roman government. (Jerry pointed out that death by crucifixion was a uniquely “political” form of execution, reserved by Rome for those who were considered to have revolted against the empire.) With this as an introduction and backdrop, Lois Barrett and Pat Cameron identified seven issues central to Jesus’ teachings that they also saw as central to our current presidential election: Economic Justice; Peace and Restraint of Violence; Racial Justice; Gender Justice; Creation Care; Immigration; and Truth, Honesty and Integrity.

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After summarizing the biblical principles pertaining to each issue and why each should matter to followers of the Christian faith, they presented (as objectively as they could) the contrasting views and political platforms of the two major party candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. While space doesn’t permit me to cover this content in detail, following at least are some questions pertaining to each issue that we might ask of both candidates.

1) Economic Justice. Which candidate is more concerned about the poor?

2) Peace and Restraint of Violence. Which candidate is more concerned about reducing violence in our nation (e.g. through increased gun control)? Which one advocates for diplomacy over against violence in international affairs?

3) Racial Justice. Which candidate is more concerned about racism and racial injustice?

4) Gender Justice. Which candidate advocates more strongly for gender equality (e.g. equal pay, women’s benefits, women’s rights)?

5) Creation Care. Which candidate is more concerned about the environment (e.g. climate change, clean energy, conservation of natural resources)?

6) Immigration. Which candidate is more concerned about caring for the immigrants coming to (or already in) our country?

7) Truth, Honesty, and Integrity. Which candidate better models these values?

Finally, should people of faith (specifically the Christian faith) vote? Aren’t we supposed to be in the world but not of the world? While the latter is a complex theological question which can’t be adequately explored here, this much seems clear: during his ministry, Jesus was very involved in the “politics”—that is, the care for the world and its people—of his time. And, he commanded us to do the same. There is no such thing as a perfect (or perfectly godly or Christ-like) candidate. But as Lois Barrett and Pat Cameron asked the audience last night, which candidate is going to move us closer to the way we believe God wants the world to be? And then, let us consider that not to vote is to let others choose for us.

- Tom Harder

Don’t Forget – The Alternative Gift Market

November 12 9-2

East Heights United Methodist Church

4407 E. Douglas

a great place to shop!

Wellness Committee

As children of God, we seek to nurture and encourage wholeness within our church family. Committee members: Ruth Holliday, Janet Kaufman, Marie Krehbiel, Kathy Long, Dolly Seibel, and Myra Swartz.

Pets Can Help Your Health

People have been pet owners for many years. They play an important role in a family and some have jobs such as guide dogs or providing security for our homes. Most

of us have heard stories of a dog saving a drowning child or a dog or cat waking a family to save them from a fire. Some of the things pets do for us are below:

1) If you spend thirty minutes with a dog this triggers the release of chemicals in your brain that are related to happiness.

2) If you spend 5 minutes with a dog this will lower the cortisol level. This is a hormone related to stress.

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3) People with pets are less lonely and they have higher morale than non-pet owners .Cuddling with a pet releases oxytocin, a hormone related to love, trust, and empathy.

4) Watching fish swim in an aquarium or stroking a cat or dog can lower your heart rate and blood pressure. Pet owners tend to have lower cholesterol.

5) Cat owners are less likely to die of heart disease than someone who does not have cats. Another study shows that dog owners are 9 times more likely to help you survive one year after a heart attack than those without dogs.

6) Owning pets can help children develop empathy and respect for living creatures. Also children ”talk” to their pets as an outlet. Pets have proven to be very beneficial in improving social interaction of children with autism. If animals are brought into a home for a working purpose, history shows that strong emotional bonds develop between the animals and owners. Unconditional love between human and animal often gives a sense of well-being to enhance their lives every day. Animals provide health benefits to us and we may not even realize we are receiving them.

Healthy Living, September-October 2016

And NOW – a SIMPLE recipe for healthy chocolate-pumpkin muffins:

1 large box chocolate cake mix--17-20 oz. 1 can pumpkin --small can

Mix these ingredients together and fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake in 350 degrees oven for 15-20 minutes.

Submitted by Marie Krehbiel

Building Bridges report from the Peace Committee

A year ago Jan Swartzendruber of People of Faith for Peace started work on a community project: Building Bridges. The purpose of this project was twofold. One was to form friendships between Wichita area Muslims and non-

Muslims. The second was to sell paintings to benefit Iraqi refugee artists.

The 71 paintings/art were commissioned from Mel Lehman a Mennonite who lives and works in New York City. He is the founder of Common Humanity which was established to work for peace in the Middle East using the medium of art to convey common human experience. He acquired these paintings through consignment from refugee artists living Syria, many of whom have since immigrated to the U.S. or Canada. The paintings are provided to host groups with the intent of educating Westerners about the Middle East and providing much needed income for the artist who in their new homes often have to take entry level jobs even though they are professionally trained artists. LAMC became involved when Jan needed a church sponsor in applying for a peace grant to help fund the project from the Peace and Social Justice Network of the Mennonite Mission Network. A $1000 grant was obtained.

Monthly planning meetings were held at various locations including WSU and the Islam Society Headquarters at the mosque near Woodlawn and 31st North. There would be exhibitions at the Robert W. Regier Gallery at Bethel, the Clayton Staples Gallery at the McKnight Art Center at WSU, and the Shift Space, a WSU sponsored gallery in Old Town on Commerce Street. Special opening and closing receptions would be held at each gallery.

The closing reception at the Staples Gallery at WSU also involved a lecture by sculpture artist Dr. Ahmed Abdullah Fadaam, who is also an illustrator, radio producer and war correspondent. He now teaches at Elon University, a United Church of Christ University located in Elon NC. His lecture and power point presentation was titled, “Art under Fire”. He gave a harrowing account of living in Baghdad when the war came in 2003. He showed examples of his two dimensional art and brought sculptures in his suitcases to be part of the art exhibition/auction. As part of the closing reception, attendees were treated to Middle Eastern refreshments courtesy of N&J Café and Bakery, and Byblos Restaurant. The Alithea Mime Theatre presented an 18 minute piece, “Angels Rising”, on the lawn outside the

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McKnight Art building as the closing piece to the art auction at WSU.

As of September 28th, 14 paintings have sold totaling $3,760 of which the artists will receive 80 percent or $3,008. Prints and note cards are still available. The paintings which didn’t sell will possibly be exhibited at the Carriage Factory Art Gallery in Newton sometime before the end of the year. We’ll keep you posted If you want to see all 71 original paintings, go to www.ictcommonhumanity.org. There will be a display of art pieces purchased individually by members of the Peace committee during fellowship time on October 30 and November 6.

Submitted by Jonell Davies

Work of the Church Church Council Minutes October 18, 2016

Attending: CB Balbierz, Beverly Baumgartner, Al Beck, Meribeth Buhr, Nathan Ebersole, Catherine Everingham, Linda Gebert, Tom Harder, Roger Kaufman, Beth Lichty, Melanie Mitchell, Murray Reimer Penner, Sylvia Schmidt, Karl Swartz, Joel Tieszen, Ruth Tieszen, Guy Wenzel.

Centering and Invocation: Karl opened with a reading from “My Bright Abyss” by Christian Wiman on doubt being part of faith. He offered a prayer. God’s Work Among Us: The Council meetings minutes were approved as distributed. The Treasurer reported that the cash balance continues to diminish. To preserve cash at the end of the year, we will defer making the final $15,000 contribution to Western District Conference for the Wichita church plant until 2017. A lower borrowing rate of 5% has been obtained from a new member/lender for the loan which finances the purchase of the 633 house.

Furthering the Kingdom: 633 S Lorraine - Update on financing: A new member/lender has paid off the first loan and took out a new loan at 5% interest, for 10 years. We will not try to pay it off this year. Piano donation: There was discussion of the Steinway grand piano that the Stucky family is generously willing to donate to the church. It requires considerable repairs, which the family would pay for. Different options were discussed, and Roger Kaufman, Trustees Chair, will follow up with the Stucky family. Stewardship Committee Report: Guy Wenzel reported that all the letters have been put in church mailboxes, and mailed to the entire unabridged directory members. The Stewardship moments have begun during church services and will continue until Stewardship Sunday. Fall Congregational Meeting: Ruth Tieszen announced that unless a board wants to do a fundraiser lunch, we will have a potluck before the meeting on November 20.

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Council Retreat: The Council retreat which is for everyone in the church this year is October 30, during the church service with Heidi Unruh as the presenter. Other business: Susan Unruh, who is the Deacon for the Krause family, said that Roland and Pete Krause would like some help keeping vigil with Marjorie in the Harry Hynes hospice facility. Karl closed with a poem by Christian Wiman.

Linda Gebert, clerk

Board of Deacons Minutes October 11, 2016 Attendees: Myra Swartz, Mike Fetters, Sylvia Schmidt, Adella Ozor, Gerry Lichti, Lois Harder, Tom Harder, Linda Buller We Gather in God’s Name Devotions were led by Myra reading a chapter from a book titled Living Buddha, Living Christ. The chapter was titled “A Peaceful Heart”, how meditation can help us deal with conflicts in our world and in ourselves. Sharing Our Present Work October 30 will be the Deacon’s Sunday to present

our Stewardship Moment to the congregation.

Myra will represent the Deacons during that time.

Discussion was held regarding our budget for 2017.

We looked at our 2016 budget with some questions

which Myra will clarify with Murray.

A letter was received from Heidi Regier Kreider,

WDC Chair, regarding Tom and Lois performing a

same sex marriage ceremony. This letter clarifies

WDC’s policies.

Discussion was held regarding the service for the

Peace Weekend with speaker Aziza Hasan

speaking on Saturday with Faspa after and giving

the Sunday morning sermon.

Church family concerns were discussed

Looking to the future Myra is on call for October. Gerry on call for November. Next Deacons meeting November 8, 2016. Devotions by Gerry and Sylvia as Hostess. Church council attendees on October 18, Sylvia and Susan Submitted by Sylvia Schmidt

Lorraine Avenue Mission Board Minutes October 4, 2016 LAMB Mission Statement: To provide leadership and direction for the service programs initiated by the congregation as Christ would have us do. We Gather in God's Name: Janice Penner, Pete Krause, Meribeth Buhr, C.B. Balbierz, Lois Harder, and Connie White were present. Sharing Our Present Work: 633 House Update

a. 633 House Committee now consists of Meribeth, Mike Fetters

b. A big thank you from LAMB to Al Beck, Linda Doll, Lois, Sylvia Schmidt, Myra Swartz and Miles Thompson for their work in cleaning up the house after the last tenant left.

c. Our next expected tenant, Muhudin, lost an arm, a leg and several fingers when tortured in his home country. He is waiting on approval of disability status. He is expected to move in at end of October.

d. Linda Doll cleaned weeds out of the gardens. Carrie Dicke will plan an upgrade to the landscape.

Family Promise Update a) The Sept. 18 Family Promise Day

Center open house well attended and enthusiastic for the program’s beginning.

b) Hope Mennonite has signed on as the final (13th) host congregation

c) October 24 is the planned opening date.

Aposento Alto update a) There is concerned at the lack of

activity in the small group of previous participants.

b) No decision has been made about a new pastor for the congregation. Support group continues to meet.

LAMP a) LAMP Thanksgiving drive will be on

November 20. An updated wish list for the program will be prepared.

Inter Faith Ministries a) A successful CROP Walk was held

Oct. 2, 2016--congregational support is much appreciated.

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b) Operation Holiday--C.B. and Linda Doll will attend an organizational meeting tomorrow

New Business: Building Bridges recap--(supported by the Peace Committee)

Plans are being made for displaying the artwork purchased by congregation members.

Stewardship Moment Oct. 16th C.B. will work with Linda Gebert on a presentation of the work of LAMB to be given during the service.

Budget a. We will contribute $100 to the

Greater Wichita Ministerial League on behalf of the congregation from the Sharing the Good News budget line item and contribute $100 to the Women 4 Women Knitting 4 Peace.

b. We began preliminary discussions about budget requests for next year.

Submitted by Connie White

Board of Trustees Minutes October 9, 2016 Attendees: Al Beck, Nathan Ebersole, Roger Kaufman, Bryce Schmidt Meeting chaired by: Roger Our Stewardship Moment --- The Trustees’ Stewardship Moment for the fall Stewardship campaign is scheduled for the Sunday morning service of Oct. 23. What can we do? Roger has an idea for highlighting three areas where we are looking at new technology: Ice machine, tankless hot water heater, and LED lighting. Roger will write something up. Trustees Fall Work Day --- We looked at the church calendar and scheduled our Trustees Fall Work Day for Saturday, Oct. 22, following Men’s Breakfast. New tables --- Just a “heads up”... the BOCE has recently purchased new tables for the kids’ Sunday School classrooms. They were delivered last week, and the Trustees may be called upon to

assemble them and dispose of the old tables. We’ll wait and see. Bent table leg --- There is a bent steel table leg on one of the light-weight rectangular tables in the Fellowship Hall. We were going to look at it after this morning’s meeting, but all of the tables have mysteriously disappeared from the FH. Abandoned car --- We recapped the recent episode with the abandoned car in the northwest corner of our church parking lot. The car was eventually removed by the owner, and Roger learned some things about the Wichita Police policy on abandoned cars. Parking lot lights --- The parking lot lights are still staying on well past sunrise and into the daytime. Troubleshooting this may be a Work Day task. Telephone system --- A few weeks ago our church telephone system (PBX) had a strange problem. It could receive incoming calls but could not make outgoing calls. Fortunately, a power down / reset made the problem go away. Roger will show the Trustees where the PBX equipment is located and how to do the reset. Starting up the boiler --- After the meeting, we went down to the boiler room and lit up the burners under the boiler. They fired up with no problems. Now we are ready to heat when/if the weather turns cold. The thermostats in all of the church zones are still set for A/C at this time, but we can quickly switch them over to heat. Church Council meeting --- This month’s Church Council meeting is this Tuesday, October 18. Next meeting - Our next Trustees monthly meeting will be November 13, 2016.

Written and submitted by Roger Kaufman

Board of Christian Education BOCE did not meet in October. Their next meeting will be November 12, 2016, 11 a.m.

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Contributions to LAMC by electronic payments are now

possible through PayPal! Just follow these steps – · Go to the PayPal website, www.paypal.com, and select Send · Enter the pay-to email address of treasurer@lorraineavenue.org and the amount to be paid, and then click Continue · Select the Friends or family option · Add a note to explain the purpose of the contribution (such as “General fund”) · Follow the online instructions to complete the payment If you instruct PayPal to send the money from your bank account, rather than from a credit card, no fees will be charged to LAMC. Contact our treasurer, Murray Reimer Penner, for more details.

Birthdays and ANNIVERSARIES (Please let the office know if any birthdays or

anniversaries are not included)

5 Beth Lichty 5 Andrew Voth 8 BRUCE & MERIBETH BUHR (36TH) 9 Daniel Ozor 9 Carolyn Smoker

11 Don Franz 11 Peter Krause 11 Jeremy Mitchell-Koch 12 Eric Friesen 13 Benjamin Gaeddert 15 Gordon Funk 15 Kathryn Gaeddert 15 Jan Osborne 15 Alyssa Penner 18 Jill Schmidt Robinson 19 Judy Ebersole 19 Leah Robinson (12) 20 Julia Fetters (15) 21 Mike Fetters 23 Lydia Parks (15) 24 Barbara Gingrich 24 Emily Huxman 24 Kathy Long 26 Al Beck 26 Ionka Krasteva 26 ADELLA & WILLIAM OZOR (34TH) 28 Benjamin Dunkelberger (10)

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1995 1959 2015 1994 2003

NOVEMBER 2016

Lorraine Avenue Mennonite Church Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 5:00 LAMB

7:00 Wellness Cmte

2 4:45 Yoga

5:30 Kids’ Choir

5:45 Supper

6:30-7:15 Bible

Study; kids’ act’s

7:15 Chancel Choir

3

12:00 Lifestyle

Strategies – GR

1:00 Serendipity

5:00 Lifestyle

Strategies – GR

7:00 NAMI

4 12:00 Yoga

5

6 Daylight Savings Time ENDS!

7 4:15 Centering Prayer

5:30 Yoga

6:30 OZ Bike Group

6:45 Wellness Group

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Election Day 7:00 Deacons

9 4:45 Yoga

5:30 Kids’ Choir

5:45 Supper

6:30-7:15 Bible

Study; kids’ act’s

6:30 Music Cmte

7:15 Chancel Choir

10 12:00 Lifestyle

Strategies – GR 5:00 Lifestyle

Strategies – GR

7:00 NAMI

11 12:00 Yoga

12 11:00 BOCE

13 10:45 Trustees

14

4:15 Centering Prayer

5:30 Yoga

6:45 Wellness Group

15

7:00 Church Council

16 4:45 Yoga

5:30 Kids’ Choir

5:45 LAST Supper

6:30-7:15 Bible

Study; kids’ act’s

7:15 Chancel Choir

17 10:00 NAMI

12:00 Lifestyle

Strategies-GR

5:00 Lifestyle

Strategies

7:00 knitting4peace

18 12:00 Yoga

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20

21 Messenger articles due

1:00 Library Cmte

4:15 Centering Prayer

5:30 Yoga

6:45 Wellness Group

22

23 (no yoga)

24

Happy Thanksgiving

25 12:00 Yoga

26 8:00 Men’s

Breakfast

27 First Sunday Of Advent

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4:15 Centering Prayer

5:30 Yoga

6:45 Wellness Group

29 30 4:45 Yoga 7:15 Chancel Choir