We Believe What We Want to Believe

Leadership Team Report Summary Report

Issues that LT has discussed over the past month:

· PNMC Planning Committee – Paula Bachman and Lee Honsinger have agreed to serve on the local planning committee for the PNMC conference next June, to be held at NNU in Nampa. They will meet with others from Evergreen and Emmaus in helping organize local arrangements.

· Directory – Charlie has created a file with the information from the interest sheets and has forwarded it to Kathy to update the directory.

· Mary Schertz Workshop – Mary Schertz, Mennonite seminary professor of New Testament at AMBS, is coming to Idaho the weekend of January 11-13. On Saturday the 12th, Mary will be presenting a workshop at HPMF on how to read and understand the Bible--especially the tough parts. We will need to provide lunch and possibly housing. On Sunday she will preach during the combined worship services held at Evergreen Heights church.

· Sermon Series – Linda is working on a 3 week sermon series looking at the BikeMovement materials along with Emergent church and early Anabaptist history. Possible dates are January 20, 27 and February 3.

· Annual Pastoral Reflection – Linda shared her annual reflections paper with LT.

Next LT meetings: Jan 7 and 21, 5:30 PM

Leadership Team –DC Whitenack, Charlie Honsinger, Ernie Bachman, Joyce Bowman, Linda Nafziger-Meiser

January Birthdays

1 Tyler Honsinger

4 Roger Piper Ruth

13 Michael Ung

17 Justin Welty

19 Molly Haarhoff

Nursery Helpers Schedule

We have added several more children to the nursery room, especially during worship time. Eleni Refu serves as the staff nursery attendant each Sunday. If you would like to assist Eleni in the nursery during the worship service, please see the sign up sheet located on the back counter.

There are many slots unfilled yet for January and February. Here is the schedule so far:

January 6 ___________

January 13 Allison

January 20 Lauren

Quilting Night, Jan 6, 5 – 7 PM

Come one, come all, next Sunday, January 6, to a night of fabric cutting as we start our quilt project for the Relief Sale this year. We won’t need sewing machines for this night (I’ll bring mine, and I’m pretty sure that’s all we’ll need), but we’ll need all of the rotary cutters and mats we can round up! Christine will bring an iron, so we’ll be covered there as well. We’ll meet from 5:00-7:00, and we’ll order in pizza. How does that sound? If you have pizza preferences, just let Janet know! Direct any other questions to her as well. See you then!

Seminary Professor Coming to Idaho!

January 11 – 13

Mary Schertz, Mennonite seminary professor of New Testament at AMBS, is coming to Idaho the weekend of January 11-13. It doesn’t happen too often that we get to hear and interact with Mennonite biblical scholars to we invite everyone to attend as much as possible. We have a great weekend planned for fellowship and learning.

Informal Fellowship at Open House, January 11

Gary and Linda will be hosting a drop-in open house for her at their home on Friday evening from 6:30 to 9:00 (call 331-8529 for directions). See page 6 of this newsletter for a bio on Mary.

Workshop – Understanding Difficult Biblical Texts, Saturday, January 12

Mary will be presenting a workshop at HPMF on how to read and understand the Bible--especially the tough parts. Specific times will be announced as soon as they are set. This will be open to the community and other Idaho Mennonite congregations as well; please come and invite others.

Morning Worship – Jaunary 13

On Sunday morning the 13th, Mary will preach at Evergreen. See the following announcement for more details.

CHOIR.GIF (29 KB)

Joint Worship Service for Treasure Valley Mennonites – January 12

Evergreen Heights Mennonite Church welcomes everyone to a joint worship service with Mennonites here in the Treasure Valley. Fellowship with coffee and donuts is at 9 AM, Sunday School is at 9:30 and worship begins at 10:40. There will be lunch after the worship service. We are delighted to have Mary Schertz provide the morning sermon. Come for great worship and fellowship.

The Beloved Community Event at NNU

January 16, 7 PM

“Where Do we Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” NNU is hosting Rev. James Lawson, ally of Martin Luther King, Jr. and one of the most important figures of the civil rights movement. Located at the Brandt Center at 707 Fern Street, Nampa. Free admission. See poster on back bulletin board.

Planning Ahead….

Quilt Meeting with Pauline Aguilar

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

6:30 PM – 9:00 PM

Plan now to meet with Pauline from West Coast Mennonite Central Committee as we prepare quilts and items for the Idaho relief sale in May.

Winter Camp – February 22-24

Plan now to attend the Winter Camp at Camp Ida-Haven in McCall, Idaho. This is a fun event for the whole family. More details to come.

Next Idaho Relief Sale – May 17, 2008

The 3^rd annual sale will be held on the campus at Northwest Nazarene University at the Johnson Sports Center.

PNMC Annual Meetings – June 22-24

Hyde Park, Evergreen Heights, and Emmaus churches will be hosting the annual meetings of Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference on June 27-29. The meetings will be held on the campus of Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa and will include activities for the whole family. Nelson Kraybill, present of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, is the guest speaker.

In this issue, we begin a new series—that of stories from Hyde Park Mennonite Fellowship’s past. It is good to reflect on the past, learn from it, laugh with the mistakes, and rejoice with the successes. Some of you may have stories about Hyde Park that you would like to tell or pictures you would like to share. I would love to hear from you as we tell and listen to our story.

The early beginnings of this church actually began in the life of Nampa Mennonite Church which had been established in 1899 by Mennonites from the east. Nampa Mennonite has its own rich and tragic history but a part of its life is the constant care and passion by many members who cared deeply about mission and sharing the good news to others in the valley.

One of those individuals was a man by the name of Archie Janzen, now deceased, who was a member of the Nampa Mennonite church and a sixth grade teacher at Longfellow School on 9^th Street here in Boise. He had been thinking about the number of children in his classes that came from broken homes. In June 1969 Archie wrote to the Voluntary Service department of Mennonite Board of Missions in Elkhart, Indiana. He was hoping to establish a VS unit in Boise to work with the children in the north end and establish a Mennonite church in Boise. Eugene Blosser, the pastor at the Nampa Mennonite Church at the time, shared Archie’s excitement about a mission in Boise.

At this same time, the Boise Friends who had been meeting at the this building site at 12^th and Eastman, decided to put their building up for sale. Through Archie’s inquiries, he learned the Friends group wanted $23,000 for the building and preferred to sell the building to another church body. As they talked with Archie they rejected the offer of $23,000 they had already received in hopes to sell the building to the Mennonites for $17,000. Archie pursued this offer with others.

The Boise Work Committee was established by First Mennonite Church in Nampa who appointed James Good, Archie Janzen, Wilbur Troyer, Harold Miller, and Eugene Blosser as committee members. The Nampa church voted to purchase the building and pledges were easily made to make the $5,000 down payment.

The Boise Work Committee’s vision was to begin a service program that would establish Sunday school and eventually a ministry and church.

….Learn next month about the excitement and frustrations of this early vision.

(Material and information gathered from Roots Out of Dry Ground, a book written by Lois Janzen Preheim that details the history of First Mennonite Church in Nampa. The book was prepared for the church’s centennial celebration in 1999.)

Quotes to Ponder from December Worship

During the colonial period in American history an eclipse of the sun caught members of a New England state legislature off guard. In the midst of general panic a motion was made to adjourn, but one of the legislators stood up and said, “Mr. Speaker, if it is not the end of the world and we adjourn, we shall appear to be fools. If it is the end of the world, I choose to be found doing my duty. I move you, sir, let candles be brought.” Bring on the Advent candles and let’s live in love and act in hope until our Lord comes again. --Joanna M. Adams

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God. --Teilhard de Chardin

Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is there adequate perception of the world.

-- Hans Margolis

Charity begins at home and justice begins next door. --Charles Dickens

First of all, thank you all for your support of this project. Through your generous support and encouragement, progress continues to be made in meeting the goals of the project.

The project has been given a great boost by the two grants we recently received: $2000 from the women’s Bible study group at Filer Mennonite Church, and $5000 from the Fransen Family Foundation. A new design for the Rocket Stove has also brought the hope of totally free stoves for the people of Mapangazya, since they will be able to make them with all locally available materials. Our hope is to make a stove for every family that wants one; this could be as many as 10,000 stoves in the next few years.

In early 2008 we hope to open a new position, Project Manager/Promoter/Educator. The person we hire will be responsible for production and distribution of stoves, as well as promoting tree planting and use of the stoves. The latter will involve an educational program to teach people about the benefits of using the stoves: great reduction in fuel wood used, due to high efficiency and small diameter wood used in stoves; greatly reduced smoke; significant reduction of smoke-related respiratory illness in women and children; and, elimination of burns from falls into the fire.

We are also very excited to have Joyce Bowman and DC Whitenack accompanying Gary Nafziger-Meiser to Zambia in February. The trio will depart from Boise on Feb. 26, landing in Zambia’s capital Lusaka early in the morning on the 28^th. Joyce and DC will get a return flight on March 8; Gary will spend another week in Mapangazya working on producing the first few stoves before he leaves on the 15^th. Your prayers for them during this trip are greatly appreciated.

Church Calendar

January 6................... Quilters evening at church, 5-7 PM

January 7................... Leadership Team meeting, 5:30 PM

January 11-13............. Weekend with Mary Schertz, Professor from AMBS

January 13................. Joint Worship Service at Evergreen Heights Mennonite Church, Caldwell

January 21................. Leadership Team meeting, 5:30 PM

February 10............... 1^st Sunday of Lent

2^nd Sunday Soup

February 13............... Quilting with Pauline Aguilar, 6:30 – 9:00 PM

February 22-24......... Church Winter Camp, McCall

March 9..................... 2^nd Sunday Soup

March 16................... Palm Sunday

March 23................... Easter Sunday

Recipe Sharing – If you have a favorite recipe you would like to share, please share it with Kathy to include in a future issue of the Olive Branch.

Recipes/Ideas from the Mennonite Community Cookbook by Mary Emma Showalter (found in the church’s library)

How to Keep Raisins from Getting Sugary

Wash raisins in hot water 2 or 3 times.

Drain thoroughly.

Place a cloth on baking sheet and spread raisins on cloth.

Let stand 2 days and then remove cloth.

Put in slow oven (250°) to dry for one hour.

Pack in sterilized jars and seal tightly.

Raisins prepared in this way will keep for years. --Mrs. Jesse J. Short, Archbold, Ohio

Food for a Barn Raising

This bit of information was found in a quaint, old handwritten recipe book from Great-grandmother’s day. It is included here mainly for the purpose of giving us a peep into the past. As many of us know, a “barn raising” was quite an event during those early years. When a new barn was built, all the friends and neighbors came on the specified day to help put up the framework of the barn. This policy is still carried out in some communities where neighbors are neighborly. Homemakers of our day will no doubt be astounded at all the food consumed in one day. What is more difficult to believe is that it was all made in Great-grandmother’s kitchen.

Mary Schertz

Mary Professor of New Testament
Director, Institute of Mennonite Studies

B.A., Goshen College, 1971
M.Div., Goshen Biblical Seminary, 1983
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University School of Religion, 1993

Mary's teaching calls forth the best in her students as she works creatively to help students discover the excitement of reading the Bible in its original languages. She has received a Teaching-Learning Grant from the Association of Theological Schools to support her work at innovative teaching. With a strong commitment to serving the church, Mary extends her teaching beyond the classroom. She is working on a Luke commentary and recently completed a book on biblical studies methodology with Perry Yoder. As Director of the Institute of Mennonite Studies, Mary helped launch a new journal, Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology, jointly published with Canadian Mennonite Bible College. Prior to joining the AMBS faculty in 1988, Mary taught at Goshen College for one year and served at Vanderbilt University School of Religion as a teaching assistant and New Testament researcher and bibliographer, 1985-87.

"The text of the New Testament sometimes suffers from over-familiarity. We know it so well that we hear but don't hear, see but don't see. Studies in the language, history, literary conventions, and social world of the New Testament text can 'slow us down' enough to help us really hear and see what God is saying and doing through Scripture. Giving the New Testament the kind of attention we would give a letter from a very dear friend may renew both us as learners and the church of which we are a part."

Scholarship

Beautiful Upon the Mountains: Biblical Essays on Mission, Peace, and the Reign of God (Institute of Mennonite Studies, 2004), co-editor
"For God So Loved" in The Heart of the Matter: Pastoral Ministry in Anabaptist Perspective (Cascadia, 2004)
"Preaching and the Bible: First We Have to Read It" in Anabaptist Preaching: A Conversation Between Pulpit, Pew and Bible (Cascadia, 2003)
"Keeping Faith: New Testament Scholarship and the Church" in Minding the Church: Scholarship in the Anabaptist Tradition (Pandora, 2002)
Seeing the Text: Exegesis for Students of Greek and Hebrew (Abingdon, 2001), co-author
Born Giving Birth: Creative Expressions of Mennonite Women (Faith & Life, 1991), co-editor
Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology, editor

The Olive Branch

January 2008 Edition

Leadership Team Report Summary Report

Mary Schertz

Scholarship