Leadership Team Report

Summary Report

Issues that LT has discussed over the past months include:

· New members – Thanks to Karen and Russ for their tremendous service on the LT. And welcome to Ernie and Joyce as new members of the team.

· Directory - Kathy Bilderback will be updating the church directory with contact information, new prayer chain, and other information. There are plans to publish a different directory with pictures and other personal information some time in the next few months.

· LT Chair - DC will serve as chair for at least the first quarter of the year. Charlie is secretary.

· Volunteers at Church – We decided to mail thank you notes to the volunteers who are serving the church. We also talked about having job descriptions.

· Youth Convention – San Jose 2007 – LT proposes changing the mission giving focus for the month of April to the Youth. This will help support the youth to attend the Mennonite assembly in July.

· MMA Representative– The church’s current representative has resigned so we are in need of a volunteer to serve as the church’s representative.

· Review of PNMC Proposed Structure Changes – PNMC has requested congregational feedback regarding the proposals from the structure & vision task force.

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

March Birthdays

6 Karen Nolt

12 Anne Hausrath

13 Larry Hauder

17 Kenton Piper Ruth

21 Zach Branam

21 Karl Mering

Stair/Basement Remodel Update

Well, you probably notice each week that the stairs project progresses somewhat. This week we passed the last of our inspections prior to the final inspection, and that was an important step (so to speak). If you'd like to volunteer to help with any of the remaining work, which will include a range of projects from drywall to paint, please contact Russ Buschert.

New Books in the Library

Two new books have been added to the church’s library:

1. Anabaptist Songs in African Hearts, A Global Mennonite History, edited by John A Lapp and C Arnold Snyder, 2006.

2. Testing Faith and Tradition, A Global Mennonite History, edited by John A Lapp and C Arnold Snyder, 2006.

Also a DVD of the performance of The Christmas Pageant by the children in December is housed in the library.

Feel free to check out these and other books from the library in the front office. Put your name on the check out card and leave on the desk.

See a book review on the next page.

We hope to have a book review in each edition of the newsletter. If you would like to offer a review on a book you have read, please share it with Kathy at the church office.

Book Review by Leonard Nolt

Writing from the Authority of the Heart

In her first published collection of mostly untitled and un-punctuated poems, questions i asked my mother, Canadian Mennonite poet Di Brandt writes: “...beauty was / altogether a disturbing category for Mennonites no one knew quite / what to do with it even though God must have put it there for a/ reason if we could only know what it was... and; ...when i was five i thought heaven was located / in the hayloft of our barn the ladder to get there / was straight & narrow like the Bible said if you fell off you might land on the / horns of a cow or be smashed on cement...” These lines demonstrate that Brandt's poetry gains a lot from her Mennonite heritage and faith.

Brandt grew up in the Southern Manitoba town of Reisland, a conservative separatist Mennonite village. No books were allowed in her childhood home except the Bible. Brandt is reported to have said that she couldn't start writing until her father died because "he owned all the words." At the age of 17 she left her home and moved to Winnipeg to attend college, a courageous act in that she was the first person in her family to break that isolationist tradition.

When questions was published in 1987 it shocked the Mennonite community. The book criticized many Mennonite practices especially corporal punishment and denounced Mennonite resistance to female experience, sexuality, and anything intellectual. Brandt's family was stunned, but initially supported her until she moved to Ontario, Canada. After years of persistent tensions she is now officially shunned. Her mother and sisters, including her twin, have not spoken to her in years.

Brandt has a BA from the Univ. of Manitoba, a Masters from the Univ. of Toronto, and a PhD in English literature from the Univ. of Manitoba. She also has a Divinity degree from the Canadian Mennonite Bible College. She has worked as an editor for a couple publications including Prairie Fire and was recently employed teaching English and creative writing at the Univ. of Windsor and Brandon Univ.

Brandt is a prolific and versatile writer. In addition to questions she has published 4 other collections of poetry; Agnes in the sky; mother, not mother; Jerusalem, beloved; and Now You Care. She has published other books including Wild Mother Dancing: Maternal Narratives in Canadian Literature, and a collection of creative essays, Dancing Naked: Narrative Strategies for Writing Across Centuries. Her most recent book is a collection of essays called So This Is The World & Here I Am In It. Her poetry has been set to music and adapted for film, television, radio, video, theatre, CD, and dance. She's also written a poetry suite entitled Sweet Sweet Blood.

Brandt has been nominated for many writing awards and her writing has broadened to include issues of environmental degradation, injustice, violence, and international issues. One awards jury commented on Now You Care as follows; "Di Brandt manages beautifully the difficult job of producing poems that are socially conscious without being didactic. She knows that the best poetry rests on the authority of the heart. Thus, she makes her readers care not only through the pleasures of form and crafted language, but also through the risky honesty of her articulations." Brandt has described her writing as "a kind of passionate accusation."

I would highly recommend reading Brandt. Her poems are stimulating, honest, indignant, and maybe at times a little scary, but never timid and boring. Her writings can open a window to the lives of Mennonites in another culture. I have copies of questions i asked my mother and Now You Care which I would be happy to loan you if interested. I believe that Agnes in the Sky is in the Boise State Univ. Library. As for the others, there's always interlibrary loan and Amazon.com!

Happy reading!

Volunteer Opportunity---

Mennonite Mutual Aid (MMA) Church Advocate

This volunteer position has become available at our church. MMA advocates are the primary link between your congregation and MMA. They assist with information on MMA services, matching grants, educational resources, and stewardship ministries. Contact your congregation’s office to reach your MMA advocate. If you would like to serve as the church’s advocate for Mennonite Mutual Aid, please talk to one of the Leadership Team members.

Mennonite Hymnsing – March 4

Come to another hymnsing on Sunday afternoon at 4 PM, hosted by Evergreen Heights Mennonite Church at 701 N Indiana, Caldwell, Idaho.

2^nd Sunday Soup – March 11

Host Pam Catt-Oliason

Vegetables Oesch’s

Bread Karen Nolt

Cleanup Joyce Bowman

Peace Prayer Vigil – March 16

Hosted by Whitney Friends Church at 3102 Palouse Street, Boise; 7:00 – 8:30 PM. Refreshments and fellowship immediately following. See back bulletin board for flyer and contact person for questions.

Love & Logic Parenting Workshop – April 5

A Day with Jim Fay, founder of Love and Logic Institute. Workshop: Discipline and Achievement, School and Home Solutions for Creating Kids Who Love to Learn. Presented by Jim Fay at the Nampa Civic Center,

8:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Cost $99. See back table for registration.

Easter Sunday Schedule – April 8

7:30 AM Easter morning walk up Camel’s Back, trash pick up along the way, with a short “praise” service at the top.

9:00 AM Easter Brunch served at the church

10:30 AM Easter Worship Service

Mennonite Education Workshop – April 14

Evergreen Heights Mennonite Church in Caldwell, Idaho is hosting an education workshop led by Judy Stutzman, Education Resource for Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference. Plan for a time to discuss the new Sunday School material Gather Round and learn some new ideas for teaching as well as the chance to share ideas with others.

Kessler-Keener Lecture Series – April 19

A Spirituality for the 21^st Century – presented by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox, a world acknowledged leader for Creation Spirituality. Wisdom centered, prophetic and caring about eco-justice, social justice and gender justice. Presentation is at 7:30 PM at The Cathedral of the Rockies. Lecture tickets are $10.

Workshop – Friday, April 20, 1-4 PM

“Nourishing the Heart: Compassion for the Care-Giver”. How do we nourish our hearts as care-givers? What kinds of spiritual practice and prayer work for us? How do we find time for it? Matthew Fox will lay ground work for where grace comes to us in our lives and how to pay attention to it and give it room. Workshop is $20. Location to be announced.

Lecture & workshop is $25.

Contact Ed Keener at 429-0266 for more information.

Idaho Mennonite Relief Sale – May 12

Plan to spend a day at the Brandt Center on the campus of NNU in Nampa, Idaho for the 2^nd Annual Idaho Mennonite Relief Sale. There will be lots of food and crafts, used items, children’s activities, and of course the auction. Donations and hand made items are gladly welcome. Contact Russ Buschert or Rick Bollman at 378-8109 with your items. And plan to attend the sale to support Mennonite Central Committee. See back table for the first edition of the Idaho newsletter.

San Jose 2007 Mennonite Convention, July 2-7

San José 2007's theme, "Live the Call," is based on Ephesians 4:1-6. Our convention planning committee strongly felt God calling it toward this passage. It's a letter to the Ephesians, and it explores multiple themes that are relevant to the people of Mennonite Church USA and how we joyfully follow Jesus into the world. Our hosts for San José 2007 will be the members of Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference. It’s an opportunity they’re taking to heart by encouraging as many of their members as possible to attend the event. Start making plans for your trip to San José in July 2007.

To register or for more information go their website at www.sanjose2007.org.

Bike Oregon’s Willamette Valley – Aug 12-17

Oregon Mennonite Residential Services (OMRS) is partnering with West Coast MCC to offer a benefit ride at the Linn County Waterloo Park near Lebanon, Oregon. Each day’s route will be 40-60 miles along rivers, lakes, and through covered bridges. See the back table for a brochure and registration due by June 1.

1/7/07

There is little room left for wisdom when one is full of judgment. -- Malcolm Hein

1/14/07

The people I distrust the most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one course of action. --Frank Herbert, 1920-1986

1/21/07

A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanging, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and time in which it is used. --Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

1/28/07

The longer I worked the more certain I felt that as improbable as it might seem, there were moments when an individual conscience was all that could keep a world from falling.

--Arthur Miller, while writing "The Crucible."

2/4/07

In a theatre it happened that a fire started off stage. The clown came out to tell the audience. They thought it was a joke and applauded. He told them again, and they became still more hilarious. This is the way, I suppose, that the world will be destroyed--amid the universal hilarity of wits and wags who think it is all a joke. –Kierkegaard

2/11/07

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they will not be here tomorrow. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.

--Og Mandino, 1923-1996 (Adapted) Author of 'The Greatest Salesman In The World'

2/18/07

The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another.

-- Thomas Merton

November Ten Thousand Villages.................................................................... $400

December Zambia Project................................................................................ $1,340

January Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference....................................... $400

February Corpus Christi House...................................................................... $750

March Columbia Sister Church, Justapaz

March is our month to specifically learn about, pray for, and reach out to our Sister Church in Colombia. Over the years our relationship with the Church of God in Puerto Asís has grown. Experiences such as a 2006 visit by four of us, hand made gifts sent to Colombia, and our joint worship services have all contributed to that growth. We have created a partnership with our Sister Church in their ministry to those afflicted by the violence. One very tangible partnership we have with the Church of God in Puerto Asís is our annual contribution of $1200 to the Arms of Mercy Foundation. This money is already in our Church budget. The foundation serves as a day shelter for children who have lost parent to the violence.

The special giving from Hyde Park has been used to help transport Pastor Angel to Bogotá for medical treatment. We anticipate that there will be continued unknown needs for our Sister Church this year. But our hope with raising money this month is to be able to fund travel for Pastor Angel Pinto and his wife Jeaneath for a visit to Boise. Both work incredibly hard and long hours helping people who are literally in life or death situations. We told Jeaneath we needed to call her Super Mujer (Super woman)! One of the potential reasons for Angel’s health problems is the lack of time to decompress in a safe place away from the daily demands of others who are seeking the care and love of the Church. This might be a gift we can give to them. There is a conference for the Church of God of Anderson in Indiana that will be held in June 2007. Angel was hoping to travel to that conference. We would like to bring him to Boise as part of that trip and also arrange to fly Jeaneath from Colombia to Boise.

As you consider your mission giving for this project, please pray for the logistics of such a trip. We have found that it can be difficult to make or predict what we can achieve across the miles and borders. Thanks for your ongoing support of this mission project.

Church Calendar

February 25.............. 1^st Sunday of Lent

March 4..................... Hymnsing at Caldwell

March 6..................... Leadership Team meeting

March 11.................... 2^nd Sunday Soup

March 16................... Peace Prayer Vigil, 7 – 8:30 PM, Whitney Friends Church

March 17................... Idaho Mennonite Relief Sale board meeting, held at Hyde Park, 10-noon

March 20................... Leadership Team meeting

April 1........................ Palm Sunday

April 8........................ Easter Sunday

April 10...................... Leadership Team meeting

April 14...................... Mennonite Education Workshop, Caldwell

April 21...................... Idaho Mennonite Relief Sale board meeting

April 24...................... Leadership Team meeting

May 8........................ Leadership Team meeting

May 12....................... Idaho Mennonite Relief Sale, NNU Brand Center, Nampa

May 13....................... 2^nd Sunday Soup

May 22...................... Leadership Team meeting

June 20-24................. Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference Annual Meetings, Albany, Oregon

July 2-7...................... San Jose 2007, Mennonite Church USA General Assembly

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.

Below is this week's recipe from Simply in Season, an MCC cookbook featuring seasonal, locally grown ingredients. Use this link to find a new recipe every Monday.

http://www.worldcommunitycookbook.org/season/recipe.html

Recipe: Company Muffins
A breakfast treat that is also a good snack when baked in a mini-muffin tin.

Yields 18 muffins

The Olive Branch

March 2007 Edition

Leadership Team Report

Below is this week's recipe from Simply in Season, an MCC cookbook featuring seasonal, locally grown ingredients. Use this link to find a new recipe every Monday.