A Fervent Prayer For Church Restoration and Repair

While Mennonite Church USA is widely recognized as a "peace church," we Mennos seem to be far better at severing ties with each other than we are at repairing and restoring them.

In my fifty years as a member of Virginia Mennonite Conference, we have gone from being one of three Anabaptist-related communions here in Rockingham County (the other two being Old Order Mennonites at variance with each other) to having over a dozen separate spin-offs in our area today, none of which have any kind of regular communion fellowship with each other.

One example of severed ties particularly painful to me was when our neighboring Cornerstone Church of Broadway (established in 1986 as a VMC congregation separated from Trissels Mennonite), left our Conference in 2001. I had been pastor of the neighboring Zion Mennonite church for twenty years prior, and many of its founders were my friends. I even suggested the "Cornerstone" name to its lead pastor.

During its first decade the Cornerstone church experienced dramatic growth, establishing daughter congregations in Elkton, Mt. Crawford, Port Republic, Waynesboro and Richmond, Virginia, and as far away as Charleston, South Carolina, and Versailles and Hannibal, Missouri. According to my 1997 Mennonite Yearbook, Cornerstone had become a network of nine churches in its first ten-year of existence. It was an exciting and blessed time, and later even more congregations were added, as far away as Florida.

Since then most of the 17 pastors listed in the 1997 Yearbook have severed their ties with both the parent Cornerstone group and the Virginia Mennonite Conference (a part of Mennonite Church USA), and are leading growing evangelical congregations with names like New Life, Crossroads Community Church, Freedom Fellowship and Abundant Life. A number of the pastors involved continue to fellowship and work together on an informal but regular basis, and I know of at least two who are an active part of a VMC church today.

I've always liked "Cornerstone" as a church name, a term the Apostle Paul used for its founder (Jesus) in his letter to the Ephesians. And in his first letter to believers at Corinth Paul begs the church to maintain unity based on the conviction that "Other foundation can no one lay than than which is already laid, Jesus Christ," a verse Menno Simons attached to all of his many writings. In other words, all who are built on that one foundation, with Christ as cornerstone, and who partake of one bread, are vitally connected both to each other and to their Lord.

A year after Cornerstone's departure, the five congregations in VMC's Mountain Valley District, most within a fifteen mile radius of here, also withdrew. I couldn't keep from crying when this happened, at one of our two 2002 Conference assemblies. These occasions have always been for me a kind of reunion of my "freundschaft," my spiritual extended family. Now we were experiencing yet another painful breakup.

The largest of the Mountain Valley churches, Dayton Mennonite, has since affiliated with the Conservative Mennonite Conference. The other four smaller Mountain Valley congregations continue as an independent network.

I am beyond saddened that followers of Menno, along with all too many Christians today, are so prone to divide and re-divide from each other with distressing frequency. This in spite of Jesus' fervent prayer that his followers "remain one as I and the Father are one," so that "all may know know that you are my disciples."

So here's my own fervent prayer:

That all parts of the former Cornerstone network, the Mountain Valley congregations and all other former members of Virginia Mennonite Conference reunite with each other and renew a collaborative working relationship in all areas possible.

That all area conferences who were formerly a part of the "Old Mennonite" or "General Conference Mennonite" family of churches make peace with each other and commit themselves to prayerfully maintaining their "unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," meanwhile extending a hand of fellowship to more conservative Amish and Old Order Mennonite congregations as well.

That Anabaptist/Mennonite groups also reach out to the Protestant communions from which they were separated nearly 500 years, ago and explore ways of strengthening ties with each other as followers of Jesus.

That all Protestants seek ways of reuniting in table fellowship with Roman Catholic and Orthodox communions around the world, in order to celebrate our being "one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth."

I know that sounds impossibly ambitious, but what lesser vision would be worthy of our daily petition that God's "will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? Isn't this what Jesus' prayer is all about?

It is, after all, his church, not ours. He is the One True Vine, and we are mere branches. He is our only connection to the divine roots on which our lives depend.

Responding To Our Neighbors In Nepal

Mennonite Central Committe

"How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?" I John 3:17

This was one of the assigned texts read at our house church Sunday and in many congregations around the world. How appropriate in light of the devastating earthquake in Nepal just the day before. 

Here are just a few of the many relief agencies through which you can make an immediate donation to help, with links below each of their photos:

Mennonite Central Committee (see above photo)
Oxfam International
CARE International

Oxfam International

CARE International

A Worsening Crisis In Virginia Prisons?

Augusta Correctional Center

Early this year the Augusta Correctional Center at nearby Craigsville was forced to double bunk to make room for some 250 additional men being transferred there from the aging Powhatan Correctional Center, which was being shut down. The Craigsville facility, already at more than capacity, has struggled to keep enough correctional officers hired and trained to provide for its security needs.

One of the other factors that contributes to a worsening security problem in Virginia's correctional system is that there is virtually no reward for any kind of "correction" demonstrated by inmates. In other words, there is no hope of early release for most of the 31,000 in prison since parole was abolished in 1995. Even for those who are still eligible for early release under the "old law" (the 4000 plus inmates incarcerated before 1995, who have been behind bars for 20-50 years) the parole grant rate is at its lowest point ever in Virginia, currently at under 3%.

All of this means incentives for good behavior are greatly reduced, and gang activity and a rapid turnover of correctional officers makes maintaining adequate security and good prison morale an ever more serious challenge.

Here are two other examples of policies that affect prison morale and security:

1) Hourly "pay" for work inside prisons has remained at only 27-45 cents an hour for for decades, and from 55-80 cents for those working in one of the many Virginia Corrections Enterprises--even though their slave labor brought in a total of $54,680,835 in income for the Department of Corrections in 2013. Meanwhile, charges for canteen items continue to rise, and the costs of postage and phone calls have also gone up significantly.

2) Treatment for mentally ill and emotionally distressed inmates is either unavailable or is woefully inadequate. The Marion Correctional Center in southwest Virginia, specifically designed for the estimated 40% of offenders suffering from mental health disorders, has beds for only 300 inmates, less than 1% of the Commonwealth's total number of detainees. While Marion has a staff of over 200 employees and a per inmate cost of well over $80,000 annually, the Buckingham Correctional Center, by comparison, is overcrowded with 1,154 residents and has only 396 employees and a budget of just over $25,000 per year per inmate.

All across Virginia, legislators and ordinary citizens alike are beginning to realize that our present criminal justice system, which has incarcerated six times the number of inmates we housed in the commonwealth just 25 years ago, is broken and in need of a serious overhaul.  Either we continue with the status quo, or we provide national leadership in reversing the pattern of incarcerating citizens at more than five times the average rate of that of the rest of the world.

Across the US, in red states as conservative as Texas and Georgia, legislators are trending toward more effective ways of reducing crime and dealing with offenders.

Here's a link to more posts on prison and parole reform.

"What cursed, wicked abomination and traffic!"

source

Dutch Anabaptist Leader Menno Simons (1496-1561) minced no words in his opposition to military violence.

In Menno's day, warfare mostly involved bloody hand-to-hand carnage carried out with lance and spear, in which men clubbed, stabbed and lacerated one another to death in unimaginably horrific ways. With the later invention of gunpowder and ever more efficient and brutal means of killing, now including drone strikes, engaging in war would be even more unthinkable for a follower of Jesus like Simons.

Here are some quotes from The Complete Writings of Menno Simons:

Captains, knights, foot soldiers, and similar bloody men risk body and soul for the sake of gain, and swear with uplifted fingers that they are ready to destroy cities and countries, to take citizens and inhabitants, to kill them and take their possessions, although these have never harmed them nor given them so much as an evil word.

Since we are to be conformed to the image of Christ, how can we then fight our enemies with the sword? Spears and swords of iron we leave to those who, alas, consider human blood and swine's blood of well-nigh equal value.

O God, what cursed, wicked abomination and traffic! And they call that protecting the country and the people, and assisting in justice!

Photos Of An Amazing Anniversary Celebration

Over 200 people filled the Park View Mennonite Church Social Hall Friday evening, April 10, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Gemeinschaft Home. The event raised over $6000 for the program and for the cost of the publication of its history, free copies of which were available that evening.

Some of the special guests at the event were Delegate Tony Wilt, Virginia Senate candidate April Moore, the Honorable Judge John Paul, Social Services Director Don Driver, Board of Supervisors members Rick Chandler and Fred Eberly, and City Council member Kai Degner. Past Gemeinschaft pioneers like Titus Bender, Barry Hart, Glendon Blosser, Jim Gilkeson and Jenni Amison were also given special recognition.

 Gemeinschaft board member John Butler, a graduate of Gemeinschaft, was the capable emcee of the event. John remains very active as a volunteer and community mentor for the residents, many of whom served as waiters for the delicious meal prepared for the occasion, thanks to the Home's beloved and accomplished chef, Brenda Leigh, Gemeinschaft 'house mother' and inspirational role model for the men.

Mercedies Harris, another Gemeinschaft graduate, told us how much the program helped him at a critical time in his life. He is now a minister in Waynesboro and is serving on the Governor's Task Force On Restoration of Rights.

Howard Zehr, internationally known pioneer of the restorative justice movement and professor emeritus of EMU's Center For Peace and Justice, gave the keynote address. With the restorative justice model, he said, we ask a different set of questions, not simply about what crime was committed and how an offender should be punished, but the question of who has been wronged, and how can restitution be made that satisfied the needs of the victim?

Commonwealth's Attorney Marsha Garst gave a an enthusiastic response to Zehr's speech, emphasizing her growing conviction that restorative justice is not "soft on crime", but can in many cases be the best way to hold offender's accountable to make their wrongs right.

Gemeinschaft (Gah MINE Shoft), a German word that means community, is exceedingly grateful for the growing support they feel from the Harrisonburg and surrounding communities.

Visit Gemeinshaft's website or its Facebook page to find out how you can become involved as a supporter of the Home.

Photos courtesy of Gemeinschaft Board chair Dr. Sam Showalter.

DNR Article Calls For Improved Mental Health Services At Our Local Jail

The following excellent front-page piece by Elaina Sauber in today's Daily News-Record makes a strong case for improved and expanded mental health services at our local jail, and highlights some changes a number of us have strongly advocated for years. 

For those of you who don't have access to the paper, this condensed version contains the first and last parts of the article, posted here with the kind permission of Peter Yates, DNR's managing editor:

Mental Health In Focus At Local Jail  - Elaina Sauber

George Nipe, half time jail counselor (photo by DNR's Daniel Lin)

HARRISONBURG — On the day after Christmas, Shannon Smith was desperate. The Dayton resident was on probation for the unlawful wounding of a police officer in 2012, and struggled with bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression. She attempted to end her life with a gunshot to the abdomen.

“I don’t know that I necessarily wanted to die,” she said. “I really felt like I didn’t know where to get help.”

An inmate at Rockingham County Jail, Smith’s attempted suicide sent her to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville over New Year’s, and then back to jail for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and a probation violation.

But Smith, 38, is getting the counseling she needs that goes beyond medication. Since landing in jail in January, she has met with licensed professional counselor George Nipe a half-dozen times.

Nipe now provides 20 hours of weekly therapeutic support for inmates with mental illness at the local jail as part of an 18-month pilot program.

Started in January by the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Community Services Board, the pilot program widens the jail’s resources for distressed inmates through one-on-one counseling led by Nipe, who teaches coping skills to handle their emotions in jail and other high-stress environments.

The Community Services Board spent $30,000 in one-time funds on the pilot program, and in December, Harrisonburg City Council and the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors each approved $15,000 to match the amount, according to Ellen Harrison, CSB director of acute services.

 That spending was approved amid heated debates between residents and city officials on the construction of a $63 million annex to help alleviate overcrowding in the jail, with opponents vying for incarceration alternatives.

Nipe joined nurse practitioner Michelle Wood, who works in the jail three hours a week providing medication assessments and services, and community liaison Joanne Benner, who counsels inmates with serious mental issues for 10 hours a week, and helps them prepare for release. All are employed through CSB.

While many observers familiar with the pilot program see it as a step forward in the jail’s mental health care, some ask whether 33 hours of care a week is sufficient when, according to the State Inspector General’s Office 2014 jails review, such facilities have become “an essential part of the commonwealth’s mental health system.”

(the middle section of the article, not included here, highlights the prevalence of bipolar disorder and substance abuse issues in jail populations)

‘Not Enough Time’

While the jail administration’s efforts to treat inmates with mental illness have improved with the pilot program, one practice at the jail still disturbs observers such as Harvey Yoder, a licensed professional counselor.

When inmates express suicidal thoughts or become a potential harm to others, jail staff often confines them to a restraint chair or its segregated padded cell. Yoder thinks such devices are counterproductive to an already troubled inmate’s mental state. 

“It’s exactly the opposite of what a mentally ill person needs: supportive, nurturing connections with human beings who care about them, who can explore their fears [and] give them assurance,” said Yoder, who has been vocal advocate for seeking alternatives to jail as a means of easing crowding.

In the first half of 2014, unstable inmates were confined to a restraint chair, which restricts the legs, arms and torso, 22 times. The padded cell, which is empty except a grate in the floor for inmates to relieve themselves, was used 14 times during the same period, according to records Yoder obtained from jail administrator Capt. Steve Shortell.

Records tracking the use of those devices during the second half of 2014 and since January were not readily available. Benner, however, believes the amount of inmates’ restraint time has decreased since Nipe started working at the jail. “It used to be everyone who made suicidal comments [was put] on suicide watch in the padded cell or restraint chair,” she said, “but now, they can have a professional assessment before getting to that point.” 

Hutcheson notes that the restraint chair and padded cell are used for an inmate’s own safety, adding that the jail also has a regular segregated cell with a bed and toilet for at-risk inmates. Jail staff is required to conduct 15-minute checks on such inmates, he said.

“In most cases, it’s someone coming in off the street because of alcohol, drugs or a combination, in an agitated state and having violent behavior,” Hutcheson said.

Yoder said he thinks the pilot is a “step in the right direction,” but it may not be sufficient for the jail’s nearly 325 inmates.

“One half-time person for that population ... with a larger percentage of mental-health issues than the average population — it’s just not enough time for any one person to meet the needs,” he said.

‘Hopeless And Helpless’

As for inmate Smith, who was permitted a five-minute conversation with a Daily News-Record reporter to detail her experience, she presents Nipe with the spectrum of mental-health issues with which he must deal: addiction, depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder, the latter requiring medication and counseling.

“I really felt like I didn’t know where to get help,” she says of her suicide attempt. “I felt really hopeless and helpless — and found my father’s gun.”

Now things are looking up and Smith wants to turn her life around. Nipe, she says, “is very encouraging, and is interested in seeing if I could be transferred to Western State Hospital [in Staunton], where I could get some help for my mental problems.”

But the help Smith gets is far from perfect, she said. When she had trouble adapting to the new medications Wood prescribed her, Smith said she had to wait a month before she could meet with Wood again.

“At no point could I relax. I just cried and cried,” Smith said.

Wood confirmed that inmates sometimes wait several weeks to see her, but said that the three hours a week she works is simply not enough to meet their needs any sooner.

Said Wood, “I think if I could see every inmate when they wanted to be seen, I’d work at the jail 40 hours a week.”

Here's a link to numerous other blog posts on this topic.

Tell Me A Story

"A Girl Reading" Pierre Auguste Renoir 1890

“Once upon a time” was a magic phrase for our children growing up. Without access to cable TV or a shelf full of DVD's, they relied on tales read from books or that we shared from our memories for a lot of their entertainment.

Bedtimes at our house were known as “story time”, when we read and re-read, told and re-told tales new and old--stories from the Good Book and from countless other books, along with favorite family stories, made-up stories, silly stories and serious and sad stories.

Now that our three are grown and long gone, we miss having them on our laps, tucked in their beds or beside us on the living room sofa, begging for just one more chapter from Little House on the Prairie or from our Bible story book.

Good stories never grow old, become better with retelling. They bond the teller and the hearer together, and are powerful in the ways they inform, influence and shape the values and faith of our young. They have always been a primary means by which societies pass on their way of life to the next generation.

Unfortunately, Hollywood is replacing our homes and congregations as our society’s primary story teller. And according to an organization called TV-Free America, today’s children are spending nearly 30 times as much time passively absorbing these pathetic myths as they do in meaningful conversations with their parents, or in hearing them share tales from the past.

Here are some examples of how many media generated stories tend to undermine our values:

1. Girl meets boy, they fall in love, and within minutes (or at most, hours), they are physically passionate. It’s portrayed as what everyone does. And there are few negative consequences, no worries about pregnancy or STD’s, almost no concerns about the emotional or social effects of these kinds of near instant hook-ups.

2. Our (good) guys always beat up their (bad) guys. The other guys are clever, but ours are armed with more intelligence and better weapons. Almost always, our guys' use of violence proves to be a justifiable, instant and permanent solution to almost any human problem.

3. Cool people routinely put down, embarrass and outsmart uncool people. Most parents, teachers and other adults are definitely not cool people.

4. The only way to get to be anybody--or to be liked by anybody--is to be physically attractive. And the only way to be attractive is to be thin, young, and to be made up like the latest Hollywood idol.

These are lamentable narratives indeed, fit for neither children nor adults.

We parents and grandparents do have some advantages in the storytelling department. We have laps, and loving arms to wrap around our children as we introduce them to some really “happily ever after.”