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May 21, 2003
Philadelphia conference celebrates many stories, one kingdom
by Laurie L. Oswald
 This is the first of several
stories depicting a recent conference, "Philadelphia Stories:
Kingdom Building in the City, sponsored by the Mennonite Church
USA Historical Committee and Archives (a ministry of the Executive
Board) and the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in the
city.
PHILADELPHIA (MC USA) -- As Leonard Dow spoke April 5 to participants
at "Philadelphia Stories: Kingdom Building in the City,"
he brought the passion and honesty that conference planners said
they hoped and prayed would happen.
Dow, senior pastor at the multiracial Oxford Circle Mennonite
Church in Northeast Philadelphia, challenged 60 conference participants
to examine whether racism lived in their hearts and to work toward
reconciliation. The multiracial Anabaptist community in Philadelphia
-- including 22 churches representing 12 ethnic groups -- brings
the promise of a new Christ-centered community but also the pain
of time-worn racism, he said.
Dow shared about how a Caucasian Mennonite who lived outside
the city told him that nothing good has come out of the mission
efforts in Philadelphia. Dow compared this to Nathaniel asking
whether anything good could come out of Nazareth in John 1:46.
"This white brother told me that people in Philadelphia
were lazy, that the streets were all dirty, that the city was
not any place anyone would choose to be," Dow said during
his presentation at the Vietnamese Mennonite Church, the site
of the April 3-5 gathering. "He said that we had been given
jobs and life skills and he asked, 'Where is all that now, what
did we have to show for all that? ...
"Paraphrasing his words, the question is, 'Can anything
good come out of Philadelphia?' I believe the answer is 'Yes,
come and see.' Not because of who we are but because of who Jesus
is."
As Dow ended, the Holy Spirit seemed to move through the sanctuary
of the church, prompting people to share how racism had wounded
them, to confess wrong attitudes and to pray and to cry together.
John Sharp, director of MC USA's Historical Committee and Archives,
a ministry of Mennonite Church USA's Executive Board, said Dow's
presentation and audience response met an important conference
goal.
Breaking down such barriers and building new bridges was one
of the aims of the Historical Committee and Mennonite and Brethren
in Christ churches in the city who sponsored the conference.
It was shaped by a 13-person planning committee, including Sharp
and committee co-chairs Nathan Yoder, outgoing Historical Committee
chair; and Tuyen Nguyen, a research scientist and leader in the
Vietnamese Mennonite Church and the Vietnamese American Mennonite
Church in Delaware.
 "From early on in our planning
sessions, we felt there should be a time when we could share
some of the hurt and pain from our past on such issues as racism
and see if there would be an opportunity to journey toward healing
and reconciliation," Sharp said. "While it became clear
to us that we couldn't complete the journey in three days, we
felt we could take some tiny steps. This time of sharing certainly
was one of those steps."
Conference participants took many such steps, when they shared
stories, scholarly papers, fellowship and worship to open up
a window into the urban experience. Conference planters integrated
the arenas of history and missions by providing scholarly studies
and storytelling that span a couple of centuries and many cultures,
Sharp said.
Since Mennonites first came to Philadelphia in 1683 to begin
Germantown Mennonite Church -- the oldest Mennonite congregation
in the United States -- the community has grown to include many
other ethnic groups. They include English, Spanish, African-American,
Ethiopian, Filipino, Chinese, Palestinian, Asian Indian, Indonesia,
Vietnamese and Cambodian.
"This gathering has given me an enriched pool of other-than-European
stories to help shape our identity and our consciousness,"
Sharp said. "This helps us all expand the sense of who we
are."
Kenyetta Aduma, director of Mennonite Church USA's Executive
Board Office of Cross Cultural Relations, and a conference listening
committee member, said that these stories give substance to dreams
of being a multicultural church but also bring challenge to her
ongoing work.
"We dealt with so many things here -- some of the hurt and
pain -- and we also experienced some healing," Aduma said.
"But now the real challenge is to take this to another level
and to ask where we go from here and how we move forward?
"I am concerned about how we get these congregations more
connected with their area conferences and that conferences work
further on racial issues. I would like to see more urban-rural
connections happen with the Philadelphia churches. I would like
to see the rural people coming into the city and learning to
understand some of the dynamics."
Freeman Miller is one such connection. Miller grew up as an Amish
farm boy and is bishop of the 15 congregations in the city that
belong to Lancaster Mennonite Conference. He's served in the
city for almost three decades, including being former pastor
of Diamond Street Mennonite Church.
During his presentation, "Thy Kingdom Come: Resources and
Challenges for Urban Anabaptists," he spoke about the city's
congregations that are part of "Kingdom Builders,"
or formerly known as Philadelphia Mennonite Council. This network
is striving to build a bridge between the first- and second-generation
Mennonite churches and to revive the Anabaptist vision for the
21st- century urban environment.
"Are we giving our youth something they can live and die
for? Our urban youth may not like shoo-fly pie, but the one thing
that grabs young and old alike is the original Anabaptist vision
of following Jesus as Lord in all areas of life, 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. This is still a compelling vision for urban
Anabaptists today.
"We no longer plow the ground and milk the cows, but we
have become many kinds of professionals in the city. And we need
to find new ways of engaging the city as salt and light and yeast.
... As we exercise our citizenship of the New Jerusalem in old
Philadelphia, a dynamic new community of 'shalom' will rise up."
Miller propelled the audience into the future, while Jeff Gingerich,
doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania and assistant
professor of sociology at Bluffton (Ohio) College, shared a view
of the past in "Mennonites in Philadelphia: Building an
Urban Anabaptist Identity." Nguyen spoke on "Phases
of Christian Identity, Immigrants and Ethnicity." And Lily
Lee, who serves on the pastoral team at Abundant Life Chinese
Mennonite Church in South Philadelphia and teaches mathematics
at the Community College of Philadelphia, spoke on "Sister
Workers and Center Women Build the Church."
Conference participants also enjoyed workshops, including such
topics as Philadelphia's influence on the Pennsylvania German
Mennonites and women's roles within urban congregations; a tour
of the city; times of worship led by worship teams from local
congregations; and a performance by the Philadelphia Mennonite
High School Choir, along with a an original rap commemorating
Anabaptist martyrs, written and sung by Cruz Cordero, a young
adult of Clearwater, Fla., who is a former member of Diamond
Street.
The Historical Committee plans to publish a book from the proceedings
of the conference and to sponsor a dinner at Atlanta 2003 in
July, during which some of the stories gleaned during conference
will be shared. Photos available.
Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite Church
USA.
Contact: Laurie L. Oswald, (316) 283-5100, E-mail: LaurieO@MennoniteUSA.org |
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