Church Visitations Summaries
Children of God
Christ United Church of Christ – 1/20/2008 [Map it]
By Denver Steiner
PHOTO BY: Shirley Weyrauch
This past Sunday, January 20th 2008, three members of Orrville Mennonite’s Young Adult class visited Christ United Church of Christ and joined their New Testament Bible study group. The class is an intergenerational group that has been meeting for the past four years and is studying the New Testament by starting in Matthew and reading it through Revelations, and discussing what they read.
This was our first church visitation where we were not with a young adult class. As I have been calling area churches, I’m finding that many do not have a big enough group of committed young adults to have such a class. So this past Sunday we decided to try something that was a bit different then the original scope of the project of just meeting with young adults.
We were warmly welcomed into the class. They had refreshments, and even had typed out a welcome card to introduce us to what they were doing in the class. After introduction, and questions we had about their church, and questions they had about our project, we started into the lessons.
The passage they were studying was Galatians 4. Coincidently or divinely inspired (however you want to look at it), this was where we left off at our first church visitation at Orrville Baptist Church. The first part of chapter 4 talks about us as sons of God. The student Bible they were using gave some helpful insight into this passage. In that culture, underage sons were seen as not much better then slaves. However, when they came of age, they would be come fully a son and heir. Paul uses this example of how we, through faith in Christ, become children of God, and therefore become heirs. Paul continues with the slave vs. child illustration in the rest of the chapter and into chapter 5, saying that we are no longer slaves, and shouldn’t live as though we were still slaves to sin. Rather we are children of the promise, and should use our freedom to serve one another in love (5:13).
Throughout the study of this passage, the class had good discussions about the gender in the language ‘sons of God’ and the cultural contexts of Paul’s illustration. I personally found this intergenerational setting to be a rich with varied experiences and perspectives. For example, some of the older members talked about what things were like for their grandparents, and how our own culture has changed. On the other hand, a younger member was able to clarify some misconceptions about the current cultural context in China. How wonderful to be able to tap into this wealth of experiences and understanding while trying to apply Galatians 4 and 5 to our context today!
To close, I want to thank Christ United Church of Christ for their warm welcome, and encourage others to participate in Bible study that spans several generations. I think that for most of us, meeting with other people who are different then us can be rather daunting, regardless of whether our difference are due to age, culture, or denomination. But if we are willing to step out of our comfort zones, I think we have a lot to learn from each other provided that we approach these interactions with an open mind (willingness to learn), value each others perspectives, make sure everyone is heard, and are humble with what we bring to the conversation. Peace.
Rich
Assembly of God Calvary Church – 1/6/2008 [Map it]
By Denver Steiner
On January 6th, four young adults from Orrville Mennonite Church visited the young adult Sunday School class at the Assembly of God Calvary Church in Orrville. I was personally looking forward to this visit because I had attended kindergarten and first grade at the Wayne County Christian Learning Center which met at this church, and I hadn’t been back since.
Like our other visitations, the morning started out with introductions where we got acquainted with the other young adults. We also were invited to roller hockey/volleyball nights in their gym every Monday night, and basketball on Thursdays. It is community events like these we would like to post on a new community website we’d like to develop soon for the purpose of connecting young adult in the area and building relationships outside of our own church bubbles.
For the lesson time, their Sunday school class has been watching Rob Bell’s Nooma Series. This week we studied “Rich”. In this clip, Bell says that as Americans, we are rich, even if we are poor compare to other Americans. Bt the mere fact that we have clean drinking water, food to eat, live on more then $1 a day, and own a car, that makes us rich compared to the rest of the world. Bell makes a strong case that we need to be generous with what we have. The point is not “God bless America” like a bumper sticker may reads. God HAS blessed America. The point is how we (and America) can bless others.
Following the video, we spent the rest of the time in discussion. We talked about how we are rich. Often we spend our money on things that are excessive and for the sake of appearance. We also identified that being rich isn’t the issue. The point is what we do with what we have. You can be rich, live simply, and be very generous with your time and wealth. You can also be poor, but max out your credit cards while trying to live as if you had the wealth. We also talked about with wealth, it is easier to start relying on our own power and not trust in God. With a few of us in marketing in the class, we also talked about Christian ethics in sales when our economy is driven by the idea that we need bigger, better, and more.
Overall it was a fun morning of fellowship, discussion, and meeting other members of the body of the Christ in our community.
New Year Party with Orrville Christian Church
12/30/2007 [Map it]
By Denver Steiner
On Sunday evening, the Orrville Mennonite Young Adult class was invited to Orrville Christian Church for their Christmas/New Year party. There was a good turnout, with around 20 members of Orrville Christian, many of whom were home for the holidays, and 6 members from OMC. We started the night with pizza and food. Following this, leader Rodd Welker led us in group games aimed at teaching us to work together. For example, one of the games involved a giant beach ball that we hit up in the air, and each of us were required to touch it once before touching it again. During a break from games, Rodd shared with us the “Barrington Bunny” story, a story about uniqueness, self-worth, and community.
For the final event of the evening, we played Sardines. First all of the lights were turned out in the large church building, and two people went away to hide. Then everybody went and to try to find them, and when they found them, they hid with them until all 25 people were had found them. The game proved rather challenging in the dark in an unfamiliar church, but was an exciting way to explore a new church and meet new people.
Overall, we had an awesome night of getting to know the Orrville Christian members better and making connections that will hopefully continue to happen.
Possessions of Christ
Orrville Christian & Missionary Alliance Church – 12/16/2007 [Map it]
By Ben Myers
On Sunday, December 16, the young adults from Orrville Mennonite Church visited the young adult class at the Orrville Christian & Missionary Alliance Church. We were welcomed by teacher David Anhenman and a group of nearly a dozen class members, including several who had just arrived home for the holidays.
The group at Orrville Christian & Missionary Alliance is studying the Navigators series “Design for Discipleship.” Currently, the class is working through book three, Walking with Christ. This Sunday's lesson focused on the Lordship of Christ and the difference between claiming belief and actually “living” it. We were privileged to join in the dialogue as the class tackled questions about the nature of Christ and His position in Creation, the Christian's identity as a possession of Christ, and how we honor (or fail to honor) Christ as Lord of our lives. The Scripture we studied along with these questions included Revelation 5:11-12, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Colossians 1:18, and Romans 12:1.
We also diverged from the curriculum a bit as we found ourselves discussing the topics of predestination, God's omniscience, and the writings of C.S. Lewis. One interesting idea that surfaced was the concept of how our changeable behavior is often dependent on our attitude, which is in turn dependent on our perception of our identity in Christ and knowledge of Truth – that is, unchanging truth about God's nature, the nature of Creation, and the Gospel of Christ.
Before the class was over, our groups made several good connections. We learned about the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church's Thursday night youth-oriented Axxess meetings, which provide a hands-on complement to the Sunday morning teaching. We also talked about the possibility of holding a multi-church young adult gathering sometime in the near future. We believe this could be an excellent way to help a larger group of young believers build friendships and find more effective ways to serve the community. This is definitely something we will be praying about in the coming weeks.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to our brothers and sisters at the Orrville Christian & Missionary Alliance Church for inviting us to study and fellowship with them, and we look forward to partnering with them in the continuing work of Christ in Orrville.
Making Connections
Orrville Christian Church – 12/02/2007 [Map it]
By Denver Steiner
On December 2nd, six members from Orrville Mennonite Church’s young adult class visited Orrville Christian Church, marking the second church we have visited as part of the church visitation project. We arrived at 9:45am when the Sunday school time was slated to start, however we were warned ahead of time that people usually arrived late. Sure enough, we were the first people there, but other young adults started trickling in until finally we had a group of 19 people in a cozy semicircle. The leader Rodd Welker and his wife Martha made us feel at home immediately. Donuts and coffee were shared, while we as guests introduced ourselves, and for every introduction, Rodd seemed to have some connection and made us feel very welcomed.
We were also privileged to get introduced to the Orrville Christian young adult members, and through friendly banter, got to know them and connect. Those new connection are one aspect of this project that really excites me. Through this project and the new people we come in contact with, we hope that these interactions will continue in the future, whether that is running into each other in our work or school settings or attending a joint young adult activity in the future. We hope that through these connections God will be at work, and collective we hope to be more effective in reaching our community.
After all the wonderful introductions and fellowshipping was done, there was only about 15 minutes left in the class. Rodd gave us an introduction to the book “Searching for God Knows What” by Donald Miller that their class is working through. In the chapter they were looking at, Miller gives the illustration of the lifeboat exercise where various people are stranded with only one lifeboat, and they have to choose who to save. It’s an exercise to examine what and who we value. As Christians, we need to ask who would Jesus save? Jesus believed some absurd things if you take a close look at Sermon on the Mount. Turn the other cheek? Give up all your money? Love your enemy? As Christians we are called to allow Jesus to live through us, and love through us even when it doesn’t make sense to the world.
Young Adults Begin Ecumenical Sunday School Project
Orrville Baptist Church - 11/11/2007 [Map it]
By Denver Steiner
Operation “Orrville Church Visitation” kicked off this past Sunday, November 11, when members of the young adult Sunday school class from OMC (Orrville Mennonite Church) visited our church neighbor Orrville Baptist Church for their morning young adult Sunday school time. We began the morning with refreshments and coffee while meeting and fellowshipping with church members. The introductions continued as we moved into the Sunday school time, and we got to know two Buehler’s employees, a laser operator, an electrician, and several other Christian brothers and sisters connected to our community. Following a prayer, the leader of the class, David Barber, led the group in a study of Galatians 3.
In Galatians, Paul writes to a church that was forcing its Gentile members to follow Jewish customs and laws. In chapter 3, Paul tells the Galatians that they do not receive the Holy Spirit through obeying the law; rather it is through faith in Christ alone. Through faith in Christ, we are no longer bound to the curse of the law. How refreshing it is that experiencing Christ isn’t bound to obeying a set of rules or steps outlined by our denomination and traditions! Christ transcends that, and through faith in Him, we are all children of God. There is neither Mennonite nor Baptist, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus (paraphrase of Galatians 3:26-28).
What a fitting passage for our first church visitation. With this church visitation project, the young adults at OMC hope to meet other young adults in the Orrville area for the purpose of Christian fellowship with other members of Christ’s church in order to create a more unified Christian witness to our neighborhood.
We invite anybody interested to join us in our endeavor as we visit local churches in the area. A schedule is posted at: http://orrvillemenno.net/ya/. We meet at the posted time at the House of Hope (1323 W. Market St.) and travel as a group to the scheduled church. For more information about the project and our visions for the future, please visit our website.
Read Mennonite Weekly Review's writeup of the visitation project: http://www.mennoweekly.org/NOVEMBER/11-26-07/OHIO11-26.html