Conjoint Conference Sessions

Friday

The annual conference officially opened on Friday evening with Elmer Miller, pastor of Upper Deer Creek Mennonite Church, giving a warm welcome on behalf of the area congregations: Fairview, Sunnyside, and Upper Deer Creek. This warm welcome continued with a call to worship and various musical selections from the 2001 Rosedale Chorale, directed by Ken Miller.

Following the Chorale, Luke Keefer delivered his message, "Jesus, A Model of Christian Education." He emphasized that this model involves a Jesus-centered "life- style, heart-style, and hand-style." He declared, "We must be something before we can teach something."

RBI President Leon Zimmerman gave the RBI report, with some assistance from others. As the banner was displayed, showing the name change from Rosedale Bible Institute to Rosedale Bible College, the audience broke into applause. Again the audience applauded when it was announced that the college had received an $800,000 anonymous gift. It was also announced that in 2002, a new program, Family Camp, will be held on campus in addition to Choral Camp.

Saturday

"I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag"... well, not exactly. Rather, "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb" was the challenge laid before CMC through a compelling music video on Saturday morning. Continuing in this inspiring atmosphere, a mass Chorus under the direction of Ray Yutzy favored the congregation with several pieces, concluding with a selection from the Messiah, "And the Glory of the Lord."

Following the time of worship, John Ivan Byler, outgoing moderator of CMC, gave the traditional moderator's address. He referred to King Saul and how he had not fully obeyed the voice of the Lord in destroying the Amalakites; Saul used his own judgment instead of God's. John Ivan alluded to the zeal with which the Apostle Paul pursued his goals. "How Bible-centered are we?" John Ivan challenged the audience by saying, "I call on CMC to boldly live by the Word."

Much like John Ivan Byler, Eric Kouns also exhorted the congregation to live boldly the Word of God. In his morning address, taken from Romans 13:1-7 and titled "They Are God's Servants," Eric maintained that we need always to be submitted to government, but that we need not obey when the government goes against God's will. He admonished the audience to possess both right belief and right behavior.

Eric continued, asserting that the government is a servant of God that provides order in society. In his opinion, government has the right, on principle, to apply the death penalty, but due to its history of injustice, he objects. The audience applauded when Eric asked, "Why it is that some Mennonites today are protesting the death penalty but not defending the unborn?" Eric concluded that, in our relationship to government, "We must know what we believe in time of calm so that we can stand in time of crisis, because then, we don't have time to figure it out."

The morning ended with a consecration service for newly licensed, ordained, and transferred ministers.

The afternoon session, "God's People Relating To Civil Government," consisted of ten different workshops.

The Saturday evening service began with a half hour acappella hymn sing led by Ken Miller and Pablo Kauffman. A thousand voices joined in singing "Day is Dying in the West," and ended with "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow." In an atmosphere of expectancy, Mel Shetler, pastor of Maple City Chapel, Goshen, Indiana, brought the traditional Saturday evening Conference sermon titled, "The Church Reflecting and Expanding the Kingdom." Mel turned to Matthew 21:12-16, which describes Jesus in the temple, and suggested five principles in building the kingdom: first, by boldly confronting the empty religious systems; second, by seeking out sinners, the poor and the powerless, rather than avoiding them; third, by reviving the church as a house of prayer; fourth, by impacting our community with word and works of the kingdom, and fifth, by being passionately responsive in the life of the kingdom. Mel further noted that every morning is harvest time, that we must have a passion about harvest, that harvest is hard work, and that we must be willing to go where the harvest is.

Sunday

All of the bleachers were pulled out to accommodate the estimated 1,500 people who filled the gymnasium on this bright Sunday morning. Pablo Kauffman, worship leader, engaged the audience in a variety of singing, noting that the variety in music is not about style, but about Jesus. Following the worship time, a mass choir of nearly 100 children sang several songs led by Norma Miller.

Sunday was all about missions, and pointing the way was Richard Showalter, president of Eastern Mennonite Missions. Richard began on a personal note, recalling that this is the one-year anniversary of his heart attack. He explained that in that moment, he felt "so embraced," both by people who cared and by God. Richard then invited individuals from various language groups to greet the audience in their native or second tongue, providing a foretaste of heaven.

"This is but a small group of the many praising God today," he observed.

Richard drew from EMM's history, which began in 1894, and he noted three keys of that movement; first, mission was birthed in spiritual revival, as was CMC in the early 1900's; second, strong Christ-centered focus on discipleship was based on the authority of God's Word and was to be lived out in daily life; and third, Lancaster Mennonite Conference congregations developed a practice of having eighteen offerings per year go directly to missions. "What new and fresh things might happen if CMC were to set aside nine or twelve offerings each year and see what God does with them?" he asked.

Richard then moved to Acts 8-10 to focus on the reality of the cross and the resurrection. He referred to the stories of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus, and Peter and Cornelius. In these stories, Richard explained that God was breaking out from the tribal group (Israel) and preaching the Gospel for all. As we are faithful, God works in ways that we may never know to connect people. Richard pleaded that we would ask God to connect us without knowing what all that entails.

Following the morning message, a special missions offering was taken. The missions offering came to approximately $45,000. This offering and funds that had been earmarked prior to Conference for matching purposes, amounted to a combined total of almost $190,000.

The afternoon session - and the annual conference - ended following a commissioning service for persons who have been appointed or reappointed by RMM for a term of six months or longer during the past year.

Both the hosting congregations and those gathered from a distance, spoke of hospitality, working together, and fellowship with each other. Numerous individuals mentioned appreciation for the different cultures and increased diversity among us.

Concluding Remarks

So, what do we make of Conference 2001? Carlos Hurtado from California put it best when he exclaimed, "Conference and the communion with each other was very special. The hospitality of the people was tremendous. The preaching was wonderful. We are all happy, and it was worth it."

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