1. What do you love about PMC?
–focused. –willingness to tackle international issues. –community. –comforting/comfortable. –Roger. –faith principals. –commitment to core. –people. –music. –gardens. –accepting. –children. –embraced. –accepting. –We are fearless! –elders. –potlucks. –support for each other. –convictions. –sermons. –We laugh and have a sense of humor! –caring . –thoughtful. –challenging/thought provoking. –welcoming. –sharing of gifts. –show up or be asked why you’re not coming to church. –transparency of decision making process. — Openness to congregational ideas; intellectually stimulating sermons; welcome for children; innovation in worship experience; group willingness to listen to each other; knowledge of each other; opportunity to share personal struggles and joys in congregational setting; opportunity to respond to the sermon in the worship service. –Eschewing dogma and rhetoric, sharing joys and concerns, opportunities to join in healing activities, desiring to understand Jesus Christ’s teaching in the changing (changeless) world, fellowship. –I feel like people value me for who I am, even if I am different from them in some ways. –Feeling the safety and support (a sanctuary) of people coming together to worship. Being with people who put God’s kingdom first.
2.What FEARS do you have about PMC welcoming more participants/members?
–We may lose some of our intimacy. –Others may not fully understand Mennonite ways and seek to change them (as has happened in the past with introduction of Eastern belief systems and discomfort with “Jesus talk”. –Loss of “Mennonite” identity. –Weakening of the tradition of four-part singing.–New people on committees might change things. –Growth will mean change. This will be good and some—maybe bad to others. –We might become more self-focused, less mission oriented. –May be more difficult to relate personally in larger groups or to stand in front of a larger group and share honestly. –At some point we might not know each other as well, lose our intimacy. –Slight loss of community feeling. –Losing the sense of intimacy. –Too many people to get to know well. Lack of personal connection. Not enough room to feel comfortable in worship and potlucks. –Have to face building issues before we have money to resolve them. –Crowded conditions. Less comfort in sharing in big group. –That interested people might not want to join us because of our small space. –Space. –When this church was LMF, we thought if we grew we would lose our intimacy growing from a house church—not! It’s the working together with people that keep us connected… not the size of the space. —None. I’d love to see the church increase in size. It’s always good to increase the size of our witness, even if that means making changes in other ways (like a church plant–hard to envision us getting that size ). My only concern might be resistance from current members, but that’s no reason to wilt. I would like us to ensure that people from all political backgrounds feel respected and welcomed. We’re the only Mennonite church in town, and I don’t want those who disagree with the generally liberal-leaning politics of church members to drive to Topeka to go to church or, worse, join a non-Mennonite congregation. At the same time, we can’t compromise on the things we believe to be just. I think that respect for more conservative politics and theology can be achieved, even if we are an increasingly inclusive church, if we ground our choice to be inclusive in Mennonite theology. Can’t argue with that! –None, unless the maximum capacity of the worship room is utterly defined by the fire marshal. If we are afraid of welcoming others with different views, then do we not distrust the Holy Spirit’s guidance in all things? –Fear in this specific way, would be that some members might be negatively affected or harmed.
3. What GOOD might come from PMC welcoming more participants/members?
–More opportunities for varied musical expression e.g. a string quartet, a recorder consort, or a folk/guitar/instrumental/vocal group. –New perspectives on things and more people-power. –Increased diversity. –More people to share the load, to also bring in more money to make the expansion happen. Larger/better potlucks. –More talents and energy, sharing God’s word with more people, more money to support activities, lots of voices for singing hymns. –“Build it…they will come.” –Increase in revenue, more hands for our work, more ideas, more sharing of talents. –More folks to do our work, both administrative and in our communities. –More people to share the work load. –Someone who needs what we have to offer will get connected. And we will have the benefit of their gifts and their presence. –Better children’s Sunday School and activities. –More energy, local impact, gifts to use/offer. –More gifts of the new people. –New participants may mean lighter responsibility for everyone, more money.
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