RESPONSE
Elizabeth Raid
James Lapps
DSM Summer 2001 comments on
Being a Missional Church
struck common chords and activated
long-standing needs to be heard, to
belong. Recently I returned to the Iowa
site of the 1859 beginning of the General
Conference Mennonite Church where Pauline
Krehbiel and Howard Raid, my parents,
were born and raised. In doing so, I
revisited that part of my heritage.
Now, as
my GC branch merges with another
Mennonite branch to become Mennonite
Church USA, I have heard little mention
of how GC founders emphasized gathering
all Mennonites to support education and
spread the gospel. Unity in diversity was
their touchstone.
Current
efforts bring us back to where the GCs
began. Our task remains to provide a
banquet table, to prepare food that
nourishes, to invite others not only to
the table but also to bring other dishes
that will taste and smell different from
our ethnic fare. Only then can we feast
together on Gods rich blessings.
I
happened to be born into a GC family;
thus my Anabaptist-Mennonite beliefs are
mine partly by chance. I have also chosen
them. Im not willing to throw out
my beliefs to be generically boring. But
I do want to extend the table so I can
grow and learn from others and so
together we can share in the richness of
Gods banquet table for all. I
dont want to give up four-part
singing, for example. But that
doesnt mean I cant also learn
to appreciate other types of worship
music.
To grow
in faith, I must let go of two things: my
fearsfears of the other, the
unknown, that within me which I dislike;
and my need to be right. My journey of
divorcing, leaving employment, and going
to seminary has helped me begin to face
my fears and realize I do not have all
the answers, that my ways are not
necessarily best for others.
That
journey has included pondering my place
in the churchs ongoing mission. I
believe everyone dialogues with the same
questions at various times: Who am I? Why
am I on this earth at this particular
time? As we address such questions at
both personal and institutional levels,
we realize answers are always in flux. We
change and grow, letting go of old ways
and embracing new experiences and
understandings.
The
apostle Paul calls us beyond being babes
in Christ. So too the church must move
beyond an excluding sense of being a
particular type of family, a like
precious faith heritage, and
demanding sameness to control outcomes.
With
Jim, Im ready to count the cost and
move on. Im willing to make
mistakes, ask questions, learn, and grow.
To do less spells despair and death for
the church. Christ has gone before us.
God is with us.
Elizabeth Raid
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