July 13, 2009 issue
Abrahamic faiths connect
First Mennonite Church, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
By Conrad WetzelWorship on Easter Sunday was marked by celebration and a sermon about resurrection and concluded with singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah.
In honor of our relationship with our sister church, El Divino Redentor in Bucaramanga, Colombia, the service April 19 was a “Day of Prayer and Action for Colombia.”
On April 25, FMC hosted a presentation by Anna Baltzer on “Life in Occupied Palestine.” She is a Jewish-American granddaughter of Holocaust refugees and a volunteer for the International resistance to Occupation in Palestine.
Peter Dyck served as the Christian speaker at the Abrahamic Faiths Dinner on the theme “Mercy in the Abrahamic Religions” on May 14, sponsored by the Intercultural Friendship Foundation. There were two other speakers on the theme, one Jewish and one Muslim.
The Service and Outreach Committee has partnered with a local group, the EcoEcumenical Stewardship Garden Project, to plant a garden on the church grounds to provide food for community families in need. The FMC Junior Youth donated the $100 they earned raking leaves to El Divino Redentor, our sister church in Colombia, for their program for feeding children. The worship service on May 17 included a time of honoring our high school and college graduates.
On May 28, FMC hosted a presentation by Mai Abdul Rahman of the Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace on “Jerusalem and the Three Abrahamic Faiths,” co-sponsored by the FMC Peace and Justice Initiative and the Center for Southeast Asia and Middle East Studies at the University of Illinois.
Mamie “Beth” Elizabeth Miller died March 12.
Miles Schrag was baptized April 26.
Comment on the article Abrahamic faiths connect
The purpose of comments is to engage in dialogue. We expect commenters to treat authors and each other as each would want to be treated. Respectful criticism is welcomed; offensive comments or parts of comments will be removed by the site administrator. Name and comment will be posted; email address is for follow-up only and will not be made public.
Download
Download a free PDF showing the populations of
Mennonite groups and other Anabaptists.
