MWR : A new year’s dream

Last updated November 24.

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Jan. 4, 2010 issue

A new year’s dream

By John H. Denlinger Mount Pleasant, Pa.

I have a dream. Perhaps sharing it with others will shape it more. Or maybe people will say, “Wake up, dreamer; this is 2010; what are you thinking?”

My dream: Every Mennonite high school graduate will serve one year of voluntary service and attend at least one year at a Mennonite college. Our youth have much to share and learn together about the Word of God and the world of God.

Some obvious questions: Who pays for it? Parents, young people, church, conference, college, Mennonite Voluntary Service, Mennonite Education Agency?

Who organizes this? Mennonite Church USA, MVS, MEA, local conference?

Is it mandatory for everyone?

Who decides where to go and when to go?

Do you go to VS first and then to school, or vice versa?

Is the VS assignment stateside or overseas?

How do colleges accommodate this? What about academic standards and requirements, transfer of credits, etc.?

So, why this dream? It would give direction to many questions about the future of the Mennonite church, its institutions, agencies and ministries. It would meet the needs of many ministries — camps, schools, inner-city ministries, shelters, retirement communities, mental health institutions, hospitals, businesses — that need volunteers. It fits with our serving-and-leading understanding of the Bible.

There is much more to be said, but dreams are sometimes best shared a bit at a time, followed by waiting for a response before sharing more.

I believe the world God so loves will be a better place if we live out the words of God. Who better to show us than our youth and young adults?

Comments

I share the dream of my friend John Denlinger. I would even expand the dream. A wise senior professor, Dr Albert Keim, once stated during an EMU strategic planning session " We should not recruit any person to be a student that has not been out of high school at least one year." Dr. Keim's point was that a great amount of maturing occurs during the year following high school. And then when they start school they have more motivation.

I think the Mennonite Universities, MCUSA, and the congregations should make a pact to designated as "EduServ" whereby all Mennonite youth would be given the opportunity to go into voluntary service for one year following high school. During that year they would work in the nonprofit or profit world with a major portion of their income going into a fund towards their higher education. When they begin higher education they would be more focused and committed to learning.Then either in the middle of their four yeaqr program or after graduation the students would be commited to a second year of voluntary service from which a major portion of their com[pensation would be returned to the educational fund.

In the days of military conscription the church did not recognize the benfits from the government requirement of service. During the decades of military conscription the persons who worked in hospitals, retirement communities, in overseas assignments, and many other programs caused the church to be scattered in many positive ways. The vision and growth in the individuals experiencing those two years of service is unmeasurably positive.

I think the church could experience a new burst of energy again through an "EduServ" program--giving young people a vision of what they can do and assisting them to obtain the required education to achieve their goals.

Friend John--Push the idea along. I have been suggesting the idea to my friends in the education world but I think they are so busy doing the "urgent" there is not time to pick-up the ball. There would be many challenges and reasons not to start "EduServ"--like there were many reasons for EMU not to become a university. If we do not try it we will never know that it really could work.

- Joseph L Lapp (jan 25 at 3:10 p.m.)

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