God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. —Genesis 1:25

In this issue:

Lent: Stewards of Creation

Working on Our Strategic Priorities

New Member Profiles

Milestone Celebrations

Youth Serve in Puerto Rico

Creation Care Retreats 2019

Winter 2019

SING!

2 SING! Winter 2019

Lent: Stewards of Creation

During the season of Lent we give special attention to recogniz-

ing our human mortality and frailty. This year we take our Lenten

theme from Romans 8, “the whole creation groans.” We wait with

eager longing, along with all creation, for the redemption of our

bodies.

Death seems always near. Disease, illness, and disruptive

calamity threaten stability and the conditions that make for life to

thrive in its fullness. In vulnerability and frailty, creation groans in

longing for redemption.

This Lenten season in our life at College Mennonite we will

grieve the losses that come with this frailty, including the loss

and grief we observe and experience in creation, groaning with

it. We repent of our own actions which diminish the flourishing of

all God has created.

But we do not grieve as those without hope. In the midst of our

frailty and the fragility of the natural world, we trust that God is

with us and will not abandon us to death. We renew our commit-

ment to serve God and fulfill our calling as stewards of creation.

—Phil Waite

We worship together

Every Sunday

9:15 a.m. – Songs for Gathering

9:25 a.m. – Off-site Worship

Radio: WGCS 91.1 FM: the Globe

Online: www.collegemennonite.org

Greencroft Communities: Ch. 13

9:30 a.m. – Worship service

interpretation in Spanish and, on

request, American Sign Language

11 a.m. – Fellowship and Christian

education classes for all ages

Pastoral Team Phil Waite, Pastoral Team Leader &

Outreach

Daniel Yoder, Christian Formation – youth

Pamela Yoder, Pastoral Care

Talashia Keim Yoder, Family Ministry

David Maldonado, Outreach

Madeline Maldonado, Outreach

Rex Brake, Pastor of Deaf Christian Fellowship

Luis Tapa, Guest Pastor

College Mennonite Church is a

welcoming congregation of Mennonite Church USA, an Anabaptist community

of believers. To learn more go to:

www.collegemennonite.org www.mennoniteusa.org

SING! Winter 2019 3

Strategic Priority #1 states “We will embrace diversity

and improve our practices related to welcoming and

actively including and inviting others into our physical

space and spiritual community.”

One of the goals for priority #1 is “transforming our physical space to be more welcoming and to promote relationships and a sense of belonging.” As the pic-tures show, our physical space is being transformed.

Working On Our Strategic Priorities

Relocation of cross to original position

Remodel of Room 144 kitchen

4 SING! Winter 2019

Cynthia McMullen

Cynthia McMullen grew up in Elkhart with her

mother, Wanda Newbry, and her younger sister,

Kelly Templeton. She graduated from Memorial High

School. During 11th grade, she spent half of her days

in school and half working at Taco Bell.

Cynthia has two sons: Michael Leonard lives in

Minnesota, where he is involved in retail sales. He is

married, with three children. Marcell Spencer lives in

Goshen and has three daughters.

Cynthia has had two marriages, both with husbands

who were abusive and who introduced her to crack

cocaine. She has been drug-free for a year.

Cynthia was baptized at College Mennonite on

Sunday, January 27, 2019. She had been attending

College Mennonite for several months. Because of

the love and support she had received since

attending, she wanted to join the church. In

preparation for her baptism, she met weekly with

Ron and Judy Kennel. She is currently an active

member of the church choir, attends Pathfinders

Sunday school class, works in the crib room, attends

Mennonite Women, and volunteers weekly at the

Depot.

Welcome to College Mennonite, Cynthia!

—Myrna Burkholder

James Valencourt became a member at College

Mennonite Church on November 11, 2018. He

transferred his membership from the New Paris

Church of the Brethren.

While his mother is from the Goshen community,

James grew up in North Carolina. His family moved

to Greencroft Goshen when his parents retired.

James lives in the Goldenrod community. He washes

dishes at Manor III at Greencroft. His father died in

2004.

James has three brothers—he is the baby of the

family. His brothers are scattered, with some living in

Goshen and one still in North Carolina. He is an

uncle and great-uncle to nieces and nephews, some

of whom live in the Goshen area.

The family attended a Presbyterian church in North

Carolina. James was baptized around the age of 15.

He said he was baptized in the Church of the

Brethren way. Since his mother grew up in the New

Paris Church of the Brethren, he wanted to follow her

tradition.

When his mother could no longer drive, James

began attending CMC. He lives in the same house

with Steve Lang, who invited him to College

Mennonite.

James likes attending CMC. He enjoys Phil’s

preaching, the singing, and being in the handbell

choir. He also likes attending Sunday school with

Don Garber as his teacher. His favorite Bible story is

that of Lazarus rising from the dead. During free time

he enjoys watching TV and listening to music.

—Marty Lehman

New Member Profiles

James Valencourt

SING! Winter 2019 5

Milestone Celebrations

Baby and Child Dedication

Micah & Jasmine

with parents

Justin & Melissa Gillette

and Pastor alashia Keim Yoder

Baptism

Cynthia McMullen

with Pastors Daniel Yoder

& Talashia Keim Yoder

6 SING! Winter 2019

Two teams from College Mennonite Church (CMC)

served with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) in

Puerto Rico during October 2018. Outreach pastors

Madeline and David Maldonado organized the volun-

teers. A group of five Goshen College students went

for one week during their fall break, and the following

week a group of three CMC teenagers and two spon-

sors went.

On Oct. 20, Eric

Zehr and I

arrived with the

teenagers in

San Juan. We

were all sur-

prised as we

entered the air-

port to hear someone ask, “Are you from Goshen?”

The voice came from a member of the CMC college

group waiting to board the plane to Chicago from

which we had just disembarked.

On Sunday morning, David drove us west in the

MDS van along the north shore of the island. We

attended Iglesia Menonita, close to Hatillo in north-

west Puerto Rico. Pastor Hector Lugo received us

and intro-

duced us

to his small

congrega-

tion.

From Hatillo we drove into the mountains to the

town of Utuado and on to the area of Viví Arrib to

Iglesia Evangélica Menonita. The church building

was completely destroyed in Hurricane Maria, and

MDS is helping to rebuild it. Attached to the church

building are Sunday school classrooms and rest-

rooms. The classrooms are presently providing

sleeping quarters for some of the volunteers. A new

house on a new foundation is being built for the con-

gregation’s pastor, Deborah Montalvo, and her

family. Federal Emergency Management Association

(FEMA) is contributing toward the cost of this house

(and another close by), with MDS providing the

balance of the expenses and the volunteers.

Work began on Monday morning, sorting through

items that covered an area between the Sunday

school classrooms and the new house. This included

trash left from building materials, lumber of many

shapes and sizes—some with nails—and some items

not yet uncovered since the hurricane. Painting the

exterior of the new house could then begin, but scaf-

folding was needed because of the steep terrain.

Youth Serve in Puerto Rico

A view from on top of

“Montalvo Mountain”

SING! Winter 2019 7

Inside the house, David and Madeline continued

laying floor tile, a job they had begun the week

before. Their expertise and teaching abilities meant

that others could join in, and progress was rapid! By

the end of the week, only small areas of the floors

throughout the house were unfinished.

When we left on Friday afternoon, the family was

hoping to move into their new home in about three

weeks. With windows in place, interior walls all

painted, and floors nearly finished, there remained

kitchen cabinets, bathroom fixtures, and outer doors

to be put in place.

In addition to work, there was time for laughter

and fun activities while we were on Montalvo Moun-

tain. Mealtimes included times for devotions, conver-

sation, and often laughter. We were served three

meals of Puerto Rican cuisine. We ate rice at least

once each day, fresh bananas were always available,

and we were served tostones (fried plantains), eggs,

and chickens—which came from the onsite supply!

There were horseback rides, wheelbarrow rides,

and rides with David Conrad on the five-mile moun-

tain road into Utuado and back. The youth also

enjoyed the dogs who lingered by the dining room

and kitchen doors, waiting for leftovers. We also

enjoyed interacting with Montalvo family members,

especially eight-year-old Jaime, who wanted to “help”

with the work when he wasn’t in school.

It was hard to say goodbye to our new friends,

but by Friday afternoon we were ready to leave Mon-

talvo Mountain, hoping to keep in touch with our new

friends and perhaps return to see their homes and

the church building.

We drove down the mountain to Utuado, then

went as directly as possible to a beach in San Juan.

We stayed at the beach until sunset ,and then had

one more Puerto Rican meal to end our week. We

took with us a loaf of fresh pan de aqua (delicious

crispy bread) to eat for breakfast the next morning

before going to the airport and on to Chicago.

—Rachel Nafziger Hartzler

Pastora Deborah and her husband Rafael, with

children Melany and Jaime in the dining room.

8 SING! Winter 2019

Sing! is a publication of College Mennonite Church. Send inquiries to communications@collegemennonite.org. Marie Clements, Managing Editor Don Garber, Copy Editor Photographers include Dottie Kauffmann, Rex Hooley, Marie Clements

COLLEGE MENNONITE CHURCH 1900 S Main St. Goshen IN 46526-5218

Office hours: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.–Thurs. Phone: (574) 535-7262 E-mail: cmc@collegemennonite.org Web site: www.collegemennonite.org

It is obvious—from the Priuses in the parking lot and

the solar panel project we funded so quickly last

year—that caring for creation is a key part of our

congregational identity. In 2019, the gift of God’s

creation is the focus of our worship and other parts

of congregational life. In worship, we praise God for

the gift of creation and explore our theological

groundings for creation care. As pastors, we

encourage Sunday school classes and small groups

to explore topics of creation care that interest them.

Worship and other times of learning at church this

year is where we will take in information. And

Creation Care Retreats are places where together

we can explore new actions.

Our Creation Care Retreats will give our families

the time and space to experience and live into new

practices and habits that reflect a deep love and care

for the earth and everything that lives here. Each

retreat will include time in God’s creation, time to

reflect on our habits that affect creation, and time to

explore actions that help us love creation more. This

retreat is not about depriving ourselves and “rough-

ing it” so that we can be as

green as possible. How-

ever, you are welcome to

bike to camp, sleep under

the stars, and forage for

food. We might look at the

environmental impact of

creating, using, and throw-

ing away one “disposable”

cup. Or we might look at

how our investments do

and do not support cor-

porations with practices

that lead to climate

change. Or we might look at how small practices

over a long period of time have a positive impact on

insects. Or we might look at the environmental costs

of our food before it is on our plates.

We are partnering with Camp Friedenswald and

the Center for Sustainability and Climate Solutions to

provide our congregation with three weekend

retreats focused on God’s gift of creation and our

role as caretakers of this gift. In recent years, Camp

Friedenswald has begun to see how caring for the

least of these within the natural habitat of camp has

allowed many species to return and flourish. The

Center for Sustainability and Climate Solutions is a

collaborative initiative of Goshen College, Eastern

Mennonite University, and Mennonite Central Com-

mittee to lead Anabaptist efforts to respond to the

challenges of climate change.

We hope that you can attend one or more of

these weekend retreats: May 10-12; August 30-

September 1; October 18-20. Please put one of

these weekends on your calendar and then go to

www.collegemennonite.org to register. When we all

take action, we can

reshape our community to

be a place of justice for all

living things.

—Daniel Yoder