wfn.org | TV documentary views Norristown church

[Beth Hawn]

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To:  'Worldwide Faith News'
Date: 1998-07-15 14:41
Priority: 3
Message ID: 427CC377BB1BD211AAB0006008075ABF
Conversation ID: TV documentary views Norristown church

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July 15, 1998
July 15, 1998
Mennonite Board of Missions
Beth Hawn
219-294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>

TV documentary views Norristown church, Service Adventure

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (GCMC/MBM) - From the first jazz strains of "They'll know   
we
are Christians," June 28 was a memorable service for Nueva   
Vida/Norristown
New Life Mennonite Church, a multicultural congregation outside
Philadelphia.

Under the glare of camera lights, the musicians - Latino,   
African-American
and Anglo -blended harmonies as the congregation sang in English and   
Spanish.
All the while, the musicians, members of the congregation and   
participants
in the Norristown Service Adventure unit tried to ignore a video crew
navigating around them.

The video crew was filming a segment for a National Council of Churches
documentary, "Racism and Reconciliation," which will be distributed this
fall to ABC-TV network affiliates.  And on this day, the three young   
adults who
concluded a 10 1/2 -month term with Service Adventure in Norristown   
described
the impact they experienced through their participation in the life of   
the
congregation.

"I found here a church full of caring people who accepted me as I was,"   
said Sara
Dalmeijer, of the Netherlands, who made a new commitment to Christ   
because of
her interaction with the multicultural congregation.  "As I got to know
people I grew in faith.  I started reading the Bible, asking questions,
trusting God, and He brought me to this point. Thank you for nurturing me   
and
showing me the way."

Twice each month, as on June 28, Nueva Vida/New Life Mennonite Church   
meets
for its main worship service with everything translated into both Spanish   

and English.  On other Sundays, the congregation conducts separate
simultaneous Spanish and English worship services. The congregation was
formed in 1990 when, after a two-year dialogue about mission, three
congregations - one primarily African-American, one Hispanic and one
predominately Anglo - sold their buildings and became one.  Today, Nueva   
Vida/
New Life Mennonite Church has one governing board and a multicultural
pastoral team that guides the congregation.

One of the congregation's ministries is to sponsor a Service Adventure   
unit,
in which three to six young adults, ages 18 to 20, live in a common   
household and
serve as volunteers with community organizations.  They work with   
children,
senior citizens or people with disabilities, or provide repair or
secretarial services. Service Adventure is a joint program of the
commission on Home Ministries of the General Conference  Mennonite Church   

and Mennonite Board of Missions of the Mennonite Church.

The TV documentary, being filmed by United Methodist Communications, will   

examine how several faith communities are working toward racial
reconciliation.  In addition to Nueva Vida/New Life Mennonite Church, the   

program will profile three other congregations in Biloxi, Miss.,
Humbolt, Tenn., and Kansas City, Mo.  The Norristown congregation was   
chosen
by documentary's producers after being suggested by Allen Angell, a
Mennonite Board of Missions staff person who participates in the National   

Council of  Church's Communications Commission.

Although some members of Nueva Vida/New Life Mennonite Church admitted   
that
the filming by the video crew distracted them during the worship service,   

others thought of it as an opportunity to witness. "The crew being here,   
it's
a chance for us as a church to truly demonstrate a fellowship with each   
other,"
said Jim Richet, an elder of the congregation.  "We get that from the   
spirit of
Christ."

Racial reconciliation is central to the congregation's mission.  In his
sermon, Pastor Ertell Whigham Jr. preached that Jesus' call on our lives
requires "being willing to step out and lay down your lifestyle.  Being   
willing
to step out and lay down your culture.  Being willing to look past the   
color of
someone's skin and look on their heart."  He concluded by reminding
listeners, "Others will know that we are his disciples simply by our   
love."

 "At home I never went to church and here I had to go every Sunday, but   
now I want to
go," Dalmeijer said.  "This church is so alive." But not only have   
Service
Adventure participants grown and gained; the congregation has grown
through the experience, as well.  Service Adventure has enhanced the   
Nueva
Vida/New Life congregation's mission of building bridges to the   
Norristown
community.

In addition to its cultural diversity, Nueva Vida/New Life church also
welcomes local center city residents from group homes, providing van   
pickup
service driven by Mike Stellingwerf, of Goshen, Ind., one of the Service
Adventure volunteers. "Being a teenager with a pierced ear who likes not   
to
dress up, I really feel that I get strange looks walking into a   
traditional
church, like they want me to leave," Stellingwerf said.  "But this church   
is
willing to accept how you look, dress, etc.  Everybody's loved equally."

Sign language interpretation during congregational singing, in addition   
to
Spanish and English translation, is another indication of the church's
diversity.

"There are lots of people coming here who wouldn't even be welcome in   
other
churches," Richet said.  "We want to demonstrate the love of Christ   
breaking
down barriers, no matter what the barrier."

* * *

Paul Brubaker       PHOTOS AVAILABLE