wfn.org | Oct 11 Documentary to feature Mennonites

[Beth Hawn]

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To:  'Worldwide Faith News'
Date: 1998-09-30 16:17
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Message ID: 795967667658D211AAB0006008075ABF
Conversation ID: Oct 11 Documentary to feature Mennonite 

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September 30, 1998
Mennonite Board of Missions
Beth Hawn
219-294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>

Oct. 11 documentary will feature Norristown Mennonite Church

HARRISONBURG, Va. (MBM) - "Hope Out of the Ashes," a one-hour ABC-TV
documentary that includes one segment on Nueva Vida/New Life Mennonite
Church in Norristown, Pa., is now scheduled to air Oct. 11.

Produced by United Methodist Communications for the Communications
Commission of the National Council of Churches for airing on ABC-TV
affiliates and the Odyssey cable TV network, the program focuses on
positive steps toward racial harmony in churches and communities. A
live feed of the program will go out Oct. 11 to each affiliate, which has   

the option to carry it, or to tape-delay the program and air it later.
Mennonites who want to ensure the special will shown in their areas   
should
contact representatives of local ABC affiliates.

The crew filmed at a Sunday morning service at the Norristown   
congregation
earlier this summer.  It was the farewell Sunday for participants serving   
the
previous year in Norristown at the Service Adventure unit sponsored by   
the
congregation. Service Adventure provides post-high school young adults
with a short-term adventure in service, learning and spiritual growth.   
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.

On-site production coordinator Sharon K. Williams, Norristown member
and consultant for nurture ministries of Franconia Mennonite Conference,
said the filming crew and producer seemed to be personally interested in
the issue and the filming went very well. The Mennonite church is
 represented on the Communications Commission by MBM staff members
MBM marketing director Allen Angell suggested the story to the
Communications Commission.

The title of the special reflects on the burning of more than 100   
churches,
fires ignited by hatred and intolerance, as well as the "possibilities of   
a
reconciliation that goes beyond legal imperatives to change places in the   

heart." Nancy Jackson, United Methodist producer for the special, says
 the program also tells the stories of how other individuals and
congregations in Missouri/Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee communities
confront inequality.

In Norristown, three Mennonite churches (white, black and Hispanic), were   

sharing a fellowship meal in 1988, when the Lord gave a vision to Pastor
Ertell Whigham "that this is how the church of Jesus Christ ought to be
lived out. . . together as one body."  The congregations combined,
retaining three pastors and one governing board, and gaining a sense of
Christian unity.

Among other stories in the special is that of a white woman who grew up
during the 1950s in what then was the racially segregated town of   
Kingsport,
Tenn.  Her chance meeting with a black woman, who shared her hometown,
generated spontaneous conversation and recollections of people and places   

and the very different circumstances of each woman's upbringing.  Their
deepening friendship is helping them recreate their childhood from both
perspectives and enter into each other's lives.

Across the state, in Humboldt, two congregations - the all-white New   
Shiloh
United Methodist Church and the nearby black Salem Baptist Church - had
both lost their buildings to fire, and each had made a contribution to   
rebuild
the other.

During the farm crisis of the 1980s, white farmers outside Kansas City
were hard-hit. In a gesture of goodwill, a group of inner-Kansas City
ministers of African-American churches began helping to provide
outlets to sell their produce.  Both groups now worship together
 occasionally, and enjoy a barbecue, using the farmers' products.

In Biloxi, Miss., the 125-member Mississippi Reconciliation Choir   
performs
with  the intention of breaking down racial and denominational barriers
and of bringing a message of hope to others.  Its practice sessions,   
which
include other elements of worship, involve multiracial members of 18   
local
churches. Their music is included throughout the special.
 
Jackson said "Hope Out of the Ashes" is intended to help "all of us to   
look
at places where racism is at work, and to realize that, as individuals,
we can have an impact."

* * *
Melodie M. Davis  

To find out when the documentary, "Hope Out of the Ashes," will be aired
in your community, contact your local ABC affiliate.