If you’re wondering what this “blog” is, you have good reason to. I’ve only shared this address to a few people as a way of collaborating and brainstorming ideas related to a bicycle trip/conversational experiment this summer.

As the idea has been evolving through various conversations, it has currently become something that can be expressed as this:

In my work with young adults and the Mennonite church, it has become extremely clear that there needs to be a space for open conversation regarding how we do “church.” I feel that our young adult peers have genuine desire to engage the church with our concerns about its direction, but have either not been granted the opportunity or not taken it.

I have been talking with a core group of young adults about riding bicycles across the USA this summer for 6-7 weeks (July-August) as an opportunity to engage open conversation regarding these concerns. The idea would include creatively recording and summarizing conversations enroute on a dynamic website which would also invite others to respond and dialog. Persons would be welcome to join and/or leave the touring group at any time, and we would like to stop at Mennonite churches across the country (at least on Sundays), sharing our voice and engaging transformative conversation.

The journey would be a call for the church to return to its true form as a movement rather than institution, and we would personify this change by becoming the movement ourselves. Hopefully the conversations communicated from this experience would also inspire movement within the broader church. (communication to create movement : movement to create communication)

We would like to see this “conversation” move across the country and then make it’s way into Paraguay (at least metaphorically) as a statement from our generation emphasizing that the church is global and must be considered as such.

Initial conversations that have occured indicate that this movement/journey/conversation would get a lot of publicity and could be used as a very effective fundraiser for AMIGOS, the youth delegate branch of Mennonite World Conference. This cause could be a way for young adults to emphasize the reality that our community is worldwide, directing financial resources that allow our emerging peers with leadership potential in the global south to be a part of the conversation in Paraguay in 2009.

Initial conversations have shown that there is no reason why this event shouldn’t happen, but I am waiting for a few days to make the first definite call for its commencement. This temporary blog can be a space to inject your creativity into this project and keep in touch with the broader planning group before a more comprehensive site comes out.

Let’s keep this going…

Check out Adventure Cycling Association

Here’s a link to a PDF map showing the distribution of Mennonites in the USA:
http://www.mennoweekly.org/IMAGES/pages%2010-11.pdf

Description:
The “Menno Progressives” group was created to allow for direct communication and collaboration between students of Mennonite colleges interested in a non-partisan grassroots progressive movement much needed in a time of increased neo-conservative influence in Washington.

Progressives were fragmented by the 2004 presidential election, largely because neither major party candidate embraced these issues fully. Our issues include but are not limited to: ending the war in Iraq, creating a living wage, establishing universal healthcare, limiting corporate control of the two major parties, and protecting the environment. We hope to embrace progressives from all parties, whether Democrat, Republican, Green, Reform, or Libertarian.

As Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without demand. It never has and it never will.”

So, let’s have this forum for discussion, planning, and go from there. It’d be great for all new members to do a short post introducing themselves. Politics aside, this group can at least act to bridge the gap between the Mennonite college campuses around the country. So, if you have friends on other campuses that you think would be interested, let them know about it. The success of this forum will depend on word of mouth advertising.

-MJ Sharp, founder/manager of ‘Menno Progressives’

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Menno_Progressives/

Young adult thoughts for the Mennonite Church and a proposal for this summer’s convention

This document is a young adult call to the Mennonite Church. Over the past couple of months, young Mennonites have been talking seriously (amongst themselves and with many of you) about our own church involvement. Many US and Canadian young adults are ready, now, to engage, more fully, in the institutional church. This statement lays out some of our thoughts and concerns as we begin this engagement. From the Mennonite church, it asks for concrete cooperation and specific commitments. Our statement is completely wrapped up in our appreciation for the way the Mennonite church has provoked our interest. We regard those of you who are reading this document with the deepest respect as church leaders, pastors, professors, mentors and other integral members of the Mennonite church that have encouraged us and have been incredible examples for us as we have grown to be the people that we are today. Your thoughts and queries, as our religious leaders and mentors of faith, have given us crucial questions with which to grapple and, we believe, to more responsibly undertake our own commitment to Christ and the church. These, your questions, are the medium through which we have chosen to order our challenges and affirmations.

Read the longer version in Word format

Read the shorter version in Word format

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