Memo to Pastors for February, 1997

Up Close and Balancing Provident, Family, and Church

Name: Ken Reinford

Current position: General manager, Provident Bookstores, Lancaster.

First job: Bagger and cashier at a local supermarket (age 16).

Baptized by: Elmer G. Kolb at Upper Skippack Mennonite Church (Franconia Conference).

Biggest achievement: Finding balance between vocation at Provident, family (teenage son and daughter), and serving as an elder at Petra Christian Fellowship (Atlantic Coast Conference).

What you might find in his refrigerator: Fresh fruits and vegetables.

It may surprise you that Ken: Enjoys computerizing his family's

genealogies. Favorite Scripture verse: Isaiah 40:31.

Best-kept secret about Provident: Our committed and knowledgeable staff, who enjoy serving the church and our communities, and, yes, we are a division of Mennonite Publishing House.

What Ken often does on Saturdays: As a retailer, I frequently work, or I spend time with the family; we enjoy traveling.

What he wishes every pastor knew: Provident can get to almost any book in print, usually in a few days,and can ship it any place in the world.

Up Close with Mennonite Publishing House
On a regular basis, MEMO presents new resources for congregations. These Up Close profiles are intended to introduce members of the Mennonite Publishing House family who create or work behind the scenes to produce these materials. --Levi Miller, Congregational Literature Division Director

New Herald Press Release

Mennonites in American Society, 1930-1970: Modernity and the Persistence of Religious Community, by Paul Toews. This fourth and final volume of the Mennonite Experience in America series provides a rich interpretive story of how Mennonites have preserved their identity through the 20th century.

Paul Toews examines ways progressive Mennonites have slowed their absorption into American culture through creating institutional systems, refining and rearticulating ideologies, building ecumenical alliances, and developing a service and missional activism.

Wars were common from 1930 to 1970 and posed serious challenges to these peaceable peoples. Though somewhat shaken, Mennonites and Amish were able to surmount crises to become a more visible and respected people than ever before during their more than 300 years in America.

"Paul Toews," says MEA editor Theron Schlabach, "is a skillful historian. With his skills he has drawn out very well the major themes of Mennonites' interaction with America from 1930 to 1975. The aim of the MEA volumes has been to tell both of Mennonites and of America. Like its predecessors, the newest MEA volume does exactly that."

The four volumes in the MEA series include:

Land, Piety, Peoplehood, by Richard K. MacMaster

Peace, Faith, Nation, by Theron F. Schlabach

Vision, Doctrine, War by James C. Juhnke

Mennonites in American Society, 1930-1970, by Paul Toews

Price: Paper, $19.95 each; in Canada $28.50 each, plus shipping/handling.

Hymnals Available For Rent

To date, Mennonite Publishing House has sold over 61,000 copies of the pew edition. Mennonite Publishing House also has two thousand copies of Hymnal: A Worship Book available for rent and offers the following policy: For renters who charge a registration fee, the rental is $1.00 per book. For renters who do not charge a registration fee, the rental is $.50 per book. The renter will pay all shipping charges to receive the hymnals and to return the hymnals. Renters will reimburse Mennonite Publishing House at the current retail price for any hymnals that are either lost or damaged. Congregations may rent hymnals for a period of two months. Hymnals are available on a first come, first serve basis. Rental copies of the hymnals are not available for sale. Renter must have on file at Mennonite Publishing House a signed rental agreement. To rent these hymnals, please write or call 1 800 245-7894

Builder

In the Ministers and Leadership column, Dale Stoltzfus, writes about the pastor as teacher.

Many pastors are raising questions about their role in Christian education in the congregation. How do pastors lead the congregation so that persons grow, agreed upon congregational goals, become mature Christians, and express our Mennonite beliefs?

"The Sunday school program as part of the congregational nurturing ministry," he continues, "has been an effective program for about 100 years in the Mennonite Church. The Sunday school has assisted many of us in shaping our faith and our life. Can we look at the future of the discipling process in our congregational life? Might it be helpful to evaluate the effectiveness of our current congregational Christian education programs and the role of the pastor or pastoral team?" Read more of what Dale and other columnists have to say in the February Builder.

`95 Confession Outsells the `63 Confession 4 to 1

First released as a 112-page trade paperback, Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective has already sold over 21,000 copies in its first year in circulation. By comparison, in its first year the 1963 confession sold only 5,000 copies.

Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective includes the full text of the 24 articles of faith with commentary on each, a six-page summary of the 24 articles, two union readings for public worship, a Scripture index, and two pages of instructions on how to obtain more information and resources on Mennonite beliefs. Price: $4.95 (U.S.); $7.10 (Canada).

Published in June 1996, the Summary Statement and Unison Readings from the Confession of Faith has sold over 3,000 copies. It is ideal for placement in Hymnal: A Worship Book pocket and/or as a tract resource. Paper, 12 pages, $.75 (U.S.); $1.10 (Canada). To order either the 112-page paperback or the 12-page summary statement, call 1 800 245-7894.

Link Youth Bible Studies

How is your relationship with money? What's the bottom line? Based on his new work with The Giving Project, Mark Vincent will provide a biblically oriented and thought provoking study of stewardship.

What does the book of Revelation really say? Dale Shenk will help youth and their teachers study Revelation as a book of hope in the midst of the struggles and uncertaintes of everyday life.

Call for a LINK Youth Bible Studies brochure that gives information about the spring quarter as well as the coming year. If you are not ordering LINK for your youth, please review this brochure and pass it on to teachers and youth leaders. To order, call 1 800 245-7894.

Purpose

"A Declaration of Allegiance" by Eastern Mennonite University president Joseph L Lapp, suggests the essential center out of which Mennonite schools are called to operate. That is a good perspective for congregations and their educational programs as well on this Church School Day (2nd).

On Transfiguration Sunday (9th), readers may get a new vision of the Lord through "A Happening in Kentucky," "On the Mount of Transfiguration," and " I Saw the Lord".

Call 1 800 245-7894 for information about our individual and group subscription plans. Enroll your congregation in a free three-month trial subscription to this discipleship magazine.

With And YouthGuide

Stewardship: being a responsible steward of relationships, career plans, money, time, and talents, all of life that's the topic for the January-February issue of With. Check it out, along with the companion piece for youth leaders, YouthGuide, for new insights on a timeless theme.