Saturday,
July 5, 2003
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Mennonites make impact on Atlanta
By KATE KEIB
Saturday, July 5, 2003
Sarah Thompson grew up in Goshen, Ind., surrounded by thousands of Mennonites in a city of 30,000. When she moved to Atlanta, the equation changed: she became one of perhaps 150 Mennonites in a city of 4 million. Yet, as Thompson discovered, the Atlanta Mennonite community shows its strength through directed, collaborative efforts and the persistent pursuit of peace and, while small, is making its mark on the broader ecumenical community in Atlanta. Mennonites have been active in Atlanta since the early 1960s. The first community, Berea Mennonite Church, was founded by a group of volunteers from the North. Now, Atlanta is the home of three very different Mennonite communities: Atlanta Mennonite Fellowship (AMF), Berea Mennonite and Cell-ebration Fellowship. Thompson attends Atlanta Mennonite Fellowship. AMF’s primary outreach ministry is with refugees and asylum seekers, according to the pastor, Susan Gascho. AMF owns the Mennonite Hospitality House, which began as transitional housing for the homeless and now serves as a temporary home for refugees as well as an advocacy center for asylum seekers. AMF is also very involved in the Interfaith Atlanta Coalition for Justice and Peace in the World, which started after Sept. 11, 2001, when faith groups sought ways to express deep beliefs in peace, rooted in theology. The treasurer for the coalition, Jim Rugh, said the group’s efforts included interfaith workshops, vigils, concerts and public witness, such as placing a “No War” statement on a full-page advertisement in six publications. Thompson participated in many of these peace efforts and now is taking her mission further with the Freedom Walk. The walk will take participants through historic sites in Atlanta important to the U.S. civil rights movement, and offer commentary on how Mennonites were involved in the struggle. “It’s very integral to being a Mennonite in Atlanta,” Thompson said. “We will lament our missed opportunities and rejoice in the vision of the future.” The future of Mennonites in Atlanta looks bright, in part because of the way Mennonites are working with other faith communities, said Jonathan Larson, the district minister for the Southeast Mennonite Conference and a former pastor at Berea. Being small in number, he continued, means that Mennonites must form partnerships and seek out alliances. For example, Berea is involved with the DOOR project, a partnership with a Christian congregation and a Baptist church, which engages youth in service learning by bringing them into the city to work with urban Christians. There is also a Ten Thousand Villages store in Atlanta, which opened its doors nearly 10 years ago through the work of three Mennonite women representing all three Atlanta Mennonite communities. Through the store and its connections to Mennonite Central Committee, thousands of Atlantans are able to learn about different cultures and Mennonite international work. Marg Lambert is one of the founders of Ten Thousand Villages in Atlanta, and her husband, David, is pastor at Cell-ebration Fellowship. David Lambert said Cell-ebration is not part of Mennonite Church USA and is in many ways not a typical Mennonite church. Like AMF, Cell-ebration works with refugees as a major part of its mission, and refugees can make up as much as half of the congregation. Most come from the Horn of Africa, he said. Two other groups of Mennonites, consisting of native Mexicans and Ethiopians, have also sprung up in Atlanta. Although these groups work independently from the core three, they are evidence of a burgeoning Mennonite faith community in Atlanta.  |
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