mountain retreat

The first thing we did after our arrival was to head to the mountains to reconnect with our church family from Pasadena Mennonite who had gathered for a retreat weekend.

#4 - pasadena mennonite church/palm sunday peace parade

august will be the last month of the sky is big in pasadena.  

i have accepted a position at salford mennonite church in harleysville, pennsylvania.  we will be moving in september, so august will be my farewell month to the city of pasadena.  when we moved here from virginia i posted a list of the ten things i would miss most about harrisonburg.  i figured that would be a good way to end our time here, so each day i will be doing one final rundown of life in this great city.  i have prepared two lists - ten things i won't be sad to leave behind, and twenty of my absolute favorite things about pasadena.  we have arrived at the top ten things about life in pasadena.



#4 - pasadena mennonite church/palm sunday peace parade

i cheated a bit with this one.  realisticially, these both deserve their own entry in my top ten.  but because they are pretty closely related, i tied them together. 

pasadena mennonite has been our incredible church home while we've lived here.  we have been welcomed there with open arms and have found meaningful relationships that will carry on beyond pasadena.  this community has acted as our substitute parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles.  they have been our mentors and peers in ways we never could have imagined.

the peace parade is one of the things that this church does annually as a way to make a public declaration of a commitment to peace.  it is held every year on palm sunday and has grown to include many other local groups dedicated to peace and an end to global warfare.

both of these things are special to me, and i will miss them deeply when we move from here.

pmc birthday picnic!

the city of pasadena is celebrating its 125th birthday this weekend.  it must be the season for significant milestones because last weekend pasadena mennonite church celebrated its 25th birthday!  our church celebrated with a special service followed by a picnic in the park.

i snagged this photo from george who also goes to pasadena mennonite, so i guess this counts as another guest photographer!

happy halloween

last night we got together with a few people from our church for an evening of pumpkin carving, food, and it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown.  we even did a little reverse trick-or-treating, where the youth went door to door handing out fair trade chocolate.  fun stuff!

move the game!

next year's major league baseball all-star game is scheduled to be held in arizona. while normally i'd be excited for the fans of that great baseball state, some recent political decisions in arizona have inspired a campaign to have the 2011 all-star game moved to another location.

last sunday a few of us got together after church to show our support for this movement, and you can too...

show commissioner selig that baseball fans want the all-star game moved unless arizona's anti-immigration law is repealed - put on your favorite baseball team's gear and send in a photo to moveon.org.

easter hunting

our church (pasadena mennonite) has a lovely tradition of having a potluck lunch on easter sunday. the afternoon always included an egg hunt for the kids - innevitably filled with too much candy and just as much cuteness.

introducing pastor joe

on sunday, pasadena mennonite church officially installed joe roos as their lead pastor after two years of searching for someone to replace jim brenneman who had helped found pmc and had been the only lead pastor this young church had ever known.

this is a significant moment in any faith community. selecting someone to lead is a difficult task, but i think we've found a pretty special guy in pastor joe. he helped jim wallis start sojourners magazine, has spent several years as a lead pastor near washington dc, and just returned from serving at an international school in india with his wife. for a church that is passionate about global issues, social justice, and christ's call to peace, he should fit in just perfectly.

i can't take credit for this photo. pmc is fortunate to have several gifted photographers. john barkman is one of them and he does an exceptional job at documenting the life of the church. this photo is his, and if you'd like to sample more of his work, check out this website.

december theme day: circles/spheres

this stained glass window is in a small chapel at my church. i attend pasadena mennonite church which meets in the pasadena church of the brethren building. mennonite churches are usually pretty plain buildings - not lavish or adorned with traditional religious icons. i guess our church is unique in that sense, probably because it wasn't built by our congregation.

the image includes several christian symbols - the greek letters 'alpha' and 'omega' which symbolize the beginning and the end, the crucifiction cross, the bible, a palm branch which is symbolic of peace and the coming of christ, and a star of david.

anyway, here's a plug - if you are looking for a church to worship at that places a particularily strong emphasis on peace and non-violence, social justice issues, systemic and social issues, and how essential all that is to being a follower of christ, come check us out! also we're a pretty relaxed group with lots of kids, young families, and students. dress is casual.


there are 175 blogs participating in today's theme day. you can check them out below!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

no little kindness

i had the chance to catch a performance of no little kindness a few weeks ago and haven't got around to posting this picture until now. no little kindness is made up of several talented musicians, some of whom i've gotten to know from attending pasadena mennonite church. they were playing at this event hosted by salvation army alegra. an enjoyable evening of great music.

easter egg hunt

an image from pmc's easter picnic. i'm not sure who has more fun, the kids or the parents who get to see the looks of joy on their kid's faces.

hope everyone had a great easter weekend, and for those of you in the many countries who celebrate it, hope your easter monday is great. why doesn't the usa have this wonderful excuse for a holiday?

palm sunday peace parade

i had the pleasure of participating in the 5th annual palm sunday peace parade here in pasadena. this event has been taking place since the invasion of iraq. it grows larger every year, stretching for at least a full block this time. The plan is to continue this action until war is no more (so chances are it will be happening next year if you want to join in). not to get too political, or religious, but if you are interested in learning more about what you can do as a passionate christian for peace, check out the matthew 5 project.

pasadena mennonite church

here is my place of worship. i should really get a better angle with the mountains in the background. if you are surprised to see a mennonite church with such an elaborate steeple, you have good reason - just google mennonite church building, and you find that most are pretty simple structures. this building was originally built for the pasadena church of the brethren, and is still owned and used by them today. although pmc has grown larger than the pcb, they are still just tenants in the building.

oh, and if you are in the area and searching for a church, check out this one. it's pretty great!

disco bowling

our pmc small group went bowling at bahama lanes last night - unfortunately it turned out to be disco bowling and thus made for some blurry picture taking. this is an action shot of matt and shawna bowling at the same time.

more from the retreat

in the game room - Meredith and Emiley vs. Lindsay and Aaron

boys are mean

fun in the snow at retreat

images from pmc church retreat

at mt. kare (snow in the mountains this weekend, hot and sunny in pasadena)