Janet Szabo shares how, after a period of declining attendance, Mountain View Mennonite Church is experiencing new spring life with adults and children alike actively participating in the church.
Janet Sabo She is a member of Mountain View Mennonite Church in Kalispell, Montana, where she is the pianist. She also hosts a weekly sewing podcast and teaches sewing and knitting classes in the Pacific Northwest. She and her husband live on a small farm where she raises pigs and chickens and produces large amounts of food.
______________________________________________________
Spring is slowly coming to northwest Montana. I can see the snowshoe hare that lives under our balcony changing from winter white to a shaded brown. Just look at the hard work of the robins that build their nests in the rafters of your balcony. And I see it in the first green shoots of plants in my garden.
No matter how long and cold the winter is, spring will come someday.
I’m jealous of our southern neighbors who have shorter winter sleep than us. I see friends posting pictures of blooming daffodils, but I know it will be a few weeks before the flowers show up. A few days of warm, sunny weather signals the arrival of spring, but then spring recedes as we face another round of cold and snow. We believe this will be our last snow. surely. Optimistic residents remove studded tires from their cars. The rest of us are waiting.
Our congregation’s worship theme this Easter season is “Jesus, the Gardener of the New Creation.” We are coming out of winter and feel the arrival of spring. After nearly a decade of decline, and further curtailed by the pandemic, we now celebrate every Sunday with the voices of children participating in worship. Our youngest, 18 months old, sang loudly along with the congregation, her babbling melodies blending with our voices. Older children helped create a visual for the season by painting a stained glass sunrise in a window facing the east, mountains.
On Easter Sunday, adults in strategic locations within the sanctuary showered worshipers with confetti. This is a tradition we started last year. Despite our efforts to clean them up, those pieces of paper are still there, but in June, October, and even December, the children come running and find them somewhere in the church building. When she excitedly shows us that she found confetti, we smile and nod. We remember with them the joy of Easter Sunday.
Children bring their parents to church. With patience and humor, young adults help older members navigate the ever-changing technological landscape of worship. Some of these young people were children we used to teach in Sunday school. Now they are in leadership positions. We value these threads that are woven into our lives and provide continuity.
Many of us come from other faith traditions. Our interim pastor was ordained a Presbyterian minister. This diversity of backgrounds brings richness to our community life as we embrace the Anabaptist tradition of our congregation and find common ground in living our commitment to follow Jesus.
This beloved family of God has a long history of service and has been motivated to become more involved with those around us. Last fall, we provided classroom space to a local kindergarten. We prepare meals on the second Tuesday of each month through Feed the Flathead. We have supported Valley Neighbors and helped immigrant families from Venezuela and Afghanistan settle in our communities. Our Mennonite Disaster Services Department has no shortage of projects. In February we tied six quilts and donated them to the Mennonite Central Committee. We recently helped out by staffing the food booth at the Volunteer Fire Department’s annual fundraising auction.
During our weekly prayer and sharing time, we were asked to give examples of where we see the resurrection of Jesus around us. Stories are everywhere.
Perhaps the long, cold winter has given us the patience to wait for spring. Perhaps that also explains our somewhat irrational excitement at finding pieces of confetti around church buildings during dark times of the year. Because we know that spring is coming, that Jesus is the gardener of this new creation, and that in July the social halls will be filled with zucchini and signs will be hung that say “Free to Good Homes.” Because I know that.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog belong to the authors and do not represent the views of the MC USA Board of Directors or staff.
Interested in blogging on Menno Snapshots? See blog guidelines here.
