Assembly Mennonite Church
I attended Assembly Mennonite Church, which is located on the south side of Goshen, at
1201 S 11th St. This area is a little bit on the scuzzy side, but still well kept. On one side, there
are factory buildings, and barren yards filled with semi trucks and train cars. On the other is a
neighborhood with fairly low income housing. Many of the houses are kept up, but certainly not
in their best shape. There are far more chain link fences than white picket. Members of the
congregation come from as close as this neighborhood and as far as Elkhart. The pastors are
Karl Shelly, Lora Nafzinger, and Jennifer Gingerich.
When one enters Assembly’s building, a space they share with Walnut Hill Daycare, they
are warmly greeted and welcomed by a church member. Guests are given name tags as they
filter into a modest service. Folding chairs are used rather than more permanent seats, so that
Walnut Hill can make use of the room as well. It was important when the church developed that
the space is used by people other than the church, as to contribute more to the community.
There are between one hundred and two hundred seats, almost all filled with chattering, happy
church members. They are led into the service with song, often one from a foreign place:
Mozambique, or Peru. This theme of integration of traditional music and that of other nations
continues throughout the service. The sermons are approachable, and appear to focus more on
the importance of living life in a Christlike manner than piety or fear. It is obviously a church full
of acceptance, ranging on the liberal side of the Mennonite spectrum. One speaker discussed
his struggles with being homosexual and a Christian and was then offered support and love from
his community. The service is followed by an announcement time, in which church members
can share with the group. These announcements cover everything from asking for prayers for a
sick church member, to information on service opportunities, to sharing the dates of a local
theatres play.
The church members are almost as diverse as they are welcoming. The majority is
certainly white, but a quick glance around the room makes it easy to see that at least 25% of
churchgoers are black, latino, and asian. Their voices are part of the service, as they share
different cultural perspectives as well as their personal views. Young children run about during
the service, drawing on bulletins and playing with blocks. They go forward for a childrens time in
which they are asked questions and opinions. Most of the congregation is between 20 and 40
years old, but there are many older members as well. I recognize several international students
from the college. In the past few years, Assembly has remained about the same size, perhaps
growing a little.
Its really interesting reading this blog post, mainly because I attended Assembly for my church project as well. I liked the simplicity of your analyzation of the church service. I think you did a better job than I was able to! I was too focused on certain details and numbers to notice some things that you mentioned. I liked that you talked about the children at Assembly and the freedom they have to play, it is definitely a unique characteristic of the church. I am not sure if 25 percent of members were minorities, but I can understand how you would assume that. The church is diverse in more ways than one, and is welcoming to many people which other Mennonite churches may alienate.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading this I greatly appreciated the fact how welcoming your church was that you visited. The Church I had visited was the complete opposite and didn't welcome guests at all. I also love the fact that the children had the freedom to enjoy themselves during the service. But how members can make announcements at the end make the church feel more friendly and accepting. That is a church I would personally love to visit because the atmosphere feels like my church I went to back in California and I haven't been able to find one since I arrived to Goshen.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting to read this blog post, as I have grown up in Goshen and have heard about Assembly but have never attended. It's so nice that you felt welcome and accepted at the church, because I feel that that's what church should really be about. I feel like Assembly would be an interesting contact zone, not only because there are people of different ages and races, but also because they are openly accepting of many different lifestyles, particularly homosexuality. However, I feel like this could also make people who were not so accepting not come, adding to the segregation of churches.
ReplyDeleteI've heard a lot about Assembly, but have never attended, so thanks for this. :) I also want to say that I enjoy your writing style. It's as if I'm there with you as we sit in folding chairs. I can tell that you really soaked all of the information in and found it interesting. It's also interesting to see how you see the church as a contact zone in a way that incorporates different generations, which is of equal or greater importance than social class, gender, race, etc. since traditions, morals, values and all of that needs to be passed down.
ReplyDeleteEllen: You did a nice job in conveying information about Assembly Mennonite church. It sounds like a diverse place according to your description of the service, although that may have been just one of your experiences at that church. It would have been nice to hear about what borders they did not cross, as well as how they could improve in terms of crossing those borders. Also, you seemed very straightforward in your description. Although this is meant to be a research paper, it may be good to be more descriptive: what did the people you saw look like? What was the environment like? How did you feel? What did the church look like?
ReplyDeleteI know this post already has a lot of comments, but I can't seem to access other people's blogs... Plus I'm really interested in your experience at Assembly, so I'm going to comment on this anyway! I've heard lots of great things about Assembly, so it is great to get a more detailed experience of the church. It's interesting that while many Mennonite churches are facing the problem of an aging population, Assembly is rather young; this is probably a very good thing for the future of the church. It's great to see a more diverse Mennonite church, and I hope to attend the church sometime in the near future.
ReplyDeleteIs there anything other than "scuzzy" that you could conclude from the neighborhood's appearance? You've told us that there are fences, but the heights of these fences could indicate how secure the people living behind them actually feel.
ReplyDeleteI like how you wrote about Assembly because it is a place that I have connections to in one way or another, even though I haven't attended. I really have been wanting to, but I just haven't had the opportunity. I liked the description of the service with the children running around, but I feel like this could have definitely been fleshed out quite a bit.
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