Local Community
As Anabaptists, we take seriously Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount about being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. One of our stated core values at Camp Deerpark is to express the love of Jesus by having integrity in all dealings with our vendors, our neighbors on Brandt Road, the larger community and the government authorities. Walter Mehr often related that, as director, Jim Baer would always plow the neighbors’ snowy driveways before he plowed the camp driveway.
In the late 1990s, a traveling Mennonite high school choir shared a concert at the Presbyterian Church in Port Jervis. The pastor said, “We know Mennonites; Jerry and Leonor Kennell were Mennonites.” Nearly 20 years after the Kennells left the Port Jervis community, the congregation broke into applause at the mention of their names.
The stories in this section are chosen to give the reader a window into the challenges, opportunities and joys of loving our neighbors.
Related Entries
Share:
Pain and Need Aren’t Partisan
This is Session 3 of the Prince of Peace: Jesus and Peacebuilding from the Election to the Holidays webinar series. (Click here to sign up for session invites.) Sometimes people seem so different from us, we automatically assume we can’t connect. Or, we tried to connect on some level, but it quickly became way too…
What is A Mission Statement?
On the LMC NYC District call this month, Dr. Tiffany shared critical information on what is and what is not a mission statement. This is critical as we think about moving the congregations in our district forward towards mission, optimize the mission already underway, and align together on the LMC mission as district churches. In…
Advent Calendar
Count Down the Days to Christmas with Camp! Jesus is the center of our Camp community. Let’s celebrate together the coming of the One who brings peace and salvation and life everlasting to humanity. We’ll be posting each day to Facebook and Instagram stories, but you can get our daily post in your email inbox!…
A Spirit-filled Christmas: The Joy in Judgement
The end of this week (Black Friday) marks the beginning of the Christmas season for many. (Though the big-box retailers had stuff out before Halloween, can you believe it!?!) For our culture, this season is a time of Joy. We gather for feasting and presents and the delighting of children. And despite the growing chill…
From Inner Peace to the Holiday Table
This is Session 2 of the Prince of Peace: Jesus and Peacebuilding from the Election to the Holidays webinar series. (Click here to sign up for session invites.) This session is about what we do when the people around us challenge our peace. It requires us to draw on something deeper in order to continue…
Releasing and Loving “The Other Side”
This is Session 1 of the Prince of Peace: Jesus and Peacebuilding from the Election to the Holidays webinar series. (Click here to sign up for session invites.) This session is about what we do with those in our lives who see things differently — even very differently. We do this using a paradigm from…
Story of A Tree
A fresh tree stump is like a magnet to me. I have to look at the rings to read the tree’s story. It’s at once humbling to look inside a living thing that is much longer-lived than yourself, but also encouraging to see how it weathered the ups and downs of life, the good times…
Camp’s Political Endorsement
I’ve been eligible to vote for 30 years, but – like many in my generation – I’ve never felt like a politician or party truly represented me. They may win me at one point, but they’ll loose me in the next. When I have voted, it always seemed I was going to the polls holding…
Prince of Peace
Camp’s mission statement says we offer people the opportunity to fellowship in “serenity”. Serenity literally means “clear skies” — a state of refuge from the storms of the World. Right now, our World does feel pretty stormy with a divided country going into an election and numerous disasters and conflicts abroad and at home. Because…
Mapping Spiritual Journey with NYC Leaders
In order to know where you’re going, it’s a good idea to know where you are. One of the best ways to know where you are is a good map. The NYC LMC District is seeing growth in many of our churches right now, and opportunities for re-inventing and re-launching in others. But these are…
- « Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next »