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Bill Rushby wrote:Good comment, Joy! But the task of helping a released inmate can be quite formidable.

yes. i don't believe Joy understands how specially gifted she is.
"just being herself," she is an inspiration. we never/rarely see ourselves as others see us.

There is a conservative Mennonite church near me that has at least taken in several ex criminals and membership was given out. I don't know the specifics though.

Bill Rushby wrote:Good comment, Joy! But the task of helping a released inmate can be quite formidable.

Yes, I know. But how would we want to be treated if we were in their shoes? And I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happens in the future--not for wrongdoing, but for doing right. And I realize that takes out the (hopefully former) criminal character element; but still, what would love do?

Joy wrote:

Bill Rushby wrote:Good comment, Joy! But the task of helping a released inmate can be quite formidable.

Yes, I know. But how would we want to be treated if we were in their shoes? And I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happens in the future--not for wrongdoing, but for doing right. And I realize that takes out the (hopefully former) criminal character element; but still, what would love do?

Amen.

I would like to add I am glad ethnic plain people seem to have room for me in their hearts and lives. Maybe that's enough.

Today someone let me know he needed a couple bucks, which is not a big deal, but the timing was a huge deal. We recently had some promotions at work - big exciting things are happening - and I got selected to be on a special team going overseas for a week. I need to leave tomorrow and am preparing everything with my team mates, so leaving at work right at 5pm wasn't quite going to work. I had a prior commitment at 6pm for dinner and then doing some electrical work, and I wanted to live up to that commitment.

My acquaintance tried to meet me halfway but ended up just being in a traffic choked road, so I spent some time with my thoughts. How many times have I really needed $20? Sometimes it didn't show up. Since I became a Christian, different people (including quite a few plain people) have helped me out with $20, or $50, or $500, or $700, when I really didn't deserve it and my need was due to my own lack of good planning and work ethic. So how can I turn someone in need away?

My acquaintance is doing so much better - got his licence suspension cleared up, I have a really cheap mechanic who will look at the brakes on his car, and his plan looks good to renew his tags and get insurance again. I remember the times being short $20 for a day threw my whole plan to get back on track into disarray. Now he is facing needing to find an new place to live within a month, and his budget is just very very tight. He recently got a job with more hours and better pay, but it's still not quite enough.

But oh, I don't want to sit in traffic! And I have things I need to do. I need to pack for my trip and there's a load of laundry that didn't get done this week. I hoped to get to bed early to get a head start on a new time zone but that's not going to happen now.

My hosts were gracious and waited for dinner for the extra 45 minutes. Still I hate to ever be tardy and keep someone waiting. The work we had to do went well, but did take more time than expected. We will need one more piece of equipment but it can wait for a future visit. For now the immediate problem is resolved. My host reminded me to send a bill. Yet another thing to add to my list of things to do.

Chester Weaver has said that one of our biggest problems is that we want to go to bed early, and frankly, that's often how I feel, including right now. Come, friends: I need some co-labourers who can stay up late sometimes, or drive to a rough part of town and sit in traffic, and hold dinner for someone who will inevitably be tardy.

After all, won't we have eternity to rest, live in safety and peace, and show up on time to the wedding supper of the Lamb?

Ernie, do you know of any stats of churches that consider themselves Anabaptist in the United States regarding the diversity of members that would show stats such as what % of all Anabaptists are -

1) from German/Russian Mennonite roots
2) are African Americans
3) are Latinos
4) are Whites not from category 1

I'm curious too as to whether these percentages are changing over the past decade and to what degree.

If not, do you have these breakdowns in CA churches only since this is a CA information thread ?

I have no information on this.

Sudsy wrote:Ernie, do you know of any stats of churches that consider themselves Anabaptist in the United States regarding the diversity of members that would show stats such as what % of all Anabaptists are -

1) from German/Russian Mennonite roots
2) are African Americans
3) are Latinos
4) are Whites not from category 1

I'm curious too as to whether these percentages are changing over the past decade and to what degree.

If not, do you have these breakdowns in CA churches only since this is a CA information thread ?

Conservative Anabaptists don’t collect information like this about themselves. If you want information about CAs broken down by racial categories invented by the U.S. government, perhaps a government-funded university professor would be a good place to start.

Thankyou guys.

Perhaps a 'best guess' might be interesting if each Anabaptist poster here took a guess at those 4 categories in their own church.

My guess for our Mennonite Brethren local church using our membership book would be -

1) from German/Russian Mennonite roots - 51 %
2) are African Americans - less than 1 %
3) are Latinos - less than 1 %
4) are Whites not from category 1 - 48 % but also including others not in the above 3 categories.

Regarding change ? Appears to be about the same growth rate in categories 1 and 4.

1) from Swiss German roots - 95%
2) are African Americans - less than 1%
3) are Latinos - less than 1 %
4) are Whites not from category 1 - 4% but also including others not in the above 3 categories.

Most of the non-whites were adopted into ethnic Anabaptists families.