{"id":15697,"date":"2017-07-21T10:16:07","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T17:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=15697"},"modified":"2017-07-24T16:37:01","modified_gmt":"2017-07-24T23:37:01","slug":"mission-u-2017-nurtures-covenant-relationships-with-gods-people-and-creation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/mission-u-2017-nurtures-covenant-relationships-with-gods-people-and-creation\/","title":{"rendered":"Mission u 2017 nurtures covenant relationships with God\u2019s people and creation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Jesse N. Love<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more photos from Mission u, visit bit.ly\/photos-missionu2017<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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Bishop Mary Ann Swenson reviews her plenary presentation while at rehearsal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ellensburg, Wash.<\/strong> – \u201cSometimes people forget that the Church is an agent of mission,\u201d shares Bishop Mary Ann Swenson. \u201cHow do we overcome challenges in faith (egocentric, paternalistic Christianity) to achieve mutuality?\u201d Swenson is putting some final touches on her plenary presentation inside the McConnell Auditorium at Central Washington University.<\/p>\n

People are trickling into the cool, air-conditioned space, escaping the warm, summer Ellensburg heat. Attendees prepare to learn about missionary conferences and finding partnerships through mutuality and deep conversation (but not necessarily, consensus). \u201cLearning through transformation\u201d is the approach at Mission u and this year, developing and honoring covenant relationships with one another and creation is the focus.<\/p>\n

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The Rev. Dr. Denise Honeycutt accepts soil from the different places attendees are from.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Mission u was held from July 14-17, 2017 and with 140 participants. Offered this year were several classes related to fulfilling covenant relationships. The course, \u201cLiving as a Covenant Community\u201d was offered with three instructors: Janjay Innis, the Rev. Neal Christie, and the Rev. Dr. Denise Honeycutt. The Rev. Pat Watkins instructed a Climate Justice course. Amanda Hutchinson and the Rev. Christopher Gudger-Raines led sessions for youth discussing group dynamics, peace, and covenant.<\/p>\n

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Janjay Innis served as one of the instructors of the Covenant Community courses at Mission u.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c\u2026God is a covenant-maker, which means that God initiates a covenant relationship with us,\u201d shares Janjay Innis, a former Global Mission Fellow and currently serving a pastoral appointment at John Wesley UMC, North Georgia Conference. \u201cIt\u2019s also an agreement – we have to say \u2018yes\u2019 to with what God is asking of us. We\u2019ll be exploring that today and tomorrow and make commitments when they leave this place \u2013 doing the justice work we as people of God are called to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rev. Pat Watkins, retired, served as the General Board of Global Ministries as a \u201cMissionary for the Care of God\u2019s Creation\u201d. Attendees were encouraged to strive for climate justice, act on a Biblical foundation, and contact government officials urging them to seek ways to be a part of solutions to preserve God\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n

Other highlights from the covenant classes included fun projects, role-playing\/skits, and the debut of the 2017 Social Principles of The United Methodist Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing here in the Northwest, I hope we can continue to be this: walking on the two feet of compassion and justice,\u201d shares Bishop Swenson. Leading the all-school study, Swenson focused on the Alaska, Oklahoma Indian, Red Bird Missionary Conferences, as well as the Central Jurisdiction and Rio Grande. Relationships between these areas prompted discussion on the harm inflicted on both land and its inhabitants. At one point, Swenson made connections between the historical treatment of Native Americans and her experiences with segregation while attending school in Jackson, Miss.<\/p>\n

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Chanie Christman of Spokane: Covenant UMC was eager to learn more about accepting others.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAnything I can learn that helps me become more tolerant of different cultures, education, age, any of those things\u2026I want to accept them where they are,\u201d shares Chanie Christman, a member of Spokane: Covenant UMC who responded with enthusiasm to Swenson\u2019s plenary presentation. \u201cI know in the history of The United Methodist Church — we haven\u2019t had that mutuality,\u201d shares Elizabeth Williams also of Spokane: Covenant UMC. \u201cThere is so much we can learn from those in other Conferences and mission fields. It\u2019s not always about \u2018us teaching them\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are jointly-sponsored by Conference Global Ministries and Conference United Methodist Women,\u201d shares Joan Hackett, dean of Mission u. \u201cWe are trying to be very inclusive and encourage men and youth to come\u2026and we hope to gradually build the attendance.\u201d In addressing a younger crowd, Bishop Swenson shares, \u201cThe thing with young people: they will be the ones at Annual Conferences and General Conferences in upcoming years, making decisions about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sara P. enjoys attending Conference events to meet new people, learn about current happenings, and to ‘own’ her part of church.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201c(What I\u2019ll take back to my church is) a greater understanding of what The United Methodist Women is doing and the different missionary conferences,\u201d shares Sara P. Sara is one of several young people attending Mission u and served as a page at Annual Conference. \u201cThe more involved you are, the more connected you are with the church and the more you feel like it\u2019s really \u2018yours\u2019. I always love that feeling so I love coming to things like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abby Niehaus is another young person who was personally invited to Mission u by Joan Hackett. Niehaus discussed personal circles with her group: \u201cWe had the opportunity to create our own circles and think about who is in them. We also discussed what \u2018peace\u2019 means to each of us – when you can be with God and when you feel God working in you, with you. It’s more spiritual than I thought it would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Rev. Keith Hackett is a long-time leader of Mission u.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMost times people come back with a renewed sense of hope, something positive to work towards, there is always a good atmosphere of support,\u201d shares Keith Hackett, long-time Mission u leader and husband of Joan.<\/p>\n

Mission u continues to provide opportunities of transformation through new relationships, deep discussion, and structured learning about the work of The United Methodist Church.<\/p>\n

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If you would like to learn more about Mission u, visit www.pnwumw.org<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. Next year, the Rev. Neal Christie will return with the mission theme, \u201cWhat About the Money?\u201d Also, Bishop Mary Ann Swenson will return to discuss, \u201cMission Conferences with a Difference.\u201d Mission u 2018 will be held at Central Washington University in Ellensburg on July 13-16.<\/em><\/p>\n

Special thanks to Deb Avery, Lois Long, and James Lohn.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Jesse N. Love For more photos from Mission u, visit bit.ly\/photos-missionu2017 Ellensburg, Wash. – \u201cSometimes people forget that the Church is an agent of mission,\u201d shares Bishop Mary Ann Swenson. \u201cHow do we overcome challenges in faith (egocentric, paternalistic Christianity) to achieve mutuality?\u201d Swenson is putting some final touches on her plenary presentation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":15699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[111,316,15,321,480,440,394,168,367],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-channels","8":"category-christian-education","9":"category-justice","10":"category-creation-care","11":"category-global-ministries","12":"category-global-mission-fellows","13":"category-local-church-2","14":"category-missionaries","15":"category-united-methodist-women"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/COVER_Missionu.jpg?fit=741%2C486&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-45b","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15697"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15719,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15697\/revisions\/15719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}