Podcast – Pasadena Mennonite Church

Cara Pfeiffer uses the story of the woman caught in adultery, John 8:1-11, to share the practical peacemaking steps Jesus took in that encounter to deescalate the situation and to protect a vulnerable woman.

Stanley Green described his first pastorate in South Africa, where his parishioners were menial laborers on farms producing ostriches and grapes. Stanley knew that the very religious white owners of the farms beat their workers. They were paid little, forcing them to buy on credit from the farm store half-way through the month. And at 13, children were taken out of school to work t

On September 11th, we were honored to hear from Sarah Augustine, a Pueblo (Tewa) descendant and author of "The Land Is Not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery" (Herald Press, 2021). This is the first week in a series called Anabaptist Academy, and centers around Jesus and Justice. The Doctrine of Discovery is a legal doctrine, a paradime for creating law

Jason T. Smith, gifted in weaving together cultural ideas and theological metaphors, spoke to us on September 4th. Kujenga means “to build” in Swahili. In Kenya, both Swahili and English are official languages. And Leslie Scott, an Englishwoman born in Kenya brought a derivative of the word kujenga to the western world: Jenga. After her family moved to Ghana, she packaged and s

We enter Luke 10:38-42 with Mary and Martha, and the topic of empathy. Mike Rewers empathizes with a rather unpeaceful Martha and her blindness in the moment. But when we can become aware of our inability to see clearly, we become more able to see the other with loving and accepting eyes, which is how God sees us — and them. We have to bump into others to become aware of ourselve

As the apostles wonder whether Jesus has returned from the dead to restore the kingdom of Israel, Jesus instead speaks of power that will come upon them in the form of the Holy Spirit. This was not a dominion over others, but the power of the Spirit of God. What if this is a power that allows us to bypass the offenses of others, that makes it possible for us to live in peace, to be

“What a time in the U.S. to be asked to talk about conflict resolution,” says Kathleen Klompien-Wedberg as she begins her sermon relating to our Peaceful Practices Curriculum. She notes that the past few weeks have seen the world in a time of war and aggression on multiple fronts. Yet our passage in Matthew 18:10-22 about trying to reconcile, again and again, the the songs we s

Lisa Thornton began our summer sermon series on “Peaceful Practices — A guide to healthy communication in conflict.” Lisa finds curiosity to be an intentionally chosen posture. Curiosity isn’t merely about inviting all opinions to the table and giving them equal value, but about looking at others around the table regardless of their opinion, and holding each person with val

Pentecost Sunday celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit in a new way following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Rob Muthiah reviews how the Spirit of God is present in creation, throughout the Old Testament and in the life and ministry of Jesus. And so, Rob asks, what about today? He goes on to use a metaphor developed by theologian and vicar Sam Wells, of performing a pl

Lisa Danner talks about the challenges of family conflicts for those attempting to live a pacifist lifestyle. Some of our toughest conflicts involve issues where we feel forced to choose between articulating a deeply held value or “maintaining peace” by way of keeping silent. Lisa summarizes a key finding of Dr. Tania Israel’s research on dialogue across political lines and a