Happy New Year!
Fröhliches Neues Jahr!
Viel Grüße von Pasadena! Greetings from Pasadena!
Dear Family and Friends,
Seasonal Salutations! 2008 has been a year of unexpected transition and enrichment. Life in California has become both settled, despite the significant changes. Overall it has been a fulfilling year, one that we can celebrate God’s continued presence and faithfulness. (Check out our web album slide show from 2008.)
By living in an international crossroads like Los Angeles, it means that we are well positioned to be called upon for hosting travelers and tourists. 2008 has seen an abundance of visitors coming through Los Angeles and has led us to consider starting a hostel in Pasadena. At one point we calculated that we averaged at least 2 guests a month for the year. Despite the volume, it has been a great joy to host so many people in our small one bedroom apartment; it has allowed us to hone our hosting skills and to practice hospitality as a way of life and part of our ministry.
Life has been full this year. For Rebekka, she has mainly balanced ONLY three things. Her role as youth Pastor at Maranatha Indonesian Christian Fellowship has continued to be a great source of fulfillment and to be a place where she can use her creativity. Now that we have been at the church longer than a year we have developed closer relationships with parents and youth, and feel very much part of the life of the church. Her work in youth ministry has opened up several opportunities to participate in conferences and events in the broader Mennonite context. She flew to Columbus Ohio in the spring to attend the Youth Ministry Council and in the fall flew to Dallas, Texas, to help on the planning committee for the First Immigrant Church conference. Locally she was part of the team that launched the first ever youth event, HYPE 08 (Hip Young People Excited for Jesus), of the Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference. It brought over 70 youth together from the diverse churches of the LA area for worship, activities and fun. This fall Rebekka engaged in half-time study at Pasadena City College in her pursuit of getting credits together for an eventual application to the Master of Arts in Global Leadership program in the School of Intercultural studies at Fuller. On top of these commitments, Rebekka has also continued her work at Coffee by the Books, the Fuller coffee shop, and has become an accomplished barista and coffee artist. A highlight for the year was her visit to Germany in middle January, which primarily instigated by a short-notice discovery of a round trip ticket for $380. Rebekka was able to surprise her mother for her Birthday.
It has been a year of transitions for Dave. His work with the MAGL program finished up in July. Fuller Seminary had made the strategic decision to move the program to Colorado Springs which implicated those who decided not to move. Despite this change, Dave was able to pick up a half-time position in the Academic Advising Office for the School of Intercultural studies and return to full-time study, which means that a completed degree is not some distant figment of the imagination. He still has a little less than one year of full-time study in the Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies program. At the end of the summer, Dave was asked also to help out at church with the youth ministry and teaching Sunday school. This has been affirmation of his abilities and a great way to join Rebekka in her work with the youth. So Dave went from looking at a fall of half-time study and work to full-time study, half-time work and weekends at the church. It has kept him busy, but has been a great overall experience. A highlight for Dave this year was helping to organize the Association for Anabaptist Missiologists conference with his close friend Matthew Krabill. The conference addressed the dynamics of what is going on in the Mennonite Church in southern California, through the stories and presentations of numerous gifted local Anabaptist leaders and practitioners.
Christmas has been a time of relaxing and reconnection with family. Here at the Stutzhaus in Virginia we have had ample time to eat, laugh, eat, argue, eat, and spend time together with Jon and his wife, Megan, and Mom and Dad. Additionally, Rebekka has been able to get her Skype on with family and friends back in Germany. It has been a needed to time to get away and reflect on the upcoming year and to consider what future opportunities we have as a couple interested in mission. This year will be one of discernment and prayer for what our future holds.
We want to extend to you a special greeting from California and if you are ever in the LA neighborhood, the StutzApartment is always a welcoming place for the weary traveler.
Grace and Peace,
Rebekka and David Stutzman
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Chrismas Letter 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Germanglish
I had an interesting encounter yesterday. It transported me back into a world of questions that had accumulated during my time in Germany. I bumped into a visiting German prospective student in the Fuller coffee shop around noonthirty. When I disclosed, my German connections and my Mennonite background, we quickly discovered a mutual German acquaintance.
Upon divulging my Mennonite connections, I sensed a glimmer of recognition cross his face. His look kinda communicated “Oh, one of them.” He then proceeded, in declarative terms, to identify his church plant as not associating itself with any denomination. He expounded upon his organization and gave me his business card with the organization’s name, “Gospel Tribe,” written across the top. Internally, I rolled my eyes.
Perhaps I had misunderstood the look? Perhaps we had mutually judged one another? Perhaps I am just reading too much into the whole thang? All I know is that I was left with familiar questions about the context of the church in Germany.
This encounter tapped into similar experiences I had with German Christian youth. On several occasions I came across the tendency for young adults to express a readiness to discard the old streak of tradition or denominationalism (which I readily understand) and to find new expressions and life in non-denominational/evangelical churches (which I readily support). This distancing from historic or institutional churches in itself is not the problem whatsoever. In fact, I consider myself a proponent of the impulse for new expressions and conceptualizations of church particularly in context steeped in state church corrosion. However, this incident resurfaced a huge irk of mine. I think I just find it hard to swallow the rationale (even though I completely understand it): “We are not identified with any denomination,” but then on the other hand we will call ourselves “Gospel Tribe.”
Gospel and Tribe are not German words. In German, Gospel could be roughly translated as Evangeliumstamm. Granted Evangeliumstamm probably ain’t good German grammar and it sure (knowing the youth culture) don’t have the same ring. It sounds stuffy and old-foggyish. See, English is “in,” especially with the youth. For that reason, I am very skeptical that it will somehow be not just considered a fad in 10-20 years. (“Oh, yeah. That was the phase when we used English, instead of German for slang expressions.”)
This phenomenon is not something limited to the German context. Christians here attempt to make Jesus and the church relevant all the live long day through language, technology, media, etc. I get the sense that many of the cues Germans take are the from American marketing style for Christianity, and like, the name “Gospel Tribe,” results in essentially non-indigenous terms for Christianity. We continually try to be ever savvier to be relevant. Maybe that is my issue. The Gospel and Church, to me, are not somehow exercises in panache.
Don’t get me wrong I am not projecting all my discombobulated vim at “Gospel Tribe.” That business card just got me on this rant. I know actually a little about their ministry and I know many swell people that are with them. I am not critical of the general attitude to make good use of the “new.” I am just left with a helpless sense of not knowing how to explain why I react to this. It makes sense, but it doesn’t feel right. I don’t want Jesus or the church to fall victim to trends… but when I say that it makes me feel like I sound stuffy and old-foggyish. I guess that is what makes me react. This kind of encounter taps into my own perplexity about the relevance and role of Christian traditions (especially mine) in our contemporary context. So there you have it.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Back to School
I am in my third week of MB520 Anthropology from a Christian Perspective at Fuller Theological Seminary with Dr. Dan Shaw. A few weeks back, when the quarter started, I was surprisingly chirpy about the prospect of delving back into serious reflection and study. The idea of studying the study of culture seemed to be exciting (not necessarily the “studying” or the “study of” part, but the culture part).
It was a bit premature.
As I walked to my first night class on a Monday evening, a familiar apprehension assailed my sense of self-confidence. The reality of graduate work provided the pleasant experience of a gut thump in self-doubt. As I walked into the class I warily sized up the other students in the class and found a corner to set up my computer and to hunker down in. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Shaw walked in the room.
For a man of many moons and white hair, he was unexpectedly springy and spry. We soon came to understand that our professor had spent over 13 years living in the rainforest of Papa New Guinea with a small tribe of 700 people called the Samo. His passion, energy, and knowledge were quickly apparent (and that he had spent significant chunk of time in jungle isolation also became quickly evident). It was infectious. His enthusiasm quickly restored my confidence and ramped up my excitement for anthropology.
“Samo Dan” was the perfect response to my worries.
Our anthropological engagement over the first three weeks has laid down some fairly heavy theoretical ordinance. I am runnin’ for cover, and, I won’t lie, I have experienced a little shell shock. The front end of the quarter has firmly clenched theory between the teeth with no prospects of letting go. Thankfully, the fog is slowly lifting and my own understanding for anthropological theory is making progress.
Due to my full-time employment at the seminary over the past year, studies had taken a more leisurely pace. (With the help of tuition remission, I was able to crank out the occasional course.) This is my last quarter of being a nominal student. Starting in the summer, I will re-embark on the graduate journey (of anguish). With the recent decision to transition from full-time to part-time work, I will be taking a heavier course load of two or three courses per quarter.
Despite my initial anxiety and my exaggerated bemoanment, I am actually excited to roll up my sleeves and get my study on. School is fun... (kinda).
Friday, April 11, 2008
Rant: Email This!
What do I do all day?
Email.
Each day I check my email in the morning and "voila!" I got me a task list for the day. I respond to one, move it to the appropriate folder, and go on to the next suspended assignment. It doesn't end there. All day I accumulate messages from ANYBODY from ANYWHERE. Its like if people are just lined up outside of my cubicle (excuse me, work station) and keep laying memos on my desk. And there isn't a thing I can do about it. "Thanks, Bob." "Thanks, Anne." "I'll get right to this, Greg." "Yep, just put it right there." "I will get right on that." All day I try to stay ahead of the curve. Hopefully by the end of the day no more pending tasks are in my inbox and I can go home with great sense of satisfaction that I spent the day thwarting the forces of email backlog.
I had a conversation with a friend of mine this week about how it feels like these days that not many of us really produce much or do anything tangible. Back in the days of yore one grew crops, built a house, butchered meat, or chopped wood. Fixing stuff had a tangible result - "Yep, done did unclog that there drain." Even writing resulted in a direct correlation to something being physically published. Now that labor is outsourced to other parts of the world, stuff that is produced comes from somewhere else and we are left with maintaining inboxes.
If we aren't producing stuff for each other to buy we provide services that we "need." I ain't no economist, but I do know that we basically have a service industry. So we have to spend and spend and spend just to keep our economy going. In fact the good ol' economy needs all those unfortunate people to rack up debts on credit cards just to keep things floating. Basically, isn't that what this recent tax refund is all about. Some folks know that to keep things going, we need folks not to save or to be good stewards of their earnings; but rather to spend like there is no tomorrow. "Don't use that tax stimulant on the mortgage, go buy a plasma TV." (By the way, I find it kinda disconcerting that my government is trying to "stimulate" me.) So instead of making stuff to buy and sell, we all do things for each other, so that we can get money to spend on having things done for us.
Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I feel that there is a very tangible task and purpose to what I do. I work in higher education and we are equipping students to serve and to lead in the church.
However, I don't always resonate with the nobility of my labor when I open my email in the morning.
I am a professional emailer.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Update: Fuller Forward
I have been off the blog for some time now.
I have been kinda busy basically trying to figure out my life and such.
After receiving the news several months back about our office move to Colorado Springs, Rebekka and I were in a constant state of "so what now?" Well, it seems like life has settled down again. A few weeks back the School of Intercultural Studies (the school I am in enrolled in at Fuller) office came up with the idea of having me take on a part-time job in their academic advising office. I was excited about the prospect, but balked at the timing. It meant that by the end of April I would need to start working 20 hrs a week for SIS, something that would be rather unhelpful to my current work and their transition schedule. The MAGL is hoping to move in September/October, which would leave gap in the summer line up for advising if I left so soon.
A long story short, through numerous conversations and brainstorm sessions, and through the efforts of many kind people, we have worked it out that I will start at the end of April with SIS for 20 hrs a week and continue on with MAGL for 20 hrs a week until early August. It works out that for about three and half months I will be working two part-time jobs. At the beginning of August, I would only continue on with SIS on a part-time basis and transition to becoming student again.
This solution means that I will remain a full-time employee (despite part-timing it in two offices), can stick around longer with for the MAGL transition and have a part-time job lined up for when I take on a higher seminary load. Plus, I get to take Wilbert Shenk's summer intensive, Mission Theology in an Anabaptist Perspective, in July. Overall it is a huge relief to have this worked out.
So over a period of two weeks, I went from not knowing what would happen with my job situation and life, to suddenly returning to studies and working in a different office within the Fuller world. Cool.
Thanks for all your help and prayer!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Five and Counting
First, I was listening to the news this morning and I was yanked out of my semi-sleep state of mind by one report. This week denotes the 5 year mark of the beginning of the war in Iraq. The swell of emotion that accompanied the mere mention of that fact lingered in me for the rest of the morning. Five years… It has been a long time!
I remember the time preceding the war very well. I had moved to Germany a half year after 9/11 and spent the first year of my acclimation to Europe in the charged context of the build up to the war in Iraq. I remember it being a very difficult period for me. On the one hand, I was dealing with all the outrage and emotion leveraged against the US by my European friends and then on the other hand trying to sort out my own reaction and outrage at what my country was doing. I felt helpless to do anything and yet I felt the brunt end of the raw frustration directed towards US geo-politics. I was deeply distressed by the decisions being made, but at the same time felt defensive at the wholesale criticism of the US. In the end, I think I experienced what many US ex-pats, who were opposed to the war: I was confused.
Since having moved back to the US in 2006, it has been remarkable how far off and distant the Iraq War has become. My work with the Military Counseling Network in Germany had me dealing first hand with US soldiers returning from, going to or deployed in Iraq. I was very close to the gravity and intensity of the war. Here it seems so very far away, neatly tucked away in intermittent news reports.
The nature of this war is that the domestic experience is disconnected with what is directly happening overseas. Yet the subtext of this war is that it is directly shaping our society. The current war in Iraq is the major world issue of our time and it is having a profound influence on our lives in the US from economics, culture, politics, to religion. Although this war is disconnected with most American’s immediate lives and lifestyles (other than those serving in the armed forces or military families), the war is producing a strong undercurrent of change, particularly in the younger generations.
I am studying at a Christian seminary. We talk a lot about the changing nature of Christianity in our society. If there is one thing that hardly gets mentioned at all, it is the war in Iraq. It strikes me how very little it comes up in conversation or in class. I understand it is a scary and explosive topic. I know that people here have passionate opinions about the war that go either way and include all the in-between. However, five years ago Christians were at the center of the debate about the war. Today it is hard to talk about.
I find it interesting, form all the stuff I am learning at seminary, that the church is undergoing a period of tremendous change as the centrality and role of the church is being re-evaluated and marginalized. From what I can tell, there are seismic shifts in the way young Christians understand church. For my generation, the landscape of American Christianity is changing, particularly in the case of how Christians understand their role in society and in the world. It seems to me like there are more young people interested in engaging and taking holistic responsibility for the problems of the world beyond their own countries international policy and involvement. (Politically, there are more young adults voting and involved in political campaigns than ever before.)
The funny thing is that I hardly hear Christians in my context tangibly connect the situation in Iraq to the changing conception of the church and its role. Of course it is more complicated than reducing it to politics. However, I feel the confusion of the debacle of Iraq has permeated the consciousness of young Christians and they are not taking the role of American civil religion, consciously or unconsciously, for granted in the same way as they did five years ago.
A lot has changed in five years.
Second, in regards to attaining a resolution to the conflict, why have we not deployed Chuck Norris yet?
New Conspirators
Two weeks ago, Joel Shenk, Matt Krabill and I headed up to Seattle for the New Conspirators conference. It was a great experience and extremely worthwhile!
I attended the conference for several reasons: 1) I have heard the buzzwords, “missional” and “emergent”, bandied about with great frequency. And while I have a slapdash academic understanding of the terms, I sure didn’t have any faces or experiences to associate with the terminology (good elementary books are Missional Church and Emerging Churches). 2) Additionally, I was keen to meet up with fellow Anabaptist types and become better acquainted with the Submergent (emergent-Anabaptist) conversation taking place. 3) Plus, it seemed like a great excuse to hang in Seattle with some friends and do some serious conspiring.
The New Conspirators: What in the World is God Doing was organized around the premise that “God is doing something new through a new generation of emerging, missional, mosaic (multi-cultural) and monastic conspirators,” and philosophically based on the book, The New Conspirators: The Future One Mustard Seed at a Time. The streams, as defined by conference material:
eMerging: The emerging stream had its origins in the UK in the late 80s. Young Christians recognized that many of their postmodern peers had a keen interest in spirituality, but were not interested in what was being offered in traditional churches. Emergent leaders started creating cafés and art centers that engaged specific populations of the un-churched and de-churched. Emerging churches tend to be more relational and experiential.
Missional: The missional stream began with the publication of The Missional Church in 1998. While the emerging stream began with practitioners, this movement began in the academy with scholars like Darrell Guder. Many churches use the missional language, but what seems to distinguish young church planters in this stream is that they are creating outwardly-focused models that address the needs to those outside the church instead of those inside the building.
Mosiac: The mosaic stream seems to have its origins with young people from ethnic churches who want to be a part of richly multicultural congregations that reflect God’s Kingdom. Typically, like missional church plants, they tend to invest more of their resources outward in mission, but they experience much more of the richness of God’s new order by sharing cultural practices in their lives, congregations and communities.
Monastic: The monastic stream began twenty years ago with new monastic orders that moved into tough urban communities to work with the poor and practice spiritual disciplines together. Early groups included InnerChange, Servants Partners, Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor, Word Made Flesh and Urban Neighbors of Hope (UNOH). New Monasticism, a movement within the monastic stream, began at a gathering in Raleigh-Durham, NC, in 2005. Unlike the other three streams, most monastic have no interest in church planting, and they offer a much more robust critique of the dominant culture.
While there are differences between these four streams, they flow together. These new conspirators all share a strong common passion to create new forms of more authentic faith in their lives, families and communities, and to creat congregations that are more outwardly focused in local and global mission.
The “festival” was organized to be an opportunity to communicate, connect and create. The highlights for me were the people. We had some amazing speakers like Shane Claiborne and Efrem Smith and I got into some great conversations with folks like Mark Van Steenwyk (Jesus Manifesto) and Elician Rosario-Cruz (Kingdom Praxis). With all of its good intentions to include times of question-answer, collaboration, and creativity the conference took on a familiar conferencey disposition. In the end I felt, besides all good intentions, that it was a fairly conventional conference about unconventional church. In regards to the four streams, I was most vague about the mosaic stream as a self-aware movement. The monastics impressed me the most with their sense of covenant in community, counter cultural perspective, and mission. Two issues continued to tickle my brain after conference.
Social Location: One lingering question that remains for me is about the role of social location in these emerging expressions of church. It felt like many of these ideas and innovations were borne from folks with a significant degree of social mobility. They could choose where to live, what traditions to draw from, and what social contexts/neighborhoods/communities to enter. That is not the case for every social class and ethnic group. (For example, the majority of Christians around the world do not live in this state of choice and occupy this degree of social location.)
I spent a lot of time thinking about how much the issue of social location will play in these expressions and their influence on the contemporary context of the global church. Most people in the world live lives perhaps "confined" by their limited social mobility, culture, religious contexts. It is not simply a matter of choice. One cannot always choose which community to belong to, which neighborhood to live in, which social customs to adopt, or how to shape their own identity. I, like many of the people at the conference, represent people with a high degree of choice and social mobility. This is an age old question in mission and still is tangible, even in these new discussions about church. I hope that Christians in our day, in our participation in the mission of God, can find ways to transcend our social location and social mobility as we explore new ways of doing church.
Tradition and Streams: Over the weekend I kept trying to wrap my head around the question of how does my tradition interact and connect with these new expressions? I didn't come to any good place and hope to explore that further. It will be interesting to see how these fluid streams will interact with the rigidity or institutional concerns present in denominations. How will ideas from the perspective of choice interact with the context of confinement of established tradition? Coming from a denomination, the Mennonite Church, I don’t always feel like I have the same choice. I am rooted in a history, identity, culture and a tradition. To me having community and culture, is not something that one can just always pick and choose from. That encompasses my greatest tensions on the one hand and also gives me rootedness and sense of belonging on the other. Part of being church is living in that tension of experiencing confinement as a reality in where we are located and who we do community with. However, the Church also includes discovering and nurturing a new rootedness, new identity and a new people in Christ. I do believe that is exactly what these streams are exploring and discovering. Hopefully, traditions, like mine, can find points of renewal through the new expressions of church.
I am glad I went to this conference. I made some new friends. I learned more about the potential interaction between Anabaptism and the new expressions of church. The conference definitely gave me some new vocabulary and new food for thought. I am very excited about the developments and hope to continue exploring what these ideas can mean in my own context. I look forward to more conversations and insight.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Update: Stutzbloggin' Again
It has been about a month since my last Stutzblog post. Two reasons perpetuated my absence from the blogosphere: 1) starting at the end of January, for four weeks straight, two of my MAGL cohorts were in town for seminars, leaving me little time for internet recreation, and 2) also since the end of January we have known that the Masters of Arts in Global Leadership (MAGL) program is intending to eventually move its staff, faculty and offices to Colorado Springs.
First, having students in town for the four weeks of seminar was energizing, but also consumed much of my energy. Second, weighing the potential options in regards to the circumstances of my work has left me also somewhat drained. This is a decision initiated by the seminary leadership, for strategic reasons, that was presented to our office and leaves me needing to consider new job options for next fall. Rebekka and I have elected not to participate in the relocation because of my continuing educational goals with Fuller and Rebekka’s work at Maranatha as youth pastor. We are still rooted here in LA and feel that our experience and time here is still in God’s hands.
It has been tougher than I anticipated adjusting to this reality. I have come to appreciate my job and colleagues very much over the past 6 months. As an Academic Advisor for the MAGL 1) I took care of the administrative side of things for students, 2) monitored and assisted in the progression of their degree and 3) participated in the classroom as a Teacher’s Assistant , grading assignments in three of our core leadership classes. I felt affirmed in my role and have learned so much about teaching and the behind the scenes dynamics of higher education. Naturally, it is a disappointing development, but I also see the sense in the move. MAGL, the only degree offered online at the seminary, is essentially more of a website, rather than an address. The on-campus seminars will continue in Pasadena, and possibly eventually more internationally, and the relocation will have very little impact on the program and, most importantly, the students.
Through conversations with my fellow staff and superiors, I have decided, as much as possible, to help the MAGL program through this time of transition and work as long as I can before finding other options.
Please keep Rebekka and me in your prayers as we discern what options are viable and what God is calling us to do.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Small Things Matter
Our Pastor preached a great sermon on the difference between happiness and success this past Sunday and used these funny clips as a way to help unpack the meaning of contentment and to illustrate the lessons of 1 Timothy 6:6 - "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Note: He did tactfully edit out the references to beer, because it kinda reduced the Godliness aspect. :)
Monday, February 4, 2008
Shift Happens
A MAGL student just showed us this presentation in class today. Very interesting. It gives a good portrayal of our changing world and poses a challenge for educators to ask new questions in how to think about the needs of students.
When I watch these videos, I am always impressed and left with a sense of awe at the increasingly complex and interconnected nature of our world. It is overwhelming to think about. Sometimes, I wonder if this rapid change of our world is a long term phenomena? Will it run out of gas at some point and level out? Or are we facing a new future that is hard to fathom with only unfathomable change to count on?
