San Jose 2007 is over. We had a rousing closing worship service last night, and I slept in this morning, then met Dave Landis for a final sushi lunch before he headed off to the airport. My flight back to Portland (where I'll reconnect with my car to drive home) is tomorrow morning, so I have some space now to decompress and think about the week.

I really want to try and take what I've seen and heard here at convention and put it to use once I get home, and things I'd like to suggest to folks back at Landisville, too. Here's a handful:

Need a quilt? A quilt made at San Jose out of fabrics from around the world is being auctioned off on eBay right now. Proceeds will benefit the capitol campaign at First Mennonite Church of San Francisco, which will be used to purchase the building occupied by the San Francisco Mennonite Voluntary Service unit. First Mennonite holds this MVS unit as such a central priority for their mission that they're working to buy the MVS house before they buy themselves a permanent meeting space. Bidding closes at 3:00 pm on Monday, 9 June; it's currently up to $2760.

God's love has no borders. Especially after watching the documentary Fuerza, I'm convinced that one of the best ways Mennonites can put peace into practice right now is to work for just immigration policy, and reach out to immigrants already here, regardless of their legal status.

An easy first step is to write to Congress; one of the most saddening things I've heard on this subject is that Senators and Representatives report receiving 300 hateful, anti-immigrant letters for every one letter calling for justice and mercy. The House and Senate websites have the necessary contact information. Resources for letter writing are at the MCUSA and MCC websites. If you've written before, write again.

Over the longer term, welcoming immigrants takes work. One of my table-mates at the Delegate Assembly was a pastor at a congregation with both Anglo and Hispanic members, and he told us that it's taken - and still takes - lots of thinking about the specific details of bilingual worship and deliberate inclusion to bring the two groups together. One way to start the process, which I'm going to try in this next year, is to learn Spanish.

Health care access. Expect to hear soon from the Executive Board about the health care access initiative we approved this week. The program development process is going to ultimately hinge on individual congregations' input and support.

Young adult involvement. As the statement I posted earlier probably makes more than clear, there's a lot going on here. What may be equally obvious is that it's not necessarily well defined where things are going. Are we looking at the eventual development of a Young Adult Caucus or similar sub-group at conference or within the Delegate Assembly? Will we just continue focusing on intentionally reaching out to young adults and involving them in leadership processes? I have to say, I've personally felt very supported by Landisville, and I've deeply appreciated the chance to act as a delegate this week. Again, the BikeMovement documentary will be coming in September - have a look and join the conversation.

Labels: church, San Jose 2007, service