In the News

Poverty simulation eye-opener to a different reality

Hesston College and Circles of Hope of Harvey County hosted a poverty simulation March 28, through a grant from the Hesston Community Foundation. With more than 90 participants, Jennifer Rose, executive director of Peace Connections, which operates the Circles of Hope program, said it was the largest simulation she has coordinated. The poverty simulation placed participants into family groups who, through guided role-play, fast-forwarded through a month in the life of a family living in poverty.

Photo caption above - Freshman Vanessa Steckly (Milford, Neb.) makes plans with her family group at the start of the poverty simulation.

Photo caption below - Sophomores Karli Rodriguez (Denver, Colo.) and Cody Halvorson (Temple, Texas) visit the “bank” while Cody Lebert (Douglas, Wyo.) and Sarah Hoover (Elbing, Kan.) look on.

New genre art featured in Regier Friesen Gallery

Greenville (Ill.) College art professor Jacob Amundson works with alternative and new genre media in his art show titled “#Blessed&Depressed,” featured in Hesston College’s Regier Friesen Gallery, located in the Friesen Center for Visual Arts, through April 15.

“This body of work represents explorations over the past year in subverting my own wrestling with depression, the calling of the studio, and the gift of being an artist,” said Amundson in his artist statement.

Amundson has taught at Greenville College since 2006. He graduated from Greenville with a bachelor’s degree in fine art with emphasis in painting and graphic design. He earned a masters of fine arts in new genre from Azusa (Calif.) Pacific University.

The Regier Freisen Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Former Hesston standout wins national title with buzzer beater

Hesston College 2015 graduate and former men’s basketball point guard Malcolm Mann has once again lead his team to new heights. Now a starting junior guard for Mid-America Christian University (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Mann scored 23 points, including a dramatic game-winning buzzer-beater, to lift the Evangels to a thrilling 100-99 overtime win in the March 22 NAIA national championship game.

Hesston basketball fans remember Mann well, of course. As a sophomore in 2014-15 he spearheaded a ferocious Hesston defense that lead the Larks to the NJCAA Region VI championship and a spot in the national tournament. Mann averaged 8.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, often guarded opponents’ top scorers, and served as the Larks’ team captain.

Mann’s accomplishments on the Hesston campus were by no means limited to the hardwood. Following his sophomore season, the Plano, Texas, native was named Student Athlete of the Year by the school’s athletic department, an award reserved for students who, in addition to athletic success, show strong contributions to the campus community and represent the institution well outside of athletics.

“I love everything about Malcolm,” said Hesston coach Dustin Galyon. “His leadership continues to make history, and our program and Hesston College couldn’t be more proud of him.”

It seems Mann’s well-rounded contributions, along with his basketball skills, transferred smoothly to his new surroundings.

“Malcolm has an outstanding campus presence and serves as a spiritual leader for our team,” said Mid-America Christian coach Josh Gamblin. “He’s our most important player and does so much to tie our guys together.”

French organist to give recital on Hesston College organ

French organist Pierre Queval will give a recital on the Andover Organ at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 29, at Hesston Mennonite Church on the Hesston College campus. The concert is free and open to the public with a reception to follow. The concert is made possible by The John Ernest Foundation.

Queval will perform music by J.S. Bach, Franҫois Couperin, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, and César Franck. He will conclude the evening with an improvisation.

Born in 1988 in the region of Nantes, Queval is a graduate of the Conservatories of Nantes and Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, where he studied organ and improvisation with Michel Bourcier, Eric Lebrun, and Pierre Pincemaille.

A recent graduate of the Master’s program at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP), he was an organ student of Michel Bouvard and Olivier Latry. He studied improvisation with Thierry Escaich, Laszlo Fassang, Philippe Léfèbvre and Jean-François Zygel. In 2014, he received a bachelor’s degree in improvisation. In 2013, he received his diploma in counterpoint, which he studied in the class of Pierre Pincemaille

Since 2014, Queval has been the “Organiste Titulaire” of the Cavaillé-Coll/Haerpfer-Ermann organ at Saint-Ignace in Paris, and since 2007 the assistant organist of the historical Debierre organ at Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Port in Nantes. He regularly performs recitals across France and in Paris at churches including Notre-Dame, Saint-Eustache, La Trinité, Saint-Sulpice, and Saint-Séverin.

London-based a cappella group to present HBPA concert

The Swingles, a vocal group that has morphed with and pushed the boundaries of music for more than 50 years, will perform the final concert of the 2015-16 Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts (HBPA) season at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, April 3, at Hesston Mennonite Church on the Hesston College campus.

HBPA season ticket holders are invited to a come and go pie reception in the Hesston Mennonite Church Community Center from 6 to 7:15 p.m., prior to the concert. The 2016-17 HBPA season will be unveiled at 6:50 p.m. Single ticket holders may attend the pie reception at an additional price of $5.

The seven young singers that make up today’s London-based group are driven by the same innovative spirit that has resulted in five Grammy® wins since the 1960s.

“The vocal and choral world has changed considerably in the last 50 years…But The Swingles have managed to hold on to their distinctive niche and continue to thrive,” said a Chicago Sun-Times review.

The Swingles were born in 1963 when American-born Ward Swingle assembled a group of Parisian singers to sing Bach’s keyboard music. The resulting album, “Jazz Sebastian Bach,” launched the group to fame.

Over the last half century, the group’s repertoire has expanded to include music across the spectrum – both covers and original songs. Along with Grammy wins, they have released more than 50 recordings and appeared on numerous film and TV soundtracks, including Glee, Grey’s Anatomy, Sex and the City and Milk.

The Guardian praised the group’s versatility, saying, “Stunning reinventions of songs by the likes of John Martyn, Elbow and Mumford & Sons, with subtle beatboxing and audacious harmonies…superhero singing to truly raise goosebumps.”

That versatility has led to collaborations with artists as diverse as the Modern Jazz Quartet, Jamie Cullum and Labrinth. Luciano Berio was one of the first composers to explore the sound of the Swingles’ amplified voices in an orchestral setting, and the group continues to perform his groundbreaking Sinfonia around the world, including recent performances at London’s Royal Festival Hall and La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy.

In 2015, the group released two new albums, “Deep End”, with bold sounds, and a Christmas album, “Yule Songs Vol. II.”

The Swingles’ tour schedule takes them throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia, and they also present their own London A Cappella Festival at Kings Palace each January, the first of its kind in the city and welcoming vocal talent from around the world.

Reserved seating and general admission tickets for The Swingles are available through the HBPA website or by calling 620-327-8158. Ticket prices range from $23 to $27 with discounts available for students and senior citizens.

The HBPA The Swingles concert is funded in part by the cities of Hesston and North Newton, Excel Industries and Hustler Turf Equipment (Hesston), the Hesston Community Foundation, the North Newton Community Foundation, Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Simulation event to give students and community members a glimpse into living in poverty

Area residents are invited to learn more about low economic situations faced by many families living in our communities during a poverty simulation hosted by Hesston College and Circles of Hope of Harvey County and sponsored through a grant from the Hesston Community Foundation. The event will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m., Monday, March 28, at the Hesston Mennonite Church Community Center on the Hesston College campus, 309 S. Main.

The event is free to attend, but reservations are encouraged by calling 316-284-0000 or emailing info@peaceconnections.org.

The poverty simulation places participants into family groups who, through guided role-play, fast-forward through a month in the life of a family living in poverty. The end of the experience includes discussions about participants’ experiences with a new reality and ways they can help raise awareness and create solutions.

Jennifer Rose, executive director of Peace Connections which operates the Circles of Hope program, says that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau with numbers based on the Federal Poverty Guidelines, Harvey County has a poverty rate of 12.8 percent, which equals 4,457 individuals. The state of Kansas has a 13.8 percent poverty rate while the city of Newton alone has a 17.3 percent poverty rate.

Federal Poverty Guidelines stem primarily from the cost of food. The Circles model, on the other hand, considers living wages and what is needed to live in reasonable comfort, including putting food on the table, paying for transportation, childcare, healthcare costs and even some entertainment for the family.

“Based on Circles numbers, we often say that it requires up to twice what the Federal Poverty Guidelines indicate,” said Rose. “It usually means that at least twice the number of people identified by the census are actually living in poverty.”

For Hesston College organizer and education faculty member Tami Keim, the poverty simulation is a useful way to help students in education and the social sciences, especially, understand situations and families with whom they may work in their future careers.

“As they move into the professional world, students will work with people from a wide variety of socioeconomic statuses,” said Keim. “This event helps us better understand and develop empathy for people living in poverty. That kind of understanding makes students better teachers and social scientists.” Hesston College first hosted a poverty simulation with Circles of Hope in 2013, and Keim notes that it was a time of learning and growing for many students.

“For most students, that level of poverty is a new experience, but it’s the reality for so many Americans,” Keim said. “We want our students to be equipped to help any person or situation that comes their way.”

Musical drama gives meaning to everyday work

Hesston College Theatre will present six performances on two separate weekends of the spring musical Working. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m., April 1 and 2 and April 8 and 9, and at 2:30 p.m., April 3 and 10. All performances are in the Helmuth Studio Theatre in Hesston College’s Northlawn Center for Performing Arts Education.

Based on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with American workers and adapted by Stephen Schwartz, the mind behind the musicals Wicked and Godspell, Working is a compelling look at our jobs and how those jobs influence our identity. Consisting of monologues and songs inspired by truck drivers, teachers, hedge fund managers, masons and more, Terkel notes that “work is a search, sometimes successful, sometimes not, for daily meaning as well as daily bread.”

The Hesston College production is directed by Rachel Jantzi and music director Matthew Schloneger.

“The widely understood topic of “Working,” and the fact that these characters are based on real people and their honest words, offers a level of humanity and credibility to their point of view,” said Jantzi. “The audience may see themselves or some aspect of how they feel in the performances. It’s about finding dignity and strength in what you do as an individual and then allowing you to think about how that influences us as a community.”

Jantzi, in her first year as Hesston College theatre faculty, says that although the show has been planned for nearly nine months, the recent events affecting Hesston and neighboring communities gives the show renewed messages of respect, dignity and the importance of community.

“Given the recent circumstances that have affected our community, specifically, there is a need to find peace and purpose to what we choose to do every day,” said Jantzi. “We have a cast of 25 who are themselves working to bring this all together. No one can do it alone.”

Hesston College Theatre’s shows for the 2015-16 year are inspired by Psalm 90:17 – “May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands.”

“Our fall show (These Shining Lives) featured women in the workplace and the difference they made through their sacrifice, and I wanted this show to be lighter in tone but sill reiterate that idea of finding meaning in all that we do,” said Jantzi.

Working is rated PG for mild language. Tickets are $10 for adults and seniors and $5 for students. Tickets can be purchased through the Hesston College Bookstore in person, by phone at 620-327-8104 or online.

Purchasing tickets in advance is recommended due to limited seating. Tickets will also be available at the door 30 minutes prior to show time and are subject to availability.

An open letter to the Church from the presidents of Mennonite Church USA colleges, universities and seminaries

Dear friends and brothers and sisters in Christ,

As presidents of the schools to whom many of you have entrusted the formation of future leaders for our church’s witness in the world we want to say with full hearts, that we hear you:

• We hear your longing for our schools to keep faith with the deepest wisdom of our Scriptural and Anabaptist heritage.
• We hear your heartfelt desire that everything we do and teach be rooted deeply in faith and spring out of love for God and neighbor.
• We hear your urgent calls, amid the escalating anguish, polarization, bigotry, violence, and fear mongering of our current world, for us to form leaders with the professional competence and spiritual maturity needed to be courageous, shining ambassadors of the good news of Jesus Christ for all nations.

We speak from the heart to declare as a group and with no hesitation that our loyalty to the global Christian Anabaptist witness in the world runs deep and true. The disagreement stirred up recently by the actions of several of our schools does not diminish what has been and continues to be our preeminent calling:
To form graduates who are rooted and grounded in the love of God, truly Christ-like in character, and with the power of the Holy Spirit, expansively global in their outlook. We readily paraphrase the words of the Apostle John to his spiritual children: “We have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children [the children you have entrusted to us] are walking in the truth” (3 John 1:4).

Any one of us will gladly show you the overwhelmingly persuasive data that details the transformative work our graduates have done and are doing on behalf of the world-wide church and global Anabaptist witness. Over and over again, church and communities around the world have been renewed by the leadership of idealistic, compassionate, visionary, service-oriented, justice seeking, Jesus-loving young adults who were formed in one of our schools.

Each of us, along with many of you, was cheered by the global assembly of some 8,000 Anabaptists at the Mennonite World Conference this summer in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. That assembly inspired in us an extraordinary hope for the church. Many of those in leadership of the assembly, by the way, were graduates of one or more of our Mennonite Anabaptist colleges, universities or seminaries. We came away from that gathering of Anabaptists grateful for the eloquent, straightforward list of seven Shared Convictions of Global Anabaptists. Those shared convictions simply, yet profoundly affirm what unifies us in the midst of our vast cultural, linguistic, ethnic, theological and denominational diversity. The generous spirit of worship and unity we experienced there was a foretaste of an even greater unity in the Spirit that Christ himself longed for in his final prayers.

It is in that generous spirit of worship and unity around shared convictions that we, as a group of presidents, reaffirm our shared resolve to do all within our power to align our schools with these shared convictions—in unity with the global Anabaptist community:

By the grace of God, we seek to live and proclaim the good news of reconciliation in Jesus Christ. As part of the one body of Christ at all times and places, we hold the following to be central to our belief and practice:

1. God is known to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Creator who seeks to restore fallen humanity by calling a people to be faithful in fellowship, worship, service and witness.
2. Jesus is the Son of God. Through his life and teachings, his cross and resurrection, he showed us how to be faithful disciples, redeemed the world, and offers eternal life.
3. As a church, we are a community of those whom God’s Spirit calls to turn from sin, acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, receive baptism upon confession of faith, and follow Christ in life.
4. As a faith community, we accept the Bible as our authority for faith and life, interpreting it together under Holy Spirit guidance, in the light of Jesus Christ to discern God’s will for our obedience.
5. The Spirit of Jesus empowers us to trust God in all areas of life so we become peacemakers who renounce violence, love our enemies, seek justice, and share our possessions with those in need.
6. We gather regularly to worship, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and to hear the Word of God in a spirit of mutual accountability.
7. As a world-wide community of faith and life we transcend boundaries of nationality, race, class, gender and language. We seek to live in the world without conforming to the powers of evil, witnessing to God’s grace by serving others, caring for creation, and inviting all people to know Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.

In these convictions we draw inspiration from Anabaptist forebears of the 16th century, who modeled radical discipleship to Jesus Christ. We seek to walk in his name by the power of the Holy Spirit, as we confidently await Christ’s return and the final fulfillment of God’s kingdom.

As presidents, we humbly confess our imperfections, both personal and institutional. In a world desperate for the good news of Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, we recommit to doing what we can to form communities of learning that will be in the vanguard of a spiritual awakening for Mennonite Church USA and beyond.

James E. Brenneman, Goshen College President
James M. Harder, Bluffton University President
Howard Keim, Hesston College President
Sara Wenger Shenk, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary President
Loren Swartzendruber, Eastern Mennonite University President
Perry D. White, Bethel College President

Bel Canto Singers to travel east for spring break 2016 tour

The Hesston College Bel Canto Singers will present the program “Transform Our Lives” in churches and schools throughout Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Iowa during a spring break tour March 6 to 13. All concerts are free and open to the public, through free will offerings will be collected to assist with tour costs.

“Transform Our Lives,” features works by Stephen Paulus, Moses Hogan, Vijay Singh, Jake Runestad and Alice Parker, among others, and is inspired by the paradox of faith journeys. The 23-member mixed chamber choir is conducted by Dr. Russell Adrian.

The tour itinerary includes:

Sunday, March 6

• 10:30 a.m. – Lindale Mennonite Church, 6255 Jesse Bennett Way, Harrisonburg, Va.
• 2 p.m. – Park View Mennonite Church, 1600 College Ave, Harrisonburg, Va.

Monday, March 7

• 9:30 a.m. – Eastern Mennonite School chapel, 801 Parkwood Dr, Harrisonburg, Va.
• 7 p.m. – Franconia Mennonite Church, 613 Harleysville Pike, Telford, Pa.

Tuesday, March 8

• 8:30 a.m. – Choral Exchange, Christopher Dock Mennonite High School chapel, 1000 Forty Foot Road, Lansdale, Pa.
• 7 p.m. – Sonnenberg Mennonite Church, 14367 Hackett Rd, Kidron, Ohio

Wednesday, March 9

• 9:30 a.m. – Central Christian School chapel, 3970 Kidron Rd, Kidron, Ohio
• 2 p.m. – Choral Exchange, Pettisville High School, 232 Summit St, Pettisville, Ohio
• 7 p.m. – Zion Mennonite Church, 300 Short-Buehrer Rd, Archbold, Ohio

Thursday, March 10

• 11 a.m. – Bethany Christian School chapel, 2904 S Main, Goshen, Ind.
• 7 p.m. – College Mennonite Church, 1900 S Main, Goshen, Ind.

Friday, March 11 – free day in Chicago

Saturday, March 12

• 7:30 p.m. – Iowa Mennonite School, 1421 540th St SW, Kalona, Iowa

Sunday, March 13

• 9:30 a.m. – First Mennonite Church, 405 Myrtle Ave, Iowa City, Iowa

Tuesday, March 15

• 7 p.m. – Hesston Mennonite Church, 309 S Main St – home concert

The 2015-16 year marks the 32nd season for Bel Canto Singers, Hesston College’s premier choral ensemble. The group carries out ambitious concert and touring schedules annually. Combining high artistic standards with unique performance opportunities, Bel Canto Singers offers first- and second-year college musicians experiences typically reserved for third- and fourth-year students. Recent juried appearances have included performances for Chanticleer, the King’s Singers, Charles Bruffy and the Rose Ensemble.

Bel Canto members include: Kiara Boettger (Harrisonburg, Va.), Joel Brejda (Lincoln, Neb.), Erika Byler (Shipshewana, Ind.), Olivia Copsey (Goshen, Ind.), Bryce Elder (Ottawa, Kan.), Rachel Esch (Newton, Kan.), Zac Headings (Hutchinson, Kan.), Adele Hofer (Denver, Colo.); Hidehiro Kaminaga (Tokyo, Japan), Elliott Leichty (Harrisonburg, Va.), Kathryn Leichty (Harrisonburg, Va.), Anna Martin (Harleysville, Pa.), Hannah Miller (Parnell, Iowa), Lorren Oesch (Caldwell, Idaho), Trevor Oyer (Hubbard, Ore.), Casey Perez (Kalona, Iowa), Micah Raber (Millersburg, Ohio), Eleya Raim (Oxford, Iowa), Emma Roth (Goshen, Ind.), Caleb Schrock-Hurst (Harrisonburg, Va.), Rachel Shenk (Waynesboro, Va.), Meredith Spicher (Belleville, Pa.) and Andry Stutzman (Harrisonburg, Va.).