Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from LYRASIS members and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/messenger1983132112thom < II \a.\ JANITARY 1M3 CHURCH DEVELOPMENT- New beginnings; new Brethren m(M(^Mi 10 11 14 16 18 e e c The Name Above Every Name. Are we still into childish "Dear Jesus" prayers ... or do we actually worship Jesus as the Son of God, giving him the same place and praise that the New Testament does? Bible study by Chalmer E. Faw. Caring About Khmers. Antelope Park (Lincoln, Neb.) congrega- tion risked much when it doubled its membership by taking in dozens of Cambodian Khmer refugees, but the risk was nothing compared with the personal risks the Khmers had taken. Story by Christopher Keating. A Church in the Mind of God. When James H. Lehman visited the new Good Shepherd (Blacksburg, Va.) congregation, he found every- one in agreement that all evidence suggests God really wanted that church in that community at this time. New Beginnings . . . Eleven New Faces in the Church of the Brethren. Judd Blouch surveys some of the new church development projects in the Church of the Brethren and finds an amazing variety of places, people, and strategies. Caesar's incense. Vemard Eller points out the weakness of the case for draft registration, and scores those who would tell other people where and how their consciences should be allowed to operate. In Touch profiles Chamnan In and Bopha Soy, of Lincoln Neb.; Sadie Kreider of Quarryville, Pa.; and Kwang Suk Kim of Panorama City, Calif. (2) . . . Outlook reports on NCC meeting. Red Cross agreement. Film award. Nuclear war survey. Penn anniversary. Bethany Hospital. Overseas workers. War taxes. Grace Brethren. Evangelism. Draft registration. Gay rights. Allegiance oath. Religious TV viewing. Disaster relief funds. El Salvador (start on 4) . . . Underlines (7) . . . Update (8) . . . One's Voice, "I Change, Not God," interview with Phyllis Carter, by James H. Lehman (9) . . . Column, "A Vote for Vancouver," by Ramona Smith Moore (21) . . . "A Century of MESSENGER" (22) . . . "Editors and Window-Looking," by Kenneth L Morse (22) . . . Resources, "Family Ministry," by Ralph L. Detrick (23) . . . Film Review, "Gandhi: Lessons in Nonviolence We Need Today," by Bea Rothenbuecher (24) . . . "The World's Most Christ-like Person," by Shantilal Bhagat (24) . . . Book Review "Reading on Stewardship, Mental Illness, Peacemaking," by Fred W. Swartz and Thomas W. Goodhue (26) . . . People £f Parish, "Heritage Fair: A Family Affair," by Debi Peterson (28) . . . Opinions, "The NCC: Not Without Faults," by Dale W. Brown (30) . . . Turning Points (31) . . . Editorial (32) EDITOR Kermon Thomasson MANAGING EDITOR Wendy Chamberlain EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Judd Blouch FEATURES Fred W. Swartz SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES Ruth Anne Gulp PROMOTION Kenneth L. Gibble PUBLISHER John D. Metzler Jr. VOL. 132, NO. 1 JANUARY 1983 CREDITS: Cover. 2 Kermon Thomasson. 1 Jack Winand Photography. 3 lower Richard Keeler. 4 American Red Cross. 5 Evangehcal Hospital Associ- ation. 6 Judd Blouch. 9 art by Kathy Kline. 10 Religious News Service. 12 top Journal-Star Printing Co., Lincoln, Neb. 14-15 James H. Lehman. 19 art by Kermon Thomasson. 24 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. 25 Randy Miller. 28-29 Debi Peterson Messenger is the official publication of the Church of the Brethren. Entered as second-class matter Aug. 20, 1918, under Act of Congress of Oct. 17, 1917. Filing date, Nov. 1, 1982. Messenger is a member of the Associated Church Press and a subscriber to Religious News Service and Ecumenical Press Service. Biblical quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the Revised Standard Version. Subscription rates: $10 one year for individual subscriptions; $18.50 two years. $8 per year for Church Group Plan. $8 per year for gift sub- scriptions. School rate 50- propriate to attach to nonregistration the penalty of a felony conviction punishable by five years and $10,(X)0? Is Congress prepared to argue that this is indeed a punishment that fits the crime? For that matter, what precisely is the crime this punishment supposedly fits? Because Enten was the first to be found guilty of it, let's see what crime he actually was guilty of. He was not guilty of keeping vital information from the government. His original letter to Selective Service pro- vided that and it undoubtedly appears in the Social Security and IRS lists. Enten is not guilty of evading, hiding from, or running away from the govern- ment. He has made himself available at every turn — even going to the government rather than making it come to him (a very strange criminal). Enten is not guilty of refusing to serve his country. Enten offered to give two or more years of service (without pay) if the government would allow him to serve in a nonmilitary way. {Enten has since been assigned two years of public service. See news story on page 5. —Ed.) Enten is not guilty of being disrespect- ful or abusive toward authority or in any way unpatriotic. At the trial, both the prosecution and the judge were quick to attest the very opposite, calUng Enten an honorable person who loves his country and is concerned for its people. So of what was Enten found guilty? He was found guilty of refusing to sign his name on the prescribed line of a prescribed form. And why should not Congress tell us why it finds it appropriate that this crime be penalized as a felony punishable by five years and $10,000? Running a stop sign costs one a traffic ticket. I contend that Enten didn't even do that much; he stopped at the stop sign and refused only to kiss Caesar's ring in the process. But the gross disparity between crime and the punish- ment carries real overtones of Roman incense-burning, does it not? 5) The avowed purpose of the govern- ment's entire effort is to be prepared to conscript in case the need should suddenly arise. That preparation requires two ac- tions, neither of which is of any value without the other: (a) the kids must register (or at least a list of possible in- ductees must be compiled); and (b) Con- I gress must provide the legislation by which conscription would proceed. What justice is there in Congress condemning kids as felons for failing in their responsibihty, while Congress itself has made no move in fulfilling its? Congress, through its legislation, tells the kids to register or else. The kids say, "Register for what?" And Congress responds, "Shut up and register. We'll say what you're registering for (and what the terms of service will be) if and when we feel Hke doing so." I know one prominent attorney who contends that this is "en- trapment." I say it is at least an arbitrary exercise of power unrestrained by any sense of justice. So what the kids are getting from the government these days is sheer demand — without any explanation, reason, wisdom, or appeal to intelligence. What they get from the government is what they also get from the Post editorial: The law must be obeyed simply because it is the law (justified by the fact that it is the mildest possible intrusion upon per- sonal Hberty). And this line puts the US Government into the most compromising situation imaginable. Not too long ago, the US helped con- duct the Nuremberg War Criminal Trials, in which people were tried, convicted, and punished under the premise that, in the face of an arbitrary, immoral law, people are obligated ("obligated," not simply "allowed") to follow their own consciences by disobeying that law. They, in fact, are to be punished for failing to disobey such laws. Yet now, in the matter of registration, we have completely reversed our field by maintaining that there is no possibihty of any valid conscientious objection to a military registration law. Instead of en- couraging conscience and even obligating people to follow it, we have arbitrarily outlawed it. We have joined Hitler in his view of the matter: Laws need not be ex- plained, rationalized, or defended; they are only to be obeyed. And this brings us to the matter of religious conscience and back to Caesar's incense. Undoubtedly there were all sorts of Roman citizens and editorieil writers who didn't believe that Caesar was God but who didn't believe that anybody or anything else was either. So, of course, for them it was the easiest and most ob- vious thing to say, "This incense- burning nonsense need cause no trouble; it is the mildest possible intrusion on personal liberty. Go ahead and sign." But for the Christians whose whole lives were based upon a commitment to their God as representing ultimate authority, this was the harshest possible intrusion upon their personal, religious liberty — because granting that authority to Caesar inevitably would be denying it to God. Now editorial writers certainly are free to speak about what is, for them, the mildest possible intrusion. But they are way out of bounds when they start telling other people where and how their consciences should be allowed to operate. Great numbers of these Christians ac- January 1983 messenger 19 'Now editorial writers certainly are free to speak about what is, for them, the mildest possible intrusion. But they are way out of bounds when they start telling other people where and how their consciences should be allowed to operate. ' cepted the death penalty rather than burn the pinch of incense. And both the fact that the Christians accepted death and that the government was so quick to hand it out are proof enough that each side understood what was the issue at stake — and it had nothing to do with "mildest possible intrusions" or with in- cense, any more than Enten's trial had anything to do with the government's hav- ing access to information about him. Caesar was conducting an arbitrary ex- ercise of power to force people to knuckle under and recognize him as their supreme authority — the one thing conscience would not allow the Christians to do. And what else, what else possibly could the US Government be doing in exerting the full force of the law to get Enten's signature onto the dotted line it specifies? The Post editorial is wrong when it sug- gests that rehgious conscience has no standing or validity under the law. It is true, of course, that the registration law itself makes no provision for religious con- science — and in that it may be unconstitu- tional. But this nation has a Constitution with a First Amendment guaranteeing the free exercise of religion. And the efforts of editorial writers (or anyone else) to prescribe where other people's religious scruples are to be accepted as valid and where not are themselves infringements of that constitutional guarantee. The fact of the matter is that the US Supreme Court has a well-defined three- step procedure for deciding issues of free exercise. The rest of us would do well to become familiar with it and use it in mak- ing our own judgments. In the first step it is to be determined whether the defendant's scruples truly are sincere. In Enten's case, he has the testimony of the prosecution (the govern- ment), the court (the judge), and the almost unanimous testimony of the press that his beliefs are indeed sincere. Fur- ther, it was demonstrated in court that. more than just an expression of personal sincerity, Enten's position is an expression of a Church of the Brethren tradition that has confronted the US Government (or earlier governments) for almost 300 years now. Time after time after time. Brethren conscience against war has been legally recognized as legitimate and sincere. In the second step, it is assumed that the free exercise must be granted — unless the prosecution can demonstrate that, in the granting of it, vital interests of the state would be seriously threatened. "Caesar will be displeased to get anything less than 100 percent compliance with his whim" simply will not wash. G. liven the fact that Enten has already provided SSS with all the information it needs, it is hard to see how it could be argued that for him to be excused from that one particularly placed signature would do anyone any harm at all. But closer to the essence, it already has been legally established beyond all ques- tion that the government can afford to allow conscientious objection to war with- out risking its abihty to operate militarily. The precedents are there; there is no point in further discussion. Now it is true that those precedents concern conscientious objection at the time of induction rather than registration; but it is going to be very hard to argue that, although free exercise does not threaten the state's interests at induction, it would at registration. The reverse would more likely be the fact of the matter. If, as appears to be the case, the registration law is being used to deny the free exercise of conscientious objection to war, it would seem inevitable that it will be overturned upon reaching the Supreme Court. It may well be that the government is now making felons out of people for disobeying a law that is itself unconstitu- tional. Thirdly, the Supreme Court guideline says, if in the second step it is found that free exercise ought not be granted because of the damage it would do to state in- terests, then it is required that diligent ef- forts be made to find a compromise that will respect the conscientious scruples of the defendent even while avoiding injury to the state. The previous law that allow- ed conscientious objectors to do alter- native service is one such compromise. Yet, regarding conscience and registra- tion. Step Three could be the source of the easiest solution of aU — a solution ac- tually beneficial for all parties. We could simply drop this stupid incense-business of registration — thus freeing the objectors from having to betray their consciences and the government from the albatross of slapping some kids hard enough to scare the others into signing up (which action is already seen to be having the very op- posite of the intended effect). Instead, we could simply instruct SSS to go with the better lists it already has, send induction notices from those, and deal with con- cientious objection at the proper point, through legally estabhshed procedures. But my foremost hope regarding this writeup is that, contrary to editorializers who put down and belittle conscience, we come to appreciate the fact that our Con- stitution and pohtical tradition are quick to protect and encourage such conscience as one of the most precious commodities of our system. It is not, of course, that every conscientious objector automatically is to be taken as right. Yet, if we start outlaw- ing, belittling, vihfying, felonizing, impris- oning, and silencing these voices of con- science, the Repubhc for which we have lived and died will not long endure. D Bernard Eller is a professor of religion at the University of La ierne, a General Board member, and the father of Enten Eller, who is the first nonregis- trant to be tried under current registration law. Copies of the transcript of the trial are available from Ver- nard Eller for SIO. 20 MESSENGER January 1983 (g(o)[l[y][fin][n] by Ramona Smith Moore A vote for Vancouver w. hat do a Methodist from Brazil, an Orthodox from Bulgaria, a Palestinian Quaker from the West Bank, and a Brethren from Indiana have in common? One link among them is that they are among 400 million Christians in the world whose churches belong to the World Council of Churches. Next summer these people and 900 other delegates from 100 countries representing more than 300 member churches worldwide will gather for 17 days in Vancouver, B.C., for the WCC's Sixth Assembly. The Vancouver Assembly is one in the sequence of Assemblies which have been held every seven years since the WCC was formed 33 years ago. There is no more representative, worldwide Christian gathering than the WCC Assembly. Similar to our Annual Conference, the Assembly will meet for worship, business, and discussion around the theme "Jesus Christ-the Life of the World." The Assembly will review the work of the Council over the past seven years and will set agenda and priorities for the com- ing seven years. More importantly, the Assembly is the time when the churches come together to see what they have to say to each other and then what they have in common to say to the world. But why is it important for the Church of the Brethren to be at the Assembly? Why are we part of the WCC at all? These are not just rhetorical questions. During a preparatory meeting in Montreal this past October for US and Canadian delegates, I must honestly admit that for most of one day I was ready to say, "I am not going to Vancouver. It's all just a waste of time. Let's forget the WCC." The WCC does have its faults. It's heavy in bureaucracy. It issues lots of papers and statements which maybe get to the church leaders but seldom filter down or affect the average churchleader. The Assembly is full of politicking to see who gets one of the coveted seats on the WCC Central Committee. And then there are concerns and disagreements over the WCC programs and emphases. With so many delegates of different backgrounds, theologies, and opinions, it is difficult to get some understanding of what the WCC should be doing. Yet upon further reflection and interac- tion I came away from Montreal believing it is important for the Church of the Brethren to be in Vancouver. Membership in the WCC is not just membership in another organization that we can join or drop out of at will depend- ing on whether we are in agreement with all the organization's activities. Our mem- bership in the WCC is a theological state- ment of who we are in the Body of Christ and how we see the church acting in the world. Our membership is a visible sign of our commitment to Christian unity and fellowship. X he World Council of Churches and its Assembly give us an opportunity to be in dialog with our Christian sisters and brothers from around the world. In this dialog there are both tension and renewal. We are moved to see that the Christian faith is larger than Brethrenism, larger than white, Protestant America, and leu'ger even than the "foreign" churches we take credit for establishing with our mis- sionaries. We are forced to admit that many times we confuse being a Christian with being an American. We are forced to acknowledge that we do not have a corner on goodness, truth, and salvation. Our participation in the WCC lets us witness and celebrate the richness and the diversity of the Christian faith. It awes and inspires us. It stretches us, deepening our faith and our concept of faithfulness. And it makes us ponder what Christian discipleship and love mean in a global context. Our voice in the WCC may seem small. We have only 2 votes out of 900 at the Assembly. It will probably be a long time before we again get a member elected to the WCC Central Committee. But we can and have made a contribu- tion. In fact, the Church of the Brethren has made a bigger impact on the WCC than many other churches of similar size. Our records in peace and service are ones that are known, appreciated, and hstened to by many member churches and staff of the WCC. Regardless of the size of our impact or whether we "win" when the votes are counted, it is important for us to be a part of the Assembly and the WCC for the faith and witness that we can share and for the insights and challenges that nurture us within the global Christian family. In Colossians 3:11, Paul writes, "Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circum- cised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all." And in Ephesians 4:4-6, he writes, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all." Above all else, that affirmation of the Apostle Paul is why I believe membership in the WCC is important for the Church of the Brethren and why I am going to Vancouver next summer. D Ramona Smith Moore, a member of the Man- chester congregation in North Manchester, Ind., is one of the Church of the Brethren delegates lo the World Council of Churches. January 1983 messenger 21 A century of MESSENGER For a hundred years the Church of the Brethren has had a single denominational magazine. On July 3, 1883, James Quinter and H. B. Brumbaugh published the first issue of The Gospel Messenger. The new magazine replaced two prede- cessors — Primitive Christian and The Brethren at Work. Primitive Christian was a direct descendant of The Monthly Gospel- Visiter (sic), founded by Henry Kurtz in 1851. It would not be until 1897 that The Gospel Messenger would be adopted as the official denominational organ, but since 1883 it had been accepted as such. No new competitors appeared on the scene, and old ones gradually faded away. That Messenger of a century ago looked more like a tabloid newspaper than it did today's photo-filled magazine. No graphics broke up the gray copy, and the editors apparently assumed their readers knew everyone and every place in the Brotherhood. (An instructive news item in the first issue tells the readers that '"Brother McCann' spent last Sunday some ten miles out in the country . . . preaching for the brethren there.") Considering that today we have readers who grumble because in 1965 the magazine logo was shortened to Messen- ger, it is interesting to notice that in the very first issue of The Gospel Messenger, the editors began a consistent practice of referring to it in their articles as simply "the Messenger. " In his first editorial in the new magazine, editor Brumbaugh pledged himself and co-editor Quinter to " . . . continue to labor with the ability given us for the good of the church and the pro- motion of the Master's cause. The peace, union, and prosperity of the church (this was just after the denominational splits with the "Old Orders" and the "Pro- gressives") lie closest to our heart, and everything that shall tend toward this most desirable end, we shall advocate." The editors of 1983 could well repeat Brumbaugh's pledge as we begin Messenger's second century. Throughout this year we will be publishing items in Messenger highlighting the anniversary, and we solicit from our readers the same indulgence and support that James Quinter and H. B. Brumbaugh sought a hundred years ago.— The Editors Editors and window-looking Kenneth I. Morse, former editor of Mes- senger (1950-1971) and now coordinator of historical resources for the General Ser- vices Commission, is noted for many talents, including hymn and poetry writing. Perhaps he is less known as a Brethren good brother, when asked what he saw at the publishing house, observed, "I don't see why they don't give Brother Moore (J. H. Moore, Gospel Mesenger editor) something to do. I passed his door repeatedly, but all he did was either write Vernard Eller J. H. history buff. From the store of historical anecdotes with which Ken can regale an audience comes this personal memory. « « * Visitors to the Brethren Publishing House, during the 60 years it was housed in downtown Elgin, 111., used to be fascinated by printing, binding, and mail- ing activities, but not always clear as to what went on in the editorial offices. One Moore Edward Frantz or read. All the others were working." During the time when Edward Frantz was editor, another visitor, a Pennsylvania farmer, was disappointed when he found Frantz gazing reflectively out the window, regarding that activity as a waste of time. (Evidently he had not read many of Frantz's closely reasoned editorials.) In the early 1950s, Vernard Eller, the youthful editor of Horizons, had not yet earned his national reputation as a writer. He once conmiented on the stories about Moore and Frantz and noted that editorial ideas could be gleaned by looking out his window. A year later he was almost ready to give up window-looking after he watched sign painters use the back wall of the Rialto theater in Elgin, straight across the Fox River from the publishing house, for an advertisement showing an 80-foot giant carrying 9-foot glasses of beer. The sign bore this message, "Meister Brau Beer — brewed for the Ukes of you." Before he shut off the view, however, EUer's quick mind had translated Meister Brau into "The Master's Brew," and he was already comparing the glass of beer with Jesus' cup of suffering. Eller's editorial concluded, "The brew of the Master was bitter; there was nothing likeable in it. In fact he prayed that the cup would be taken from him .... So choose ye this day which cup you will drink — the Meister Brau, brewed for the likes of you, or the Master's brew, brewed for the life of you." — Kenneth I. Morse Kenneth I. Morse, former editor of MESSENGER, « coordinator of historical resources for the Church of the Brethren. He is a major contributor to the Brethren Encyclopedia. 22 MESSENGER January 1983 msMieimi FAMILY MINISTRY Family ministry in the congregation should be determined by the needs of the families, and the place to start is with an awareness of the types of families present. How many households are in your con- gregation? What kinds of families do they represent? How many single-parent families do you have? Single-person house- holds? Two-adult households? A congregational household inventory is useful in planning a congregational family ministries program. You will need a "Con- gregational Household Inventory" sheet for each household and one "Household Inventory Summary Sheet" for the con- gregation. These may be ordered from The Brethren Press for $3.50 per hundred. Another helpful resource is a General Board paper entitled "Recommendations from the White House Conference on Families," which includes suggestions for congregational activities in family ministry. Request a free copy from the Life Cycle Ministries Office, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120. Family lifestyle, values, and activities can educate and give witness to peace and justice. The following three books, available from The Brethren Press, tell a family how. Parenting for Peace and Justice, by Kathleen and James McGinnis, Orbis Books, $4.95. This excellent paperback gives numerous examples of educational ex- periences that help family members become aware of peace and justice con- cerns. But more importantly, it provides an approach to parenting that helps all members become global citizens. Church of the Brethren concerns are clearly woven into the fabric of this book. Chapter titles include "Stewardship/ Simplicity," "Nonviolence in the Family," "Helping Children Deal with Violence in our World," "Sex-role Stereotyping," and "Prayer and Parenting." Peacemaking: Family Activities for Justice and Peace, by Jacqueline Haessly, Pauhst Press, $2.45. With many family activities to educate for peace and global vision, this resource is also close to the hearts of Brethren. The first section, called "Steppingstones to Peace," includes chapters on "Respecting our Differences," "Challenge of Coopera- tion," and "Creative Resolution of Con- flict." The second section is called "Families in a Global Village," and ex- plores our glob?l interdependence. Try This: Family Adventures Toward Shalom, Discipleship Resources, $3.50. This resource contains activities for groups of families as well as individual families, and is especially helpful for parents of elementary and secondary school age children. Educational activities focus on areas such as "Understanding the Biblical Vision of Shalom," "Valuing All People," "Cre- ative Conflict," and "Caring for and Sharing the World's Resources." — Ralph L. Detrick Ralph L. Detrick is Parish Ministries sK^ff/or person aware- ness, life cycle ministries, and youth/young adult ministries. January 1983 messenger ?3 ita Gandhi: Lessons in nonviolence by Bea Rothenbuecher The wisdom and words of peace of the great Indian leader reach out to us with renewed urgency in Richard Atten- borough's epic new film. Throughout his life, Mohandas K. Gan- dhi believed in the unity of humankind under one God. Unwavering in his religious tolerance, he included Christian and Muslim ethics along with Hindu in his victory will be a living death for the na- tion that emerges victorious." In 1962 producer /director Sir Richard Attenborough read a biography of Gandhi and a collection of the Indian leader's own writings. One sentence struck him so forcibly that he committed himself to at- tempt to make a film about the great man. That sentence: "It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel them- selves honored by the humiliation of their fellow beings" (The Words of Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi (Ben Kingsley) shares his philosophy with a reporter (Martin Sheen). teachings. The title Mahatma (great soul) refiected personal prestige so great that he could unify the many divergent groups in the Indian nationalist movement. As their spiritual and poUtical mentor, Gandhi led his people for 30 years, turn- ing his creed of nonviolent resistance against injustice (satyagraha—\\o\dmg to the truth, or "truth force") into an impor- tant tool in the struggle for independence from Britain. In January 1948, five months after India achieved in- dependence, Gandhi was assassinated. Today his methods of civil disobedience continue to be used by many protest movements. His words are as relevant to the antinuclear and arms control move- ments today as they were to the civil- rights movement in the 1960s. Gandhi reminded us: "If the mad race for arma- ments continues, it is bound to result in a slaughter such as has never occurred in history. If there is a victor left, the very selected by Richard Attenborough, New- market Press, 1982). The film project became an obsession that changed the next 20 years of Atten- borough's life. Finally, he brought to- gether the Indian, British, and American investors who agreed to put up the $22.5 million required for the project. Now, at long last, the film has had its world premiere — in New Delhi on Nov. 30, 1982. It opened in several large US cities and in London and Toronto on Dec. 8 and can be seen nationally beginning in February. Gandhi covers 55 years — from 1893, when the young Gandhi arrives in South Africa as an attorney to conduct a case for an Indian firm, to his death by a Hin- du fanatic's bullet. The film begins with Gandhi's first experience with discrimina- tion — when he is hterally thrown off a train for riding first-class. While Attenborough brings an inherent integrity to this work in which his deep reverence for Gandhi is clearly evident, he makes full use of filmmaking techniques to achieve desired effects. As Gandhi travels the land in an effort to get to know more about his people's problems, he reaches out to touch them. Almost palpably we sense their poverty, their need for his guidance and compassion. Ben Kingsley, in the title role, is out- standing. He brings to life in a thoroughly convincing manner the transformation of the British-trained barrister into one of history's great men of peace. A member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Kingsley is half Indian and bears a strik- ing resemblance to Gandhi. The world's by Shantilal Bhagat I was deeply impressed by the Columbia Pictures movie on Mahatma Gandhi. Without any hesitation, I would recom- mend it strongly to everyone as a portrait of the use of nonviolence as a method of social change. For me personally, seeing this movie was hving again the last 12 years of Mahatma Gandhi's life on this earth. I was about 10 when I got my first glimpse of Mahatma Gandhi. His message to us then was that swaraj (self-rule) was our birthright and we would obtain it from the British by nonviolent means. As a college student in the early 1940s I got to see him several times but never had a chance to talk to him. My personal involvement in the Indian independence movement came my sopho- more year. The All-India Congress Com- mittee has passed a resolution in August 1942 asking the British to "quit India." Seeing the potential threat in that resolu- tion, the British arrested all Indian leaders, including Gandhi and his wife, Kasturbai. The arrest of leaders produced a strong reaction — and some violence — in the country. All schools and colleges were shut down because the students went on an indefinite strike as a protest against the governmental action. As students, we participated in mass 24 MESSENGER January 1983 ;we need today In Kingsley's interpretation of the role, Gandhi is a very human person. His natural way of projecting the character's spirituality helps to keep the film from becoming too worshipful. Attenborough followed the advice of the late Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who told him, "Whatever you do, don't deify Gandhi. He was too great a man." (Nehru, Gandhi's protege, became leader of the Indian National Congress when the older man withdrew.) Great attention has been paid to historical accuracy in the screenplay by John Briley, which does not gloss over some of the very ugly chapters in the struggle for Indian independence. Great Britain's 1919 massacre in the Sikh city of Amritsar is graphically created. Edward Fox plays General Reginald Dyer, who commanded his troops to fire upon Indian nationalists, killing over a thousand men, women, and children. When brought before a government panel for question- ing. Dyer replied that he wanted to teach the Indians a lesson they would not forget. Well-known British actors, including Sir John Gielgud, John Mills, and Trevor Howard, are cast as the British adminis- trators in India. Ian Charleson, seen recently in Chariots of Fire, portrays a Church of England missionary and hfe- long friend of Gandhi. Candice Bergen is Margaret Bourke-White, the Life photo- journaUst who interviewed Gandhi only hours before his assassination. Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now) plays a New York Times reporter, a role that is a com- posite of several journalists who did much to make the world aware of the impor- tance of Gandhi and his program. Gandhi runs three hours and 20 minutes, including an intermission, and is rated PG. Columbia Pictures is the dis- tributor. D Bea Rolhenbuecher is a New York-based film criiic who writes frequently for religious publications. most Christ-like person demonstrations and rallies, were arrested by the thousands, but generally were not jailed since all jails were full. The police would haul us away in vans and drop us off about 20 or 30 miles from the city so we would have to walk back home. But this did not deter us from repeating the Shantilal Bhagat, a native of India, serves the Brethren as UN representative. demonstrations again and again. The de- mand for independence was reaching a climax. My greatest shock came Jan. 30, 1948, as I was entering a restaurant around 6 p.m. The radio interrupted its regular pro- gram to announce that Mahatma Gandhi had been assassinated in Delhi about an hour earlier. There was complete silence and many tear-filled eyes in that restaurant. The incongruence of it all was hard to understand: death by an assassin's bullet of a man who preached and practiced nonviolence; the disposal of his body becoming a vast state occasion organized by the military authorities; the dead body riding on a weapons carrier; the Governor General's bodyguard of lancers riding at the head of the procession; thousands of soldiers, airmen, policemen, and sailors outnumbering the tiny group of followers who walked close to his body; a military craft dropping his bones (left after the cremation) into the river Ganges; hanging his murderer under a law inherited from the British without any protest from Gandhi's old comrades. No one seemed to question how some of these actions con- trasted with what Gandhi believed and died for. What did Gandhi mean to me person- ally? Mahatma Gandhi made Jesus and his message real to me within the Indian context. Here was a Hindu man who was the world's most Christ-like person. He lived Christ, but chose not be labeled a Christian. His Hfe was living proof that the Christian message was relevant and practical even in the 20th century. Trained in law rather than in religion or philosophy, Gandhi had a consuming in- terest in religion and sought to live a truly religious life. He had no personal posses- sions, but he left a legacy of dramatic, life-penetrating ethical insights. Unlike the dual ethics of many world leaders, Gandhi's life and teachings were one. The best exposition of his message was his own biography. Gandhi's greatest contribution was the development of a new methodology to fight evils. Through an amalgamation of Hindu and Christian scriptures, together with insights from Henry D. Thoreau and Count Leo Tolstoy, he devised a new method that he called satyagraha (truth-force or soul-force). This method could be used by groups, large or small, even by whole nations, against the greatest manifestations of the evils of racism, imperialism, and war. He found the term satyagraha preferable to "passive resistance" or "civil disobe- dience." Satyagraha is an epochal social inven- tion. Gandhi said that satyagraha is meant for the common people, not just saints; it is war without violence; it is loving op- ponents and suffering to convert them; it differentiates between the sin and the sin- ner; it is the weapon of the brave, rather than the weak; it demands discipline and may entail self-sacrifice, suffering, fasting, imprisonment, and death. But it has the supreme virtue of providing means conso- nant with the highest ends. D Shantilal Bhagat is the United Nations represen- tative on the World Ministries Commission Staff. January 1983 messenger 2S Reading on stewardship, menta The Steward: A Biblical Symbol Come of Age, by Douglas John Hall, Friendship Press, 1982, 147 pages, $7.95. The Steward: A Biblical Symbol Come of Age is by far the most definitive and the most exciting book that has been pub- lished on the subject of stewardship. La- menting the fact that stewardship, in com- mon eccelsiastical use, has been reduced to a way of thinking about the acquisition and exchange of monies and properties, Hall seeks to restore stewardship to its biblical concept. That understanding, says the Canadian theologian, is a "holistic metaphor for Christian and human life." Hall argues that given the discouraging picture of today's world, the stage is set for a new definition of stewardship that deals with the essence of being. Steward- ship is the church's mission, not the means to that mission, as has been com- monly thought. The fundamental tenet of stewardship is Christlike love and care for the world. The Christian steward emanates and con- tinues the work of the One who was sent "not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved ..." (John 3:16-17). Hall gives the biblical and historical background for holistic stewardship, then outlines five principles for the responsible steward: globalization — responsibility for the whole earth; communalization — re- sponsibility to the community, in contrast to individuahsm; ecologization — the stewardship of many creatures, most of which are nonhuman; politicization — stewardship that steps outside of the economic realm in order to criticize in- justice; and futurization — responsibihty to speak and to act responsibly toward the future as well as the present. Finally, Hall devotes separate chapters to how bibhcal stewardship relates to the search for justice for the poor, the search for a more acceptable understanding of the relation between humankind and the nonhuman creation, and the search for world peace. Perhaps the author's proximity to an academic setting (Hall is professor of Christian theology at McGill University in Montreal) explains why the book is a bit textbookish in places. But it is well worth the time and effort laity and pastors alike may spend in its reading. —F.W.S. Out of Mighty Waters, by Lois Landis Shenk, Herald Press, 1982, 190 pages, cloth, $10.95. Church of the Brethren members may be attracted to Out of Mighty Waters, by Lois Landis Shenk, because the book's foreword is written by Anna Beahm Mow. In fact, the author gives credit in her story to "Sister Anna" for the latter's becoming a surrogate "mother" to her and for providing spiritual support in the darkness of her trial. That trial was a decade of serious men- tal and physical illness that interrupted a promising missionary /teaching career for Shenk and her husband in Kenya and which literally created chaos in the life of an obedient and faithful Christian family. Most of the book recounts in stark detail the revolting and sometimes incredi- ble experiences during the author's in- voluntary commitments to three mental hospitals. To read Lois Shenk's accounts of the soul's torment and the accompany- ing physical reactions is an unforgettable revelation for any who may take "normal" health for granted. Interwoven throughout the story is the interplay between her anguish and the deliberate faith of her Mennonite rearing and heritage. But the book has a surprise ending. In the end it is not faith nor psychological counseling that restores her health. Rather, it is orthomolecular psychiatry, a process of correcting chemical imbalances with proper nutrients. While there is a question -and -answer appendix in which it is stated that nutrient therapy cannot solve all mental illness, the book is clearly slanted in its favor. We can certainly re- joice that Lois Landis Shenk has been able to return to serve her family and her church, but the fairy tale ending to one of the most disturbing stories this reviewer has read in a long time was a bit too abrupt and simple. The unsung hero of Out of Mighty Waters is John Shenk, the author's hus- band, who apparently remained faithfully supportive throughout the ordeal even though it meant two new career starts and, at times, the sole responsibihty for two young children. — F.W.S. Joining the Army That Sheds No Blood, by Susan Clemmer Steiner, Herald Press, 1982, 155 pages, paper, $6.95. Joining the Army That Sheds No Blood, by Susan Clemmer Steiner, was highly recommended by a colleague who urged its review in Messenger. The suggestion proved to be a delightful one. Steiner, youth minister for the Men- nonite Conference of Ontario, has written an easy to read and convincing study commentary on the conviction of peace- making. It is specifically beamed toward senior high youth, but aduhs can ap- preciate the simple yet thorough way she deals with the issues of war and peace. Scripture references are given through- out the book, and in some cases biblical passages relating to peacemaking concepts are creatively restated in contemporary parable. Steiner does not skirt hard ques- tions: Are pacifists cowards? What did Jesus do about enemies? What about war in the Old Testament? Aren't we supposed to obey the government? There is sound guidance for young peacemakers facing career choices, military service, the nuclear arms race, and war taxes. Joining the Army That Sheds No Blood would make a timely and excellent study for a senior high class. It also would be a helpful gift for a teenage relative or friend (after you read it first!) Don't be fooled by the cover — a guard saluting the tomb of the unknown soldier. The contents are much better! — F.W.S. 26 MESSENGER January 1983 illness, peacemaking The Path of Most Resistance, by Melissa Miller and Phil M. Shenk, Herald Press, 1982, 239 pages, paper, $7.95. Why I Am a Conscientious Objector, by John M. Drescher, Herald Press, 1982, 73 pages, paper, $2.95. Why won't peace church nonregistrants quietly perform alternative service the way so many other Brethren, Mennonites, and Friends have? The Path of Most Resist- ance explores the reasons for draft resist- ance, telling the stories of 10 Mennonites who resisted during the Vietnam War. The authors note that there have been very few Anabaptist resisters in recent decades because young men from the peace churches can easily win draft ex- emptions as conscientious objectors. Their reasons for resisting are many and m varied. David Rensberger mailed back his draft cards because he "knew he had to." Doug Baker and Jim Hochstedler felt that to accept a CO classification would be cooperating with a military system respon- sible for the evil of war. Several said that to take a CO deferment would be to send someone else to war in their places (in- comprehensible reasoning to me, since someone is drafted to take the place of each resister too). Even with all their mixed motives, from youthful rebellion to a prideful striving after purity, these young men must have had some powerful, if unarticulated, reason for rejecting the easy way out. Duafie Shank seems to hit it on the head: He was troubled by how many men from peace churches took advantage of their alternative service privileges and then kept quiet about the war. He came to believe that his own congregation had little interest in peace witness because their sons were not being drafted. He felt he had to go beyond the path of least resistance. A his book should give parents pause for thought. If newly proposed Selective Ser- vice regulations are allowed to stand, the numbers of Anabaptist draft resisters will probably increase, because there will be less protection for conscience and more military control over the assignment of alternative service jobs. Parents anxious about how their children may respond to registration and conscription had best work for a future in which no one will be drafted. Those who want to show that there are conscientious alternatives to jail had best demonstrate in their own lives that the CO privilege does not lead to apathy. In Why I Am a Conscientious Objector, we meet one CO who has made peace a lifetime commitment. John Drescher lucidly analyzes various forms of pacifism and argues for a "biblical pacifism" based on the lordship of Christ. He deals sen- sibly with Romans 13, a scripture passage that is often misused to justify Christian acquiescence to militarism. He offers a good bibliography that includes books and pamphlets for young readers. This easy-to-read book should help those facing hard choices. Like Miller and Shenk's book, it should bolster the church's peace witness.— Thomas W. Goodhue Thomas W. Goodhue is a United Methodist minister in New York City. BVS 35th ANNIVERSARY AMATEUR PHOTO CONTEST Subject: Brethren Volunteer Service workers in action shar- ing God's love through acts of service. Capture the essence of BVS on film as part of our anniver- sary celebration! First Prize $100. Six other cash awards. Selected photos dis- played at Annual Conference in Baltimore. Entries received until May 14. Write for details — Merv Keeney, 1451 Dundee Avenue, Elgin. IL 60120. CLASSIFIED ADS TRAVEL- Juniata College Tours, SONG OF NORWAY CRUISE, Feb. 12-19, 1983. Free air to Florida and back to many cities. Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Cozumel, Mexico. SPAIN, Feb., one week, inexpensive. SOUTH PACIFIC HIGH- LIGHTS, 17 days beginning Feb. 24, June/ July, LONDON budget week. July 2, 1984, OBERAMMERGAU PASSION PLAY. Informa- tion: Weimer-Oller Travel, 406 Penn St., Huntingdon, PA 16652. Tel. (814) 643-1468. TRAVEL- Feb. 28- Mar. 14, 1983: Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Greece. See Holy Land where Jesus walked, then follow Paul's journeys of the New Testament. June 4— 19, 1984: See Oberammer- gau Passion Play in Germany. Then Venice, Florence, Rome, Geneva and Paris. Write or call John D. and Naomi Mishler, 168 E. 6th St., Peru, IN 46970. Tel. (3171 473-7468. TRAVEL- Alaska Motor Coach-Cruise Tour. 30 days- Sept. 3 to Oct. 2, 1983. Call or write for details. Ralph and Betty Ebersole, 1213 Hamilton Ave., Tyrone, PA 16686. Tel. (814) 684-1771. TRAVEL — bus trip from Elizabethtown to Balti- more 1983 Annual Conference with rooms close to conference center. Write to J. Kenneth Kreider, 1300 Sheaffer Rd., Elizabethtown, PA 17022. FOR SALE- For a healthful taste treat try Oregon dried Italian prunes. Grown without pesticides and dried to a delicious chewy stage, these prunes are widely acclaimed "the best we've ever tasted." Minimum order, $30 for 25 lb. box, includes UPS. Bulk orders of 300 lbs., 70( per lb. FOB Salem. Order from Forrester Fruit Farm, Rt 1, Box 497, Salem, OR 97304 January 1983 messenger 27 Cross Keys Village a developing retirement community of individual cottages on the campus of The Brethren Home at New Oxford, Penn- sylvania • 10 models from $24,900 • only 2 hours from Philadelphia and D.C. • 15 minutes from Get- tysburg • 12 Church of the Brethren Congrega- tions nearby • activities program • free transportation • nite-time security • meals, housecleaning and nursing service available at modest costs • truly independent hving • with the assurance of nursing care when needed • freedom from household chores ''move in now while you can still enjoy it'' Harvey S. Kline, Administrator For more information contact: Milton E. Raup, The Brethren Home Box 128 New Oxford, PA 17350 (717)624-2161 28 MESSENGER January 1983 'h Heritage Fair: A family by Debi Peterson Like Tom Sawyer's scheme to get the picket fence paimed, there are times when all the fun experienced disguises the work accomplished. Such is true of Heritage Fair II. Staged at Camp Blue Diamond in late September, Heritage Fair was a co- operative venture of the 52 Church of the Brethren congregations comprising the Middle District of Pennsylvania. By the end of this glorious autumn day, about $17,000 had been raised to benefit the camp and programs of Middle District. time countless other children of God, near and far, were in spiritual and physical anguish, I am gladdened that the work of our hands, which afforded us a time of joyful fellowship and well-being, also generated funds to enable us to be a more caring people, reaching out together through our camp and our district." Heritage Fair offered a smorgasbord of activities that appealed to people of all ages: musical performances, a magic show, auctions, displays of church arti- facts, rides on a horse-drawn wagon, pony rides, craft demonstrations, a wet sponge-throwing booth and other games. Quills and bonnets lend an air of tradition to a conversation between (from left) Marilyn McClellan, Dottie Hershberger, and Jane Crosby. However, for the almost five thousand participants it would seem that the fund- raising was of secondary importance. What really counted was the joyous fel- lowship of a "family" come together. Jane Crosby of Stone church, Hunting- don, Pa., served as coordinator for the event. "Doing and being the Heritage Fair was a privilege for workers and spectators alike," she reflected. "Considering that during those same hours of the world's a closing vesper service, and what I have come to beheve is at the root of all church social gatherings — an over-abundance of sinfully delectable homemade foods and beverages. Like gypsies come to tent, stands and small trailers belonging to various churches were nestled into the quiet beau- ty of Blue Diamond's woodlands. In addi- tion to the expected woodsy smells, the breezes gently carried the aromas of bub- affair bly, rich root beer, barbecued chicken, sizzling funnel cakes, freshly baked pies, just-pressed apple cider, popping corn, and hot sausages grilling with peppers and onions. There were rich sights for the eye, too: dozens of colorful quilts of all types and descriptions pinned to a clothesline awaiting their turn on the auction block; Dunker garb — men in black with the traditional flat, broad-brimmed hats and women in long skirts with white aprons and bonnets; steaming kettles bubbling with apple butter over an open fire; the nimble fingers of a septagenarian skillfully braiding a rug; and children — frolicking through the woods, scrambUng over rocks, peering eye-level at table after table of goodies, walking hand-in-hand with parents or grandparents, or snuggly tucked into strollers or backpacks. Heritage Fair was a family time — not just for kin but for kith as well. This "family" of five thousand was held together not by blood, but through the bonds of a common faith and heritage — the Church of the Brethren. It was a celebration of a past rich in heritage and tradition, of a present filled with concern for each other and our global neighbors, and of a future filled with hope. D Free-lance writer Debi Peterson is a member of the Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon, Pa. Mabel Werking (left) and Gladys Clapper of the Holli- daysburg church model their traditional Brethren outfits. Tl\reatei\ed witlx^surrectioiv Tlv^atei\ed witlv Insurrection^ ^ by Julia Esquival. On the cover of Julia Esquival's book is the quetzal, a very com- mon bird in Guatemala and a symbol of liberation for the thousands in Central America who long for freedom from the yoke of oppression and injustice. Esquival writes of many disturbing atrocities in her homeland. It is clear that she considers US military industrialism partly to blame. She is eager for the Christians of North America to hear from one who has suffered and witnessed oppression. But more than that, Esquival witnesses to a faith that overcomes suffering and death, a faith born out of sacrifice and a life con- sistently committed to the Christ of the Cross and Resurrection. Every Christian who wants to take seriously the command of Jesus to love others as God has loved us should read Threatened with Resurrection. $4.95 plus 95