Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship

Our organization or congregation, Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship (MMF),

takes part in three main activities: worship, nurture, and mission. We meet

every Sunday for worship, as well as feast days (e.g. Ash Wednesday, Good

Friday). We come before God to be renewed in our relationship with God. We

seek on another's company in order to be renewed in this relationship.

Various people lead worship, lead music, and preach. The congregation's

minister preaches in three of every four Sunday services and leads worship

in the fourth. The worship committee plans each service and, along with the

church elders and other persons, lead the worship services. The weekly

focus is on the Bible, prayer, and fellowship. Scripture is read and

expounded, prayer is offered, and people share their needs and affirmations.

Music makes up an integral part of each worship service. Once a month the

Lord's Supper (Communion) is the center of worship. In the Sunday School we

try to apply the Scriptures we have heard to our daily lives. Our Sunday worship services are held in the Society of Friends Meeting House (Quakers) at 15 Rutherford Place (15th St. b/w 2nd & 3rd Avenue), Manhattan, NY.

There is further opportunity for study and fellowship at various times

during the week (e.g. potluck prayer suppers are held on Wednesday, early morning prayer on Wednesday, Bible study on various evenings). These are held either at the Menno House (described below), or in congregant's homes.

Twice a year a retreat of two days length is held to nourish our spirits and

refresh relationships at a camp in the nearby Catskills. Three or four

times a year a Faith Enquiry Group is offered for ten weeks for people who

want to renew their faith and consider baptism and membership in this

church.

Our main mission is the Menno House (314 E. 19th St. NYC), a center of

hospitality. It holds the church office and meeting place for small groups

as well as rooms for short term guests and longer term residents. Priority

in housing goes to church and social workers on low salaries or volunteer

stipends. We have begun a Peace and Anabaptist Library to make available to

church members and to scholars at large in the city books and video tapes

portraying our life and convictions. Menno House serves as a home for a

Mennonite Voluntary Service unit (MVS). MVS is a national volunteer program

overseen by the Mennonite Church (based in Newton, KS) which works in

coordination with local congregations to place full-time volunteers on a

modest stipend social service and mission agencies in the community.

Volunteers live in community and share expenses, meals, and daily life as they support one another in their mission work. As noted above, in addition

to housing the MVS unit, the house also acts as a refuge for full-time volunteers on stipend from other Christian service programs (e.g. Quakers

and Lutherans). Rents for residence are deliberately kept below market rates

in order to support the mission of the house and those doing service from

the house.

Menno House is developing into an urban mission center preparing people for

mission in the city. The Menno House and the Peace and Anabaptist Library

are both overseen by committees appointed by our congregation and by the

larger Mennonite Church in New York City. Residency in the Menno House is

based on written application to the Board overseeing the house. Requirements for all residents include commitment to life in community, agreement to live a life of celibacy within the house, and openness to participating in the mission of the congregation. Short-term guests to the house must agree to abide by the rules of the house. The Menno House was owned by the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities (EMBMC) located in Salunga, PA. Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship purchased the Menno House from EMBMC.

We also contribute part-time volunteers from the congregation to the nearby Quaker shelter for the homeless, which is housed in the friends meeting House

(our place of worship). We work to inspire our congregants as well as others to represent Christ in everyday life through a witness to Him as Lord of life and to live for and with people in material and spiritual need.