News

Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship has heard sermons from twenty preachers in the years 2014-2016, while having only one person, Isaac Villegas, as pastor. He gives about half the sermons. The congregation existed for its first five years without a pastor, and established a pattern of rotating sermon responsibilities. Most of the preachers are regular worshipers… More

(A shortened version of this book review was published by The Mennonite World Review: “Despite missteps, Latinos joined Mennonites.”) In his book, Latino Mennonites: Civil Rights, Faith, and Evangelical Culture (2014), Felipe Hinojosa describes the struggle of Latinas and Latinos to become part of the Mennonite church in the United States. Hinojosa starts the story… More

“We thank our Lord that our burdens are staggered,” Kate Roberts prayed a few weeks ago, “so that we might have the strength to carry another’s weight.” The church is a people of staggered burdens, as Kate put it, a community where those who bear much pain do not have more than they can bear,… More

Isaac S. Villegas MWR Book Review January 2011 A Neo-Anabaptist Vision? James Davison Hunter, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, & Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (Oxford University Press, 2010). In his analysis of Christian witness in North America, James Davison Hunter discusses a movement he names “Neo-Anabaptism.” The heart of… More

Isaac was interviewed in The Christian Century magazine. Here’s an excerpt: What does your denominational affiliation mean to your parishioners? It means a lot. Many of us have joined the Mennonite Church because we wanted to be part of a community of faith that rejects violence outright, a congregation that supports us as we try… More

Meghan Florian, a member of our congregation, offers a wonderful reflection on gender roles at church. The point of affirming women as preachers ought never be to belittle the vital work women have been doing in the church all along. Instead, while we need to see women encouraged to raise their voices, to interpret and… More

In this season of Advent, as we dwell with Mary, the one who is filled with Jesus, we let her words draw us into resonances of the gospel we may not have heard before. Mary’s words are living and active. They resound from places we may not have thought of as hospitable for God—like the… More

Long before that moment, long before I discerned God’s call, the Spirit was working through the hands of the community, molding me into a pastor. With their hands, the people led me into ministry. I still remember Fred’s prayer on behalf of the community as they laid their hands upon me and impressed God’s calling… More

Here are some of Isaac’s reflections on what it was like to show up at Chapel Hill Mennonite and experience a community that made “the priesthood of all believers” a living reality: During the service people from behind me, in front of me, and to my right and left got up to lead various parts… More

Isaac visited a Mennonite community in Freeman, South Dakota. Here is an excerpt from his reflections on his time with Salem-Zion Mennonite Church: God’s creation is cultivated not only to provide for the members of Salem-Zion but also for the sake of the world. In the fall, after the harvest, the congregation expresses gratitude with… More

A meditation on prison and Christmas. Here are a few lines from Isaac’s column: As members of our church gather for fellowship and prayer in prison, we receive the flow of God’s life through our hands. The love and friendship of God revealed at Christmas come to us again as the Spirit overshadows our circle… More

Isaac wrote a reflection on his visit to a Mennonite church in Chicago. Here’s an excerpt: …His voice wavers, fading in and out; and it sounds as if his throat is full of gravel. Yet he sings with confidence: “Just a closer walk with thee; Grant it, Jesus, is my plea.” The rest of us… More

Our church was recently mentioned in the local newspaper, The News & Observer, in a piece about congregations preaching against war and torture: …The Rev. Isaac Villegas, pastor of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship, also preached on war Sunday. He said the classified reports released on the Wiki Leaks website and the disclosures in a new… More

Isaac reflects on his recent visit to Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church in Goessel, Kansas: As these two sister congregations cross borders in order to commune with one another, they find themselves in communion with Christ. To use the words of Augustine of Hippo, the Holy Spirit is the presence of love that “holds them together in… More

Isaac reflects on his visit with the people at First Mennonite Church of San Francisco: In San Francisco the Mennonites assemble as Christ’s body within the house of Israel. Gentiles have become children of God, wrote theologian Karl Barth in 1949, “only as those chosen with [the Jews]; as guests in their house.” For First… More

On his recent trip to a Mennonite church in Lancaster, Isaac reflected on the way church is a place where the world is welcomed into God’s presence. Here’s an excerpt: While waiting for the Monday night meal to begin, I read a brochure that describes the church’s purpose: “East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church, planting life… More

Isaac took a recent trip to Boonsboro, MD, and spent a week with Mt. Zion Mennonite Church. Here’s an excerpt from the reflection he wrote for the Mennonite Weekly Review: From the window of the nursery I can see the cemetery that stretches across the hill alongside the church — a field planted with rectangular… More

Isaac wrote about his visit with a Hispanic Mennonite church in Dallas, TX. Here’s a few paragraphs from the article: The Bible study before the Sunday morning worship service of Iglesia Menonita Luz del Evangelio turns into a passionate sermon. A discussion of the story of Esther becomes a call to live as the pueblo de… More

Our congregation financially supports Mary Raber’s work in the Ukraine. She is there with Mennonite Mission Network. Below is her recent letter. Read it to learn about her work and find out how to support her with our prayers as well. – – – – – – – – – – – – – –… More

This summer Isaac will be visiting Mennonite congregations throughout the USA. He will be writing a column for The Mennonite Weekly Review about his visits. In his most recent column, Isaac explains his trips: This column will be a series of scenes from God’s mission among rural and urban congregations, wealthy and poor, young and… More

Our congregation financially supports Mary Raber’s work in the Ukraine. She is there with Mennonite Mission Network. Below is her recent letter. Read it to learn about her work and find out how to support her with our prayers as well. – – – – – – – – – – – – – –… More

Easter is an invitation to dwell in Christ’s resurrected life of love. Here is an except from an article Isaac wrote about this season of Easter: Resurrection is not a quick fix for our problems; tombs and crucifixions don’t end on Easter morning. The graveside account in John’s Gospel instead is a glimpse into the… More

Our congregation financially supports Mary Raber’s work in the Ukraine. She is there with Mennonite Mission Network. Below is her recent letter. Read it to learn about her work and find out how to support her with our prayers as well. – – – – – – – – – – – – – –… More

Worship is how God offers to be our companion through the Holy Spirit who weaves our lives into a “knot of unity,” as Augustine of Hippo once wrote. In this meditation below, you can find a description of how God befriends us through an ordinary church service. Here is an excerpt: Worship that evening choreographed… More