Passing the Baton

In thinking about our new role as co-editors of MennoExpressions, it struck us that taking over as editors is a bit like participating in a relay race: you first jog alongside the runners already in the race, and then, at just the right moment, you accept the baton and start running your race. The moment of passing the baton is critical and a bit nerve-wracking because you have to keep looking backwards and simultaneously move forward. To run a successful race, you need to get a good grip on the baton, too, so that it lies firmly and comfortably in your hand.

Photo Credit: Licensed Adobe Stock Image #139128960

This issue of MennoExpressions in many ways captures this very baton-passing moment. Not only did all of the other runners (past and current editors) do an excellent job that got us to this moment, the metaphorical baton they passed seems to be just what we need to carry on.  Special thanks to Erv Boschmann, who made this a smooth transfer by asking people to submit articles for the fall publication and by providing encouragement and advice as we carried the baton across the finish line for this transitional issue of MennoExpressions.

Even though this issue of MennoExpressions was not planned around a specific topic, in reading on, you will notice that “Change” is not only the title of Erv’s passing-the-baton article but the dominant theme that emerged once we put all the pieces together. It is, no doubt, a very fitting theme for First Mennonite Church’s present moment in time, with some things passing and the promise of new beginnings. In musing about the characteristics of change, we found surprisingly many of those characteristics represented in the articles: the idea of an underlying sense of continuity even in the midst of change present in Erv’s piece, the aspect of saying farewell and moving on in Richard’s article, the anticipation of new directions and connections in Jonathan’s Top Ten list, the difficulty and sorrow inherent in unwanted change that is made palpable in Patty and Kenton’s contribution, and finally the enduring and joyous FMC spirit evident in the piece on the All-ympics.

Your co-editors at work