One Lord, One Faith, One Shamiana

Don Ratzlaff

In Hindi, they call it a shamiana, which means "house of cloth". Shamianas are erected in India for both religious and social events. For those of us fortunate enough to inhabit it for six days in Calcutta, the huge tent-and-bamboo structure nestled in one corner of the spacious campus mall at St. Thomas School will be a lasting visual memory of Assembly Gathered.

The sheer size of the worship shamiana was breathtaking. The Mennonite press corps, highly trained in the use of simile, officially deemed it the size of two football fields. The same press corps, mostly oblivious to the principles of engineering, was largely silent on the mechanical accomplishment that kept it standing. "Amazing" was about all we could muster.

In many ways, a shamiana was "appropriate technology" for India 1997. To have met in a modern, air-conditioned convention centre--assuming such a thing even exists in Calcutta--would have robbed us of a powerful visual metaphor the global family of Mennonites needed to see and experience during those days.

At a basic level, meeting in a shamiana was a constant reminder that the Mennonite church is now "at home" in the Two-Thirds World. Numerically, the majority of Mennonites now live in the Southern Hemisphere. North America and Europe are minority territory for the church. A faithful church is not dependent on wealth and modern conveniences. We benefitted from meeting in such an undeveloped "house" where dust, smoke and even the occasional neighbourhood dog wandered in freely. It should remind us the church is growing most dramatically where the doors not only are open, but in many cases are literally nonexistent.

From the outside, the worship shamiana was a drab canvas brown. Inside, though, the tent came alive with purple and pink fabric. It seems to me the world too often sees the Mennonite church from the outside. A functional bunch, they think, but rather colourless and plain. Maybe we see ourselves the same way. But come inside, where the Mennonite world gathers, and you will find life, colour and spirit. Mennonite World Conference was our invitation to enter in, to see the church from the inside. Shamianas are festive structures. And we have reason to celebrate.

By design, a shamiana is not permanent. The one at St. Thomas School was erected and eventually razed in a matter of days. The temporary nature of our meeting place in Calcutta symbolized the reality that became evident during Assembly Gathered: The Holy Spirit does not take up permanent residence either. Yes, the Spirit continues to work in the Mennonite "homelands" of Europe and North America, but the locus of the Spirit's most dramatic activity has shifted to Asia, Africa and Latin America. We North Americans may have established institutions of brick and mortar, but the Two-Thirds World has a church on the move.

This is a bittersweet realization for us in North America. On the one hand, we delight to see how the gospel blossoms in cultures so different from our own. At the same time, we wonder why the bloom has withered at home. Maybe the answer, at least in part, can be found inside the shamiana too. Just as the tent was the necessary form of shelter as the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, the shamiana in Calcutta reminds us that the Mennonite church in the Two-Thirds World has not found a comfortable and permanent home in its culture. Can we in North America say the same thing?

Inside the shamiana we heard stories of a church facing unrest, persecution and economic need in the Two-Thirds World. This is not the story of North America. The theme for Asia Day was "Living for Christ amidst Many Religions". But in North America we like to think of the Christian community as the Moral Majority. In Latin America, the church battles the coercive political and economic agenda of the principalities and powers. But in North America we're more inclined to form a Christian Coalition so we can manipulate the agenda to our advantage. The church in Africa, by necessity, proclaims a holistic gospel that combines both word and deed as it addresses the needs of its neighbours. In North America, we invest our energy in debating amongst ourselves about worship styles and welfare cuts.

A shamiana is an appropriate structure for a church where the primary issues are survival and mobility. Brick and mortar meet the need of a church bent on permanence and protecting its interests. If you were the Holy Spirit, consumed with an agenda to rescue a broken humanity, where would you prefer to dwell?

I pray that our North American household of faith might learn to inhabit the shamiana of God. And that I might find my way there too.

Don Ratzlaff is editor ofThe Christian Leader, periodical of the US MB Conference.

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