Joy Mennonite Church given advocacy award

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WASHINGTON—The Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office has named Joy Mennonite Church in Oklahoma City this year’s recipient of its Annual Congregational Advocacy Award. This award recognizes an Anabaptist congregation engaged in advocacy that is creative, persistent, pioneering and prophetic while maintaining core Anabaptist values.

Joy Mennonite Church, a 15- to 20-member congregation, provides peace education and military counseling to those thinking of military service and those rethinking their service. It is on the forefront of addressing conscientious objection, counter recruitment, military counseling and peace education. The church’s Oklahoma Committee for Conscientious Objection (OCCO) initiative relies on members and supporters that include attorneys, professional counselors, social workers and computer consultants from the faith and activist community.

The congregation provides literature to schools, universities, civic events, libraries and churches, sharing with them agreements military recruiters presented to youth, biblical reflections on war and information that addresses what one can realistically expect out of military service.

James Branum, a member of Joy Mennonite and an attorney, receives two to three calls a week from soldiers at nearby Fort Sill preparing for or engaged in military service. Branum addresses a wide range of concerns from soldiers, from forming a conscience against participation in war to issues of mental and physical health.

Joy Mennonite relies on volunteers from diverse backgrounds to do its work. “It’s not the size of the congregation it’s the quality of the people,” says Sadie Mast. “We try to incubate people to blossom where they are planted.”

Award winners receive $500 to further strengthen their peace and justice witness.—MCC

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