The month of February brought staffing changes in Executive Leadership.
Ervin Stutzman announced a move to a slightly different arrangement for executive staff which will replace the Associate Director role with two positions:
Director of Churchwide Operations and
Director of Denominational Support Services
Stutzman has appointed Marty Lehman to serve as director of churchwide operations. In her new position, Lehman will have responsibility for communication, development, convention planning, and church relations. She will also continue to give leadership to Historical Committee, finance/administration and The Corinthian Plan. In the long term, finance and administration will move to the new support services position. Lehman will continue to have her office in Elkhart and Kathryn Rodgers will serve as executive assistant.
On February 1, Leanne Farmwald began quarter-time with Executive Leadership as director of the Executive Leadership communication team along with her role as director of marketing and communication for Mennonite Mission Network. Following the denominational ministry model, we are excited about this new opportunity to collaborate and share leadership. This is an interim arrangement and will be reviewed in the coming months.
On February 22 we welcomed Deidre (Summerton) Bias to the Executive Leadership staff. She joins the convention planning team in the role of convention communication coordinator.
Bias is responsible for writing all external print pieces related to convention promotion and marketing. She will also be working with the children and junior youth gatherings and taking on other logistical planning responsibilities as needed.
Bias is a Goshen/Elkhart native, a Goshen College graduate and attends College Mennonite Church. Most recently she worked for First Steps as the family outreach and public awareness coordinator. Her responsibilities included promoting the state-wide program which works with children, birth to three, who have special needs and their families. She loves to read and travel, and is always in the midst of planning the next adventure for her and her family. We are grateful for the energy and expertise that Bias brings to the convention planning team.
Pastor Lesly Bertrand, pastor of Assemblée de la Grace Mennonite Church (Grace Assembly Network) in Haiti, speaks about the strong faith of his congregation and many Haitians. Yet their practical needs are many. MCC and Mennonites from the Dominican Republic are helping to meet their needs.
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. is seeking a transitional executive director to provide vision and oversight for all MCC programs in the United States during a time of significant organizational change.
The assignment is expected to begin on July 1 and continue for two to three years. The full-time, salaried position involves extensive travel, mostly in Canada and the United States. The director will lead MCC U.S. forward in a time of organizational restructuring while a long-term executive director is found. The transitional executive director will not be considered as a candidate for the executive director position.
The transitional executive director is responsible for general oversight of program planning, development and coordination; budget management and staff supervision. The director will focus on implementing organizational change in cooperation with executive directors of MCC and MCC Canada and other provincial and regional MCC leaders. New Wine/New Wineskins, MCC’s new shared vision and restructuring process, will guide the organizational change. More information is available at newwineskins.mcc.org.
Qualified candidates will uphold MCC U.S. values of faith in Christ, peace, justice, service, anti-racism, anti-sexism and anti-oppression; will be a member in good standing of a church that is a part of MCC’s supporting constituency; will exhibit a commitment to personal Christian faith; and will be committed to the teaching of nonviolent biblical peacemaking. Women, minorities and other underrepresented individuals are encouraged to apply.
Interested candidates should send a resume and letter of interest no later than April 1 to MCC U.S. Board Executive Search Committee, 234 South Main Street, Suite 1, Goshen, IN 46526. E-mail submissions can be sent to MCCUSEDSearch@mhsonline.org. The full job description is posted at mcc.org/work/positions/transitional-executive-director-mcc-us. Individuals wanting to recommend a candidate may also contact the search committee.
MCC, a worldwide ministry of Anabaptist churches, shares God’s love and compassion for all in the name of Christ by responding to basic human needs and working for peace and justice. MCC envisions communities worldwide in right relationship with God, one another and creation.
A newly formed network of urban Anabaptist leaders, facilitated by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), is developing organically. Person by person, they are gradually connecting with each other because they share the commonality of engaging the city as Anabaptists.
The formation of the network is based on one founding principle – Anabaptist leaders who are committed to caring for the cities they live in can benefit from relating to urban Anabaptists from all parts of the world. Once connected, they will better understand how they can support each other in their efforts.
“We have Korean Anabaptists longing to be in relationship with other urban Anabaptists,” said Joe Manickam, Asia director for MCC. “We have urban Anabaptists in London who are longing to be in relationship with other urban Anabaptists. The same can be said for Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Vancouver and the list goes on.
“So this initiative is here to give credence to this voice coming out of the city,” said Manickam, who together with the Rev. Leonard Dow, pastor of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, birthed the idea. MCC’s role is simply to connect the urban voices. Dow is vice chair of the MCC U.S. board of directors.
“We want it to remain very organic,” said Manickam. “We want it to evolve as the people want it to evolve without outside pressures telling it what it should be.”
The first steps of the network took place in August when a group of urban leaders, most from Philadelphia, flew to Seoul, South Korea, where they were hosted by the Korea Anabaptist Center (KAC). Starting with these two groups was logical because KAC already participates in MCC’s exchange programs and was interested in more interaction, and Philadelphia is home to the largest group of MCC urban constituents on the East Coast.
For participant Ron Tinsley, communications director at Philadelphia Mennonite High School, the most valuable experiences of the trip were the personal discussions and times for reflection that were amply built into the schedule. Tinsley is a member of Oxford Circle Mennonite Church.
“Sometimes we get so busy looking at programs that we don’t get a chance to understand where (the other leaders’) hearts are at and listen to their dreams and fears,” Tinsley said, adding that a prophetic sense can emerge from these kinds of conversations.
Some of the discussions, including those about stereotypes and racism, were difficult, Tinsley said. Instruction by Jeff Wright, an urban missiologist from Southern California, revolved around “theology of place” or building of intentional community in the city.
The Philadelphia guests also visited two Anabaptist churches and learned about several peacemaking organizations. KAC teaches peace-building skills to North Korean defectors and South Korean young people. The organization also works with other peace groups to create understanding of past hurts among people from South Korea, Japan and China.
When KAC Administrator Kim Kyong-Jung paid a return visit to Philadelphia and then to Los Angeles in November, he was glad to witness urban churches at work within a multicultural society. South Korea, which once was predominantly homogeneous, is becoming increasingly diverse.
“This means that many different types of conflict issues exist, which makes churches’ jobs harder,” he wrote in an e-mail after his visit. “The churches’ missional approaches are being challenged as they look to this kind of social phenomenon.”
Encouraging young people to serve in cities around the world through MCC’s Global Service Learning program is important to this emerging network. For example, Korean Jung Joo Park, who is a participant with MCC’s International Volunteer Exchange Program (IVEP), is working with Oxford Circle Mennonite Church and its community partners.
“Here in the U.S., I am valued as Asian, adding to the cultural diversity of Philadelphia, and it does not seem to matter that I am a foreigner,” Park said. “Once I go home, I hope to introduce a deeper understanding of and respect for diversity in South Korea.”
Making these kinds of “flesh and blood connections” between Anabaptists from different cities is exactly what Ruth Keidel Clemens, executive director of MCC East Coast, hopes will happen as the network develops. “Urban Anabaptist churches are a priority for MCC East Coast, and bringing its leaders together with those from other countries strengthens all involved, as we seek to engage the cities together as Anabaptists,” she said.
Clemens and Manickam are discussing possibilities for holding a conference of urban Anabaptist practitioners as another way to bring people together to learn from each other. Until then, the conversation will continue, person by person.
Colombia’s Mennonite churches are again calling on congregations in the United States to join the cry for justice, peace and healing in Colombia during the Days of Prayer and Action for Peace on April 18 and 19.
In response to the call, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. Washington Office has prepared activities on the theme, Face the Displaced, for congregations and other groups to use. The activities include calls to prayer and opportunities to witness to the violence and injustices in Colombia.
With nearly 5 million internally displaced persons, according to CODHES, a Colombian human rights organization, Colombia is home to a severe, yet hidden, humanitarian crisis. Many people have fled their homes in the face of the armed conflict between government forces, newly re-formed paramilitary groups, and guerrillas, all vying for power and territory.
In October 2009, The Christian Center for Justice, Peace and Nonviolent Action (Justapaz), an MCC partner, and other organizations participated in a delegation to observe the humanitarian and human rights situation in the southern district of Córdoba. The findings from this mission represent an alarming precedent. They illustrate the growing humanitarian crisis, a deterioration of respect for human rights in the area and increased violence as a result of burgeoning paramilitary actions.
Colombia suffers an inequitable distribution of wealth with two-thirds of the population living in poverty, according to the Colombian National Institute of Administration and Statistics, while a small portion is wealthy. Across the country, municipal and departmental governments are compromised through paramilitary links. Analysts and church communities report that powerful economic interests in the drug trade and other big business, such as palm oil and mining, are behind the violence and forced displacement.
These economic injustices exacerbate the four-decades-long conflict, producing grave violations of humanitarian law, displacement and a high murder rate – some 2,500 to 3,000 a year, according to government, international news and human rights sources. Between January and October 2009, paramilitary groups, which were allegedly rearmed, assassinated six church leaders and caused the displacement of five communities, a total of 1,230 people.
On Sunday, April 18, Colombian Mennonite churches ask congregations, faith-based groups and organizations to worship, reflect and pray for the victims, perpetrators and peacemakers.
On Monday, April 19, churches are asked to make a public witness by sharing stories, speaking with government officials, holding public vigils and doing other advocacy activities. As a part of the Face the Displaced campaign, organizers are asking groups to prepare by assembling portraits of the faces of displaced Colombians for public display. After April, the “faces” will be sent to Washington, D.C. for display and presentation to policymakers.
Instructions for hosting portrait-making gatherings are included in the MCC U.S. Washington Office’s packet of worship resources and advocacy materials. The packet also includes prayers, a bulletin insert and a sample letter to lawmakers. Sign up to participate and/or to learn more at washington.mcc.org/days, or contact Theo Sitther at the MCC U.S. Washington Office, 202-544-6564, tsitther@mcc.org.
As part of the ongoing communication with the conference constituency, the Franconia Conference Board announces the following meetings:
Meeting for Conference Related Ministry Leaders
Tuesday, March 16
9 – 11 a.m. at the Mennonite Conference Center
Meeting for Franconia Conference Delegates
Tuesday, March 16
7 – 9 p.m. at Franconia Mennonite Church fellowship hall
Open Meeting – for anyone interested or anyone who wasn’t able to attend the earlier meetings
Tuesday, March 23
7 – 9 p.m. at Nueva Vida Norristown New Life auditorium
To read the initial board communication from March 4, 2010, please click here. We invite your ongoing prayers as we gather and continue conversations.
The Conference Board is deeply saddened with the confusion that has been created in parts of the Franconia Conference Community and beyond. We take responsibility for not communicating quickly enough and with clarity.
The news has gone out that Franconia Conference Board has made a decision to dismiss all the staff.
The reality is that the staff has been informed that in the coming year the direction the Board is calling for requires a mid-course correction, to come into a greater alignment of fulfilling our mission to Equip Leaders to Empower Others to Embrace God’s Mission.
A smaller Conference staff to include LEADership Ministers, will continue, but will be narrowly focused on equipping congregations to becoming missional.
We lament the deep pain and suffering that this decision has caused staff and others by not including the staff directly in the decision-making process.
We will work towards a healthy ending process and seek to build upon the hard work and creativity by which the staff has carried out their work to date.
The Conference Board will be facilitating public meetings to engage in further dialogue regarding all that has transpired. The following times and dates have been set as follows:
Monday, March 8, 2010 from 7-9 pm at Towamencin Mennonite Church for all Credentialed Leaders of Franconia Mennonite Conference;
A second meeting will happen on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 from 9-11 am at the Mennonite Conference Center.
Thank you for your prayer support of Mennonite education. The Mennonite Education Agency has posted new Prayers for Faith and Learning for the month of March at www.MennoniteEducation.org/PRAYERS. Subscriptions are available online by visiting www.MennoniteEducation.org/Subscribe.
“Dock’s Got Talent” will raise money to help Nations Worship Center, a Franconia conference church, raise money for a new worship space. The talent show fundraiser will be held at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School tomorrow evening, Monday, March 8 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. The entry “fee” for the talent show was either $100 or 100 lbs. of jasmine rice or Ramen noodles. The food will also be donated to NWC for a food distribution program it operates for families in its south Philadelphia neighborhood. Members of NWC will join for the evening, which will also feature a silent auction and food sales (rice and noodles, naturally). Come out and have some fun for a great cause!
Karen’s Place, the coffee shop ministry of Doylestown Mennonite Church, continues the 10th Annual Blues-Rock Madness Month on Saturday, March 13 with Raging Grace, a Connecticut based blues-rock band. Admission is free. Donations collected will go to Mennonite Disaster Service to benefit hurricane victims in the Gulf area. Join this great time of Christian fellowship and music in a laid-back coffee-shop setting. For more information, please call the church office at 215-345-6377 or visit www.karensplace.org.
You are invited to RIPPLE at The Caring Place, 931 Hamilton St., Allentown, PA, on Sunday, March 14 at 4 p.m. to share in a possibility that will provide hope to the community and to help realize a dream of helping others in need. We will be praying, worshiping and giving what we can to help build a professional kitchen in the Caring Place. Mrs. Mary Griffin, director of The Caring Place (where Ripple meets), has a vision of a space where people of the Lehigh Valley can find work in their own micro-business by using a restaurant-quality inspected kitchen to produce specialty food items to sell. The youth of The Caring Place can also learn vocational skills from professional chefs to help them reach their career goals. Come in casual dress, have a snack and a cup of coffee in the Caring Coffee Cafe, hear the Word of God as it is relevant and involved in our lives, listen to a dream, pray for God’s possibilities, offer what you can–your talent (we will be working together on 3/20/10), donations and prayers. Childcare is available. If you would like more information, contact Tom Albright at 610-462-1075.
Come to the Quiet . . . at the next monthly Evening Song and Prayer service at Perkasie Mennonite Church on Sunday, March 14, from 7 to 8 p.m. Using music from the Taizé community in France, as well as hymns of the church, we gather in a candle-lit atmosphere for scripture, song, silence, and prayers for our world, communities and loved ones. For directions check the church website at www.perkmenno.org or call 215-257-3117.
PA Relief Sale! Join the festivities on April 2 and 3 at the Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg. Come for the food, bid on items at the Quilt Auction and Country Auction, and shop at the flower booth and other artisan displays. Children will enjoy activities in the Children’s area including an auction just for them! All sale day proceeds benefit the worldwide relief efforts of Mennonite Central Committee.
The Mennonite Central Committee Material Resource Project for April is Sewing Kits. When Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) began 90 years ago, the first supplies were sent to Mennonites living in Ukraine who were suffering from lack of food. MCC continues helping in that part of the world by sending more than 500 to Ukraine in the past year. The kits provide basic tools to make and mend clothing. People with little access to these simple but important items will use them well. Sewing kits are distributed in a useful double drawstring cloth bag (11in x 16in). You may sew the bag yourself, request bags from an MCC collection center, or donate contents that will be placed in a bag by MCC staff. Kits may be dropped off at the MCC Material Resource Center of Harleysville at 737 Hagey Center Drive, Suite C, Souderton. Contents (NEW items only)
1 metric tape measure
2 spools dual use white thread (cotton/polyester, minimum 273m / 300 yards each)
2 spools dual use black thread (cotton/polyester, minimum 273m / 300 yards each)
1 thimble (medium size)
1 dressmaker’s scissors (good quality)
1 pkg. needles (approx. 25)
1 pkg. straight pins (approx. 100)
1 pkg. hooks and eyes (approx. 12)
1 pkg. sew on snaps (approx. 20-25)
10 assorted safety pins
Kairos: School of Spiritual Formation welcomes all interested in the following April 2010 retreats at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville, PA. Register by March 25. Later registrations accepted on a space-available basis. For more information on the retreats or to register visit www.on-the-journey.org or contact Kairos at 717-669-2957:
* Silent Retreat: Wednesday evening April 7 to Friday, April 9 at noon
* Love as a Central Theme to the Journey: Friday evening, April 9 to Sunday, April 11 noon or Sat (only option)
* Silent Retreat: Friday evening, April 9 to Sunday, April 11 at noon or Sat (only option)
The day will include a morning and afternoon session of worship through music, prayer and sharing of the Word by Bonnie Stevenson, missionary in Mexico, serving at Monte Maria Tierra, Prometida, Mexico City. The theme of the morning session will be “Laying Down the Burden” and the theme for the afternoon will be “Picking Up Joy”.
Lunch will be provided, as well as opportunities for fellowship and pampering such as head, neck and shoulder massage, light stretching and prayer stations. Child care will not be provided.
Click on the image above to download a PDF of the event flyer.
To register for this event by mail, download the registration form here.
On February 22 we welcomed Deidre (Summerton) Bias to the Executive Leadership staff. She joins the convention planning team in the role of convention communication coordinator.
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