The current issue of The Mennonite is chalked full of Franconia Conference writers on the theme of evangelism. It’s unusual that a single issue of the Mennonite Church USA’s official magazine would feature this many writers from within a single constituency. According to Gordon Houser, associate editor for The Mennonite, the articles were submitted at different times and collected toward the issue’s theme.
The issue includes “Can we embrace evangelism and peace?” which was previously published as a Franconia Conference staff blog by Gay Brunt Miller, Director of Collaborative Ministries. Greg Albright from Whitehall (Pa.) Mennonite Church, who is a student at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia’s Main Line suburbs, tells of his experiment with “Confessional Evangelism” on campus. The third article is from Vic Sensenig, who is currently serving with Mennonite Central Committee in Indonesia and is a member of Souderton (Pa.) Mennonite Church. Sensenig explores the perspectives of new atheism and possible Christian response.
Conference Executive Minister Noel Santiago suggests, “Perhaps the Holy Spirit is re-enlivening part of our historic practice of discipleship with the same radical evangelistic witness that had significant impact in the world of the 16th century Anabaptists.” Santiago also highlights that these three articles come from persons in congregations with active initiatives to cultivate relationships with neighbors, friends and persons not currently professing Christian faith or involved in the life of the church. He asks, “What might this suggest about our missional future?”
We have just learned from CNN that since changing the scheduled air date of the GC segment from tomorrow, it is scheduled right now to air first on Tuesday, May 6 (day of Indiana primary) during the American Morning show (6-9 a.m.), and then a longer piece on Sunday, May 11 between 10 p.m. and midnight.
When Goshen College senior Sheldon Good heard he might have a chance to be on CNN, he thought it was connected to his work on the Worm Project during his internship with Franconia Conference last summer.
It wasn’t until a few days later, when the college sent out an email about the opportunity to be interviewed by a national news network for a series on young voters, that he made the connection. Good responded to the email and was one of seven students selected to be a part of the panel.
CNN wanted to speak with Mennonites who are first-time voters this year and learn their views on the presidential election. With the Indiana presidential primary happening on May 6, they decided to visit Goshen College and hear from students about what political issues are important to them, as well as how their Mennonite faith informs their politics.
On Tuesday, April 15, CNN anchor Rick Sanchez hosted a roundtable discussion with seven Goshen College students as part of a series called “League of First Time Voters.” According to The Truth newspaper, Sanchez said “We’re talking to a group of Americans a lot of people don’t know about, but will soon know a lot about,” Sanchez said, “in their own words.”
Sanchez asked the students questions about foreign policy, immigration, Iraq, race, pacifism, youth engagement in politics this year, patriotism, social issues and the presidential candidates. CNN has previously taped similar discussions at the University of Scranton, a Jesuit institution in Pennsylvania, and Spelman College, a historically black college in Atlanta.
The taping was held at College Mennonite Church, which also serves as Goshen’s chapel. Only students involved in the event were allowed to enter the building, and inside local media were interviewing and photographing the students.
For Good, it was a chance to talk about two things he’s passionate about: faith and politics. It was also a chance for the communications major to observe the process and see the other side of national media.
Good says that CNN staff were really surprised at how well the college students conducted themselves, which was both flattering and humbling.
“I keep saying when I talked to people, I think CNN got what they came for—and I mean that in a good way.”
The students talked about their perspective as global citizens, emphasizing not only how decisions made here affect not only the United States, but people around the world. They also talked about the role their Anabaptist faith has played in shaping that perspective.
“It felt like we were representing more than ourselves . . . It was definitely humbling.”
The CNN segment at Goshen College is scheduled to air on the “American Morning” show, which is hosted by John Roberts and Kiran Chetry (Monday-Friday, 6-9 a.m.), on April 23, but will also be available on www.cnn.com and may air during other CNN programs.
Other students who participated in the roundtable included Elizabeth Beachy, Kalona, Iowa; Rebecca Fast, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen; Peter Koontz, Goshen, Ind.; Adriel Santiago, Souderton, Pa.; Jennifer Speight, Cleveland, Ohio; and Kendra Joy Sprunger, Goshen, Ind.
From Goshen College Public Relations Office. Franconia Conference staff contributed to this report. Photos courtesy of Goshen College.
Moderator Sharon Waltner of Parker, S.D., and moderator-elect Ed Diller of Cincinnati, Ohio, expressed the board’s concerns to the group, which also included Mennonite Church USA executive director Jim Schrag and associate executive director Ron Byler. At its Feb. 8 to 9 meeting in San Antonio, Texas, the Executive Board stated that the denomination’s vision and call “is not adequately supported by our present relationships, behaviors and organization.”
To support the vision of Mennonite Church USA, the Executive Board is calling for a unified churchwide communication and identity system and a simple and cohesive funding system. The Executive Board is also suggesting that an additional person be added to the Executive Leadership staff with the goal of assisting the executive director to ensure churchwide ministries practice good stewardship by reducing duplication and increasing organizational effectiveness at meeting congregational needs.
Finally, the Executive Board believes that the unity of purpose needed to adequately support the vision requires the development of one, integrated board of directors for the denomination that would replace the individual boards for each agency.
“Too often, we appear scattered organizationally and motivated by narrow purposes and segmented missions that do not equip our members and congregations for ministry,” Waltner said. “Our future depends on our ability to grasp new relationships and behaviors that support community, equip our members and offer a clear, focused, unified identity and witness for Christ in the world.”
Waltner said the Executive Board came to these conclusions in two closed sessions without staff present at its San Antonio meeting. The board agreed it was important to share and discuss this direction first with agency executives and board chairs before public discussion. Area conference and constituency group leaders will be invited into the conversation later this month when the Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) meets March 31 to April 2 in Mt. Pleasant, Pa.
The Executive Board agreed at its September 2007 meeting in Newton, Kan., to lift up Vision: Healing & Hope and its missional church priorities as a framework for future board direction. The board said it would lead the church in responding to the Church Member Profile findings and would evaluate churchwide systems by how effectively they supported congregations.
Also at its September meeting, the Executive Board agreed it would accept its leadership position and authority in Mennonite Church USA. Waltner and Diller said this guiding principle was stirred by delegate responses at San José 2007 calling for the Executive Board to take a more prominent role in vision and leadership for the whole of the denomination.
Waltner and Diller said the denomination’s six year review, delegate table group responses from San José 2007, feedback from the Constituency Leaders Council, a 2006 CLC task force report, a 2005 funding study and the Church Member Profile 2006 all indicate a need for improving the ability of churchwide ministries to function effectively, to relate to each other and to support area conferences and congregations as they seek to join God’s work in the world.
“An increasing number of congregations and area conferences are calling for integrated churchwide communications and funding practices that bring clarity to their connection to other parts of Mennonite Church USA and support the whole denomination as a unit,” Diller said.
Waltner said that while the Executive Board has stated its desired outcomes, it wants to engage the other parts of the church in developing a plan for how to achieve them. She said the board wants the best thinking from across the church on how best to reorganize the denomination and its agencies in a way that best meets congregational needs.
One churchwide communication and identity system
The Executive Board sees redundancy—such as multiple news services, uncoordinated congregational mailings and competing organizational identities—in the area of communication as a hindrance to the denomination’s combined capacity to enable Mennonite Church USA congregations and members to strengthen their witness. At present, each of the agencies and Executive Leadership coordinates some joint communication, though the majority of each staff’s work is separate from the work of other staff. To remedy the duplication, the Executive Board calls for one churchwide communication and identity system that is headed by and in the denominational center.
Area conferences will be needed to help shape and participate in a new churchwide communication system. The board wants the system to include The Mennonite magazine so that all communication from church entities to congregations and their members will be integrated.
A simple and unified funding system
Currently, Mennonite Church USA has multiple funding systems that are complicated and lead to what appears to be competition among agencies, colleges, area conferences and related groups for funds. As the system currently operates, each agency is responsible for raising its own funds independent of the others. Executive Leadership does not actively raise funds from individuals, but relies on contributions from area conferences and agencies to support its ministries.
A funding study of Mennonite Church USA household giving completed in 2005 by Advancement Associates indicated that Mennonite Church USA is a small denomination with too many organizations competing with each other for the same funds. For board members, this raises a concern about whether existing church structures are sustainable—or relevant—for the future of the denomination.
The board calls for a simple and unified funding system that respects designations from donors while providing funding where it’s most needed in the denomination. The funding system, like the communication system, will be headed by and in the denominational center.
One integrated board of directors
At present, each agency and The Mennonite has its own board of directors that are responsible to the Executive Board. The Executive Board acts on behalf of the Delegate Assembly, the denomination’s decision-making body, when it is not in session.
The Executive Board is calling for an integrated board of directors for the agencies, Executive Leadership and The Mennonite that would make space for meaningful, connective voices from present agencies and conferences. The shape of a new integrated board will be the subject of discussion between now and the all-boards meeting June 19 to 21 in Columbus, Ohio, Waltner said.
Next steps
After the CLC joins the conversation at its March 30 to April 2 meeting in Mt. Pleasant, Pa., the Executive Board’s Executive Committee will meet to evaluate the discussions with agencies and conferences. The committee also will prepare for discussion with other churchwide boards June 19 to 21. Boards participating in that meeting include the Executive Board, Mennonite Education Agency, Mennonite Mission Network, MMA, Mennonite Publishing Network and The Mennonite. This meeting was set more than a year ago and will be the first gathering of all Mennonite Church USA boards of directors since its inception in 2001. Immediately following the all-boards meeting in Columbus, the Executive Board will have time to evaluate next steps. Those steps will be reported as they are discerned.
Diller shared his optimism about the future, “The strength of our vision, supported by clearer identity and stronger behaviors of community might surprise us in its capacity to invite increased support for all parts of our mission.”
SIDEBAR: A summary of delegate responses from the San José 2007 Minutes book
The Executive Board at the San José 2007 Delegate Assembly asked delegates, “In what ways do you recommend that Mennonite Church USA organizational structures be modified as the church moves into its next phase of growth?” This is a brief summary of the table group responses listed in the San José 2007 Minutes Book.
Many delegates felt uninformed of the current organizational structure. They asked for specifics about what may or may not be working. One group wrote, “The structure is known but its usefulness and function is less well understood.”
Delegates expressed a desire for Mennonite Church USA organizational structures to be driven by churchwide priorities.
Delegates called for more streamlining or consolidation of activities among agencies, the Executive Board and Executive Leadership.
Delegates highlighted duplication of ministry as a concern. One specific comment was “Executive Leadership and MMN both involved in peace initiative and missional church education—who is leading?”
Delegates called for a more efficient funding system. “It would be wonderful to give to one rather than so many parts!,” one group wrote. Another responded, “(We) need a clear and easy way to distribute money to the groups in the church.”
Delegates requested a proposal of how the Executive Board would change the structures, and some responded that “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it!”
Leaders from Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and Mennonite Church USA held a day-long conversation Feb. 21 in Elkhart, Ind. The meetings—designed to help both groups with “right remembering” of the Protestant Reformation—included a capacity lunch-time crowd during a forum at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. The event also made it clear that both groups have challenges ahead if the ecumenical effort is to be extended into congregational life.
In the fall of 2006, ELCA passed a declaration on the condemnation of Anabaptists. In it, Lutheran leaders said, “We express our deep and abiding sorrow and regret for the persecution and suffering visited upon Anabaptists during the religious disputes of the past.”
In response, Mennonite Church USA executive director Jim Schrag wrote a letter in April 2007 conveying appreciation for the declaration. Schrag said, “We are especially moved by the expression of ‘deep and abiding sorrow and regret’ for past persecutions of Anabaptists.” He called for a blessing on “future collaboration between our two churches.”
The “future collaboration” at the Feb. 21 meeting included a report from John D. Roth about the challenges ahead for Mennonites in this dialogue. Roth, a Goshen (Ind.) College history professor, and Paul Schreck, executive assistant to the ELCA Secretary, were featured at the event, entitled “Unbinding Each Other: New Possibilities in Mennonite-Lutheran Relations.”
Roth said that there are several challenges for Mennonites as they receive the Lutheran statement, including the attitude that “We were the true Christians being persecuted, and now 500 years later we are being vindicated.” He also said that Mennonites have taken on a martyr pathology. “When someone says, ‘I’m sorry,’ can we give it up?” he asked.
Roth also pointed out that “It’s relatively easy to start conversations with people who are quite different. The much, much harder thing is to initiate conversations with those groups who are just a little bit different . . . For Mennonites, it’s Beachy Amish and Old Order Amish and Conservative Conference.”
Schreck noted that two differences remain unresolved in the ongoing Lutheran-Mennonite dialogue: the relationship between the church and the state, and baptism.
“A breakthrough point for us,” said Schreck, “was the discovery that in the Mennonite ministers manual, Lutheran baptism is not automatically invalid. This is very important to Lutherans.”
Roth, who represents Mennonite World Conference on the Lutheran World Federation and MWC international study commission, listed several challenges for Mennonite Church USA in the future.
“The ELCA has a greater clarity about doctrine as formulated and who is responsible to speak on behalf of the church in an official way,” said Roth. “For Mennonite Church USA with its congregational polity, it’s been more difficult to know on whose behalf we are speaking—even at a global level.”
This issue is particularly difficult around the unresolved issue of baptism. “Lutherans would deeply appreciate a statement,” Roth said, “that baptism practiced in Lutheran contexts . . . would be fully recognized in all Mennonite Church USA congregations. For reasons of polity, we don’t have the authority to tell a congregation to do this” even if we thought it was the right thing.
Informal conversations between Mennonites and ELCA leaders began in 1986. The three-year dialogue began with a meeting at Goshen (Ind.) College in February 2002. André Gingerich Stoner, director of interchurch relations for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership, said that no further formal dialogue is planned at this point, but “the next step in our relationship is to facilitate serious encounter and conversation between Mennonites and Lutherans in two or three local settings.”
Stoner said another possibility is for representatives to be invited to each other’s national assemblies.
Members of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada will meet at a binational “People’s Summit for Faithful Living” at the Canadian Mennonite University campus in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in July.
The theme for the gathering is “At the Crossroads: Promise and Peril” and the text for the event comes from Deuteronomy 4:1-9. Participants will focus on the task of being a faithful community of God amidst the many challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
“The book of Deuteronomy is especially suited for use in such a summit,” says Jack Suderman, general secretary of MC Canada. “It is directed at God’s people as they move into the land God has allowed them to possess, where they face important questions like why does God work through peoplehood even when that people is not deserving? What does covenant mean and how does that inform our questions of faithfulness? What are the temptations of God’s people in the land in which they live? Where do God’s people find security as they live in the land and are tempted by wealth, power and ownership?”
Mennonite Church USA identified similar questions at its convention in San Jose, Ca. when it passed a resolution calling for “resources that help us live faithfully in Christlike ways, sometimes at odds with our national culture, acknowledging that no culture is either completely redeemed or completely fallen.”
Ron Byler, associate executive director of Mennonite Church USA says, “We will be looking to further our work in response to our delegates with this upcoming event. For me, an important part of our theme is what it means to live as a contrast community.”
Plenary worship speakers are Tom and Christine Sine of Seattle, Wash., April Yamasaki of Abbotsford, B.C., and Tom Yoder-Neufeld of Waterloo, Ont. A variety of workshops and activities and time for visiting and recreation will round out the event.
The People’s Summit was announced in July 2007 at the Mennonite Church USA biennial convention in San Jose, Calif., and the MC Canada annual delegate assembly in Abbotsford, B.C. The two denominations last met together at a joint convention in Charlotte, N.C., in 2005 where delegates strongly supported continuing to meet together.
The gathering will begin the evening of July 8 and continue through the evening of July 10. Attendees are invited to make a vacation of the People’s Summit and visit Manitoba attractions such as the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Whiteshell Provincial Park and the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
After decades of partnership, both formal and informal, Andover (Vt.) Community Church and Franconia Mennonite Conference have disengaged. Most recently, the Andover congregation had been considered a Partner in Mission through the credentialing of the congregation’s pastors, Dan and Christine Chapman. After the termination of the Chapman’s leadership of the congregation and upon further consultation, the relationship effectively ended in November of 2007.
Andover’s historic ties to Franconia Conference go back to its beginning as families with connections to conference congregations in Pennsylvania settled in Vermont in the 1960s. In recent years, the relationship had become more tenuous. Now, suggesting that the direction of the Mennonite Church USA was not in alignment with the congregation’s future, congregational members have sought to distance themselves further from the larger bodies that include the conference and the denomination. According to Donella M. Clemens, who serves as Franconia Conference’s liaison to congregations and ministries in Vermont, “In the seven years that I have related to the group at Andover we have enjoyed times of wonderful fellowship together. We wish them the grace and blessing of God as they tell of the good news of Jesus Christ through their congregational life and worship and in their witness to the Andover community.”
Franconia Conference ministries continue in Vermont with the Bethany (Bridgewater Corrners) and Taftsville congregations, Bethany Birches Camp and an emerging congregation in the Gass area.
“While it’s always sad and difficult to see a congregation move in a different direction,” says Franconia Conference Executive Minister Noel Santiago, “We recognize that they are pursuing what is God’s call to them at this point in time. Into the future, we are committed to deepening partnerships and ministries in Vermont. We celebrate the many persons have been faithful throughout the years in the work of Andover Community Church and we are grateful to God and each one.”
The Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) of Mennonite Church USA Colorado Springs, Colo. The Constituency Leaders Council met in October. The Constituency Leaders Council is made up of denominational leaders whose task is to help discern with and advise the Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA, the biennial convention and the broader church on issues related to the faith and life of the church.
The Constituency Leaders Council, which meets twice a year, is composed of three representatives from each of the 21 area conferences of Mennonite Church USA (including Franconia Conference); and two representatives from the recognized constituency groups (currently these include the African American Mennonite Association, Iglesia Menonita Hispana, Native Mennonite Ministries, Mennonite Women and Mennonite Men). Ed Diller of Cinncinati, Ohio, is the denominational moderator-elect and chairs the group. Franconia Conference representatives who attended the meeting included Noel Santiago, Executive Minister; Blaine Detwiler, Moderator-Elect; and Gay Brunt Miller, Director of Collaborative Ministries. Miller is also currently serving as the vice chair of the Constituency Leaders Council.
Participants at the meeting worshiped together and also discussed a number of issues. One area of concern was the gender and racial-ethnic composition of the group; Mennonite Church USA has called the church to recognize the gifts of all people within the church but women accounted for only 20 percent of the attendees at this meeting. The highest percentage of women attending a Constituency Leaders Council gathering was 38 percent in 2005, and most church-related agencies and organizations seek an equal ratio of men and women.
Another agenda item was the formation of a task group to work at issues of racism and recommend concrete actions that the Constituency Leaders Council can take. The Constituency Leaders Council wants to address the hurt and isolation experienced by many churches of color, as well as identify ways in which to help the broader church understand that experience and the role the church has played in it.
The Constituency Leaders Council discussed the Resolution on National Identity which was adopted by delegates at San Jose 2007 this past summerand called for a response from the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board. Delegates at San Jose expressed a desire for guidance as they consider consider both the promise and peril of living faithfully as Christians in the United States. They asked the Executive Board to help congregations explore what it means to live as Mennonites in the wealthiest most powerful nation in the world. The Executive Board requested input from the Constituency Leaders Council which recommended, among other things, that the Mennonite Church in the United States listen to the counsel of Mennonites around the world as it undertakes this issue.
Delegates at San Jose also asked the Executive Board to develop and implement a plan for congregations in Mennonite Church USA to participate in providing basic health insurance for all pastors. The Constituency Leaders Council discussed next steps to be taken in this process.
The Constituency Leaders Council also took time to discuss conference structuring, examining how conferences and churches relate to each other and to Mennonite Church USA.
The next meeting of the Constituency Leaders Council will be held at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, Mt. Pleasant, Pa. in the spring of 2008.
When lunch was served to the delegates of the oldest Mennonite conference in the Western Hemisphere, the buffet table held Vietnamese egg rolls, fried tofu, peanut sauce, candied yams and fried chicken. Interpreters translated business agenda and updates into three languages. At the Franconia Mennonite Meetinghouse close to Telford, PA, where Franconia Conference began nearly 300 years ago, attendees sang hymns in Spanish and offered prayers in Indonesian.
Representatives from churches and pastors gather each November with conference staff to worship, welcome new pastors and congregations, discern future movements for the conference and learn about the ministries they support together. But for some, the event is also a reminder of how rapidly the face of the Northeast corridor–and Franconia Mennonite Conference with it–is changing. The churches of Franconia Conference range from Vermont to Washington, D.C.; including congregations initiated by waves of Swiss German immigrants who settled along the Skippack and Perkiomen creeks in the late 1600’s to two Indonesian-speaking churches in South Philadelphia filled with recent immigrants who arrived in the United States after riots in Jakarta in the late 90’s.
The gathering opened on Friday evening with worship. Gilberto Flores, who is a denominational minister with Mennonite Church USA, presented the evening message. Speaking on the theme for the event, “Centered in Christ, Embracing God’s Mission,” Gilberto encouraged the audience to consider the mission to which God has called the church, a mission that includes all people from all places.
“Mission has to be embraced, not discussed,” said Flores. “To walk on water, you just have to walk on water.”
The evening service included a time to officially welcome two new congregations, Nations Worship Center of Philadelphia and Peace Mennonite Church of East Greenville, PA, while newly credentialed pastors were introduced on Saturday morning. Items on Saturday’s agenda also included to in-depth discussion and affirmation of Vision and Financial Plan Team recommendations. Blaine Detwiler, pastor of Lakeview Mennonite Church in Susquehanna, PA, was affirmed by vote as the new conference moderator; he will replace Merrill Moyer of Souderton, PA. in January.
While those who gathered for the assembly recognized that with increasing diversity comes increasing challenges, they also found it to be a hopeful thing.
“There are a number of challenges, living in a traditional kind of church community which has long deep values,” says Noah Kolb, Conference Pastor of Ministerial Leadership “And trying to value them while we open ourselves up to new ways of experiencing God’s grace and God’s mission among us–there’s tension in that.” Kolb highlights that church leaders now come from many different places–not just from other Mennonite churches or institutions, but often from different cultures and countries.
“I think a lot of the hope that I find comes just from relating to these people and seeing God at work within them, and the desire to work together because there’s some common mission that we’re all wanting to move towards.”
“I see hope, as a new leader, in Franconia Conference, in our church, in the way God is working,” says Castillo. “God is the hope for me, because the things I expect will happen don’t always happen, but all these unexpected things I didn’t know God was already working on beginning to happen. There’s so much hope in the fact that God is bringing more and more people in the Conference that are not like us. In the Bible it talks a lot about ‘the others,’ the unexpected people that God used in miraculous and wonderful ways . . . Sometimes it is ‘the others’ that God needs in this place and in this time.”
“It’s all about trust in God,” says Yvonne Platts, who serves on the Conference board. “It’s all about listening, discerning and really trying to hear what messages God is saying for our church–and understanding that it’s not about us. Anything new can be uncomfortable. Unfamiliar territory can make us afraid. But if we just trust and lean on Jesus, he will guide us.”
This weekend, representatives from the congregations, partners and ministries that make up Franconia Mennonite Conference will gather for the 2007 Fall Conference Assembly, but the president of the Mexico Mennonite Conference will not be among them. Ofelia García’s application for a visa to travel to the United States was denied last month.
García, who lives in Mexico City, had planned on traveling to the United States to participate in a gathering for women of color called “Encountering the Face of God,” which was held at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary of Elkhart, Ind. in October. After the conference, García was to travel to Pennsylvania for more meetings and the Franconia annual assembly.
García said she was frustrated because the consulate asked for information it had never needed before and did not read the invitation letter she had been given by Mennonite Central Committee, which helped to organize the conference. And García said that while she’s grateful for the concern of her brothers and sisters in the United States, her experience is a common problem for Mexicans. She says it’s infuriating to see the way in which families, women and the elderly are treated at the U.S. embassy. The visa request of Sidonie Swana Falanga of Kinshasa, Congo was also denied.
In response to the denied visas, Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership, MCC U.S. and others have been writing letters of protest to the State Department expressing concern over the situation. Iris de León-Hartshorn, director of Intercultural Relations for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership, says the letters also will help Garcia and Falanga feel the support of their sisters and brothers in the United States.
The U.S. State Department cited a lack of assets as a key reason for denying the visas, says de León-Hartshorn. “Apparently,” she said “the government does not see their work, churches, communities and families as assets” that would bring them back to their home countries.
Franconia Conference has long-term partnerships with the congregations in Mexico City. This is not the first time that visa complications have made visits difficult. According to Steve Kriss who serves as the Conference’s primary liaison with the Mexico City congregations, “We lament that Ofelia is unable to join us this year as a representation of our relationships with the congregations in Mexico City and even more lament the ongoing situation and fear-based policies that prohibit the free movement of global church leaders into our midst.”
ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network) – Three members of Franconia Mennonite Conference congregations began voluntary service assignments in September 2007.
Kara Miller of Perkasie, Pa. and Samuel Moyer of Plymouth, Vt. both began one year terms with Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS).
Miller, who graduated from Eastern Mennonite University in 2007, is serving in Fresno, Calif. as a part of the outdoor programs support staff with San Joaquin River Parkway Conservation Trust. She is the daughter of Sylvia and Virgil Miller and attends Perkasie Mennonite Church.
Moyer serves in Boulder, Colo. as a volunteer with Secure World Foundation. A 2007 graduate of Goshen College (Ind.), Moyer is the son of Naomi and Stephen Moyer and attends Bethany Mennonite Church.
Rooted in the spirit of Jesus, MVS invites young adults to join together in Christian ministry for one- or two-year terms in more than 20 locations in the United States and one international site.
Service Adventure brings together young adults ages 17-20 to live in a household community with a leader for 10 months. Since 1989 Service Adventure participants have served in medical clinics, tutored children, worked with senior citizens, repaired old housing and helped meet needs across North America. Mennonite Church USA and exists to lead, mobilize and equip the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Mission Network envisions every congregation and all parts of the world being fully engaged in mission.
More information about both programs is available online: Service.MennoniteMission.net
The issue includes “Can we embrace evangelism and peace?” which was previously published as a Franconia Conference staff blog by Gay Brunt Miller, Director of Collaborative Ministries. Greg Albright from Whitehall (Pa.) Mennonite Church, who is a student at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia’s Main Line suburbs, tells of his experiment with “Confessional Evangelism” on campus. The third article is from Vic Sensenig, who is currently serving with Mennonite Central Committee in Indonesia and is a member of Souderton (Pa.) Mennonite Church. Sensenig explores the perspectives of new atheism and possible Christian response.
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It wasn’t until a few days later, when the college sent out an email about the opportunity to be interviewed by a national news network for a series on young voters, that he made the connection. Good responded to the email and was one of seven students selected to be a part of the panel.
In a meeting Sunday and Monday with the executive directors and board chairs of 
The People’s Summit was announced in July 2007 at the Mennonite Church USA biennial convention in San Jose, Calif., and the MC Canada annual delegate assembly in Abbotsford, B.C. The two denominations last met together at a joint convention in Charlotte, N.C., in 2005 where delegates strongly supported continuing to meet together.
After decades of partnership, both formal and informal, Andover (Vt.) Community Church and Franconia Mennonite Conference have disengaged. Most recently, the Andover congregation had been considered a Partner in Mission through the credentialing of the congregation’s pastors, Dan and Christine Chapman. After the termination of the Chapman’s leadership of the congregation and upon further consultation, the relationship effectively ended in November of 2007.
The Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) of 
Participants at the meeting worshiped together and also discussed a number of issues. One area of concern was the gender and racial-ethnic composition of the group; Mennonite Church USA has called the church to recognize the gifts of all people within the church but women accounted for only 20 percent of the attendees at this meeting. The highest percentage of women attending a Constituency Leaders Council gathering was 38 percent in 2005, and most church-related agencies and organizations seek an equal ratio of men and women.
The gathering opened on Friday evening with worship. 
This weekend, representatives from the congregations, partners and ministries that make up Franconia Mennonite Conference will gather for the 2007 Fall Conference Assembly, but the president of the Mexico Mennonite Conference will not be among them. Ofelia García’s application for a visa to travel to the United States was denied last month.
Kara Miller of Perkasie, Pa. and Samuel Moyer of Plymouth, Vt. both began one year terms with Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS).
Gregory Bishop, of Blooming Glen, Pa., began a Service Adventure assignment August 2007 in Raleigh, N.C. A 2007 graduate of 
Service Adventure brings together young adults ages 17-20 to live in a household community with a leader for 10 months. Since 1989 Service Adventure participants have served in medical clinics, tutored children, worked with senior citizens, repaired old housing and helped meet needs across North America. 