Front row, left to right: Susan Hart; Marty Lehman, moderator-elect; Karen Zehr; Linda Dibble; Second row: Phillip Helmuth; Margie Mejia-Caraballo; Emily Merolli; Mitch Kingsley; Third row: Rosetta Landis; Todd Lehman; Richard Aguirre; Jon Carlson, moderator. (Missing: Thomas Dunn, Lesley Francisco McClendon, Jerrell Williams.) Photo by Camille Dager.
The Mennonite Church USA Executive Board focused on healthy processes for denominational decision-making and reimagining organizational change at its meeting on August 22-25, 2024, in Greensboro, North Carolina, the site of the upcoming Follow Jesus ’25 convention.
Catherine Barnes led a board development workshop on decision-making.
Catherine Barnes, an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and freelance trainer, led a board development workshop on decision-making practices and systems. Executive Board members and staff engaged in roundtable discussions about ways to improve dialogue and enhance the effectiveness of decision-making within the context of MC USA’s governance structure.
Reimagining Mennonite Church USA
The Executive Board also discussed how they might assess and re-envision the MC USA governance structures, relationships and how people connect to the denomination. Executive Board members expressed consensus to form an ad hoc working group comprised of key constituents, including members and leaders from MC USA agencies and conferences, as well as experts in organizational development, finance and missiology, to conduct this work. As a next step, the Executive Board will develop a charter to define the role of this group and the scope of its work for the next Executive Board meeting.
“I think of it as reimagining the systems that bind us together and foster our relationships,” said Moderator Jon Carlson. “It feels good to have momentum in a positive direction for an important and probably overdue conversation.”
Integrating Mennonite Education Agency
Michael Danner, executive director of Mennonite Education Agency, provided an update on MEA.
Michael Danner, who serves a dual role as executive director of Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) and associate executive director of Church Vitality for MC USA Administration, said that he and the MEA Board of Directors are also reimagining ways to serve the denomination more effectively.
At the June 11, 2024, meeting of the MEA Board of Directors, Danner recommended that MEA integrate into the overall ministry structure of MC USA, becoming an educational department within MC USA Administration, instead of an independent, self-governing agency.
He reported that the MEA Board of Directors gave approval to explore merging governance and administrative structures.
Danner explained that the agency’s goal is to “leverage the resources we have … in a way that ensures proper governance and supervision while freeing up more resources in support of ministry programming and development.”
The MC USA Executive Board affirmed this direction through consensus. The MEA Board of Directors will continue work on this potential integration at its meeting on October 18-19, 2024. If affirmed by both boards, staff integration could begin as early as January 2025.
Executive director’s report
In his report to the Executive Board, Executive Director Glen Guyton highlighted demographic shifts and cultural and social changes impacting the broader church, including those that have led to a departure from congregational life. One of the resources provided to the Executive Board was the book, “The Great Dechurching” by Jim Davis, Michael Graham and Ryan Burge.
“Visionary, joyful, positive leadership is needed during this time, and I’m thankful for the work that the Executive Board is doing to help move us in that direction,” said Guyton, noting, “Care and strategy are needed. We are people of faith … We must once again learn how to strive together as fellow sojourners.”
Guyton also reported that:
- The 2027 MC USA convention will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- The title of the MC USA building in Elkhart, Indiana, was transferred from Mennonite Mission Network to MC USA on July 31, 2024, in accordance with a 2011 memo of understanding. The building houses the MC USA Historical Archives and is occupied by staffers from MC USA Administration, Mennonite Education Agency, Mennonite Mission Network and ministry partner Anabaptist Disability Network.
Other business
In other business, the Executive Board reviewed the Executive Director’s financial management and development plans.
Iris de León-Hartshorn, MC USA associate executive director for Operations and staff support for MC USA’s Leadership Discernment Committee (LDC), also proposed a new policy to address what to do if a churchwide board member representing MC USA is no longer a member of an MC USA congregation. The Executive Board, with input from the LDC and agency-wide Governance Council earlier this year, voted unanimously to adopt the policy.
Agency review: Mennonite Mission Network
In accordance with MC USA bylaws, the Executive Board performed a periodic review of Mennonite Mission Network, MC USA’s mission agency.
Mennonite Mission Network Board of Directors Chair Randall Justice and Executive Director Marisa Smucker engaged with the MC USA Executive Board.
Mennonite Mission Network Board of Directors Chair Randall Justice and Executive Director Marisa Smucker provided an update on the agency and addressed questions from the Executive Board.
Justice said the Mennonite Mission Network board has a desire to grow into expanded missional thinking. “…We want to be known and trusted to expand our missional reach far and wide, and to have it be known, understood and appreciated on a deep level that we’re doing that in the name of our denomination,” he said.
In a discussion about how Mennonite Mission Network can help MC USA care for the soul of the church, Justice emphasized collaboration. He said, “We talk about the Good News, but … are we living into the goodness of that news from an enthusiasm standpoint? More than anything, that’s what I think the soul of our church needs, and I’m super interested in how all of us can do that together at every level.”
The next Executive Board meeting is on Nov. 14-16, 2024, in Destin, Florida.
Mennonite Church USA is an Anabaptist Christian denomination, founded in 2002 by the merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Members of this historic peace church seek to follow Jesus by rejecting violence and resisting injustice. MC USA’s Renewed Commitments state the following shared commitments among its diverse body of believers: to follow Jesus, witness to God’s peace and experience the transformation of the Holy Spirit. Mennoniteusa.org
Written by Camille Dager.