This post was originally shared on the Mennonite Church USA Convention website.
By Convention Staff
Worship is the keystone event at convention. Every two years, we come together to be encouraged. We come together to be challenged. We come together to be inspired and energized. We come together to celebrate God in our midst, and to recommit ourselves to following Jesus “on the way.”
We’ve got a great group of speakers planned for KC2015. Check them out!
Tuesday Night, June 30
Michelle Armster is a pastor, preacher and teacher. She currently serves as the Director for Mennonite Central Committee Central States. Throughout her career, she has provided resourcing, consulting and training for churches, agencies and communities on conflict transformation, and restorative justice. She has had many years of extensive training and experience in meditation, facilitation, conciliation, restorative justice, arbitration, victim/offender mediation, anti-racism and alternatives to violence. She graduated from Lancaster Theological Seminary’s Masters of Divinity program in 2007. Equally as important, she is a creative soul, weaving song and drama through all dimensions of her life. She enjoys creative writing, acting, and singing.
Wednesday Morning, July 1
Isaac S. Villegas is the pastor of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship in North Carolina. He serves on the Executive Board of Mennonite Church USA and on the Governing Board of the North Carolina Council of Churches.
Wednesday Evening, July 1 and Saturday Morning, July 4
Michele Hershberger has been serving the Mennonite Church for over 25 years. She’s been a youth pastor, speaker, playwright and teacher. She now serves as Chair of the Bible and Ministry Department at Hesston College, where she teaches Bible and Youth Ministry….and loves it! Michele has written extensively, including the books God’s Story, Our Story and A Christian View of Hospitality. Recently she spent a year teaching Bible in Klaipeda, Lithuania at LCC International University. Michele is married to Del Hershberger and they have three young adult children.
Thursday Morning, July 2
Patricia Shelly is the current moderator-elect of Mennonite Church USA and professor of Bible and religion at Bethel College, where she has taught since 1985. She also served as campus minister of chapel and worship. Patty graduated from Bethel and did graduate work at the Iliff School of Theology and the University of Denver, where she earned her Master of Divinity degree and completed her Ph.D. in biblical interpretation, with a doctoral thesis on “Amos and Irony.” Patty developed an interest in biblical geography and archaeology after eight months of study in Jerusalem, and has been leading study seminars to Israel/Palestine ever since. She is an active member of Bethel College Mennonite Church in North Newton, Kan.
Friday Morning, July 3
Pastor Cyneatha Millsaps lives in Markham, Ill., and is the Pastor of Community Mennonite Church in Markham. She is married to Steven and together they have seven children and 19 grandchildren. Cyneatha is also a consultant for the Illinois Mennonite Conference.
Friday Night, July 3
Luke Hartman is a long-time educator who currently serves as the Vice President for Enrollment at Eastern Mennonite University. He has taught public middle school and high school students with exceptional learning and behavioral needs and served as a behavioral consultant aiding teachers with challenging students. Luke has also taught in the education departments at Hesston College, Bethel College, and Eastern Mennonite University. He most recently served the Harrisonburg City Public School system as an administrator of the most diverse middle school per capita in the state of Virginia, a school in which he helped to open. A graduate of Hesston College, Eastern Mennonite University, Wichita State University and Virginia Tech, Luke’s dissertation focused on prejudice reduction through diversity coursework and he continues to focus on multiculturalism and social justice in the field of education.
Sunday Morning, July 5
Shane Claiborne graduated from Eastern University and did graduate work at Princeton Seminary. His adventures have taken him from the streets of Calcutta where he worked with Mother Teresa to the wealthy suburbs of Chicago where he served at Willow Creek, a “mega-church”. As a peacemaker, his journeys have taken him to some of the most troubled regions of the world – from Rwanda to the West Bank – and he’s been on peace delegations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Shane is a founder and board member of The Simple Way, a faith community in inner city Philadelphia that has helped birth and connect radical faith communities around the world. Shane writes and travels extensively speaking about peacemaking, social justice, and Jesus.