Host Bonita Rockingham
ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Church USA) — The Women in Leadership ministry of MC USA is releasing season three of its popular podcast, “Holding It(,) Together.” Bonita Rockingham of the Women in Leadership steering committee hosts the podcast, which is created by women for women. The podcast is available on the MC USA website, Apple, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.
The theme for season three is “This I Believe.”
“The ‘This I Believe’ series will closely follow the NPR radio show version format launched in 1951 by Edward R. Murrow and then relaunched in the mid-2000s,” said Rockingham. “This season will feature three- to eight-minute narrative belief statements held by folks across the denomination,” she added.
The first episode, now available, features Rev. Dr. Sarah Bixler, associate dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Other new episodes will drop once a month during the podcast’s six-month season. Upcoming release dates are Feb. 26, Mar. 25, April 29, May 27 and June 24, 2024.
Previous episodes of the podcast also are available at all podcast locations.
“This series provides a significant platform for sharing personal beliefs in a way that fosters empathy and understanding,” said Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz, MC USA denominational minister for Peace & Justice. “I think ‘This I Believe’ encourages all of us to reflect on our own values and ways of interacting with one another to create the connections God intends for us to live in community,” she added.
MC USA folks who are interested in participating in the podcast by sharing their “This I Believe” statement may email Rockingham directly here.
Bonita (Garber) Rockingham (she/her) is a transracial adoptee, speaker and writer, a Legal Communications Professional, and aspiring roller derby player. As a Black transracial adoptee, Bonita leverages her unique lived experiences to make clear the urgency to cultivate sustainable anti-racist systems and reform policies and has collaborated with many organizations including Be The Bridge, and Adoption Mosaic. Bonita is a graduate of Hesston College and Millersville University and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She lives on the unceded land of the Susquehannock in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Women in Leadership is a ministry of MC USA that works to dismantle patriarchal systems in the denomination by empowering women to live out the call of God in their lives, increase their capacities and contribute their wisdom in congregations, area conferences, agencies and institutions. The work of Women in Leadership includes the Women Doing Theology conference, Holding it(,) Together podcasts, curriculums and worship resources. Led by a diverse steering committee, the Women in Leadership ministry is committed to intersectionality and centering the wisdom and leadership of BIPOC women.
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
