HARRISONBURG, Va. — Amy Gingerich has been reappointed as MennoMedia executive director. The MennoMedia Board tapped Gingerich for a second four-year term as leader of the denominational publishing arm. Gingerich was first appointed in 2018.
“The MennoMedia Board unanimously affirms Gingerich’s successful leadership of the publishing agency of MC USA and MC Canada,” says Lee Schmucker, Board Chairperson. “Amy demonstrates creative, visionary, and collaborative leadership guiding MennoMedia in delivering thoughtful Anabaptist resources to enrich Christian faith in a complex world.”
“In all we do at MennoMedia, we strive to engage people in connecting faith and life,” said Gingerich. “I’m delighted to accept another term for this ministry and heartened to see all the ways that our products and resources are making a difference in people’s lives.”
This reappointment was affirmed by MennoMedia’s two sponsoring denominations: Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada.
“Amy represents the best of our agency leaders,” says Glen Guyton, Mennonite Church USA Executive Director. “She is a joy to work with, and her leadership has inspired great collaboration between various entities in the denomination. I value her commitment to both MC USA and MC Canada, her creativity, and her ability to deliver great Anabaptist products in an increasingly challenging marketplace.”
Mennonite Church Canada Executive Minister Doug Klassen states, “Amy’s resilience has been a key factor in carrying MennoMedia through many changes, in particular, the struggles of COVID adjustments. Her leadership, ambition, hopes, and detailed plans/strategies portray a humble confidence that is reflective of the supporting denominations and on our call to be agents of healing and hope in our world.”
MennoMedia’s accomplishments in the last four years under the leadership of Gingerich include:
- Repositioning and restructuring the organization amid a changing market, and reimagining MennoMedia’s strategic goals during a pandemic.
- Financial turnaround during the past four years even with the challenges of a global pandemic.
- Antiracism strategies and actions implemented, including staff and board antiracism training, an anti-racism audit, three persons-of-color hired. Other audit recommendations continue to be implemented into operations.
- Voices Together was published at the end of 2020. This once-in-a-generation project brought together a tremendous volunteer committee alongside MennoMedia staff. In its first year, Voices Together sold nearly 42,000 copies, three times the first-year sales goal.
- MennoMedia’s Leader magazine brand has expanded to include a podcast and periodic webinars. Branded as “practical, effective, anabaptist,” these additional initiatives are making Leader ever-more relevant to pastors and leaders.
- The Shine curriculum, co-published with Brethren Press, launched a new Shine at Home curriculum for families amid changing patterns of attendance due to the pandemic. A new annual story Bible corresponding with the weekly Bible stories also debuted in fall 2020 to draw children and families deeper into the biblical story.
- Sales of Herald Press books surpassed $1 million in fiscal year 2021, a feat that the agency had not accomplished since 2012. MennoMedia publishes 18-21 new books each year under the Herald Press imprint.
- Grants from the Schowalter Foundation and Everence funded the development of a suite of “What Now?” resource toolkits to help congregations and pastors as they navigate what it means to be the people of God in this moment.
MennoMedia is an agency of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, publishing church and Sunday school curricula, hymnals, periodicals, and religious trade books under the Herald Press imprint. For more information about MennoMedia staff changes, contact LeAnn Hamby at (540) 908-3941 or LeAnnH@MennoMedia.org.