The Mennonite Church USA Executive Board thanked outgoing Moderator Linda Dibble and four outgoing Executive Board members for their service at an abbreviated meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 3, 2023. They also prepared for the upcoming Delegate Assembly on July 7-8. Dibble, who served as moderator (2021-2023) and moderator-elect (2019-2021), will continue to serve on the Executive Board as past moderator for another term. Iris de León-Hartshorn presented her... read more →
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Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6, followed by the Youth & Young Adult Climate Summit, July 7. Sarah Naharis a non-violent action trainer and inter-spiritual theologian. She is the former executive director of Community Peacemaker Teams and is currently a doctoral student at Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF in Syracuse, New York, which is traditional Onondaga land. She is studying ecological regeneration and spiritual activism. ______________________________ Jessica Griggs, blog editor for MC USA, talked to Sarah Nahar about the upcoming Youth & Young Adult Climate Summit.... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Rylee Weishaupt (she/her) grew up in Goshen, Indiana, where she attended Silverwood Mennonite Church. She graduated from Goshen High School, June 2022, and soon after started Mennonite Mission Network’s program Service Adventure, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has since completed her service term, returned to Goshen and is planning to attend Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas, in the fall. Rylee will be majoring in Bible and ministry. ______________________________ Once every two years,[1] this crazy-cool event called MennoCon happens. From a youth’s... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Randy Spaulding is the pastor of Boulder (Colorado) Mennonite Church. He is one of the leaders of Inclusive Mennonite Pastors and a co-writer of the Resolution for Repentance and Transformation. Previously, he was a minister at Bahia Vista Mennonite Church and Covenant Mennonite Fellowship, Sarasota, Florida. He served as the project editor for Sing the Journey and Sing the Story. He is married to his husband, Gary, and they live in Boulder. ______________________________ In March, a group of queer, transgender and... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Mariah Martin (she/her) is a pastor at Faith Mennonite Church and the host of the Called to be Bad Podcast. She received a B.A. in religion from Hesston and Goshen College and an MDiv from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. She and her spouse, Nick Bouwman, live in Goshen, Indiana, with their bunnies, Peppa and Eugene, as well as their backyard chickens. She is always ready to talk about animals and books, especially if there is coffee involved. ______________________________ “Okay, let’s go... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Lisa Longacher loves building relationships as a development officer for Hesston College. She is an alumna of Hesston College and Eastern Mennonite University and is a member of First Mennonite Church of Denver (Colorado). Along with creating fiber art, she loves reading, running trails and spending time with her family. Lisa will be co-leading the "Art for Change: Exploring Your Creativity" youth seminar with Dr. Joseph A. Manickam on Tuesday, July 4. ______________________________ “Give peace a chance!” “Protect children, not guns!”... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Anthony Khair is the international fellow at Mennonite Central Committee's National Peace and Justice Ministries, a part of MCC’s international volunteer exchange program. Anthony is working on advocacy issues related to Palestine and Israel, Syria, Latin America, and migration. He is from Palestine but was born in Honduras, where he lived for 10 years before his family moved back to Palestine. Anthony has a two-year diploma of theology from Bethlehem Bible College. He was part of the model United Nations, a... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Anthony Khair is the international fellow at Mennonite Central Committee's National Peace and Justice Ministries, a part of MCC’s international volunteer exchange program. Anthony is working on advocacy issues related to Palestine and Israel, Syria, Latin America, and migration. He is from Palestine but was born in Honduras, where he lived for 10 years before his family moved back to Palestine. Anthony has a two-year diploma of theology from Bethlehem Bible College. He was part of the model United Nations, a... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Robert Brenneman is the director of criminal justice and restorative justice and professor of sociology at Goshen College. A graduate of Eastern Mennonite University and former service-worker with Mennonite Central Committee, Rob is the author of “Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America” and teaches courses in sociology, criminal justice, and peace, justice, and conflict studies. At MennoCon23 he will deliver separate seminars called “Gang Violence and the Global Church” and “Help! My phone is stuck to my face!” ______________________________ The first time... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Nelson Okanya is the Global Missions President for the Center for Serving Leadership in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is also the chair of the Global Mission Fellowship, a support network for Anabaptist-related churches and mission groups, facilitated by Mennonite World Conference. Previously, Nelson served as a pastor and the president of Eastern Mennonite Missions. He holds a Master of Divinity from Eastern Mennonite Seminary and a doctorate in intercultural studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. He attends James Street Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Dianne Garcia is the pastor of the Iglesia Cristiana Roca de Refugio in San Antonio, Texas, a church centered in the immigrant community and focused on creating a place of belonging through God’s love for those that have been told they don’t belong. She will be speaking at MennoCon23 on Wednesday morning, July 5. ______________________________ We live in a fragmented society. Most of us have grown accustomed to spending the vast majority of our time alone and apart, even if we... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Jon Carlson is the current moderator-elect for Mennonite Church USA and will step into the role of moderator following the conclusion of the July 7 Delegate Assembly. He has served on MC USA’s Executive Board since 2019 and is on the board of directors for Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Mennonite Schools. He is the lead pastor of Forest Hills Mennonite Church in Leola, Pennsylvania. Jon is completing his Master of Divinity from Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He will be speaking at... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Hugo Saucedo is an elementary school principal in San Antonio, Texas, where he lives with his wife, Danielle, and two kids. Hugo has been volunteering at convention since the 2003 convention in Atlanta, Georgia, and has served in a number of capacities. Hugo enjoys live music, traveling and sampling local cuisine. ______________________________ The first convention I attended was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1993. I was 16 years old, when my youth group drove from Brownsville, Texas, to Philadelphia. In spite of the long drive, the memories I made... read more →
Blog Post
This post is part of the MennoCon23 #BeTransformed series. MennoCon23 will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Becky Degan serves as the associate pastor of worship and Christian education at Forest Hills Mennonite Church in Leola, Pennsylvania. In her free time, she accompanies a community choir and directs middle and high school plays. Before beginning her current position at Forest Hills in 2006, she worked for 10 years as a music therapist for children with special needs. Becky holds a bachelor’s degree in music therapy from Elizabethtown (Pennsylvania) College and is currently working toward a Master of Arts in Christian... read more →
The Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) Executive Board addressed agenda items for the upcoming 2023 Delegate Assembly and affirmed several key relationships during its online Zoom meeting on Jan. 27 and 28, 2023. 2023 Delegate Assembly The Executive Board discussed potential bylaw and other changes that will allow the Executive Board to operate more efficiently and effectively by streamlining and clarifying MC USA’s governance structure. Associate Executive Director for Church Vitality Michael Danner presented an update on the Prevention and Accountability Project, a comprehensive misconduct guidebook being developed in partnership with Mennonite Church Canada. One change being considered is adjudicating... read more →