Staff Sightings
Phil Bergey is currently reading The End of Religion: an Introduction to the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus by Bruxy Cavey. He has also begun to organize his learnings from the past decade of transformation within FMC which will serve as the basis for his writing in the first half of 2007.
Gay Brunt Miller visited several congregations this fall including New Beginnings Community and Frederick Mennonite. She spent the first week of November in the United Kingdom exploring partnership opportunities with The Anabaptist Network. Gay also visited Germantown Mennonite Church for the ordination of the congregation’s pastor Mark Schlotterbeck. Finally, Gay attended the Missional Team meeting in Chicago and the Constituency Leaders Council.
Marlene Frankenfield attended the regional conference youth ministry gathering in New Jersey with Atlantic Coast Conference and Allegheny Conference. She has been offering support to the Blooming Glen and Franconia churches as they are in youth ministry transition and also paritcipated in Brad Alderfer’s commissioning at Salford. Marlene is assisting with Convention Worship Planning in San Jose. Finally, she conducted the annual youth Leadership Retreat where 19 congregations were represented.
Claude Good is currently writing to the many international students with whom we have had contact in the past 15 or so years. He recently ordered two million de-worming pills. One million will be going to Nicaragua for the fourth distribution. The other million will be going to a group that is distributing the capsules along with food supplements among the poor across the world.
Noah Kolb recently conducted the ordinations for Bill Kull at Methacton and Don McDonough at Spring Mount. He also attended the ordination of Michael Bishop at Blooming Glen. He met with several congregations in pastoral transition including Rocky Ridge and Vincent. Noah attended the pastors appreciation breakfast at Philadelphia Mennonite High School and the annual Conference Ministers’ gathering in Pittsburgh.
Pastoral Transitions
David F. Derstine, long-time minister in the conference, passed away December 15.
Credentials
Hien Truong was approved for ordination as a pastor at Vietnamese Gospel on December 6.
Conference Board Transistions
Rita Hoover and Roy Yoder finish their terms as Board members on December 31. Rita was also a member of the Executive Committee. Both have served with the Board for six years.
Jim Laverty (Souderton) and Vina Krisnadi (Philadelphia Praise Center) will begin three year terms with Conference Board on January 1.
Carolyn Egli, Jerry Musselman, and Ray Yoder will begin three year terms with the Conference Board Minsterial Committee on January 2.