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Thomas announced as nominee for MC USA moderator-elect

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by Marathana Prothro, Mennonite Church USA

The Mennonite Church USA Leadership Discernment Committee announces Dick Thomas of Lancaster, Pa., as its nominee for moderator-elect of Mennonite Church USA. The Mennonite Church USA Delegate Assembly will be presented with the nomination when it gathers this summer as part of Convention 2009 June 30 to July 5 in Columbus, Ohio.

With the delegates’ affirmation, Thomas will be elected to a four-year term, beginning after the 2009 Delegate Assembly. He would spend the first two years as moderator-elect and chair of the Constituency Leaders Council and then succeed current moderator-elect Ed Diller of Cincinnati, Ohio, as moderator for Mennonite Church USA after the 2011 Delegate Assembly in Pittsburgh. Sharon Waltner of Parker, S.D., will continue as moderator for Mennonite Church USA through the 2009 Delegate Assembly in Columbus. The moderator chairs the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board.

“It excites me to think about being one small part of helping all the parts of our denomination work together with a common purpose of healing and hope, to make the difference that God is calling us to make in the world,” Thomas said Monday. “I see this as an opportunity to work with many gifted, talented people — staff, the Executive Board, and leaders of conferences, agencies, schools and other institutions.”

Thomas currently is employed by Lancaster Mennonite School as its superintendent where he has worked in a variety of roles for the last 36 years. He also has been active within his area conference, Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA, with leadership roles as moderator and moderator-elect as well as serving as a member of its Peace and Justice Committee. Thomas says that, for him, participation in local ministry is informed by being part of Mennonite Church USA and the denomination’s shared missional priorities.

“As a result of my participation in Constituency Leaders Council meetings as moderator of Atlantic Coast Conference, my life has grown richer as I’ve gotten to know conference moderators and ministers and gained a sense of the denomination striving to be missional by working against racism, looking for ways to join God’s work and calling the gifts of women and men in ministry,” Thomas said.

Thomas is dedicated to a vision of healing and hope as well as Mennonite Church USA’s missional priorities of holistic witness, antiracism, leadership development and global connections. He says that these priorities will empower all parts of the church to address the challenges the denomination faces and to share good news in a way that connects with the yearnings of many people in U.S. culture. “As we nurture Christ-centered congregations around these priorities, I believe we will see significant growth in our churches as well as the emergence of new congregations.

“The challenge is to have all parts of Mennonite Church USA — congregations, agencies, boards, conferences — move forward in that missional vision. I think that as we do that connecting with each other rather than as individuals in our own separate spheres, I think we’re going to develop a synergy where each part encourages the other, and we’re going to get farther ahead than if we were doing it alone,” Thomas said.

Working as part of a team is important to Thomas, and his involvement in churchwide teams during the last five years has included chairing the Mennonite Schools Council and being a member of the Eastern Mennonite University Board of Trustees and the Search Committee for the Associate Executive Director of Mennonite Education Agency. He currently is a member of the Executive Board’s Executive Director Search Committee.

Thomas earned both his bachelor’s and master of education degrees at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa. He also has completed graduate work in school administration at Temple University in Philadelphia and several biblical studies classes through Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind.

Along with his wife, Joyce Hostetter Thomas, Thomas is a member of Ridgeview Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pa., where he has served as a Sunday school teacher and lay minister of Administration and Ministry Team.

“Mennonite Church USA is my spiritual home, nurtured through participation in congregations of Allegheny, Atlantic Coast and Lancaster conferences. These congregations, along with Lancaster Mennonite School, have called me to a Christ-centered faith,” Thomas said. “Together they have provided a variety of leadership experiences that I hope will be helpful to the Executive Board and the denomination as we move forward in our missional calling, guided by the Holy Spirit.”

One Childhood Consulting hosts Stewards of Children training in June

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Julie Prey-Harbaugh, of One Childhood Consulting, will be leading a Stewards of Children Authorized Facilitator Training at the Mennonite Conference Center from 8:30am-5:30pm on Wednesday, June 10, 2009. Stewards of Children is a nationally-recognized, evidence-based curriculum produced by Darkness to Light that helps participants to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.

Participants in the Facilitator training will learn how to teach the curriculum, and may also earn continuing education units from the National Association of Social Workers.

One Childhood Consulting is a Franconia Conference School for Leadership Formation endorsed resource which provides a variety of innovative services including Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Training, Child Safety Planning and Policy Making, Clergy Ethics Training, Resourcing for Christian Worship, workshops and retreats.

Hesston College's Bel Canto Singers to perform in area congregations

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The Bel Canto Singers of Hesston College will present programs in Mennonite congregations and in Mennonite schools in the East and Midwest during a nearly two-week summer tour May 4-14.

The concert titled Our God is Near features an eclectic repertoire spanning renaissance to modern works. Featured composers include William Byrd, Arvo Pärt, William Grant Stills, James Clemens, and Stephen Paulus. Bel Canto Singers is conducted by Bradley Kauffman, a college music faculty member.

The 20-voice mixed ensemble was selected by competitive audition in the spring of 2008. Sopranos are Rebecca Friesen (Aurora, Neb.); Jessica Juhnke (Hesston, Kan.); Jasmine Martin (New Holland, Pa.); Cassandra Steiner (Apple Creek, Ohio); and Lauren Zehr (Wauseon, Ohio).

Altos are Kory Hiebert (Goessel, Kan.); Emily Hornung (Osage City, Kan.); Kristen Horst (Orrville, Ohio); Ana Loucks (Hesston, Kan.); and Annali Murray (Orrville, Ohio).

Tenors are Dmitry Bucklin (Mountain Lake, Minn.); Ethan Mast (Dundee, Ohio); John Murray (Hesston, Kan.); Drew Nussbaum (Apple Creek, Ohio); and Nathan Snyder (Fruita, Colo.).

Basses are Sam Kauffman (Surrey, N.D.); Logan Miller (Apple Creek, Ohio); Carson Stutzman (Beaver Crossing, Neb.); Mitch Stutzman (Middlebury, Ind.); and Jason Unruh (Peabody, Kan.).

This spring marks the completion of Kauffman’s second year on Hesston College’s music faculty where he chairs the department and directs the instrumental music program. Prior to coming to Hesston, Kauffman was director of Instrumental Music at Bethany Christian Schools, Goshen, Ind., and director of Choral and Instrumental Music at Iowa Mennonite School, Kalona, Iowa. Kauffman holds a master’s of art degree in choral conducting from the University of Iowa.

During the 2008-09 school year, the Bel Canto Singers performed at major school events, in local churches, on tour, and by special invitation.

The concerts are free and open to the public. Hesston College alumni and friends in southeastern Pennsylvania are especially invited to attend the following concerts:

  • 2 p.m., Thursday, May 7, Christopher Dock High School, 1000 fort Foot Rd., Lansdale, Pa.
  • 7 p.m., Thursday, May 7, Souderton Mennonite Church 105 West Chestnut St., Souderton, Pa. NOTE: This program will also feature the Souderton Mennonite Church Choir. A reception with Centennial stories by John Sharp, selections on the lighter side by Bel Canto Singers, and a Hesston College update will follow the concert.

For more information, contact the Hesston College Alumni and Church Relations Office at 866-437-7866 (866-HESSTON) or e-mail alumni@hesston.edu.

Executive Board makes plans for executive director transition

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By Marathana Prothro, MC USA

At its April 16 to 18 meeting in Rochester, N.Y., the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board approved a staff recommendation that, in the event a new executive director has not been named, current associate executive Ron Byler will serve as acting executive director for the denomination beginning Aug. 1. At the same time, current executive director Jim Schrag plans to compile a history of the transformation of Mennonite Church USA until he retires in November.

Last fall, Schrag announced his plans for retirement in November, and Byler also made more widely known his plans for a transition away from Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership following the Mennonite Church USA Convention, June 30 to July 5, in Columbus, Ohio. Byler will carry out the executive director functions until a new executive director is in place, unless the Executive Board’s Executive Director Search Committee names Schrag’s replacement by Convention 2009.

In January the Executive Board appointed a search committee to find and name the next executive director, and this group recently completed work on a job description and now is in the process of seeking candidates. According to search committee chair, Ed Diller, the committee meets every other week by phone and continues to seek prayer from across the church as they continue their work.

Schrag says this arrangement gives him an opportunity to complete a project that is close to his heart. Trained as a historian and social scientist in his undergraduate work at Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., Schrag has continued to be fascinated by history and the perspectives it provides contemporary leaders. Schrag continued this kind of research while studying at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind.

“I’ve been encouraged by historians like Robert Kreider to compile a history of Mennonite Church USA’s transformation,” Schrag said April 22. “It’s not going to be a memoir; rather I’m going to write more of a primer on the whole scope of the events that happened prior to Nashville 2001 and those that have happened since.”

The project, written from his vantage point of transformation director and executive director, won’t aim to be an all-encompassing account of area conferences and churchwide agencies’ transformation stories, Schrag said. Rather he’s going to rely on having others tell their stories so the historical record is inclusive, giving leads that encourage future historians.

Schrag’s goal is to complete the project in his last four months with Mennonite Church USA and that it will help give insight to future leaders who may experience the regular “stops and starts” that seem to correspond with the church’s progress.

“Someone else can decide if they want to publish the piece,” Schrag said. “I’m just interested in writing it so that the history will be there when people want to look back and see what led up to the merger and transformation that created Mennonite Church USA as well as get a glimpse of what our first several years were like as a denomination.”

EMU, Goshen and Hesston announce area 2009 graduates

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From Eastern Mennonite University:

Congratulations to the following 27 students from southeastern Pennsylvania who will be awarded bachelor’s degrees from Eastern Mennonite University on April 26. We celebrate their accomplishments, congratulate their parents, and thank the many EMU donors and stakeholders who enable our dedicated faculty and staff to prepare students “to serve and lead in a global context.”

    Jacob Derstine, Harleysville, Biology. Satisfied cross-cultural via InterMenno in Germany. December ’08 grad. Parents Henry and Donna.

    Emily Derstine, Souderton, Justice, Peace & Conflict Studies, minors in Spanish, Sociology, and Missions. Semester in Washington Community Scholars’ Center. Parents Mike ’86 and Dawn.

    Aaron Freed, Quakertown, Environmental Science and History, minor in Biology. Middle East cross-cultural. Parents Darryl and Patti.

    Jordan Good, Harleysville, Psychology, minor in Youth Ministry. South Africa cross-cultural. Parents Philip and Deborah.

    Kim Gross, Perkasie, Camping, Recreation & Outdoor Ministry, minors in Sociology and Psychology. South Africa cross-cultural. Parents Dennis and Janet.

    Daniel Landes, Hilltown, Communication, minor in Political Studies. South Africa cross-cultural. Parents Steven ’80 and Sandra ’80.

    Jolie Mbuzi, Quakertown, Social Work. Cross-cultural waived as bi-cultural student. Parents Joel and Marlyne Nfongo.

    Ben Ruth, Harleysville, Biology, minor in Mathematics. Honors program. South Africa cross-cultural. Parents Marlin and Sharon ’72.

    Julian Bender, Philadelphia, Psychology, minor in TESL. Middle East cross-cultural. Parents Ross and Sylvia ’76.

    Natalie Bonilla, Reading, Nursing. Peru cross-cultural. Honored as Cords of Distinction recipient. Parents Juan and Alicia.

    Laura Cattell, Honey Brook, Environmental Science and Justice, Peace & Conflict Studies. Middle East cross-cultural. Honored as Cords of Distinction recipient. Parents Leslie and David.

    Rachael Clemmer, Harleysville, Nursing. South Africa cross-cultural. Honored as Cords of Distinction recipient. Parents Mike ’83 and April.

    Matthew Gehman, Parkesburg, Accounting and Economics. China cross-cultural. Parents Lois ’73 and David ’73.

    Bethany Hertzler, Telford, Nursing. India cross-cultural. Parents Ron and Laurel.

    Kristina Landis, Harleysville, Biology, minor in Art. Honors program. Middle East cross-cultural. Parents Steve ’77 and Rosemary ’78.

    Ben Moyer, Doylestown, Business Administration, minor in Economics. South Africa cross-cultural. Parents James and Pamela.

    Isaac Shelly, Hatfield, Business Administration. China cross-cultural. Parents Jim and Brenda.

    Emily Sims, Perkasie, Congregational & Youth Ministry, minor in Sociology. South Africa cross-cultural. Parents Troy and Brenda.

    John Tyson, Lansdale, Biblical Studies. Middle East cross-cultural. Parents John and Barbara.

    Jessica Caroff, Green Lane, Psychology, minors in Business Administration and Accounting. Nigeria cross-cultural. Parents Allen and Jennifer.

    Mattie Horning, Morgantown, Photography, minor in Art. India cross-cultural. Parents Lavern and Patsy.

    Trevor Weaver, Perkiomenville, Environmental Science, minors in Biology and Business Administration. Turkey cross-cultural. Parents Dale and Lisa.

    Maria Bowman, Bally, Liberal Arts with Elem. Ed. Licensure, minor in Justice, Peace & Conflict Studies. India cross-cultural. December ’09 grad. Parents Greg and Ellen ’74.

    Kristen Green, North Wales, Liberal Arts with Elem. Ed. Licensure. Newfoundland and Labrador cross-cultural. December ’09 grad. Parents John and Loretta.

    Miles Musselman, Harleysville, International Business. South Africa cross-cultural. December ’09 grad. Parent Kendall ’84 (mother Jeanine ’85 passed away in March 2007).

    Randi Neason, Reading, Nursing, minor in Psychology. Semester in Washington Community Scholars’ Center. December ’09 grad. Parents Kelly and Lisa.

    Julie Varkey, Philadelphia, Nursing. China cross-cultural. December ’09 grad. Parents Geevarughese and Rosamma.

For more information about this year’s keynote speaker, the 2009 class gift, and more click here.

From Goshen College:

Nine Franconia Conference students are among the 236 candidates planning to receive diplomas at Goshen College’s 111th Annual Commencement April 26.

    Katharine E. Derstine, daughter of John and Sheryl Derstine of Blooming Glen, will receive a bachelor’s degree in business. She is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

    Lauren K. M. Eldredge, daughter of Scott and Alice Eldredge of Abington, will receive a bachelor’s degree in art. She is a 2005 graduate of Abington Senior High School and attends Ambler Mennonite Church.

    Cody B. Felton, son of Jonathan and Rebecca Felton of Quakertown, will receive a bachelor’s degree in business. He is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Perkasie Mennonite Church.

    Sheldon C. Good, son of Don and Diane Good of Telford, will receive a bachelor’s degree with majors in communication and business. He is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Salford Mennonite Church.

    Evan C. Moyer, son of Robert Moyer of Harleysville, will receive a bachelor’s degree in business. He is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Perkasie Mennonite Church.

    Mercy A. Oyana, daughter of Crispin and Annette Oyana of Philadelphia, will receive a bachelor’s degree in American Sign Language Interpreting. She is a 2005 graduate of Central High School and attends West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship.

    Janna E. Reiff, daughter of Dennis and Anna Mary Reiff, will receive a bachelor’s degree with a major in nursing and a minor in women’s studies. She is a 2004 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Souderton Mennonite Church.

    Gregory J. Yoder, son of Jerold and Beth Yoder of Perkasie, will receive a bachelor’s degree with a major in music and a minor in secondary education. He is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Perkasie Mennonite Church.

    Lindsay E. Yoder, daughter of Kermit and Eva Yoder of Perkasie, will receive a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She is a 2005 graduate of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and attends Deep Run Mennonite Church East.

Dr. Stephen Ainlay, a native of Goshen and 1973 Goshen College graduate, will present the commencement address. He is president of Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.), a sociologist by training and has a distinguished record as a scholar, teacher and administrator. Commencement is at 3 p.m. in the college’s Roman Gingerich Recreation-Fitness Center on Sunday, April 26, 2009, following an 11 a.m. Baccalaureate service in the Church-Chapel, with President James Brenneman preaching.

From Hesston College:

Hesston College will grant associate degrees to 157 graduates during commencement exercises Sunday, May 3. The following southeastern Pennsylvania student candidated for a degree:

    Associate of Applied Arts and Sciences – Early Childhood Education: Christine Nicole Bishop, Perkasie, Pennsylvania, Blooming Glen Mennonite Church

Care & Share hosts Green Fair

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The Care & Share Shoppes’ invite the community to their annual Green Fair to be held under a big tent in their parking lot on Saturday May 2, from 10am to 5pm. The Green Fair is an opportunity for the community to met local businesses who provide earth friendly services and products. This year, a special feature will be WHYY’s You Bet Your Garden host, Mike McGrath. He will be leading two informational sessions at noon and 2pm.

Sarah Bergin, Executive Director of the Care and Share Shoppes, explained the connection between thrift shops and the environment, “If you stop and think about it, thrift shops are all about recycling! We take recycling very seriously at the Care & Share. We are committed to the reusing of the products which are donated to us. If we do not sell them in our shoppes, we take extra steps to make sure they are responsibly recycled elsewhere.”

Mike McGrath’s enthusiasm and wealth of knowledge of chemical-free horticulture will provide a wonderful compliment to other businesses who will be promoting their earth friendly products and services as well as stewardship of the earth’s resources at our event. Mike’s noon session is “Seven Secrets of Successful Organic Gardeners”, and at 2pm, “Organic Answers to your Toughest Garden Questions”.

Other vendors who are participating are: Annie’s Rag Rugs, recycling cotton and wool to make rugs; Miller Trailer Sales, promoting a method of vacationing that is environmentally conscious, economical and fun; Montgomeryville Cycle, featuring their Vectrix Electric Scooters; Reichman Enterprises, candles from vegetable waxes; Skippack Creek Farm, featuring organic produce and all natural soap; Deer Run Daylily Gardens, organic daylilys and products; Wash Tyme, recycled vegetable oil to make bio-diesel and the byproduct Gylcerin is then used to make soap; Ten Thousand Villages, promoting fair trade products; and Ethos Healthy Paints, an ecofriendly paint store and contractor.

Good publishes a collection of reflections from Cambodia

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by Ben Noll, The Goshen College Record

Recent world history will soon be coming into clearer focus for Goshen College students when Sheldon Good, a senior, releases his Pinchpenny Press book, “Surviving the Khmer Rouge: Stories on the Struggle to Stay Alive,” on Sunday, April 5, 2009. Good is a member of the Salford congregation.

Accounts of the impending tribunals and sentencing for Khmer Rouge leaders of the genocide in Cambodia in the late 1970s made world news headlines at CNN on Monday, March 30, 2009.

Good’s edited volume tells the stories of Cambodians who lived through the Khmer Rouge communist regime. Most stories in the book are gathered from host parents of Goshen College students from the spring 2007 Cambodia Study-Service Term (S.S.T.).

The interviews detailed in the book sprung from an assignment given by Keith Graber Miller, Cambodia S.S.T. leader professor of Bible and religion. “Keith gave us this assignment the second week we were in Phnom Penh,” Good said. “Many of us were pretty intimidated to interview people about such a delicate subject.”

Graber Miller, in a foreword to the book, comments that Cambodians have adopted a “forget and forgive” attitude towards the events.

Relying on host siblings to translate for Khmer-speaking parents, Good said, that “many of our host siblings heard their parents’ survival stories for the first time through these interviews.”

“These are stories that need to be told, and heard,” Graber Miller said in his foreword. “For our host families and friends – and for all Cambodians – we hope for the authentic healing necessary to truly get on with living, out from under the oppressive shadow of the Khmer Rouge.”

Good hopes that this book can play a small part in the reconciliation process by allowing these survivors’ stories to be shared and encourages us all to look for our own stories of healing and reconciliation to share with our neighbors.

Good’s collection is the 2009 Horswell Anthology Series book. One Horswell Anthology is published each year with the intention that in can be used as a text for a future class. The spring 2010 Study-Service Term to Cambodia will use it as a required text.

Contributors to the book include current Goshen College seniors Abigail Groff, Dirk Miller, Hillary Watson and Greg Yoder as well as 11 Goshen College 2008 alumni.

Groff contributes to MPN's Adult Bible Study Online

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Gwen M Groff, pastor of Bethany Mennonite Church; Bridgewater Corners, Vt.; is the current writer for the March – May 2009 quarter of Mennonite Publishing Network (MPN)’s Adult Bible Study Online feature. This quarter’s series is entitled “New Creation in Christ”.

MPN’s Adult Bible Study provides a quarterly study of the Bible from an Anabaptist perspective. Lessons are based on the Uniform Series: International Bible Lessons for Christian Teaching created by The National Council of Churches. In addition to weekly lessons, Adult Bible Study offers daily Bible readings and suggested resources for additional study. Due to production and writing schedules, the teaching materials found in Adult Bible Study are prepared many months in advance therefore, MPN also provides the Adult Bible Study Online feature as a free resource providing an update to the printed materials, prepared and posted just prior to the date of the lesson. These columns are designed to help bring current events and Bible study together.

“This assignment from MPN to write a weekly essay connecting the week’s text to current events disciplines me to reflect more broadly on scripture,” writes Groff. “The writers for this quarter’s Adult Bible Study (Leonard Beechy) and its teachers’ guide (Sharon Kraybill) are both insightful interpreters of Scripture, and I enjoy reading each of their perspectives on the week’s text. After reading them I spend time with various news web sites; the New York Times, the BBC, CBC, etc.; looking for stories that might connect with the Scripture lesson. Karl Barth said, ‘We must hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.’ I always think that’s a good idea but this assignment requires me to actually do it.”

Teachers and students are encouraged to visit the Mennonite Publishing Network website and benefit from her insights and observations. This service is provided by Mennonite Publishing Network to encourage the study and application of the Scriptures to life today.