Conference News

This fall, Doylestown (Pa) Mennonite Church will be hosting an evening series of fellowship, prayer, worship, and teaching centered around the book of Revelation.

The Revelation of John is one of the most mystifying books of the Bible. Filled with bizarre imagery and frightening visions, it has terrorized and confused Christians for thousands of years. But it is also one of the most hopeful books of the Bible, and its vision of Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain, as the master of all history can help us make sense of this chaotic life as we learn to view it through God’s eyes.

Theology student Rob Arner, a recent graduate of Eastern Mennonite Seminary and current Doctoral student at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, will offer the chance to get inside the world of John’s Revelation, to understand what it meant for its first readers, and explore what it can mean for us today. Arner and his wife are part of the Doylestown congregation.

Join the discussion and worship at 7:15 pm each Wednesday during September and October, at Doylestown Mennonite Church and gain some perspective on the New Testament’s most puzzling book.

Thursdays, September 11 & 25
and October 9 & 23, 2008
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Mennonite Conference Center (map)
771 Route 113
Souderton, PA 18964

Churches everywhere are learning, sometimes the hard way, that child safety planning is an important part of providing high-quality ministry to children and young people. It is often a challenge, however, to know where to start when creating a child safety plan. The process is certainly time-consuming and can seem overwhelming, especially if a church’s leadership senses it might be difficult to make the changes within their congregation. Child Safety 101 is intended to help address those issues and help congregations create a comprehensive child safety plan in just a few weeks. With the support of instructor, Julie Prey-Harbaugh, and their classmates, participants will thoroughly understand the issues at stake and come away ready to implement a solid child safety plan in their congregations.

Registration Fee: $200 per team*

*Please note: Due to the practical nature of this resourcing event we ask that congrega-
tions send their entire Child Safety team/committee; no church should register less than two people.

Julie Prey-Harbaugh (One Childhood Consulting) is a licensed minister of Franconia Mennonite Conference and their recommended trainer in child protection and child abuse recovery. She is a member of West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship and serves as an on-call chaplain at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2004, Julie received her MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, where she focused on theological and pastoral responses to survivors of abuse. Julie has extensive experience working with children and survivors of abuse in the Philadelphia area—as a social worker, support group facilitator, youth sponsor and activist. Recently, she led trainings in child protection at Eastern University, Princeton Theological Seminary, the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention and the Mennonite USA Churchwide Convention.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Peaceful Living will host a day of “action-oriented” workshops providing valuable tools to building an inclusive faith community. This event will be held at Salford Mennonite Church (map)beginning at 8:30 am to 1:00 pm. Registration, which includes a continental breakfast, is $ 25 and will be accepted until September 11, 2008.

The conference includes a special Pastors’ Breakfast on “Disability and Pastoral Care,” keynote speaker Dr. Richard Steele will speak on “The Enabling Congregation,” and 16 workshops by a variety of speakers including Mark Garis, Marilyn Kriebel, Paul Miller, Barbara Shisler, Carl Yusavitz, Rejoicing Spirits and Friendship Ministries.

Click to download brochure

for more info about School for Leadership Formation
click here

By Laura Lehman Amstutz
laura.amstutz@emu.edu

LANCASTER, Pa. – Want to learn more about pastoral care, non-violence or congregational revitalization? Eastern Mennonite Seminary at Lancaster is offering evening and weekend courses on these topics.

• Marcus Smucker, pastor and seminary instructor, will teach “Pastoral Care: Ministry to Persons Throughout the Life Cycle,” on four weekends, Sept. 12-13, Oct. 10-11, Nov. 7-8; Dec. 5-6. Class will meet 5-9 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. 5-9 p.m., Saturdays. This course will be taught at the EMS Lancaster.
• Jon Rudy, peacebuilding consultant, will teach “Active Non-violence: Nurturing Peaceful Transformation” at Biblical Seminary in Hatfield, Pa. 6-9 p.m. Mondays evenings, beginning Sept. 8 and ending Dec. 15. Rudy will teach the same course at EMS Lancaster 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday evenings, beginning Sept. 9 and ending Dec. 16.

David Eshleman, pastor and bishop, will teach “Congregational Revitalization” 6:30-9:10 p.m. Thursdays, Sept. 11 – Dec 18. This course will be taught at EMS Lancaster.

In addition, the seminary will offer two online courses during the fall semester:

• Gerald N. Shenk, professor of church and society at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Harrisonburg, will teach “Ethics and Non-violence: Sermon on the Mount.”
• Dorothy Jean Weaver, professor of New Testament at EMS, will teach “New Testament: Text in Context.”

Both courses begin Aug. 26 and end Dec. 12 and may be taken for academic credit or non-credit. Registration ends Sept. 8.

For more information on courses at EMS Lancaster, contact Julie Siegfried, pastoral studies administrative assistant, at 717-297-5190 or email lancaster@emu.edu . More information is also available online at www.emu.edu/lancaster/seminary.

EMS Lancaster offers a variety of study opportunities for those interested in pastoral ministry .

photo provided by Eastern Mennonite Seminary

by John Tyson
jtyson@mosaicmennonites.org

On June 23, the Franconia Conference board gathered at Lakeview Mennonite Church to navigate through reports of current ministries, listen to what has happened over the past months and discuss the future.

Before the meeting began, Lakeview Pastor Blaine Detwiler gave a tour of Lakeview’s scenic location in the hills near the border of Pennsylvania and New York. Pastor Detwiler also shared the rich history of the Lakeview congregation and its current missional vision.

With a clear understanding of the history of our surroundings, the meeting was soon underway. First on the agenda was a discussion of actions around the Vision & Financial Planning recommendations. The actions are meant to enrich overall equipping, credentialing, covenanting, and financing for congregations and individual leaders alike. The hope is to bring forth further partnerships and networks with a missional value, financial transparency, and sustainability.

Executive Minister Noel Santiago shared his observations and revealed new principles that shape his approach to up-and-coming ministry. The first principle, according to Santiago, is that we are moving away from sit-down dialogue to conversations as we walk. Secondly, experiments and experiences should now take precedence over explanations and proposals. Thirdly, if something works in an urban setting, it will work in a suburban setting, but not vice versa. Lastly, said Santiago, we need to generate structures that contain the “substance of Heaven” versus only programs and plans. The principles were agreed upon as relevant to all Franconia Conference ministries.

After lunch, the board re-convened for the Conference Leadership Team ministry updates. Noah Kolb shared how there are many able pastors in Franconia Conference who are ready for ministry. Gay Brunt Miller reported on the partnership with Anabaptist leaders in the United Kingdom and their recent and positive visit with the conference. Since Steve Kriss was leading ViaVerano in Spain, John Tyson (a summer ministry intern from the Souderton congregation) reported on his behalf that the leadership cultivation and communications department is vibrantly moving in the right direction with a large number of Ministry Inquiry Program participants and a communications sector ahead of the local market. Conference financial advisor Conrad Martin shared updates on the financial viability within Franconia Conference. And finally, Noel Santiago shared about emerging partnerships and new congregations working alongside Franconia Conference.

The board discussed the vision of this year’s upcoming conference assembly. Style of worship will be a challenge, especially considering how many languages are spoken within the congregation, but this diversity is also recognized as an amazing gift. The board also talked about recent reconciliation efforts with Swiss Mennonites and Amish communities.

View the photo album