Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Mennonite Church USA

MMA, Mennonite Financial to adopt new name

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MMA and Mennonite Financial Federal Credit Union announced March 31st that they will adopt a new joint name, Everence. This new name is meant to help the organizations come together to better serve their current members and to reach new people who want to integrate faith and finances. The change to the new name will be gradual and is expected to begin later this year.

In an internal announcement, Larry D. Miller, MMA president and CEO, told staff and advisors, “Now is the time to step forward and take on a new identity that clearly signals we are becoming something new – a new organization for future generations.”

“Our original vision when we embarked on this journey with MMA was that we would eventually operate under a single name,” said W. Kent Hartzler, Mennonite Financial president and CEO. “That day is now coming quickly, and I am excited about the opportunities it will give us.”

“The MMA board believes the new name will come to incorporate the faith values that are integral to MMA and to its role as the stewardship agency of Mennonite Church USA,” said LaVern Yutzy, chair, MMA Board of Directors. “We see the name as promoting a family of products and services in a way that appeals to people of all ages.”

The new name – evoking the ideas of reverence, everlasting, forever, and permanence – symbolizes the organizations’ tie to faith and the nature of its services. The logo represents a vine (with a cross in the center), symbolizing the faith community and people involved in the organizations.

Everence Financial will be the name of the umbrella organization, and Everence will apply to the names of all its associated and affiliated entities. As MMA’s banking associate, Mennonite Financial will become Everence Federal Credit Union. (The relationship between Mennonite Financial and MMA has been growing for a number of years, beginning formally in August 2007.

MMA’s agency relationship with Mennonite Church USA will continue under the new name. To clarify that relationship – and relationships with other denominations – key MMA (and later Everence) materials will begin carrying the line, “A ministry of Mennonite Church USA and other denominations.”

“I commend MMA for their effective service in stewardship and mutual aid, particularly in helping to initiate The Corinthian Plan,” said Ervin Stutzman, executive director, Mennonite Church USA. “I trust their thoughtful work to create a new brand will keep them vitally linked to Mennonite Church USA at the same time they extend their reach to other groups.”

“The Executive Committee has been in conversation with MMA about the new name and what it means for our denomination,” said Ed Diller, moderator, Mennonite Church USA. “We are supportive of this direction. This initiative has given MMA and Mennonite Church USA the opportunity to commit to even deeper relationships than have existed in the past. We are convinced that those deeper relationships will help in our efforts to join in God’s work to bring healing and hope to the world.”

The branding process formally began the summer of 2009 when MMA hired a branding consultant, FutureBrand. The organizations expect to begin using the name publicly late in 2010. Full conversion is expected to take approximately 12 months. More information is available at www.MMA-online.org.

About MMA and Mennonite Financial
MMA helps people and groups integrate their finances with faith values through its insurance and financial services. Rooted in the Anabaptist faith tradition, MMA also offers practical stewardship education and tools to individuals, congregations, organizations, and businesses. To learn more, visit www.mma-online.org or call (800) 348-7468.

Mennonite Financial Federal Credit Union is a full-service cooperative credit union chartered to serve members of the Anabaptist community throughout the United States. With the once-a-member, always-a-member policy, Mennonite Financial also provides financial services to members who are now scattered throughout the world.

Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership welcomes news service coordinator

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On April 21, Annette Brill Bergstresser will join the Executive Leadership Communications team in the position of News Service Coordinator.

In this role Bergstresser will be responsible for streamlined news gathering and reporting for Executive Leadership, Mennonite Education Agency, Mennonite Mission Network, MMA, Mennonite Publishing Network and constituency groups. She will collaborate with these groups through regular meetings and will serve as copyeditor for the news that is distributed.

Bergstresser said she was attracted to the position because “it involves communicating about what God is doing across Mennonite Church USA, building relationships with different parts of the church, and extending the church’s witness to the wider world.”

Bergstresser has a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the University of Kansas in Lawrence. For the last seven years, she has served as communications coordinator for Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference in Goshen, Ind. In this role she has developed a deeper understanding of the congregations in the conference—their diverse histories, unique cultures, strengths and challenges. And during that time her connection to the wider church has grown, as she and her co-workers have sought to link the various parts of Mennonite Church USA to their constituents.

Bergstresser is a relatively new Mennonite who did not grow up attending church. Soon after choosing to make a public commitment to Jesus Christ in 1997, she discovered Peace Mennonite Church in Lawrence, Kan., where she was baptized on May 31, 1998. As she became more involved in her congregation, one of the ways she sought to deepen her understanding of the Mennonite Church was by reading denominational publications; she remembers this as a faith-forming experience.

Before joining Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference, she did service learning for half a year in the publishing division of the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary in Guatemala City, as well as a term of voluntary service in Chicago. Following those experiences she studied for a year at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), Elkhart, Ind., where her sense of call to church communications work was strengthened.

Currently Bergstresser and her family live in Goshen and are part of Faith Mennonite Church. She also works part time as communications assistant for AMBS, and plans to continue in that role.

MC USA Executive Leadership welcomes new staff and new roles

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The month of February brought staffing changes in Executive Leadership.

Ervin Stutzman announced a move to a slightly different arrangement for executive staff which will replace the Associate Director role with two positions:

  • Director of Churchwide Operations and
  • Director of Denominational Support Services

Stutzman has appointed Marty Lehman to serve as director of churchwide operations. In her new position, Lehman will have responsibility for communication, development, convention planning, and church relations. She will also continue to give leadership to Historical Committee, finance/administration and The Corinthian Plan. In the long term, finance and administration will move to the new support services position. Lehman will continue to have her office in Elkhart and Kathryn Rodgers will serve as executive assistant.

On February 1, Leanne Farmwald began quarter-time with Executive Leadership as director of the Executive Leadership communication team along with her role as director of marketing and communication for Mennonite Mission Network. Following the denominational ministry model, we are excited about this new opportunity to collaborate and share leadership. This is an interim arrangement and will be reviewed in the coming months.

On February 22 we welcomed Deidre (Summerton) Bias to the Executive Leadership staff. She joins the convention planning team in the role of convention communication coordinator.

Bias is responsible for writing all external print pieces related to convention promotion and marketing. She will also be working with the children and junior youth gatherings and taking on other logistical planning responsibilities as needed.

Bias is a Goshen/Elkhart native, a Goshen College graduate and attends College Mennonite Church. Most recently she worked for First Steps as the family outreach and public awareness coordinator. Her responsibilities included promoting the state-wide program which works with children, birth to three, who have special needs and their families. She loves to read and travel, and is always in the midst of planning the next adventure for her and her family. We are grateful for the energy and expertise that Bias brings to the convention planning team.