by Mennonite Church USA staff
David Boshart of Wellman, Iowa, has been nominated to be moderator-elect of Mennonite Church USA (MCUSA).
Delegates will vote on the nomination at the 2015 MCUSA convention, held June 30-July 5 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Boshart is currently the executive conference minister for Central Plains Mennonite Conference. He has also served on the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board for seven years.
Prior to being appointed as executive conference minister in 2010, Boshart served as a pastor of local congregations for more than 25 years. He has a doctorate in leadership studies with an emphasis in missional theology from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and is the author of the books Becoming Missional: Denominations and New Church Development in Complex Social Contexts and Sex and Faith, a Bible study guide on male sexuality from the Closer than a Brother series published by Faith and Life Press. Boshart also serves as an adjunct professor at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, and Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
In his current role, Boshart provides leadership for the overall mission, vision and direction of Central Plains Mennonite Conference. He works with local congregations to help them focus their vision for ministry in their local contexts, and also to help develop partnerships among congregations to expand their capacity for witness and mission.
Boshart was nominated by the Leadership Discernment Committee of Mennonite Church USA, and his nomination was affirmed by the MCUSA executive board.
If delegates approve the nomination at the 2015 assembly, Boshart will serve two years as moderator-elect and two years as moderator and chair of the executive board. He would succeed the current moderator-elect, Patricia Shelly of North Newton, Kansas. The present moderator is Elizabeth Soto Albrecht of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Boshart is married to Shana Peachey Boshart, who serves as Central Plains’ conference minister for Christian formation, and they have three sons. They are part of West Union Mennonite Church, Parnell, Iowa.