Notes to Pastors

May 8, 2008 by Conference Office

Managing Holy Restlessness: Releasing young adults toward their dreams
How do we, as pastors, understand the younger generations in our congregations? How do we help them discern what to do with their lives? Come join a conversation led by Walter Sawatzky and Jessica Walter on Thursday, May 22 from 8 – 10 a.m. at the Mennonite Conference Center to explore how pastors can support young adults struggling to manage their holy restlessness. Please register for this Pastor’s Breakfast by May 18, by contacting Jessica Walter at jwalter@mosaicmennonites.org.

Notes to Pastors

April 17, 2008 by Conference Office

Ministerial Leadership Registration
Credentialed leaders – Remember that May 1 is the deadline for updating your profile on the Ministerial Leadership Registration System at www.mennodata.org. This information will be used in the 2009 Edition of the Mennonite Directory. Please check that your profile has current and accurate position and credential information. For assistance, please contact Melissa Landis (mlandis@mosaicmennonites.org) or Deb Ratzlaff at MC USA (DebR@MennoniteUSA.org).

Bread for the Journey
The MCC US Anti-Racism Program/Damascus Road is pleased to announce their new blog, Bread for the Journey, available bilingually at http://breadforthejourney.wordpress.com/ or http://panparaelcamino.wordpress.com/
This blog replaces the Damascus Road Newsletter (which has been in retirement for a while), and so will carry on a somewhat familiar structure: several articles posted quarterly centered around a particular theme. Zulma Prieto serves as the editor for the “newsletter postings” on the blog.

April’s Thursday Pastors’ Breakfast with Gilberto Flores, Director of Denominational Ministry and Missional Church, MC USA
Franconia Mennonite Conference has been on a journey of discovering the next level or stage of oversight in the missional church. Gilberto will share around the conversations MC USA leadership have been engaged with centered on the question: “What is the role of oversight in the missional Church?”
Come and engage this question in order to help shape what the role of oversight might mean for us here at Franconia. The April 24th breakfast will be held at the Mennonite Conference Center, 8 – 10 a.m. A donation of $5 is recommended for breakfast. Please register for this event by April 19 to Jessica Walter at jwalter@mosaicmennonites.org.

FREE MINISTRY SEMINAR FOR PASTORS AND LAY MINISTERS
Pastors, chaplains, and lay ministers are invited to Dock Woods Community’s annual “Pastoral Care to Seniors Seminar” on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, from
8:00–11:45 a.m. in Dock Woods Community’s Fisher Auditorium. Complimentary continental breakfast will be provided.

This year’s focus is: “Hidden Gifts and Challenges: Affirming our Sexuality and Dealing with Depression in Seniors and Those Who Minister to Them.”

Our speaker is Dr. Andrew Johanson, LMFT, D. Min.
He is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a private practice in Child, Individual, Couple, Family, and Sex Therapy. He is adjunct Professor at Moravian Theological Seminary teaching “Human Sexuality,” “Family Systems and Marriage Counseling,” and “Professional Ethics for Counselors”. Web page: www.drandrewjohanson.com

To attend free of charge, pre-register by calling (or e-mailing) Merlin Hedrick at 215-368-4438 by May 9. The cost for those who do not pre-register is $10 the day of the seminar. There is a $25 fee for those taking the seminar for continuing education credits. (The seminar counts for 2.5 continuing education credits.) Your advance questions on our topics are welcome and can be sent to mhedrick@dockwoods.com. They will be forwarded to our speaker to be used anonymously in our seminar sessions.

Notes to Pastors

April 10, 2008 by Conference Office

Come and engage this question in order to help shape what the role of oversight might mean for us here at Franconia. The April 24th breakfast will be held at the Mennonite Conference Center, 8 – 10 a.m. A donation of $ 5 is recommended for breakfast. Please register for this event by April 19 to Jessica Walter at jwalter@mosaicmennonites.org.

FREE MINISTRY SEMINAR FOR PASTORS AND LAY MINISTERS
Pastors, chaplains, and lay ministers are invited to Dock Woods Community’s annual “Pastoral Care to Seniors Seminar” on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, from
8:00–11:45 a.m. in Dock Woods Community’s Fisher Auditorium. Complimentary continental breakfast will be provided.

This year’s focus is: “Hidden Gifts and Challenges: Affirming our Sexuality and Dealing with Depression in Seniors and Those Who Minister to Them.”

Our speaker is Dr. Andrew Johanson, LMFT, D. Min.
He is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a private practice in Child, Individual, Couple, Family, and Sex Therapy. He is adjunct Professor at Moravian Theological Seminary teaching “Human Sexuality”, “Family Systems and Marriage Counseling,” and “Professional Ethics for Counselors”. Web page: www.drandrewjohanson.com

MMN Responds to Need for Anti-Racism Guidelines
Mennonite Mission Network’s Shared Voices provides a much-needed set of anti-racism communication guidelines. The book suggests how the guidelines can be used, gives editing samples, offers principles of photo taking, collecting and assessing, and examines layout, photo usage, and choice of media. Although anti-racism training would be helpful to every member of the Mennonite Church, this book is a beginning to sensitize and make us aware as we communicate with each other. This book is recommended for pastors, congregational leaders, writers and anyone who is communicating across cultures. Shared Voices is available from MennoSource and/or MMN.

People’s Summit for Faithful Living
Greetings,
I’d like to invite you to participate in the People’s Summit for Faithful Living July 8 to 10 at the Canadian Mennonite University Campus in Winnipeg. This summit will be a joint gathering between Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA. We hope to have many people from Mennonite Church USA attend and enjoy this time of fellowship and discernment with our Canadian sisters and brothers. Under the theme “At the Crossroads: Promise and Peril,” participants will focus on the urgent task of being a faithful community of God amidst the many challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. Deuteronomy 4:1-9 will be the theme text.

Please follow this link to see a video invitation from Jack Suderman, General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada, to attend this event http://www.youtube.com/watchv=LoM_gEg6YFo

Information on registration, costs and how to get to Winnipeg are available at summit.MennoniteUSA.org. Please forward and share this invitation with others you think may be interested in attending the People’s Summit with Mennonite Church Canada this July.

Peace,
Jim Schrag
Executive Director
Mennonite Church USA

Notes to Pastors

April 3, 2008 by Conference Office

Managing Holy Restlessness Workshop
Franconia Conference School for Leadership Formation presents Managing Holy Restlessness – Calling and Discernment at any age and in any life situation. This workshop will be held at the Mennonite Conference Center on Saturday, April 19 from 8:30 a.m. to noon and will be led by Debra Franke, MA Counseling, and Walter Sawatzky, Franconia Conference Minister. The workshop will look at discerning and managing the holy restlessness that often stirs in us as we seek to live into the design God has for each person. The registration fee is $20 per person. For more information about this event, click on the following link: http://mosaicmennonites.org/news/tmoyer/managing-holy-restlessness
Please register for this event by Tuesday, April 15, by contacting Jessica Walter at jwalter@mosaicmennonites.org.

April’s Thursday Pastors’ Breakfast with Gilberto Flores, Director of Denominational Ministry and Missional Church, MC USA Franconia Mennonite Conference has been on a journey of discovering the next level or stage of oversight in the missional church. Gilberto will share around the conversations MC USA leadership have been engaged with centered on the question: “What is the role of oversight in the missional Church?”
Come and engage this question in order to help shape what the role of oversight might mean for us here at Franconia. The April 24th breakfast will be held at the Mennonite Conference Center, 8 am to 10 am. A donation of $ 5 is recommended for breakfast. Please register for this event by April 19 to Jessica Walter at jwalter@mosaicmennonites.org.

2009 Mennonite Directory
Mennonite Church USA is collecting updated information for the 2009 edition of the Mennonite Directory. Credentialed leaders are asked to check the Ministerial Leadership Registration System for current and accurate position and credential information. If you have not updated this information recently, please do so promptly! You can make these changes at www.mennodata.org. Please contact Deb Ratzlaff at DebR@MennoniteUSA.org or mlandis@mosaicmennonites.org with any questions.

Notes to Pastors

March 13, 2008 by Conference Office

Conference Center Closed
The Mennonite Conference Center will be closed on Good Friday, March 21.
We wish you and your families a Blessed Easter.

Menno data Profiles
Pastors are reminded and encouraged to update their profiles on the Ministerial Leadership Registration System at www.mennodata.org. You can do this by visiting the website and entering your ID and password. Once logged in, go to “Personal Information”, where you can update addresses, continuing education, history of ministerial positions, etc. Please take time to assure that your ministerial positions are up to date. If you are not sure of your ID and/or password, email DebR@MennoniteUSA.org, and that information will be mailed to you via the US Postal Service.

Notes to Pastors

March 6, 2008 by Conference Office

Thursday Pastors’ Breakfast
The March breakfast will be held on Thursday, March 13 from 8 – 10 a.m. at the Mennonite Conference Center. The subject will be “Creating Safer Spaces for Children in our Congregations.” Come for a conversation about the Franconia Conference Child Protection Initiative and some steps you can take to make your congregation a safer place for the children in its care. Please register for this event by Monday, March 10 by contacting Jessica Walter, jwalter@mosaicmennonites.org. A $5 donation is appreciated towards this hot breakfast.

Pastor’s Family Retreat
Pastor’s Family Retreat is scheduled April 11-13 at Spruce Lake Retreat. This retreat was initially developed for Franconia, Eastern District and Atlantic Coast Conference pastor families. Spruce Lake has extended the invitation to other interested pastor families to attend. Duane Beck, pastor of Raleigh Mennonite Church, is presenter. For more information, visit www.sprucelake.org, and click on “Programmed Events” to view the schedule for Pastor’s Family Retreat. The cost is $166/individual, $211/couple, $299/family of four. To register, call 800-822-7505.

Notes to Pastors

February 26, 2008 by Conference Office

Retirement Celebration
Wes Boyer will celebrate 35 years of ministry as he retires from pastoral ministry at Vincent Mennonite Church as of February 29. The congregation will have a farewell service on Sunday, March 2 in the morning and a time of greeting Pastor Wes and Lois in the afternoon. All are invited to a drop-in time from 2 – 5 p.m. at Vincent Mennonite Church on Sunday, March 2 to celebrate with him and wish him well as he moves into his retirement years.

Pastors’ Day
March 5 is Pastors’ Day at Christopher Dock High School. Please notify them of your attendance by Wednesday, February 27, at cschmidt@dockhs.org or 215-362-2676 ext.103.

Monthly Pastors’ Breakfast
The March pastors’ breakfast will held on the second Thursday this month, March 13, from 8 – 10 a.m. at the Mennonite Conference Center. The discussion will be led by Julie Prey-Harbaugh, Franconia Conference Trainer in Child Protection and Child Abuse Recovery. Further information will be forthcoming. Please RSVP by Saturday, March 8, by contacting Jessica Walter, jwalter@mosaicmennonites.org.

Prayer and Worship Celebration
Pastors, you are invited to join with the regional church in a Prayer and Worship celebration for 40 Days of Prayer/Fasting, Friday, March 14, 7 p.m. at Souderton Mennonite Church fellowship hall. Prayer will be the focus of this service, large group, small groups, and at prayer stations. Immediately following this service, you are invited to participate in the 24 Hour Prayer & Worship event being held at Souderton Mennonite Church in their fellowship hall through Saturday, March 15, 8 p.m.

Pastor Seminar
The Lombard Mennonite Peace Center has designed a long-term approach to congregational change grounded in the family systems theory of Dr. Murray Brown. Here I Stand: Leading Change through Self-Differentiation is a three-day event at which pastors will be trained to integrate this approach into their ongoing ministries. The event will be offered on April 8 – 10 at Zion Mennonite Church in Souderton, PA. Additional information is available on the website at www.LMPeaceCenter.org. To register, call 630-627-0507 or email Admin@LMPeaceCenter.org.

Notes to Pastors

February 14, 2008 by Conference Office

Death of Curtis Bergey
Curtis Bergey, pastor and bishop in Franconia Conference died on February 4, 2008 at the Souderton Mennonite Home. Brother Curtis was 91 and was preceded in death by his wife Esther in 2003. Curtis was ordained in 1958 as a pastor in the
Franconia Mennonite Church where he served until 1987. He was ordained a
Bishop for Franconia Conference in 1961. He served 10 years as chair of the
Leadership Commission of Franconia Conference and served on the Board of Directors of
Christopher Dock. He will be remembered by many for his big smile and gentle
spirit. He was an encourager to people young and old. His
funeral service was held on Saturday, February 9, at Franconia Mennonite Church.

Third Thursday Pastors’ Breakfast
The February breakfast will be held on Thursday, February 21 from 8 – 10 a.m. at the Mennonite Conference Center, hosted by the Faith and Life Advisory Council. The subject will be “Leadership and Authority: How do we claim it?” Come for a conversation on claiming and exercising authority as pastors and leaders in our congregations. In preparation for the event please read the following article from the most recent edition of Growing Leaders, “A Nervous Embrace…Cultivating Leadership and Authority.” This article can be found on the mosaicmennonites.org website under the “Publications” tab. Please register for this event by Saturday, February 16, by contacting Jessica Walter, jwalter@mosaicmennonites.org. A $5 donation is appreciated towards this hot breakfast.

The Meaning and Practice of Servant Leadership Seminar
Atlantic Coast and Lancaster Mennonite Conferences invite pastors and CEO’s of conference-related ministries to a training seminar scheduled for Friday, February 22 at Garden Spot Village in New Holland, PA from 8:15 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Larry Spears, from the Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership, will speak on the topic of The Meaning and Practice of Servant Leadership. Click on the following website for more information about the Greenleaf Center: http://www.greenleaf.org/leadership/servant-leadership/What-is-Servant-Leadership.html.
The registration fee (includes breakfast and lunch) for pastors is $60. To pre-register, please contact Keith Wilson, ACC administrative assistant at keithw@frontiernet.net or call
717-355-0550, or 800-238-0126.
For a brochure with more information and registration form for this event, go to the Lancaster Conference web site: http://www.lancasterconference.org/. Click on menu bar on the left side of the screen, click on:
Calendar/Events
Resource Packet
December 2007 (center of screen)
The Meaning & Practice of Servant Leadership

Every Pastor A Coach: Enhancing Your Effectiveness and Impact in Ministry training is designed to equip leaders with basic coaching skills that can be integrated and incorporated into the day-to-day ministry setting. This is ideal for pastors, ministry leaders, local church leaders, and small group leaders. Training presenter J. Val Hastings is the President and Founder of Coaching4Clergy, which works to empower today’s spiritual leaders through coaching, consulting, and coach training. This event will be held at Mennonite Mutual Aid’s 2008 Stewardship University at Lancaster Mennonite High School on Saturday, March 1 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For more information and to register, visit www.stewardshipuniversity.org or contact Walter Sawatzky at 267-664-5542 or water.sawatzky@verizon.net.

Notes to Pastors

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