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Adult Seminars
All seminars are located in the Greater Columbus Convention Center unless otherwise indicated.
A conversation about our tools: A dialogue on our Facebook, YouTube and text messaging world
Lonnie Yoder
This seminar presents an opportunity to look at the role and use of technology, particularly the computer and Internet, in our lives and faith journeys. After an introduction to the current use of technology and some of its consequences, there will be a panel discussion focusing on computer and Internet use in both its positive and negative dimensions.
- Wednesday, 8:45 a.m., C115
A faithful future: A look at some growing urban Mennonite churches
Ryan Ahlgrim
A brief survey of several predominantly Anglo urban Mennonite congregations that are attracting young adults and growing while still holding strongly to Mennonite identity and distinctive beliefs. How are they doing it?
- Friday, 4:15 p.m., D244/245
A global surge of peacemakers: Signs of hope in an age of terrorism, space war and climate change
Gene Stoltzfus
At the outbreak of the Iraq War, the world came closer to preventing a war than may have been the case in centuries. Christians around the world and from many traditions, rooted in the enemy-loving Jesus, played a major role in this movement. This new situation is rarely noted in the analysis of world affairs. It represents a major opportunity for people of faith. A strategy for this era needs to include teaching the faith and acting on it in controversial, hard-to-solve settings of conflict, war and violence.
- Saturday, 3 p.m., D242/243
A radically new direction for the Global church: The underground church movement in the 10/40 window.
John F. Lapp
A Mennonite Mission Network worker has been serving as a mentor to underground church leaders in south Asia since 2007. He will describe his experience with the movement, and will suggest how international support can help or hinder this indigenous work.
Asian Church Consultation
Kuaying Teng and others
Many Asian churches are at a crossroads with differing needs within their congregations of first- , second- and third-generation members. Should worship be conducted in English or the original language? What about Sunday school – whose values do we teach? Leadership training, evangelism, acculturation and differing expectations are also significant challenges.
- Thursday, 4:15 p.m., D232
Becoming financially one
James Miller and Kent Hartzler
This is a seminar for couples who want to enhance their skills in talking about money together and experience the joy that comes when money issues are a source of intimacy, rather than a battle ground. This 2 ¼-hour workshop will include a variety of guided exercises that help couples explore their “money history,” their “money behaviors” and their “money goals.” Most sharing will be done in couples to assure a safe enviornment for those attending.
- Friday, 3 to 5:15 p.m., C114
Blessed by other Christian traditions
Elizabeth Soto-Albrecht, Karl McKinney, Anita Amstutz and Isaac Villegas
Four Mennonite pastors will share stories of how their faith has been shaped and enriched by experiences and encounters with other Christian traditions. They will also reflect together on the gifts Mennonites have to offer the broader body of Christ.
- Saturday, 11:30 a.m., D231
Breathe and be filled…by a listening God: Conflict transformation training for every member
Wilbur F. Peachey and John Jantzi
Imagine and excited peer Congregational Relationships Team (CRT) trained to promote, model and mentor congregational attendees and leaders in healthy habits of conflict resolution and management—at church, home, school, work and in the public square. Team leaders of CRT from Community Mennonite Fellowship in Milton, Pa., will share a grassroots approach for teaching peacemaking, including the vision, research and spiritual awakening that accompany understanding and accepting the normalcy of interpersonal and group conflict.
This seminar will emphasize learning a common language and action steps for dealing with conflict early on, including when people become disillusioned about congregational decisions or worship and leadership styles. These experiences are prime opportunities for followers of Jesus to build and maintain bridges of grace and to find new spiritual truth. Participants will explore key ingredients of skillful listening and speaking that is easy and transforming for children, youth and adults to learn. The seminar will introduce an every-church model for mediation, and a “Let’s Talk” Christian communications training program in an engaging learning setting. This seminar will be especially valuable for congregational leaders who want to learn more about preventing unproductive conflict and reaping the fruits of creative collaboration.
- Thursday, 4:15 p.m., D234
- Friday, 4:15 p.m., D234
Building Bridges
Virgo Handojo and Iris de León-Hartshorn
Presenting two or three models for approaching intercultural relationships within the church.
- Wednesday, 4:15 p.m., C114
- Saturday, 10:15 a.m.
Business as a Christian calling and a missional opportunity
Howard Good
How can we make business decisions that yield positive second and third bottom lines? Business provides opportunities to be God’s partners in making our communities better places. Businesses, while creating vital jobs and providing important services, can also make purposeful decisions with double and triple bottom line impact; hiring people with barriers to employment, environmentally friendly sources of products and human resource decisions that build families and communities. Join a discussion led by Howard Good, vice president of Member Engagement at Mennonite Economic Development Associates, that will include various Ohio-based businesses that draw on faith and missional values as they make business decisions.
- Wednesday, 4:15 p.m., D142/143
C.L.A.S.S. – Menno style
Don Patterson and Palmer Becker
In this seminar, experienced pastors will introduce you to Class 101 “Discovering Church Membership,” Class 201 “Discovering Spiritual Maturity,” Class 301 “Discovering your Ministry in the Church,” and Class 401 “Discovering your Mission in the World.” Originally written by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Community Church, these classes have been revised and rewritten for use in Mennonite churches. These pastors have used the Purpose Driven tools to accomplish missional goals.
- Wednesday, 6:45 p.m., C123
Calling our daughters and sons: Women and men addressing patriarchy in the church together
Janeen Bertsche Johnson and Todd Lehman
Participants will be invited to discern where we are as a church in calling forth the gifts of women and men. What are our spoken and unspoken messages about leadership and gender? How do patriarchal and egalitarian beliefs affect the calling of daughters and sons? Women and men will be invited to talk together about patriarchy.
- Friday, 4:15 p.m., D246
- Saturday, 10:15 a.m., D246
Child sexual abuse: What your church can do about it
Julie Prey-Harbaugh
The problem of child sexual abuse in communities of faith is one of the most challenging issues we can face in church life. Since one in four girls and one in six boys in this country are sexually abused by the time they are 18, this is an issue our churches cannot afford to ignore. Recognizing that the key to addressing child sexual abuse is making sure adults know what to do about it, this seminar offers help for church leaders and others who want to protect the children in their care.
- Wednesday, 3 p.m., D240/241
Churches going green
Jennifer Schrock
How are Mennonite congregations living out God’s call to love, respect and care for creation? Come learn what others are doing and share your own story.
Colombia: Faith and hope amidst conflict
Theo Sitther
In the midst of turmoil and war, Colombian churches faithfully continue their work toward a just peace to the conflict that has devastated the country for more than 40 years. Colombia has the second largest population of internally displaced people in the world, surpassed only by Sudan, and it faces one of the worst humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere. This seminar will provide a general overview of the Colombian context and connections with U.S. policy, a look at what the Colombian Anabaptist churches are doing in the midst of this turmoil and an invitation for faithful response by Christians in the United States.
- Thursday, 4:15 p.m., D233
Compassion in action
Susan Mark Landis and others
How might we structure congregational and family life so our members are more likely to choose lives of compassion and service? We’ll explore research and share practical ideas with each other.
Congregational advocacy
Susan Mark Landis and others
Darrel Thompson, senior advisor to Senator Harry Reid (R-Nev.) recently said “People of faith have an amazing amount of muscle. Your prayers and letters matter.” Come learn more.
- Saturday, 10:15 a.m., D232
Continuing the journey: Cross-cultural communication Bible study (Acts 9:10-19, Saul/Ananias/Damascus)
Lou Gomez and Lee Lever
This seminar will focus on facilitating cross-cultural communication using concepts from The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community by Eric H. F. Law (Chalice, 1993). Participants will be introduced to the iceberg analogy of culture, RESPECT communication guidelines and a communication tool called Mutual Invitation. Prticipants will then practice Mutual Invitation through a Bible study process.
- Saturday, 11:30 a.m., D232
Conversations with your aging parents
Cathy Beery-Berg, Lisa Johnson and Kathy Smoker
Talking with your parents in a non-emergency conversation about their ideas, preferences and concerns about later in life issues can alleviate distress for the parents and family members when emergencies do arise. Join us as we share ideas for questions to ask and discuss with your parents about finances, end of life issues, advance directives, healthcare preferences and concerns related to changes as we age. Learn how older adults have organized their information and paperwork and planned on-going discussions with family members. This seminar may also be helpful to people who assist their aunts and uncles, grandparents and neighbors or church members. A variety of resources will be available.
Critical issues for crime victims
David L. Voth
An overview of the key needs of violent and property crime victims and ways to reach out in word and deed to support them in their time of trauma. Examples of individual and congregational outreach and ministry opportunities will be provided.
- Wednesday, 6:45 p.m., C121
Discussing controversial topics in the classroom
Dennis Landis
Churches and schools need to deal with controversial topics in their educational programs, but many teachers/sponsors avoid them for understandable reasons. We will explore why these topics should be discussed and how to lead these discussions so that the body of Christ becomes stronger.
Drumming for peace: A joyful noise
Leo Hartshorn
Learning basic peace principles through rhythm and storytelling. Using drum sticks and five-gallon plastic buckets participants will engage in a number of exercises that kinesthetically teach cooperation, team building, respect of diversity, peacemaking and nonviolence.
- Wednesday, 3 p.m., Convention Center concourse outside Hall D
Embracing aging: How can the church tap gifts of aging persons?
Melodie Davis, Sheri Hartzler, Ron and Ruth Guengerich
Many leaders are put out to pasture when they hit 65, at a time when they have more time and many skills to give. Using clips from the ABC TV Embracing Aging: Families Facing Change documentary, this seminar will tackle the topic of how the church can do a better job of both meeting the needs of aging persons and using their gifts.
- Wednesday, 3 p.m., C115
- Friday, 8:45 a.m., D230
Embracing the role of pastor’s spouse and all its implications
Ruth Lapp Guengerich, Joy Yoder, Jon Weishaupt and Dallan Troyer
This seminar invites all those women and men who find themselves in the role of spouse of a pastor to share from their hearts their needs. We will look at the implications of our role and how we can be “normal” people and how we can “breathe and be filled” when our normal is not like everyone else’s. We will lend support to each other to work at our own personal, social, spiritual and emotional needs.
Empowering women against violence
Steve Thomas
With one out of four women physically or sexually assaulted, what can women committed to nonviolence do to resist violence? Led by Mennonite martial artists from Peacemakers, this seminar will introduce women to verbal and physical skills against violence.
- Saturday, 4:15 p.m., D240/241
Engaging business people in the congregation
Sue Miller and Terry Shue
Business people often feel unwelcome in our congregations and move on to denominations where they feel more welcome. Business leaders and church leaders will share ways a congregation can be more welcoming and engage their business folk.
- Saturday, 10:15 a.m., D233
- Saturday, 11:30 a.m., D233
Facing death and dying: What does it mean to have a good death?
Melodie Davis, Sheri Hartzler and Shirley Yoder Brubaker
As a society we need to integrate the facts of aging, dying and death into our expectations for a normal lifecycle. View clips from Beyond the News: Facing Death and Reinventing Aging and discuss with others how churches can be helpful in this process.
- Saturday, 4:15 p.m., D230
Faithful kingdom witnesses in urban contexts.
Dick Davis and others
This seminar will present different approaches to being church in urban areas. The presenter will facilitate a conversation about the growing urban church phenomena.
Gather ’Round for worship, too
Eleanor Snyder and Amy Gingerich
Gather ’Round: Hearing and Sharing God’s Good News is our denomination’s Sunday school curriculum. All age groups study the same Bible story each week. Hear and share stories of how your congregation can utilize Gather ’Round to integrate worship and education under one theme.
Healing and hope for children in poverty
Heidi Unruh
One out of six children in the United States (about 13 million) are poor, and the number is growing. Children in poverty can be found in nearly every church’s community. With poverty comes multiple barriers to the wholeness of life God intends. These children need the loving touch of a Savior who insisted, “Let the children come to me!” Many churches care about children but want to be better equipped to respond in a holistic way. This seminar by the co-author (along with Ronald Sider) of the book Hope for Children in Poverty: Profiles and Possibilities will offer information and tools to help churches and caring individuals move from “What can we do?” to “What will we do?”
- Thursday, 8:45 a.m., D230
Healing trauma – Healing the heart
Barbara Oehlberg
Fragile attachments and childhood distress can lead to brain changes, aggressive behaviors and relationship issues. Ways to help children and teens cope and heal will be addressed.
- Thursday, 4:15 p.m., D231
Healthcare pricing: A primer on how to become a wise consumer
Daniel Grimes
This seminar will provide tools and information on how consumers can become more informed, and thus wiser, consumers of healthcare services. We’ll explore how health insurance relates to our theological understanding of how we care for one another, including the employer/employee dynamic. Specific resource aids will be provided, along with information on how to navigate and understand the various nuances of provider pricing and reimbursement.
Heaven is coming, but for now we have Medicare: Dispelling the fog around Medicare and Medicare Health Plans
Trish Sneddon
This seminar will offer a simplified view of Medicare, its benefits and other Medicare-related insurance plans, led by a professional who specializes in the needs of seniors. Trish’s experience includes nursing home administration and helping older adults purchase health and long-term care insurance that meets their needs.
- Wednesday, 6:45 p.m., C113
IBA impacting the church: Come and hear stories
Rafael Barahona and Violeta Ajquejay
MEA will introduce participans to Instituto Bíblico Anabautista (IBA), the Anabaptist Biblical Institute. IBA is dedicated to training Hispanic leaders for the more than 100 Spanish-speaking Mennonite Church USA congregations. Currently, 34 volunteer tutors lead classes in 27 congregationally based study centers with 21 centers located in the United States., two in Canada and four in Puerto Rico. IBA focuses on the development of leaders with solid biblical foundationss, theological competence and spiritual maturity.
Is peace witness without amplification sufficient peace witness?
Hamid Rafizadeh
The purpose of this seminar is to create the awareness that a small number of scattered individuals engaging in peace witness is not adequate to bring the masses into peace witness. From a global point of view, the peace witness must amplify and extend to include the masses. This is not an expectation of success or a demand for effectiveness. Amplification is not a search for results. To the contrary, following John Howard Yoder, the purpose of the seminar is to assert that peace witness should not be the act of a few individuals but an act of the “body of Christ.” Amplification is a demand to bring the body of Christ into the peace witness.
It’s African. It’s Asian. It’s European. No it’s the church!
Rodolfo Jimenez
Explore ways in which culture tends to be a manifestation of superiority and how to recover from the feelings it causes (superiority/inferiority, anger, confusion).
Jesus Matters! Good News for the 21st Century
James Krabill and David Shenk
Twenty centuries ago Jesus was highly controversial. That is equally true in 21st century North America. And that is what this seminar is about: The Jesus controversy! Sixteen authors accompanied by a couple dozen young adult writers have teamed together to reflect on Jesus and write a book about it. Topics include “Jesus and the Bible,” “Jesus and Creation,” “Jesus and the Resurrection,” “The Cross,” “The Church,” “The Powers,” and the list goes on. The editors of the new publication, Jesus Matters, will lead this conversation-seminar, assisted by several other writers who have participated in the project.
- Wednesday, 6:45 p.m., C112
- Thursday, 8:45 a.m., C112
Leading from the inside out
Lee Schmucker and Linford King
Find out what it means to lead from the inside out. Learn five practices of effective leadership and how you can put them to work in your setting. Explore how leadership grounded in values equips you to be a better executive, manager or board member.
- Wednesday, 4:15 p.m., E170
Living well, within your means
Beryl M. Jantzi
Responsible stewardship in today’s complex and uncertain economy requires us to be intentional about our use of God’s gifts. These gifts include our finances as well as our use of time, creation, talent, health and relationships. This seminar will offer suggestions on how we can integrate our faith with our finances by living well, but also living within our means at the same time. Ideas will also be shared regarding how congregations can minister to people who have difficulty managing their finances.
- Saturday, 4:15 p.m., D242/243
Mennonite Church USA and Conservative Mennonite Conference: Cousins? Brothers and Sisters? Partners?
David Greiser, Dan Ziegler and Andre Gingerich Stoner
Mennonite Church USA and Conservative Mennonite Conference are kindred denominations in the Anabaptist tradition. What is the history of relations between our groups? What are key differences? Key similarities? Are we growing together or apart? Come discuss challenges and opportunities of strenghtening relations between our churches.
- Saturday, 10:15 a.m., D234
Money, ministry and mission: A conversation about church and community development.
Dick Davis and others
This seminar will network people interested in having a conversation about church and community economic development with minimal input from seminar facilitator.
- Wednesday, 8:45 a.m., C112
New faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the global South
Albert C. Lobe
In this seminar, participants will consider the Mennonite World Conference Assembly 15 theme, talk about things that bind us together in the global community (e.g. the Shared Convictions), and brainstorm about concrete ways to build that community amid 21st century realities.
- Wednesday, 4:15 p.m., C115
New Wellness features for church leaders and congregations in The Corinthian Plan
Ingrid Friesen Moser
The Corinthian Plan offers new wellness features designed to support both individuals and congregations in becoming healthier. Come learn simple steps to get involved, energizing you and your church family to more effectively carry out God’s mission in the world. Ideally, our congregation is a place that promotes physical, mental and relational health, in addition to spiritual health
- Thursday, 4:15 p.m., C121
Nurturing young children’s spiritual development
Tami Keim
Are you seeking direction on what is appropriate and helpful for nurturing the spiritual development of the young children in your life? Several panel members will discuss their philosophical approaches, experiences and ideas that they have found helpful when relating with young children in both home and group settings. Come with questions and thoughts to share.
Nuts and bolts: Irrefutable laws of student ministry
Hal L. Shrader
Working with students is rewarding, but seldom easy. Many of the struggles youth workers face, however, can be minimized or eliminated all together with a little ahead of time planning. Twenty-year student ministry veteran Hal L. Shrader will give you several foundational principles that can be adapted to different contexts to you get more from your student ministry.
- Wednesday, 4:15 p.m., D233
Orientation for new congregational treasurers
Marty Lehman and Beryl Jantzi
A workshop designed for “new” congregational treasurers. Topics covered include: MMA stewardship resources, denominational Treasurer’s Handbook, budgeting information, understanding the denominational structure, how to count the money and much more.
Peacebuilding in Palestine-Israel: A follow-up to the 2007 Open Letter to Mennonite Church USA Congregations
Timothy Seidel and Rachel Lyndaker Schlabach
Last May, a delegation of representatives from Mennonite Church USA and church-related agencies visited Palestine-Israel. This delegation was formed “to have common experience around issues that relate to investment policies.” In 2005, MCC produced a discussion paper called “Peacebuilding in Palestine/Israel: A Discussion Paper” meant to contribute to this conversation in communities here in North America about stewardship, morally responsible investment/divestment and economic justice. This paper points out:.”Palestinians and Iraelis working for a just resolution of the conflict lamented that decades of appeal to international law and resolutions have failed to end this story of dispossession, with Israeli power routinely trumping appeals to the power of law. Palestinian Christian partners, in particular, urged Christians in the West to take a stand for justice, peace, and reconciliation for Palestinians and Israelis alike, a stand that markedly differs from Christian Zionist theologies that deny Palestinians a secure place in the land. These trusted partner organizations urged MCC to consider ways in which Christians from Canada and the U.S. might invest in a future of justice and peace for both peoples and to examine ways in which our money either promotes justice, peace, and reconciliation in Palestine/Israel or contributes to the ongoing dispossession.” This seminar will explore these issues.
- Wednesday, 6:45 p.m., C115
Preparing congregations for disaster
Kevin King and a pastor
Come hear stories of how churches coped with recent disasters. Learn how you can be a catalyst in your congregation to prepare and reach out in ministry when the storm does happen. As part of the community, congregations have the opportunity and responsibility to respond to disaster. The deep human needs and psychological scars left after a disaster require care beyond the restoration of physical needs. Putting lives back together after a disaster requires care, hope and love. A time of crisis is often the best time for Christians to demonstrate the reality of God’s healing grace through caring and sharing.
- Friday, 8:45 a.m., D240/241
Preparing our faith communities to end child abuse and neglect
Jeanette Harder
Children in our communities are being abused and neglected. What is the role of your church in preventing this tragedy? In this seminar, we’ll explore ways that our churches can protect children and strengthen families through better understanding of child abuse and helpful church policies.
Pro-life, pro-peace: Practicing a consistent ethic of life
Ann Hershberger and Darrin Snyder Belousek
Ann Graber Hershberger of Eastern Mennonite University will discuss “living faith responses” to abortion, and Darrin Snyder Belousek of Mennonite Mission Network and Louisburg College will promote a consisten ethic of life that includes not only abortion but also “capital punishment, war, torture, racism, provision for the poor, healthcare and protection of the environment.
- Saturday, 11:30 a.m., D235
Receiving the “spirit of adoption:” Orphans and adoptions in the Christian tradition
Keith Graber Miller
In a tradition whose Scriptures speak favorably and repeatedly of adoption and whose founder was, in one or more senses, adopted, we should expect a perspective and practice of caring for abandoned and orphaned children by grafting them into our families, just as we have been grafted into God’s family. After an introduction about the history and current practice of adoption among Christians and Mennonites, participants will be able to reflect on their own and others’ experiences with orphans and adoptions.
- Saturday, 3 p.m., D244/245
Releasing God’s purpose for your life
Gladys Lopez and Elizabeth Gibbs
There are many who join the body of Christ and even after many years of worship, fellowship and service, still have no clue what God’s intentions are for their lives. Let’s discover together!
- Wednesday, 8 p.m., C114
- Thursday, 3 p.m., D242/243
Resistance and nonresistance: New Testament perspectives on confronting the powers
Dorothy Jean Weaver
The New Testament writers depict a world, much like our own, caught in the throes of an intense struggle between God and the “powers” of evil, both cosmic and human. In our current world climate, dominated on many fronts by such evil “powers” as violence, oppression and injustice, it is crucial for Christians to recognize and to claim their role in confronting these “powers.” This workshop will identify and examine two contrasting and yet complementary New Testament strategies for confronting these “powers” – resistance (James 4:7) and nonresistance (Matthew 5:39). Seminar participants should bring their Bibles.
- Wednesday, 8:45 a.m., C114
Return to the Earth
Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz, Lawrence Hart and Jean McCoard
Return to the Earth envisions an ecumenical effort developing regional burial sites across the United States, supported by people of faith and governed by diverse, regional Native committees. Communities of faith are called upon to acknowledge their history of silence and collusion of historic wrongs and to participate in a process of education as well as utilize resources to support Native Americans through this restorative justice project.
- Wednesday, 8:45 a.m., C113
Shared voices: Embracing anti-racist communication
Ryan Miller
Of course we’re not racist, so neither is what we write, right? Not so fast. Walk with Mennonite Mission Network communications staff members through our journey toward anti-racist communication, our personal and professional struggles with anti-racism concepts and our learning process on applying anti-racism strategies into the way we communicate through words and images. Copies of Shared Voices: Anti-Racism Communication Guidelines for Mennonite Mission Network will be available for purchase.
Shifting gears, or How to quit spinning your wheels and start living life at its fullest, or A quick and dirty guide to the biking life
David and Cookie Wiebe
While a leisurely ride down tree-lined streets may be your image of a biking lifestyle, reality requires hard choices far beyond where to ride on a Sunday afternoon outing, or what’s the best bike for your needs. Choosing to bike more and drive less can be part of a much larger philosophical shift that creates “margin” in your time, emotional and physical energy, finances and more. Creating margin offers flexibility and opens your life to greater possibilities for worship, service, relationships, and connection/caring for the earth. Choices made as young adults can set the trajectory for greater- or lesser-margin throughout life. If you want to do more in life than join the rat race, explore the concept of margin, using a biking lifestyle both as metaphor and real-life example.
Social services and social welfare: Keeping a Christ-centered perspective
Donald Brubaker
While it is easy for most individuals to conceptualize our physical infrastructure, we often overlook the significance of our social infrastructure for maintaining healthy communities. Americans, in general, and Mennonites, in particular, have always been suspicious of the power of government. Our church members need an understanding of the positive functions of both government-based services and voluntary sector services.
- Thursday, 8:45 a.m., C113
- Friday, 3 p.m., D234
Spiritual check-up for the church
Marlene Kropf and several seasoned spiritual directors from across Mennonite Church USA.
In this seminar, several seasoned spiritual directors will reflect on the spiritual health and growth of Mennonites through the lens of their encounters with Mennonites in spiritual direction (both individual and corporate). The seminar will also explore ways to assess spiritual health and encourage spiritual renewal.
- Thursday, 8:45 a.m., D231
- Saturday, 11:30 a.m., D230
Spirituality in young children
Kathleen Harris
This seminar is for Adults and young adults—specifically parents, pastors and those working with young children or interested in early childhood education. Examining and defining young children’s spirituality followed with suggestions to nurture a child’s heart, soul and mind.
- Wednesday, 4:15 p.m., D234
Starvation: the role of energy costs, biofuels and organic farming
John D. Rohrer and Fred Yoder
Food costs and shortages rise worldwide with the energy costs. What is the role of biofuels and fertilizer in food shortages and energy supply? What are the potential effects of genetically modified food and organisms on food supply? We have some hard choices – going completely natural and organic with today’s technology will not provide enough food for the current world population. Is it a moral choice to raise less food than we can without fertilizer (natural and organic) when we have food shortages in many parts of the world?
- Thursday, 8:45 a.m., C114
Stirring up a stagnant church
Scott Roth
There are basic ideas and insights that help congregations to see the possibilities around them. These insights, once understood and integrated into a congregation, can take a congregation from just desiring to do the right thing to reach their neighbors to actually doing the right things and having joy overreaching their communities.
- Friday, 8:45 a.m., D231
- Saturday, 3 p.m., D231
Talking with youth about sexuality
Keith Graber Miller
As they learn about sexuality throughout adolescence, our youth have access to a wide range of media and peer resources. Most of these resources send messages that are unrealistic, unhealthy or unfaithful. Congregations, parents and youth groups have the opportunity to broaden those sources to include church and home settings, with information coming from sensible, thoughtful, mature adults. Talking about sexuality is not easy, but it is essential if we want the children of the church to make wise, responsible sexual decisions and to live in sexually healthy ways.
- Saturday, 4:15 p.m., D244/245
Teaching kids about money
Tina Hartman and Kent Hartzler
What is culture teaching our children in a society where spending and consumption has become more important than giving and saving? Explore how we can teach our young children to become good stewards of money and resources.
- Wednesday, 8:45 a.m., D142/143
The church on immigration: Responding to the MCC US Immigration Listening Project
MCC US Immigration Network (Saulo Padilla, coordinator)
This seminar will address the church’s response to the MCC US Immigration Listening Project: What is the Church Saying and will provide attendees an open environment to discuss the responses. Attendees will also be provided with information on immigration from a biblical perspective. MCC immigration staff will be present to address questions on immigration.
- Thursday, 3 p.m., D240/241
The Dark Night: A Gift from God
Daniel Schrock
This seminar will answer common questions about the dark night, including what it is, how it changes us and the way we relate to God, how it differs from depression and how it expands our capacity for countercultural mission.
The Family Song
Jane Hoober Peifer and Becky Degan
Author and song writer will describe the birthing of The Family Song, a children’s book about a family whose daily song holds them together when life turns chaotic. Seminar geared toward parents and young children ages 3 through 10. Pastors and worship leaders may be interested in how this story can be used in worship as a story about God’s presence with us; about being grateful; and/or about being missional.
- Thursday, 4:15 p.m., D240/241
The historical Jesus and the Holy Spirit
John Zimmerman
What light does historical Jesus study shed on Jesus’ view of the Holy Spirit? We will look for insight both in the sources for first century Palestinian Judaism and in the sources for the historical Jesus.
The Lord’s Table and worship renewal
Sara Wenger Shenk
Why don’t we have communion every week, allowing it to become a vital heartbeat of congregational life, like an altar call of recommitment, like a flesh and blood encounter with Jesus? The Table, an emerging Mennonite church, has dared to be experimental with worship in ways that we believe are Christ-centered, and biblically/theologicaly grounded. We’ll share what we’re learning about worship renewal around the Lord’s Table.
- Saturday, 10:15 a.m., D235
Towards a distinctively Anabaptist Mennonite youth ministry
Randy Keeler
Results of the seminar leader’s doctoral research will be summarized and offered as a theological framework for future youth ministry in Anabaptist-Mennonite congregations.
Transforming the body
Sheri Hostetler and Anita Amstutz
White, Western Christianity has been criticized for being too intellectual and propositional and for forming a divide between spirit and body. Some have suggested that this has alienated us from the wisdom of our own bodies and also from the creation (which has enabled us to exploit it). We will talk about this divide in the seminar and suggest that when we transform our relationship to our own bodies and the body of the earth, we transform our relationship with God. We will also explore the implications of what this transformation means for being the Body of Christ on earth.
- Thursday, 3 p.m., D244/245
- Friday, 3 p.m., D244/245
U.S. urban ministry as preparation for cross cultural ministry anywhere
Krista Dutt and Heidi Aspinwall
Only so much classroom style learning can prepare your group before a cross-cultural mission opportunity. However urban mission experiences right here at home begin to break down stereotypes of those we engage with in partnership and can prepare your group for a trip abroad. Engage in the discussion of preparing for cross-cultural ministry by crossing those cultures in U.S. cities.
Unashamedly evangelical and unapologetically justice centered
John H. Powell
An “evangelical” is often viewed right of the political center. There is a perception that the evangelical only has a passion for the “lost soul” and not the deprived physical and social state of humanity. This has created miscommunication between those who are concerned about a holistic witness and evangelicals. This seminar will provide ways for these two “camps” to talk with each other and find common ways to address the brokenness in God’s creation.
Urban church planting: Sharing experiences
Kuaying Teng and others
A forum on Urban Church Planting – the idea is to have Asian, Hispanic, Anglo and African and/or African American church planters share their experiences. This seminar will require translation with Rev. Teng and Rev. Marco Güete translating.
What happens when Lutherans apologize to Mennonites?
Laura Brenneman, Rev. Dennis M. Maurer (assistant to the Bishop, ELCA NW Ohio Synod), Andre Gingerich Stoner and Dr. Michael Trice (director of Ecumenical Formation, ELCA)
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) recently apologized for past persecution of Anabaptists. What is the background of this development? Is this an opportunity for Mennonites to move beyond a victim mentality that leads to being “the quiet in the land?” Is this an invitation to play a different role in the broader body of Christ? What can Mennonites learn from our Lutheran brothers and sisters and their commitment to work for the unity of the church? Come join Mennonite and Lutheran leaders as they discuss these questions and reflect on next steps in our relationship.
- Wednesday, 4:15 p.m., C113
What values does your organization reflect
Rick Stiffney and Tim Stair
An organization’s values, whether they’re stated or not, give shape to its culture. Hear what the health and human services organizations of MHS Alliance have learned about how organizational values are expressed and how leaders can be intentional about identifying values and transforming them into behavior.
What’s available when a crime happens? Victim Offender Reconciliation Program
Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz
Hear about what is happening with Victim Offender Reconciliation Programs around the country and the world…are victim offender programs effective, how are they being implemented, what kind of cases are they doing and are they making a difference within our communities?
- Thursday, 8:45 a.m., C115
Women In Ministry: What have we learned?
Dorothy Nickel Friesen
Using data from a recent survey on women in ministry and previous studies, as well as personal stories and group sharing, this seminar will invite participants to reflect on what it is like to be a female in ministry in Mennonite Church USA.
- Wednesday, 4:15 p.m., C112
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| Convention 2009 is a ministry of Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership | |
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