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Contact: Laurie L. Oswald (316) 283-5100, E-mail: LaurieO@MennoniteUSA.org

MC USA Executive Board connects with constituents, examines work of biennium by Laurie L. Oswald

NEWTON, Kan. (MC USA) - As Mennonite Church USA approaches its delegate assembly at Atlanta 2003 in July, Executive Board members and staff are examining the bridge built between the vision mapped out at Nashville 2001 and the miles traveled to realize that vision.

The board surveyed and strengthened that bridge when it met for board meetings April 11-13 in Newton and also met with some local constituents April 12. Leaders from Western District Conference, pastors of local congregations and staff from the North Newton-based Great Plains extension of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary shared how well they see MC USA connecting and collaborating regionally and locally.

Ervin Stutzman, MC USA moderator, said this relationship-building is a main priority for the board, which held its meetings at First Mennonite Church and at denominational offices. The board also explored the need for aligning the various parts of the church to become a more unified whole; finalized board policies; prepared for delegate sessions in Atlanta; did its first performance review of a churchwide agency, Mennonite Education Agency (MEA); and engaged in an antiracism workshop.

"The reason the board exists is to serve the people in the congregations and area conferences, and it is really important for us to hear how they are experiencing the church," Stutzman said. "Time after time, board members tell me that building these relationships is the most important part of their work."

Pat Hershberger, board member from Woodburn, Ore., said, "Linking with our constituents is very valuable for us as board members, because we are given the task of looking at the whole. We must see the needs of the urban and suburban churches, the larger and smaller groupings, the unique abilities of each area, and then hold all of those before us as we work for the good of everyone."

After the meeting, Clarence Rempel, pastor at First Mennonite, said he appreciates this relationship-building in a church that's striving for new collaboration.

"Building relationships is increasingly important, since congregations are being encouraged to be a part of the 'setting the table,' he said. "We are striving to have more dynamic relationships, as congregations also develop curriculum, prepare seminars, determine what being missional means for their own communities. The educational flow goes back and forth between the denomination and conferences and congregations."

Developing this flow continues to bring challenges, as constituents grapple with the gains and losses brought about by the merger of the former General Conference Mennonite Church (GC) and the Mennonite Church (MC), other local leaders said. Leaders from South Central Mennonite Conference could not attend the board meeting due to scheduling conflicts.

"The former GCs thought we would be coming together in such a way that you have a kind of patchwork quilt made into one quilt," said Lois Barrett, director of AMBS-Great Plains. "MCs in this area thought they would dye all the pieces to match. These two understandings have clashed. ... The church needs to create a new culture and not a carbon copy of either old culture."

Dorothy Nickel Friesen, Western District conference minister, said, "When there are both gains and losses, no matter how good the gains are, the losses still have to be grieved." She cited examples of losses, including the loss of GC Canadian brothers and sisters (totaling about 40 percent of the GC constituents) who are now belong to Mennonite Church Canada, and the loss of jobs among former GC church leaders in the Newton area.

As losses are grieved, gains are celebrated, as people tell their stories, said Friesen and Heidi Regier Kreider, pastor of Bethel College Mennonite Church in North Newton.

"We're hearing a broader group of stories," Kreider said. "Mennonite Church USA is helping us broaden our vision and to see our brothers and sisters in different places."

After the meeting, Friesen said, "We want to honor the stories and memories of our past, because they were important, and they changed the world. ... But we are not stuck in the past. We are propelled by the past into creating new stories for the future."

Sharing stories helps build a new culture. And so does aligning all parts of MC USA and making "course corrections" sooner than later, said Jim Schrag, executive director of the Executive Board. At Nashville, delegates had asked for a review of churchwide structures after six years, but the Executive Board believes that review is needed much sooner.

"Picture a large arrow and then put lots of small arrows inside it," Schrag said. "Make the small arrows go in many different directions. That is non-alignment. Now make all the arrows go in the direction of the big arrow. That is alignment. If the Executive Board, the agencies or the conferences and congregation are small arrows heading in many other different directions within these big arrow, the direction of the big arrow isn't going to mean very much."

The board directed Schrag and staff to give attention to alignments among church entities in the next biennium. That could include conducting audits of the Executive Board ministry offices and the churchwide agencies. If major changes were suggested, delegates would have to approve them.

Examples of alignment include more effective implementation of the Firstfruits Funding System and further interpreting the application of the membership guidelines in collaboration with area conferences, Schrag said. It also means clarifying relationships between the Executive board, agencies and conferences on implementing the new funding system.

"We as a board are responsible for making sure that all the pieces are working together to serve each other and Christ and the church," said D. Duane Oswald, MC USA moderator-elect. "That may not mean the major changes that happened with Mennonite Publishing House [now Network]. But it does mean we may need to take a look right now at some aspects of the way we are working or not working together."

Ed Rempel, board member and part-time conference minister for Rocky Mountain Mennonite Conference, speaking of theological alignment, said, "One question I ask is how tightly do we align and how does the process of flexibility fit in with that alignment? I know people who would feel very uncomfortable in many places if that alignment were too tight."

A way of helping to foster alignment is to do performance reviews of churchwide agencies, such the one conducted by the board April 12 on MEA with Carlos Romero, MEA's executive director.

MEA's mission is to strengthen the life of the church through education and by asking, "What does it mean to be a church school in MC USA?" he said. MEA is planning consultations on pastoral theological education and on serving the needs of people-of-color churches and congregations in urban settings. "Our schools want to help develop leadership for the church to create a Mennonite identity," he said.

In other business, the board also accepted resolutions on abortion, immigration and access to health care to be presented for delegate approval in Atlanta; finalized its board policies; and drafted a letter to Weldon Nisly, pastor of Seattle (Wash.) Mennonite church, in response to his letter to the Executive Board.

Nisly was part of a recent delegation sponsored by Christian Peacemaker Teams to war-torn Iraq. During the board meeting, an oil lamp -- like the one presented to church leaders in Iraq -- burned continually to remind the board to pray for their Christian brothers and sisters around the globe.

Eric Massanari, pastor of Shalom Mennonite Church in Newton, Kan., leads devotions April 12 for Mennonite Church USA Executive Board meetings held in Newton. Seated to his right are Jim Schrag, Executive Board executive director, and board members Erv Stutzman, MC USA moderator from Harrisonburg, Va.; Olivette McGhee from Atmore, Ala.; Lois Thieszen Prehiem from Aurora, Neb.; and Ed Rempel from Littleton, Colo.

Elaine Bryant, Mennonite Church USA Executive Board member from Chicago, speaks during board meetings held April 11-13 in Newton, Kan. Listening is board member Sharon Waltner from Parker, S.D.

Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite Church USA.