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News archive
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| New Mennonite Women USA editor no stranger to ministry |
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 by Mennonite Women USA staff
NEWTON, Kan. When Patricia Burdette began to serve Mennonite Women USA (MW USA) four years ago on the board of directors, she had no idea she was helping to guide the staff she would someday join as editor.
But God did not announce ahead of time that her path would lead straight into the heart of MW USA’s publication ministry. Burdette, a retired English professor and former professional in public relations and financial development, replaces Laurie Oswald Robinson as MW USA editor May 15. She will work from her home in Pandora, Ohio, where she lives with her husband, Rob, transitional pastor for Grace Mennonite Church in Pandora.
“I knew Laurie was resigning, and I was praying about that that God would send the right person,” Burdette says. “And then I felt God nudging me that I might be the right person. And so I applied.”
Burdette is no stranger to the integral role publications plays in MW USA. She served as chair of Editorial Advisory Council and was this council’s representative to the MW USA board. In that post, she helped hire Oswald Robinson, a new editor, in 2006; was part of a team that shaped the redesigned timbrel in 2007; and worked with the Bible Study Advisory Council to finalize the yearly Bible study guide, commissioned by MW USA and Canadian Women in Mission.
In a new step of engagement with MW USA, Burdette accepted the invitation to write the Bible study guide for 2008, Your Treasure, Your Heart: Women and the Stewardship of Money (Faith & Life, 2008). And this newest step into editorship brings her still more deeply into the ministry where she will apply well-honed skills and gifts.
Burdette’s vocational history includes teaching rhetoric, American Indian Literature and composition, most recently at Bluffton (Ohio) University, as well as much writing and editing. She earned a PhD in American Indian Peace Studies at Union Institute in 2003. Her dissertation was “Power of the Spirit: Spirituality and Successful Development Projects among the Oglala Lakota.” Earlier degrees were in English secondary education and history/political science.
In her new post, she will yearly edit six issues of timbrel: women in conversation together with God, work with the Bible study guide, do other writing and editing and work on special projects with Rhoda Keener, MW USA executive director.
“I very much appreciated working with Patty on the board, and her life and professional experience will greatly enrich the ministry of MW USA,” Keener says.
Burdette will apply her passion for the Mennonite faith perspective as seen through the eyes of someone who came into the Anabaptist community as an adult. She was a financial development and public relations professional until the birth of her fourth child. As she and her husband searched for a deeper walk with God, they began voluntary service and soon after discovered the Mennonites.
Burdette and her family served in Aboriginal projects with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada in Saskatchewan for six years before serving among the Oglala Lakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation for MCC U.S. for six additional years. Working with these populations was a good fit for Burdette, who is an American Indian of Creek, Shawnee and E. Cherokee descent.
Five years into those 12 of voluntary service, she and her husband and then-teenaged daughter were re-baptized into the Mennonite Church in Saskatoon, Sask.
“We were searching for a deeper walk with God and that’s when we started with MCC as Presbyterians,” Burdette says. “During MCC, we began attending Mennonite churches and felt this was what we had looked for many years but never really could find.
“The Mennonite church had the same sense of the centrality of the Sermon on the Mount that we did. The church used Christ’s teachings as a lens to understand the rest of the Bible. We hadn’t found that in any other churches and that meshed with our own understanding.”
For all the vocations Burdette has fulfilled, she considers motherhood to be the most significant and joyful of them all. She has five adult children and nine grandchildren.
“The reason it’s so significant for me is because children are the next generation,” Burdette says. “It’s our responsibility to pass on the values that are important to us as adults.
“In the same way, part of timbrel’s purpose is to allow Christian women to share their values across generations when meeting face-to-face is made difficult by the change in women’s lifestyles. The dialogue in these pages helps us to know God and to know our sisters.”
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| Editor completes work with Mennonite Church USA |
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 NEWTON, Kan. Laurie Oswald Robinson of Newton, Kan., resigned earlier this year from her position as editor for Mennonite Women USA.
The May-June issue of timbrel: Women in Conversation Together with God is Robinson’s final task in this role. She began her work for Mennonite Women USA in November 2005 and has edited six issues of timbrel a year. A significant part of her ministry for the women’s organization was working with a team of staff and consultants to redesign the 10-year-old magazine. The new design was launched last summer at San José, Calif.
Besides editing the magazine, Robinson has worked with Mennonite Women USA executive director Rhoda Keener on other writing and editing projects, including Bible study guides.
A Goshen (Ind.) College graduate, Robinson has written for the church for 10 years. She worked as assistant editor for Mennonite Weekly Review, Newton, Kan., from 1998 to 2001 and as news service director for Mennonite Church USA from 2002 to 2005.
She plans to devote more time to home and family, including care for a foster baby. In addition, she will write monthly articles for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership and Lancaster Mennonite Conference and will work one-fourth time as intergenerational coordinator for the Hesston (Kan.) Intergenerational Child Development Center.
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| Conference resource advocates attend training in Baltimore |
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by Mennonite Church USA staff
BALTIMORE Mennonite Church USA conference resource advocates met March 28 to 30 in Baltimore for a training retreat focused on networking and learning about new resources. Thirteen of Mennonite Church USA’s 21 area conferences were represented at this third annual gathering.
Conference resource advocates are responsible for spreading the word about the wealth of Mennonite resources available to congregations and conferences.
An interested audience is church librarians. The advocates discussed requests from them for resourcing and networking. For example, an eastern Pennsylvania group is ready to share their librarian's newsletter with others for a small fee. Some networking has already begun.
At the retreat, advocates also discussed their common challenges, shared ideas for improving connections with congregations, set personal goals and received a blessing for their work on behalf of the church. In addition, agency representatives updated advocates on new resources, such as Mennonite Mission Network’s anti-racism communication guidelines Shared Voices and the Financial Sanity curriculum from MMA.
In reflecting on their challenges, advocates keyed in on the problem of communication. They agreed communication works best when they have regular opportunities to meet with conference executives; participate in a conference education/nurture committee; have a visible presence at local conference events, including workshops; and regularly are given space in their conference newsletter to highlight resources.
“It is a challenge for volunteer advocates to get into congregations, particularly in conferences where churches are widely scattered,” said Kathy Weaver Wenger, resource advocate coordinator for Mennonite Publishing Network. “Each conference develops its own system for enabling communication. Advocates are available as much as their schedules allow, doing most of their work by phone and e-mail.”
Norma Duerksen, conference resource advocate for Ohio Conference, was so inspired by the training that she immediately made plans to lead four regional workshops.
“I would like to promote in each of our regions the excellent resources available to us through Leader and Gather ’Round for this summer’s quarter on ‘The Things That Make for Peace.’ Mennonite Media and Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership also have resources on this topic that I would gather together to show our church leaders and have them available for purchase. I think that even those who do not regularly use Gather ’Round should get this quarter for its study of peace, one of the central tenants of our faith.”
Mennonite Church USA agencies cover the expenses of this annual event in appreciation for the work of these volunteers. Those representing Executive Leadership and its agencies include: Marlene Kropf, Executive Leadership; Hannah Heinzekehr, Mennonite Mission Network; Beryl Jantzi, MMA; and Eleanor Snyder, Mennonite Publishing Network. Mennonite Education Agency was unable to send a representative.
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| Conference resource advocates participating in the March 28 to 30 retreat include (from left): front row, Dolores Bauman, Sheryl Duerksen, Charlotte Derksen; second row, Beryl Jantzi, Pam Bartel, Shana Peachey Boshart, Marj Geissinger, Eleanor Snyder, Sue Klassen, Sharon Williams, Cathy Spory, Hannah Heinzekehr; third row, Paul Garber, Kathy Weaver Wenger, Bill Zuercher, Eldon Stoltzfus, Norma Duerksen, Marlene Bogard. Not pictured: Marlene Kropf. (Mennonite Publishing Network photo) |
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| A group of advocates play an adapted version of “Apples to Apples” to become better acquainted with Mennonite Publishing Network resources. Those shown include, from left, Marlene Bogard, Sue Klassen, Sharon Williams, Sheryl Duerksen, Hannah Hienzekehr, Norma Duerksen, Shana Peachey Boshart and Pam Bartel. (Mennonite Publishing Network photo) |
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