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News archive
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| Flores leads restructured Denominational Ministry for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership |
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by June Galle Krehbiel for Mennonite Church USA
NEWTON, KAN. Tending the souls of conference ministers and tending the system of denominational ministry is the way Gilberto Flores sees his new role in Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership.
Now director of Denominational Ministry and Missional Church for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership, Flores moved into this permanent appointment in December. Formerly a denominational minister for Congregational and Ministerial Leadership, Flores heads the same office, but its name has changed to Denominational Ministry.
With the new name comes a new structure that includes seven denominational ministers, rather than four, who oversee relationships with the 21 area conferences of Mennonite Church USA. In addition to giving overall leadership for Denominational Ministry, Flores will also minister to the needs of five area conferences and their conference ministers.
“Gilberto brings pastoral instincts and missional theology and practice to his new role. He has earned respect as a leader and as a spokesperson for new initiatives of learning and witness,” says Jim Schrag, executive director for Mennonite Church USA. “Gilberto is multi-cultural in outlook, able to relate to and guide many (or Jim’s words: a wide variety of”) people within the church.”
The transition resulted from conversations with and prompting from conference ministers in 2007.
“At the denominational level, we faced the need to recreate ourselves, including a name that suggests we are moving toward a better understanding of who we are. If we are called denominational ministers, then that is what we are,” Flores says. “Our intention is to function as the ears of the denomination, to be more caregiving in our leadership and to reflect a missional intention in our name.”
The new name of Denominational Ministry offers a more biblical vocabulary as well as a relational approach. The denominational ministers will expand the work that the Congregational and Ministerial Leadership office was doing in equipping congregational leaders for ministry and supporting conference ministers in their roles.
Herm Weaver from Nederland, Colo., began as conference minister for the newly formed Mountain State Mennonite Conference in August 2006.
“I work best when I am working with friends, when I’m in relationship with people I trust and who care about me,” Weaver says. “My sense is that this particular change puts denominational ministers in a position to be much more relational in our work together and in my mind that will bring the best out of all of us.”
Denominational ministers will be better able to engage with area conferences through closer, more frequent relationships and discern, for example, when conference leaders need pastoral care.
“If we do what we call ‘healthy relationship in healthy systems,’ we will have healthy congregations, healthy conferences and a healthy denomination,” Flores says. “This is the first step, and we’re working hard to facilitate ways to interact between all these levels.”
Flores sees God in control as he describes what he hopes will be an improved, two-way relationship between conference and denominational leaders.
“We gospelize in our approach, and, in the process, they gospelize us,” he says.
Three new denominational ministers have been appointed who will work to support specific Mennonite Church USA conferences. Phil Bergey will oversee relationships with North Central and Western District. Iris De León-Hartshorn will minister to Illinois and Ohio. Jorge Vallejos is the denominational minister for South Central.
Keith Harder, former director of Congregational and Ministerial Leadership, is currently a denominational minister in addition to leading denominational efforts for a healthcare plan for congregational church workers.
Other denominational ministers continuing on are Linford King and Lee Lever.
“Denominational ministry that connects to conference ministry enhances congregational ministry. This is the vanguard of our churchwide missional thrust as we see God at work in hundreds of contexts across Mennonite Church USA and respond to God’s example through innovative, creative local leadership,” says Schrag.
These seven denominational ministers relate to conference ministers in 21 area conferences.
Phil Bergey – North Central, Western District
Iris De León-Hartshorn – Illinois, Ohio
Gilberto Flores – Franconia, Mountain States, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, Southeast
Keith Harder – Central District, Indiana-Michigan, Lancaster
Linford King – Allegheny, Franklin, New York, Virginia
Lee Lever – Atlantic Coast, Central Plains, Eastern District, Gulf States
Jorge Vallejos – South Central
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| Prothro named communications director for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership |
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by June Krehbiel for Mennonite Church USA
NEWTON, KAN. Marathana Prothro of Newton, Kan., has been named communications director for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership. She moved into this leadership position Nov. 1 after serving as interim director of communications for nine months following a year as creative manager in the same office. She works out of the Newton Office of Mennonite Church USA.
“Marathana brings a sharp focus to her work and leadership for the communications office,” says Jim Schrag, executive director for Mennonite Church USA. “We on the Executive Leadership team anticipate the many ways she will develop the office’s work to include wider applications of communicating the whole of Mennonite Church USA among its many parts as well as to the wider Christian church.”
Prothro received a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and film from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan., in 2003. She has completed some course work for a master’s degree in communication at Wichita (Kan.) State University and anticipates completing the degree in 2011.
She worked at The Newton Kansan from 2003 to 2005, first as business and agriculture editor, later as news editor. There she earned five-time recognition from the Kansas Press Association for excellence in writing and was a fellow with the National Press Foundation in Washington, D.C., in March 2004.
Prothro’s new role gives her responsibility for overall communication and marketing on behalf of the denomination and Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership. She chairs the Mennonite Church USA Communications Reference Council which includes representatives from churchwide agencies and The Mennonite, the denominational magazine.
In February 2007 Prothro traveled to the Congo with a delegation from Mennonite Church USA. She is a member of Anabaptist Communicators and earlier this year completed the Values-Based Leadership Program with the Institute for Anabaptist Leadership.
Prothro and her husband, Brett Prothro, attend Shalom Mennonite Church in Newton where she is a mentor, worship leader and first grade Sunday school helper.
In the local community she serves as vice president of the Kauffman Museum Board of Directors in North Newton and volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Harvey County.
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| Rahe named Web content manager for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership |
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by June Krehbiel for Mennonite Church USA
ELKHART, IND. Chris Rahe of Bourbon, Ind., has been named Web content manager for Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership. He began in January, working out of the Elkhart (Ind.) Office of Mennonite Church USA. He will oversee all aspects of Web design and content and assist with other writing and editing.
In 1990 Rahe graduated from Butler University in Indianapolis with a major in public and corporate communications and a minor in creative writing.
Rahe came to the Web content manager position after working as executive director of marketing and development for Community Hospital of Bremen in Indiana. He has served as Webmaster for Earth Day Network and was associate editor and Webmaster for the Indiana State Medical Association.
“Chris is the kind of person every successful team needs,” Prothro says. “Not only is Chris passionate about the work and calling of Mennonite Church USA, he has a strong set of skills and experience that he uses to make the people around him better at what they do. Chris is already proving to be a valuable asset, and I’m excited to see where he’ll lead us in our next generation of Web development.”
Rahe and his wife, Carolyn (Meyer) Rahe, have three children. The family attends Holdeman Mennonite Church in Wakarusa, Ind., where Chris teaches Sunday school, has led worship and helped start a peace and justice group.
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