Worshipers praying at MennoCon23. Photo by Ken Krehbiel.
A special offering at MC USA’s Follow Jesus ’25 national convention in Greensboro, North Carolina, July 8-12, 2025, will benefit the denomination’s Safe Church ministry for abuse awareness, prevention and response.
“MC USA’s Safe Church Ministry provides a way for churches to be proactive in preventing abuse rather than waiting until it occurs,” said Nancy Kauffmann, interim denominational minister for Safe Church. “Safe church assists congregations to set up an environment that enables us to be the best we can be representing our faith in Christ.”
MC USA’s Safe Church ministry empowers congregations to teach and promote healthy and wholesome relationships.
Donations to the Safe Church ministry provide MC USA conferences and congregations of all sizes with educational materials, such as the Circle of Grace curriculum, in-person presentations and training, webinars, video resources, consultations on organizational protection policies, and assistance in administering background checks. Safe Church materials are in demand, with requests from across MC USA and participation in online events from numerous other denominations.
“MC USA has been affirmed for taking this work very seriously,” said Kauffmann.
Abuse prevention and accountability is a topic of focus at the Follow Jesus 25 convention, with Kauffmann and members of the MC USA Safe Church Advisory Team leading seven different seminars on topics such as “Empowering Children and Youth to be Safe,” “Is the Church a Safe Space for All?” and “Raising Children to be Good Digital Citizens.”
Kauffmann will introduce the special offering for the Safe Church ministry during an evening worship service at Follow Jesus 25. Offering baskets will be available during worship, and attendees can also donate using a credit or debit card at MC USA’s onsite convention office. In addition, donors may give online or mail a check payable to “Mennonite Church USA” and noting “Safe Church” in the memo line to Mennonite Church USA, 718 N. Main Street, Newton, KS 67114.
Kauffmann will be available at the MC USA exhibit (#107 & 109) at Follow Jesus ’25 on Thursday, July 10 from 12:15-2:15 p.m. to greet attendees and answer questions about the Safe Church ministry.
Delegate Assembly special offering
MC USA Executive Board and staff will invite delegates to support their work in immigration justice during the Delegate Assembly on July 11 in Greensboro.
MC USA has a long history of immigration justice work in support of its Churchwide Statement on Immigration, introduced in 2003, revised in 2014 and updated for potential approval by the 2025 Delegate Assembly. This work has included:
- Equipping congregations with educational resources, such as the “Radical Hospitality” Bible study curriculum and the “Learn, Pray, Join: Immigration Justice” initiative,
- Collaborative advocacy with our agencies and affiliated ministries,
- Webinars, including the recent “What does it mean to provide sanctuary for undocumented people?”
- Seeding and administering Justice Fund grants to support congregations doing immigration work in their communities.
Most recently, MC USA and more than two dozen other Christian and Jewish denominations filed a lawsuit to protect religious freedoms in response to the Trump Administration’s rescission of the Department of Homeland Security’s “sensitive locations” policy that had restricted Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting immigration raids, arrests, and other enforcement actions at houses of worship. The case is ongoing.
“This work is critical and time-consuming. Since joining this lawsuit, not a day has gone by that some on our staff has not been engaged in this work,” said MC USA Executive Director Glen Guyton. “The work we are doing does not come without some risk to staff and members. We need the financial support of the denomination to continue to respond and defend our members.”
“In a time when fear and exclusion dominate the headlines we, as Christians, are called to embody welcome, compassion and solidarity,” said Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz, denominational minister of Peace and Justice. “Our faith demands that we stand with the sojourner, with those being separated from loved ones through no choice of their own.”
Donations to MC USA’s Peace and Justice ministry will support this vital and ongoing work.
Offering baskets will be available during the Delegate Assembly, and delegates can also donate using a credit or debit card at MC USA’s onsite convention office. In addition, donors may give online or mail a check, payable to “Mennonite Church USA” and noting “Peace and Justice” in the memo line, to Mennonite Church USA, 718 N. Main Street, Newton, KS 67114.
Stutzman Amstutz and Associate Executive Director Iris de León-Hartshorn will be available at the MC USA exhibit (#107 & 109) at Follow Jesus ’25 on Wednesday, July 9 from 8-10:00 p.m. to greet attendees and answer questions about MC USA’s immigration work.
Mennonite Church USA is an Anabaptist Christian denomination, founded in 2002 by the merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church. Members of this historic peace church seek to follow Jesus by rejecting violence and resisting injustice. MC USA’s Renewed Commitments state the following shared commitments among its diverse body of believers: to follow Jesus, witness to God’s peace and experience the transformation of the Holy Spirit. Mennoniteusa.org
Written by Camille Dager.