Women in Leadership

Women in Leadership (WiL) works to dismantle patriarchal systems in Mennonite Church USA by empowering women to live out the call of God on their lives, increase their capacities, and contribute their wisdom in congregations, area conferences, agencies and institutions.

It creates space for resources, conversation and action for all women in our churches who are in leadership.

Recent Webinar Recordings:

View here.

Coming soon…

 

Denomination-wide research study: Learn more here.


The work of Women in Leadership includes:

The work of WIL is guided by a diverse steering committee. They are committed to intersectionality and centering the wisdom and leadership of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) women.


Women Doing Theology

Women Doing Theology conferences flow out of a history of Anabaptist theologians, ministers, teachers, activists, creatives and many others gathering together to do theological work born out of women’s experiences. Our theology is enriched and more deeply grounded as we listen, hold space, challenge, come into new awareness and practice presence together.

Past Women Doing Theology conferences:

What we need is here is an online webinar series held in 2020 to share a virtual space for theology born out of women’s experiences as an alternative to WiL’s in-person conference. Recordings are available at the above link.

WDT 2018: Talkin’ Bout a Revolution: Dialogue, Practice and the Work of Liberation – built on the foundations laid in previous conferences to explore practices and opportunities for more people to access radical change and liberation.

Women Doing Theology 2016: I’ve Got the Power! Naming and reclaiming power as a force for good – focused on recognizing and embracing the power we have, and acknowledging that the Spirit of God is at work in us and through us as we do.

WDT 2014: All You Need is Love: Honoring the Diversity of Women’s Voices in Theology –  created space for discussion and reflection on what it means to love in a world filled with struggle and oppression.

Resources

Holding it(,) Together podcasts: Mennonite Church USA’s Women in Leadership has produced Holding it(,) Together, a podcast that delves into the lives and experiences of people across Mennonite Church USA.  It connects with folks from all over the country: people living into the fullness of who God created them to be, people stepping out in faith and standing in their conviction, individuals who are doing their best, one day at a time, to love God and neighbor, midwifing new systems and new ways of being in the world. Podcasts include:

  • Episodes 1 – 5: Women in Leadership
  • Episodes 6 – 10: Breaking Silences: Infertility, Miscarriage and Infant Loss, Mental Illness, Wholeness, Failure, Singleness
  • Women Doing Theology Shorts from 2018 conference speakers: Malinda Elizabeth Berry, Yvette Blair and Carolina Hinojosa-Cisneros

Holding it(,) Together Podcast

 


I’ve Got the Power! Naming and reclaiming power as a force for good, an essay collection from the 2016 Women Doing Theology Conference.

 

 


Created Equal
A persistent question in the church concerns the relationship between women and men. What did God envision? Should women and men work together as equal partners, or have clearly defined roles and responsibilities? And who should take the lead? Although much of church history has assumed male leadership and distinct gender roles, there are also strong voices in the Bible that support equality and mutuality between men and women. There are also many situations in which individual gifts and abilities determined responsibilities more than gender. How are we to understand what the Bible teaches? This resource includes some answers to questions that often come up in these discussions. There are also reflection questions and a list of additional resources, inviting us to further conversation and Bible study.

Shannon-Dycus

Shannon Dycus is co-pastor at First Mennonite Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she leads missional and faith formation ministries for the congregation. She is active with Faith in Indiana, a local PICO network of faith communities seeking justice and holds multiple leadership positions with Mennonite Church USA. Shannon has published articles for The Mennonite and Leader, and she has loved supporting MC USA convention worship planning the last few years. Before congregational, her ministry was teaching middle and high school students and directing after-school programs. Shannon holds an undergraduate degree in Secondary Education from Butler University and received her Master of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary where she continues to mentor students in The Discipleship Project. With a love for journeying with people, Shannon is completing certification as a Spiritual Director at San Francisco Theological Seminary.  With her loving husband, Gregory, the Dycus family includes two energetic elementary-age boys. Shannon is a listener and a foodie. She loves live music and dancing. She believes in doing justice and creating space to breathe.

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Katerina Gea is the lead pastor of Pasadena Mennonite Church, located in the Los Angeles River Basin in the Hahamog’na band of Tongva peoples’ unceded territory. Katerina’s ancestors were German-speaking Russian Mennonite refugees who became white settlers near Fresno, California. She was raised mostly in non-denominational churches as a child before attending Wheaton College, where she got her undergraduate degree in Cultural Anthropology and reclaimed the Mennonite faith tradition. Katerina has been involved in interconnected movements for racial, economic and ecological justice that seek to knit bonds of kinship and solidarity between people of faith and those experiencing oppression and displacement. She is passionate about reconnecting humans with the rest of creation and planted a “Wild Church” in Fresno, while also planting gardens alongside incarcerated people in California state prisons. Katerina is an adjunct professor with Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, where she received her M.Div. in Theology and Peace Studies. She loves poetry, hiking, and dancing salsa with her spouse. Her favorite scripture verses come from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 61:1-4, which her grandmother spoke over her as a child.

Sue Park-Hur updated

Sue Park-Hur serves as the director of racial/ethnic engagement for Mennonite Church USA (MC USA). She works with the various racial/ethnic entities within MC USA, supports the program agencies in this work and helps denominational leaders to define MC USA diversity, equity and inclusion goals, standards, and desired outcomes. Park-Hur co-directs ReconciliAsian, a peace center in Los Angeles specializing in conflict transformation and restorative justice for immigrant churches. A former co-lead pastor and co-church planter, her passion is to see the church living out the shalom of the gospel. Park-Hur is trained in Intercultural Development Inventory and is a Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) practitioner. She has a graduate degree in Christian Formation and Intercultural Studies from Wheaton College in Illinois and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Asian American Studies from UCLA in California. She attends Pasadena Mennonite Church in Pasadena, California.

 

Bonita Croyle

Bonita Rockingham (she/her/hers) is a transracial adoptee, speaker, and writer. As the Founder of The Ebenezer Project, Bonita routinely engages with interfaith communities and individuals on topics regarding racial justice, transracial adoption, faith formation, liberation theology, womanism, and intersectionality. And as a Black transracial adoptee, Bonita also leverages her unique lived experiences to make clear the urgency to cultivate sustainable anti-racist systems and reform policies. Bonita is a graduate of Hesston College and Millersville University and has a Bachelor of Arts in English. She lives on the land of the Tohono O’odham Nation and Pasqua Yaqui Tribes (Tucson, Arizona) with her husband Ian and her puppy Roar.

 

Abby Endashaw

Abby Endashaw works for Mennonite Central Committee as the Summer Service National Coordinator, a grant program for young adults of color that approaches leadership development through the lenses of service and justice. Before joining MCC, she earned a BA in Psychology and MA in Professional Counseling. She then went on to become a Licensed Professional Counseling Associate in the state of Texas where she served women and children survivors of trauma. Abby and her cats, Drea and Penny, live in Dallas, Texas, the ancestral lands of the Wichita, Tawakoni, Kickapoo, and Jumanos Indigenous Peoples.

Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz

Contact:

Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz
LorraineSA@MennoniteUSA.org

Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz serves as denominational minister for Peace and Justice for Mennonite Church USA (MC USA). She works to resource conference ministers, conferences and pastors with opportunities to strengthen capacity and engagement in Christ-centered peace and justice, as well as serves as a liaison and coordinator for peacebuilding initiatives throughout MC USA. Stutzman Amstutz graduated from Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She earned her master’s in Social Work from Marywood University, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Stutzman Amstutz was the coordinator of Mennonite Central Committee’s Restorative Justice program for over 25 years and has co-authored “The Little Book of Restorative Discipline for Schools” and “What Will Happen to Me?” She most recently served as the foster care supervisor for COBYS Family Services, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She attends Blossom Hill Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Brief History of Women in Leadership

  • 2009
    Mennonite Women USA called for an audit of women in leadership in Mennonite institutions. (Findings from the 2005 survey). When the results demonstrated a need for systemic change, MC USA staff launched the work of Women in Leadership.
  • 2012
    MC USA staff formed the Women in Leadership (WIL) Steering Committee. Joanna Shenk and Hilary Scarsella provided staff time.
  • 2013
    Mennonite Women USA and Women in Leadership met together to discuss their distinctive as well as shared roles and objectives. Participants at that meeting observed that over the years, Mennonite Women has focused on supporting women in the church on their faith journeys, as well as funding mission activities around the world. WIL was formed to address and transform patriarchal and racist structures in the church and society.
  • 2014-2019
    Jenny Castro served as WIL coordinator.
  • 2019
    Sue Park Hur began serving as WIL coordinator.
  • 2022
    Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz began serving as Coordinator