Linda Dalke, Patrick Ressler and Jeremy Kempf awarded first place for individual compositions By Janie Beck Kreider (Mennonite Church USA)—Mountain States Mennonite Conference (MSMC) has awarded composers Linda Dalke of Dallas, Ore., Patrick Ressler of Philadelphia, Pa., and Jeremy Kempf of Glendale, Ariz., first place in the Anabaptist Songwriting Challenge (ASC). Seven more were honored in the top 10 list. The jury met Feb. 14 to choose the winners. MSMC leaders created the songwriting challenge “to promote the musical arts among Mennonite Church USA constituents and to broaden the musical spectrum of Mennonite congregational/communal music,” according to the ASC website. In... read more →
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Elena Serna-Wallender grew up in Texas and attended San Antonio Mennonite Church throughout college, and for several years after. She worked for an environmental coalition and for Big Brothers Big Sisters in San Antonio before moving to New Jersey for grad school. Elena earned a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and she is now a research analyst at MDRC, a nonprofit research firm whose mission is “to create and widely disseminate rigorous, nonpartisan, credible evidence on the effectiveness of policies and programs aimed at improving the lives of low-income families, children and... read more →
Women Doing Theology workshop inspires pastor to enter film festival fundraiser By Janie Beck Kreider (Mennonite Church USA)—When Margie Mejía-Caraballo of Moline, Ill., chose to attend a slam poetry workshop during Mennonite Church USA’s Women Doing Theology Conference in February 2014 in Leesburg, Va., she didn’t know the experience would lead her to produce her own award-winning video less than two months later. In the workshop, which was led by Hillary Watson, a pastor at Lombard (Ill.) Mennonite Church who has performed multiple times at the National Poetry Slam, participants explored the creative and powerful possibilities of spoken word performances... read more →
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Jason Boone is coordinating minister for the Peace and Justice Support Network The first lesson in “Returning Veterans, Returning Hope: Seeking Peace Together”, a six-week Sunday School curriculum focused on returning veterans and how the church can play a part in their healing journeys, is about crossing barriers. The idea is that there are potentially many barriers that may prevent members of a peace church and military veterans from embracing each other as sons and daughters of God. We must recognize these barriers if we are to navigate around them and come to a place where Mennonites and veterans can... read more →
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Ruth Harder is the pastor at Rainbow Mennonite Church in Kansas City, Kansas. Prior to Rainbow, she was the associate pastor at Bethel College Mennonite in North Newton, Kansas, and before that she was a hospital chaplain as well as the communications coordinator and youth director at LaSalle Street Church, a multi-denominational church in Chicago, Illinois. Ruth grew up in Hillsboro, Kansas, and is a graduate of Bethel College (’01) and Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (’07). Ruth is married to Jesse Graber, a free-lance illustrator. You will find at least one of them cheering on the Kansas City Royals... read more →
By Janie Beck Kreider (Mennonite Church USA/Mennonite Mission Network/Goshen College)—Peace Farm, a new voluntary service program born out of a collaborative effort between Quakers and Mennonites in Bally, Pa., will begin its inaugural season in May 2015. This six-month apprenticeship brings together the practical work of farming and an exploration of connections between peace, food justice and faith. Farmers Krista and Tim Showalter Ehst are excited to see their dream for Peace Farm become a reality. Tim and Krista operate Valley Run CSA (community-supported agriculture), a diversified, sustainable farm in the Butter Valley of southeastern Pennsylvania—about an hour outside of... read more →
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Byron Pellecer was born in Guatemala City where he began his faith journey in a local Mennonite Church. He is married to Hildalejandra, a native of Nicaragua, and they have two children. Byron's passions are church planting and leadership development. He is lead pastor of Iglesia Menonita Aposento Alto in Wichita, Kan. Led by the Spirit of Christ and according to our plan, my wife and I were aiming to become friends and rub shoulders with the Latino-Hispanic community of our city. “I want to commit my life to Christ,” were loud and joyful words of José. I looked around and asked, “Is there anyone else... read more →
Sixteen-session series is designed to bring growth in faith from an Anabaptist perspective By Annette Brill Bergstresser ELKHART, Ind./WINNIPEG, Man.—(Mennonite Church USA/Mennonite Church Canada)—For 20 years, Palmer Becker nurtured dreams of an Anabaptist discipleship resource for small groups and congregations. That resource is now a reality and available online in English and Spanish. Jointly published by Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, the 16-session series of studies is titled Begin Anew: Christian Discipleship Seminars.... read more →
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Hal Shrader is the Lead Pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church. Having served in ministry in California and Chile, he now lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Christine, daughter Madison, and pit bull terrier Lucy. Over the last weeks, pundits from certain sectors of the media have accused President Barak Obama of making excuses for Islamist militants such as ISIS and for equating the horrors committed in the name of Christ during past eras with those carried out by terrorists today. The criticism stems, for the most part, from comments the President made at the National Prayer Breakfast, held... read more →
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Jenny Castro is communications associate and coordinator for the Women in Leadership Project for Mennonite Church USA. The first worship service I experienced at San Antonio Mennonite Church felt like a breath of fresh air. My husband Jake and I (together with our young son, Joaquin) decided to visit SAMC upon our return to our hometown after spending three years working in El Salvador with Mennonite Central Committee. Our experience working for MCC and getting to know a few Mennonites personally gave us hope that maybe our beliefs weren’t SO crazy after all. For several years before our stint in... read more →
[Español] By Ardell Stauffer (Mennonite Church USA)—Sometimes one day can change your life. Youth from Walnut Hill Mennonite Church, Goshen, Ind., chose to participate in a one-day learning trip to the U.S.-Mexico border while attending Mennonite Church USA’s biennial convention in Phoenix in July 2013. Convention planners had organized the learning trips—led by the BorderLinks organization—as part of an overall focus on immigration during the gathering. Raúl (not his real name), a detainee from Mexico released on bond paid by Evanston (Ill.) Mennonite Church after 10 months of imprisonment, and his family. (Photo provided by Tina... read more →
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Hannah Heinzekehr is the Director of Communications for Mennonite Church USA ■ A church of more than 1,000 members preaching and worshipping in Spanish on the west side of Chicago. ■ A young family feeling called to work at church revitalization and simple living in rural Washington State. ■ A youth group from Indiana getting inspired to work for justice on behalf of immigrants in Georgia and beyond. ■ Two Korean pastors beginning a peace and conflict reconciliation training program for Asian-Americans in Los Angeles County. ■ A Pennsylvania congregation hiring new staff to reach... read more →
As Christians, we believe that God is love, and that we are called to participate in the love that God has for the world – the same love that was revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. In Christ, we see that love is something lived, love is active in the world, love is a verb. On February 14, Mennonite Church USA will launch a new communications campaign that will explore the idea of love in action. Through it, we’ll highlight stories of individuals, families, congregations, communities and agencies across Mennonite Church USA who are living... read more →
Reconocen a Hinojosa por su trabajo de erudición en Latino Mennonites: Civil Rights, Faith & Evangelical Culture [English] Por Janie Beck Kreider Felipe Hinojosa es profesor adjunto del Departamento de Historia de Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, con especialización en historia de latinas/os y chicanas/os. Es hijo de un pastor menonita que conoció a este grupo anabautista siendo un trabajador agrícola golondrina en Archbold, Ohio. Hinojosa se crio en la ciudad fronteriza de Brownsville, Texas, y asistió a la Iglesia Menonita del Cordero, la cual sus padres fundaron a comienzos de los setenta. Felipe Hinojosa,... read more →
Blog Post
Over the last year our work with the #WeAreMenno campaign has highlighted stories from across Mennonite Church USA. As we talked with incredibly diverse individuals and congregations, we encountered the work of the Spirit, and were inspired by stories of faith and partnership. In this collective reflection, the Mennonite Church USA communications staff offer their thoughts about what it was like to work with this campaign over the past year. I became part of the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board communications team the same month that the #WeAreMenno campaign launched, in February 2015. At the time, Hannah Heinzekehr was directing... read more →