July 2, 2018

Jessica Schrock-Ringenberg’s Resignation Announcement

Dear Ohio Conference,

On Sunday, July 1, I announced my resignation from Zion Mennonite Church in Archbold, effective Oct. 1.

My husband is purchasing a business and will be moving out of state soon. The children and I will be moving at Christmas break. (We are unable to say more at this time.)

What does that mean for Ohio Conference’s Missional Network?            

As of today, 32 people have been through the first training of our Missional Network, and another 10 are anticipated to participate on July 8. I will be offering this first training again in the fall for those who have been unable to participate this summer. Two more trainings will also take place in the fall, for a total of three trainings. I will also be available to come to individual churches for training until December.

After these first three trainings that lay the groundwork for Missional Church, I will continue to work with Ohio Conference on a church-by-church coaching basis, which can happen online. Each church (and each church leader) is at a different place, and so teaching in a large group setting can only take us so far.

For those who have participated in the first training, one of the things that I have been teaching (and that I have been taught through Exponential) is that the Missional orientation of the church cannot happen through teaching the masses in large group settings, but it must happen incrementally, teachable person by teachable person at a time.

I will be gathering those in Ohio Conference who understand Missional Church in order to pass along what I have learned. This will include current Missional Task Force Members, as well as (hopefully) former task force members, as well as others in the Conference who have a solid handle on what it means to be Missional.

I will also continue to meet with the Missional Task Force during our online meetings throughout the next year, as well as working with Jacob Dodson in coaching the Missional Discipleship Initiative. (All of these meetings happen online anyway.)

I am excited to see how far Ohio Conference has come, and I am hopeful of where you are going. While I may no longer live in the Conference, I will continue to partner with you to see God’s Kingdom Coming!

Blessings,

Jessica Schrock-Ringenberg

Ohio Conference Missional Consultant