Regional meetings to be held online

Ohio Conference will hold online winter meetings for del­egates to Annual Conference Assembly.

Four regional meetings are planned:

  • Tuesday, Feb. 2 — Wayne County/Holmes County
  • Thursday, Feb. 4 — West Central/Southwest Ohio
  • Tuesday, Feb. 9 — Northeast Ohio
  • Thursday, Feb. 11 — Northwest Ohio

All meetings will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the Zoom videoconferencing platform. If you lack computer access, you can participate by phone. If you did not receive login information for these meetings, please contact Administrative Assistant Judy King at ohmc@zoominternet.net. If you are unable to par­ticipate in the meeting for your region, please feel free to join one of the other meetings.

Please review these guidelines for Zoom meeting participation

Winter regional meetings, the 2021 missional con­ference and Annual Conference Assembly all will take place on the Zoom videoconferencing plat­form. In order to make these meetings run more smoothly, we ask that you review this “Zoom Guidelines” document, which outlines some best practices for using Zoom.

Register for ACA by Feb. 26

Registration is now open for the 2021 Annual Conference Assembly (ACA) of the Ohio Conference. The 2021 ACA will be a virtual, one-day event, taking place March 6 on the Zoom videoconferencing platform.

ACA will begin at 8:30 a.m. with orientation for new delegates and a prayer session. Business sessions will begin at 9 a.m., and ACA will conclude at 2:30 p.m.

The theme for the 2021 ACA is “Come and See! The Mission of the Church in God’s Country!” The day’s schedule will include business sessions and worship. However, because of the abbreviated schedule of this year’s event, workshops will not take place on March 6. Instead, workshops will be offered later throughout March, April and May. More information about these workshops will appear in an upcoming issue of Delegate News.

The registration fee for ACA is $20 per person. After Feb. 26, the registration fee increases to $25 per person.

Please see this letter from Moderator Lynn Miller for more information about ACA. We encourage all delegates to register for ACA online at http://bit.ly/OCACA2021. If you prefer, you may print out a registration form and mail it to the Ohio Conference office at Box 210, Kidron OH 44636.

Resolutions are due by Feb. 26

Please note: The resolution process for ACA will be different in 2021 due to the virtual format of this year’s meeting. In most years, delegates attending ACA are able to submit resolutions to the Resolutions Committee during the first day of business meetings. This year all proposed resolutions are due to the Ohio Conference office (ohmc@zoominternet.net) by Friday, Feb. 26.

Report book will be online in 2021

Each year delegates to Annual Conference Assembly receive an Annual Report Book, which includes reports from Ohio Conference staff, ministry groups, and church agencies. This year Ohio Conference will not mail printed copies of the Annual Report Book to delegates. Instead, an electronic copy of the report book will be posted on the Ohio Conference website at http://bit.ly/ACAReports.

Conference Administrative Assistant Judy King reports that there will be a limited number of printed copies of the Annual Report Book available for pickup at the Ohio Conference office at 5358 Kidron Road, Kidron. If you would like to pick up a printed copy from the Conference office, please contact Judy King at ohmc@zoominternet.net or 330-857-5421.

Missional conference to focus on the rural church

Ohio Conference will hold an online missional conference during the evenings of March 4-5, just prior to Annual Conference Assembly.

The theme of this conference will be “Come and See! The Mission of the Church in God’s Country.” Brad Roth, pastor and author of the book God’s Country: Faith, Hope, and the Future of the Rural Church, will be the featured speaker.

It is sometimes hard to expect renewal and new expressions of mission to emerge from the rural church, but mission can flow from there. Based on John 1:35-51 and 1 Peter 3:15-16a, this conference will focus on the work of God in our rural churches and communities. You are invited to come and join others seeking a new vision for mission in God’s country.

The conference will take place from 6:30 to 8:45 each evening. A conference schedule is included in the event brochure.

Registration cost is $20 per person, with a special price of $10 for young adults under age 30. After Feb. 26, the registration fee increases to $25 per person. Please register online at https://bit.ly/2021MissionalConference or print a copy of the registration form.

Get a missional conference preview

We encourage you to a get a missional conference preview by reading some of Brad Roth’s writing. You can access highlights of Brad Roth’s book, God’s Country: Faith, Hope, and the Future of the Rural Church, by downloading “Growing the Church in the Rural Neighborhood,” a Missio Dei booklet from Mennonite Mission Network: http://bit.ly/GrowingRuralChurch.