I want to thank all our delegates for your active participation in the gatherings we have had over the past year as we continue to discern God’s will for us as a Conference as we move into the future. As communicated at our winter gatherings which just concluded this past Monday evening, this issue of Delegate News includes documents prepared by our consultant, Jeanne Zimmerly Jantzi, our Strategic Planning Team* and the Leadership Team.

These documents are intended to help you discern with your congregation two options that will be considered regarding affiliation at our Annual Conference Assembly (ACA) on March 3-4 at Central Christian School in Kidron. If you have not yet registered for ACA, please take the time to do so.

Included in the documents are the following:

1) A Statement from the Leadership Team (Word document)

2) A Summary of the Discernment Process to Date (Word document)

3) A Description of the two affiliation scenarios (options) being presented (Word document)

4) A one-hour Congregational Facilitation Plan (optional resource) developed by our consultant (Word document)

5) A Minimum Specifications Worksheet developed by the Strategic Planning Team (Word document)

6) Traffic Light Survey for Congregations (see Congregational  Facilitation Plan) (Word document)

7) A Brief Description of Six Hats Thinking (Word document)

In Scripture we find times where both prayer and fasting were required for God to act. As we discern our future affiliation with the goal of a decision to be made at our Annual Conference Assembly, now only four weeks away, this seems like one of those times to both pray and fast. I invite each of our delegates, as well as any congregational members and attenders who would like to participate, to commit to praying daily and fasting from at least one meal one day per week for God to reveal His will for us as a Conference, from now until the assembly.

With the Love of Christ,
Dick Barrett
Conference Minister

*Members of the Strategic Planning Team include Michelle Steffen, Sonnenberg Mennonite Church; Tyson Stuckey, Central Mennonite Church; Joel Shenk, pastor of Toledo Mennonite Church; and Conference Minister Dick Barrett.

Documents also available as PDFs

If you prefer, you may download PDFs of the documents:

1) A Statement from the Leadership Team (PDF)

2) A Summary of the Discernment Process to Date (PDF)

3) A Description of the two affiliation scenarios (options) being presented (PDF)

4) A one-hour Congregational Facilitation Plan (optional resource) developed by our consultant (PDF)

5) A Minimum Specifications Worksheet developed by the Strategic Planning Team (PDF)

6) Traffic Light Survey for Congregations (see Congregational  Facilitation Plan) (PDF)

7) A Brief Description of Six Hats Thinking (PDF)