Author: Shaquez Dickens
Fall 2015 Delegate News #3
Fall cluster meetings for delegates have been scheduled Fall cluster meetings for delegates to Annual Conference Assembly will take place during October and November. Seven cluster meetings have been scheduled: Columbiana/Pennsylvania – Nov. 19 at Midway Mennonite Church in Columbiana, 7 p.m. Lima – Oct. 27 at Salem Mennonite Church in Elida, 7 p.m. Holmes/Tuscarawas – Nov. 3 at Longenecker…
Delegate News Fall 2015 #2
Leadership Team reports progress in completing action steps On Sept. 23, 2015, the Ohio Conference Leadership Team (LT) met with a full agenda. LT discussed the Sept. 2 All-Ohio Conference Pastors’ Meeting and the review of the Five-Year Plan which had been submitted by Myron Weaver, Paula Snyder Belousek, Wes Graber and Doug Zehr. Out of this discussion came the first…
Share stories of how you worship
Ohio Conference wants to hear about how you worship. We are looking for stories, photos, and videos about how your church uses songs, original skits, art, and other forms in your worship services. For more information and an example, visit the How We Worship page. We hope this collaborative collection of worship stories can serve to inspire each other in…
Pastor-elder retreats planned for February
Update: The pastor-elder retreat at Widewater Retreat Center in Liberty Center, Ohio, has been canceled. If your pastor-elder group registered for this retreat, you are encouraged to attend the Feb. 19-20 Pastor-Elder Retreat at Camp Buckeye in Beach City instead. If your congregation’s elder group would like to attend the Feb. 19-20 retreat, please contact Coordinator of Volunteers Alysa Short…
Experiencing God in the summer
By Erin Dye Adriel Chaplain Eleven themed weeks. Ten memory verses. Forty-two youth. More than 275 hours of activities. What do these numbers represent? They are merely an outline of all that occurred during Adriel’s summer program! Many people have shared in these precious summer months at Adriel over the years and know the value of time spent under these…
FAQs regarding Ohio Conference funding
Part of the work of the Ohio Conference Stewardship Ministry is responding to questions about Ohio Conference finances. Below are answers to some frequently asked questions. I heard that the Ohio Conference has a lot of money in the bank but is asking for more. Is this true? In the current fiscal year, the Ohio Conference is experiencing a deficit.…
Randy Keeler reflects on his sabbatical with Ohio Conference
By Randy Keeler During the 2014-2015 academic year I had the privilege of spending my sabbatical year as youth ministry resource person for the Ohio Conference of Mennonite Church USA. Besides serving as a resource to congregations in specific situations when called upon, I also planned six workshops for youth workers in different locations around the state in an attempt…
Credentialing Ministry announces new procedures
The Ohio Conference Credentialing Ministry Team (CMT) would like to announce several new procedures they will be using: CMT member LaVonne Hartman will be the person who contacts pastoral candidates to set the time of their interview and to make sure they have turned in the needed documents on time. These tasks were formerly done by the regional pastors. The…
Soccer camp builds connections
By Dave Maurer Pastor, Bethel Mennonite During the evenings of July 27-30, 2015, Bethel Mennonite Church in West Liberty, Ohio, hosted its fifth annual soccer camp for the community. The camp, which took place from 6 to 8 p.m. each day, was done in partnership with the West Liberty Soccer Association, which helped the congregation get the word out about…
The need for radical self-honesty
During a pastors’ event with teaching by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove the topic of truth was raised. A paraphrase of his response might run something like this: “A deep need exists in the church today for radical self-honesty. So often in the church today when we speak to one another what we say is not exactly lies, but often something other than…
Ministry Development Team awards grants
The Ohio Conference Ministry Development Team (MDT) has awarded 11 grants totaling $23,242.50 to Ohio Conference congregations and Conference-related groups. The MDT approved the grants at its Aug. 31 meeting in Upper Sandusky. Funding for these grants comes from surplus funds that had accumulated during years in which the Conference ended its fiscal year with a surplus. Grants will provide…
A good beginning
A good beginning — As the very recently hired Transitional Conference Leader for Ohio Conference, I find myself amid a flurry of activity and a considerable range of complexities! And yet I can say without reservation that for me this has been a good beginning! I have already begun to sense how much graciousness and warmth will characterize my relationships…
Fall 2015 Delegate News
Ohio Conference pastors meet for trust building, make recommendations Pastors representing 53 churches in the Ohio Conference met at Bellville, Ohio, to discuss their future recommendations relative to the relationship of the Ohio Mennonite Conference and Mennonite Church USA (MC USA). Pastors were divided into table groups with table leaders who used a modified Circle Process. The Leadership Team facilitated the meeting…
Pastors meet for trust building, give recommendations
Pastors representing 53 churches in the Ohio Conference met at Bellville, Ohio, to discuss their future recommendations relative to the relationship of the Ohio Mennonite Conference and Mennonite Church USA (MC USA). Pastors were divided into table groups with table leaders who used a modified Circle Process. The Leadership Team facilitated the meeting in a process of trust building, listening and direction…
Transitional Conference Leader hired
The Ohio Conference Leadership Team interviewed potential candidates for the Transitional Conference Leader position on Aug. 7 and have hired George O’Reilly. George is currently ending a transitional pastorate at First Mennonite Church in Canton and will start full time with Ohio Conference on Sept. 1. George’s primary role will be to help the Leadership Team in listening, trust building…
Words from Tom 8-12-15
As I bring my work in Ohio Conference to a close, I am in a reflective mood. I did not aspire to the conference minister role. I was attracted to and invigorated by the regional pastor assignment. After 18 years of congregational ministry, I had a clear idea of what kind of pastoral resourcing I would have liked to have…
Leadership Team interviews candidates
The Ohio Conference Leadership Team met Friday, Aug. 7, and interviewed two candidates for the position of transitional Conference Leader. The Leadership Team is now checking references and will have a conference call on Aug. 12. The staff and Leadership Team will meet for a farewell meal with Conference Minister Tom Kauffman and Regional Pastor Wanda Stopher on Aug. 17. Regional Pastor Ralph Reinford, Thomas Dunn,…
Celebrating 50 years of raising funds for MCC
The annual Ohio Mennonite Relief Sale was held July 31-Aug. 1 at the Buckeye Event Center in Dalton, Ohio. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this fundraising sale for Mennonite Central Committee, everyone in attendance on Saturday was invited to have a free piece of cake. Fundraising results from the weekend sale will be posted on the Ohio Mennonite…
Summer 2015 Delegate News #2
Conference minister accepts call to N.M. Conference Minister Tom Kauffman has accepted a call to a new pastoral position in Albuquerque, N.M. An excerpt of his letter to the Ohio Conference Leadership Team and staff giving details about this call is included below: I want to thank the Leadership Team for giving me flexibility in determining when my conclusion of…
Tom Kauffman accepts call from N.M. congregation
Conference Minister Tom Kauffman has accepted a call to a new pastoral position in Albuquerque, N.M. He will be serving as transitional pastor for the Albuquerque Mennonite Church, starting during the month of September 2015. He will conclude his work as conference minister for the Ohio Conference on Aug. 31, 2015. The following is an excerpt from Tom Kauffman’s letter…
All-Ohio Conference Pastors’ Meeting set for Sept. 2
The All-Ohio Conference Pastors’ Meeting will take place Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, at Quality Inn & Suites Conference Center, 1000 Comfort Plaza Drive, Bellville, Ohio, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The purpose of this meeting will be for listening, trust building and direction setting for our conference. The Leadership Team will send out the agenda and questions for the meeting…
Words from Tom 1-5-15
The Gospel accounts provide us with four distinctly varied recollections of Jesus’ life and ministry. All of them include many elements of similarity, yet each one has its distinctive aspects. The infancy narratives of Jesus are only included in two of the gospels — Matthew and Luke. And only Matthew records the visit of the Magi, which wraps up the…
Words from Tom 12-2-15
Advent is the season of waiting. When our children were young, we often bought an Advent calendar that had a small door to open for each day of the week. The anticipation would grow as we got closer to Christmas Day. Opening a door each day was one way of measuring the waiting that had to occur. It was almost…
Words from Tom 11-4-14
“Holy Spirit, power of God, transform me, your new creation.” This sentence completes my Trinitarian Prayer that has been a constant companion for me since my sabbatical of 2006. As I have reflected in the previous two Grapevines, each one of these phrases has been significant to me. “Abba, God, Creator, I bow down and worship you” begins with an…
Words from Tom 10-6-14
“Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This sentence, or a variation of it, represents the “Jesus Prayer” that has a long history as a meditative prayer within the Christian tradition. It finds its roots in the parable Jesus tells in Luke 18:9-14 of the contrasting prayers of the Pharisee and tax collector. As I wrote…
Words from Tom 9-5-14
Abba, God, Creator, I bow down and worship you. That is the first line of a “Trinitarian Prayer” that I have prayed for several years, since studying the Trinity during my sabbatical time that the Conference so generously offered me in 2006. In the December 2006 issue of Ohio Evangel I used my “Musings” column to briefly describe the genesis…
Words from Tom 8-1-14
One of the most fascinating courses I took while in seminary was a study of Jesus’ understanding of the Kingdom of God. We spent time studying the apocalyptic literature of the day and how Jesus’ teaching and ministry either connected with it or departed from the conventional wisdom of apocalyptic thinking. For the Jews of Jesus’ day there was much…
Words from Tom 7-1-14
Exekiel 36:22 — “…It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations.” Romans 5:8 — “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” Our youngest grandchild is preparing…
Words from Tom 6-4-14
I’ve often thought that Saul got a bum rap in 1 Samuel 13. You know the story: Samuel has reluctantly installed Saul as king. Jonathan, Saul’s son, engages the Philistines in battle and routs them. Saul is mustering an army to defeat them and rid Israel of this constant thorn in their flesh. Samuel had told Saul he would come…
Words from Tom 5-3-14
Our oldest son’s family has recently purchased a new home. Well, it is a home that is new to them. It is a foreclosed home that needs extensive remodeling. It needs a new well, septic system, furnace, and many other features. But so did the first house they purchased since they moved to Michigan. With three children, they are looking…