Announcements
Registration is open for MennoCon21
Registration is open for MennoCon21, which will take place July 6-10, both online and in Cincinnati, Ohio. An early bird discount is available through April 30. See https://convention.mennoniteusa.org/registration/ for more information.
Lighthouse Ministries to celebrate 25 years
Lighthouse Ministries in Canton is celebrating 25 years of ministry with two events in May. On May 8 from noon to 4 p.m. the Lighthouse will host a marketplace and tour at its southeast Canton location. This socially-distanced event will include a self-led tour and refreshments. Participants also will be able to support the fourth- and fifth-grade students in the…
Everence offers tips for planning giving
Everence offers Spring tips to refresh your giving plans. Now is an ideal time to review your 2021 charitable goals. See http://bit.ly/RefreshYourGiving for details.
Leonard Dow assumes new role at Everence
Everence has named Leonard Dow as its vice president of community and church development, effective March 31, 2021. Dow first joined Everence in 2017 as a stewardship and development specialist, helping to create the organization’s urban market business plan. To learn more, see http://bit.ly/EverenceLeonardDow.
Online workshop series continues
Ohio Conference is continuing its series of workshops held on Thursday evenings from 7 to 8 p.m. These free online workshops are open to everyone, and we invite you to come and learn more about the Lord’s work. Tonight, April 8, Matthew Peterson will lead the workshop “Creating a Culture of Ordinary Goodness.” During World War II, the town of Le Chambon, a…
‘MissionWary?’ examines mission in a Mennonite context
“MissionWary?” takes a deep dive into examining mission in a Mennonite context. This new podcast from Mennonite Mission Network is now available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
AMBS creates worship materials for congregations
Recognizing the toll that COVID-19 has had on pastors and worship planners over the last year, members of the community at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, have prepared worship materials for congregational use for two separate worship services. The first set of worship materials is designed for the Sunday after Easter (April 11). The resources, which are based…
Newsletter includes info about MennoCon21
Wondering about this summer’s denominational convention? The latest MennoCon21 Newsletter includes information about this year’s convention, which will be a hybrid event with an in-person gathering in Cincinnati as well as an online option. The online experience will use a virtual event platform called Pheedloop, which is specially designed for conferences. Registration for MennoCon21 opens April 6. See the MennoCon21 Newsletter…
CommonWord calendars link to worship resources
CommonWord now has season and event calendars with links to related resources. To explore these handy references to lectionary resources and materials for other events in the church and calendar years, go to https://www.commonword.ca/Content/worship-calendar.
MDS seeks volunteers for plumbing repairs
Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) volunteers have been helping to restore water in Texas homes damaged by a major February ice storm. More volunteers are needed for plumbing repairs. Read the March edition of On the Level, the MDS newsletter, for details: http://bit.ly/OnTheLevel3-21.
Recordings of ACA are online
Recordings of Annual Conference Assembly are available on the Ohio Conference website. Recordings include all three business sessions and the worship service. To view any of these recordings, go to https://bit.ly/AboutACA.
How important are emergency savings?
Evelin Gonzalez, a financial consultant at Everence, discusses the importance of an emergency savings fund during a pandemic: http://bit.ly/Everence-EmergencySavings.
Online seminary course deals with congregational conflict
Online Anabaptist Short Course: Transforming Congregational Conflict and Communication: April 14 – May 25. Join Betty Pries, Ph.D., to explore the possibilities and pitfalls of courageously engaging differences within congregational life in this six-week online noncredit course at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. No grades, no papers! CEUs available. Register by March 17 and save $50. See ambs.edu/shortcourses.
MEA continues executive director search
Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) is continuing its search for a new executive director. The deadline to apply is March 31. For more details, please see https://bit.ly/MEAExecDirector.
Peace center offers mediation training refresher
A note from Lombard Mennonite Peace Center: For those who have already taken our Mediation Skills Training Institute (MSTI), we are pleased to offer a new one-day event: the MSTI Refresher Course. Sessions are available on Tuesday, May 11, and Saturday, June 12. The fee is $99, and the event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. The full five-day…
Online workshops are free to all
Ohio Conference is offering a series of free online workshops. These workshops will take place on Thursday evenings on Zoom, beginning at 7 p.m. For information about these workshops, please go to http://bit.ly/2021OnlineWorkshops. Please register online at https://bit.ly/OhioConferenceEvents by the Monday before the workshop.
MyNeighbor credit card purchases can help support your congregation
You can support your church every time you buy groceries, gas and other items — with the MyNeighbor card from Everence. When you use the MyNeighbor credit card for your purchases, Everence donates 1.5 % of the transaction total to your church or other selected organization — your Neighbor. It’s a great way to provide financial support, with no additional…
Invite a speaker from Mennonite World Conference
Would you like to hear from Mennonites from other parts of the world? As many congregations currently are worshipping through online services, Mennonite World Conference (MWC) guest speakers can connect local congregations with the global church. MWC’s officers can join a service as guest preacher or as presenter to share stories about the global family. To learn more, see https://mwc-cmm.org/stories/invite-mwc-speaker.
Goshen College offers free online devotionals during Lent
During Lent Goshen College is offering online devotions focusing on the theme “Deep Calls to Deep.” Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Goshen College students, faculty and staff provide reflections based on the upcoming Sunday’s lectionary scripture passages. You can read these devotions online at www.goshen.edu/devotions. To receive the devotions by email, go to www.goshen.edu/devotions/subscribe.
Register for ACA by Feb. 26
There’s still time to register for Annual Conference Assembly! Online registration is open for the 2021 missional conference on March 4 and 5 and Annual Conference Assembly (ACA) on March 6. Both events will take place on the Zoom videoconferencing platform. Brad Roth, pastor and author of God’s Country: Faith, Hope, and the Future of the Rural Church, will be…
Anabaptist World seeks submissions
Anabaptist World invites your original submissions for an upcoming issue focusing on the theme “What if they don’t come back?” For many of us, the coronavirus pandemic has uprooted church as we know it. Congregational life, and the community that it creates, has shifted, revealing unexpected challenges and opportunities. Article length should be about 600 to 1,200 words. Submissions are due…
Join MCC’s Great Winter Warm-up
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) invites you to join the Great Winter Warm-up: At Home this winter. Last year, countless volunteers generously gave their time and talents to create more than 9,000 comforters at events across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. This year, MCC is asking people to stay safe and participate by making comforters at home instead. More information, including…
March 10 is application deadline for Everence scholarships
Everence is continuing its college scholarship program for the 2021-2022 school year and will be accepting applications through March 10, 2021. The program awards scholarships of $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000. To be eligible, the student or the student’s parent must own or be using an Everence product. For more details or to apply, visit everence.com/college-scholarships.
Camp Luz plans Men’s Solitude Retreat
Camp Luz will hold a Men’s Solitude Retreat Feb. 26 and 27. This retreat will be focused on solitude and personal reflection based on a theme from Esther 4:14b, which says, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Retreat organizers will have a set of devotions for participants to use…
Peacebuilding institute offering online courses
The Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) at Eastern Mennonite University will be conducting its May and June courses online this year, due to uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic. SPI is offering courses in the areas of trauma awareness, restorative and social justice, leadership and management, and conflict transformation skills. For more information, see https://emu.edu/spi.
MWC seeks new chief operations officer
Mennonite World Conference (MWC) is seeking a new Chief Operations Officer, starting in April 2021. The position is based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The COO must have competencies in accounting and financial reporting, maintaining corporate status in Canada and the USA, developing administrative policies for the North American offices, managing human resources and information technology for staff and participating in…
Search begins for new MEA executive director
The search has begun for the next executive director of Mennonite Education Agency (MEA). A profile of the agency and a job description are available on the MEA website: http://bit.ly/News-MEA.
Regional meetings set for February
Ohio Conference will hold online winter meetings for delegates to Annual Conference Assembly. Four regional meetings are planned: Feb. 2 — Wayne County/Holmes County Feb. 4 — West Central/Southwest Ohio Feb. 9 — Northeast Ohio Feb. 11 — Northwest Ohio All meetings will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. For login information, please contact Judy King at ohmc@zoominternet.net.
AMBS to offer two new scholarships
Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, is offering two new scholarships. The Multicultural Church Scholarship is for students who are currently serving in or preparing for ministry assignments in a multicultural context and/or who belong to historically underrepresented racial or ethnic groups within the Mennonite Church. Each year, this award will provide a limited number of 100-percent tuition grants to…
MWC year-in-review video looks at how churches responded to pandemic
How did the pandemic affect Mennonite World Conference (MWC) during 2020, and what lessons were learned? MWC’s annual year-in-review video explores how member congregations and the organization as a whole adjusted to new realities and found new ways of following Jesus. You are invited to download this short video from the MWC website and show it to your congregation: http://bit.ly/2020MWCYearReview.