Evangel
Grateful
By Dick Barrett Conference Minister As I look toward finishing my time of serving as conference minister, I am grateful to God for the opportunity to have worked with all the many great people of Ohio Conference — the leadership teams, the staff, the pastors and other credentialed leaders, delegates, and congregational members and attenders. In the midst of challenging…
Grants will support local ministries
The Ohio Conference Ministry Development Team (MDT) has awarded four grants totaling $7,395 for local ministries. The MDT approved these grants at its meeting on Aug. 22, 2023. Grants will provide funds toward the following projects: Millersburg Mennonite Church Refugee Resettlement Program — Several members of Millersburg Mennonite Church are making plans to support a family of Congolese refugees to…
Putting the focus on social justice
By Nathanael Hofstetter Ressler Note: This year Grace & Groundings, Ohio Conference’s racial reconciliation resource team, invited Ohio Conference churches to set aside Sunday, June 18, as Social Justice Sunday. The Grace & Groundings team provided worship planning resources for Social Justice Sunday. Below, Nathanael Hofstetter Ressler, pastor of Maple Grove Mennonite Church in Hartville, reflects on his congregation’s experience…
Webinar series focuses on giving
By Ann Leaman Ohio Conference Resource Advocate This month I would like to highlight a resource about giving and a resource from Anabaptist Disabilities Network related to baptism. Provident Giving Sessions This fall MennoMedia is partnering with Everence to provide a free webinar series about generosity, “The Provident Giving Sessions.” The first webinar, held in August, explored why people give.…
Women in Leadership Retreat planned for February
Ohio Conference is planning a Women in Leadership Retreat to be held Feb. 2-3, 2024. The retreat will be held at a new location in northwest Ohio, the Lial Renewal Center in Whitehouse. The intent of this retreat is to encourage women in current church leadership as well as to tap and encourage all women with leadership gifts, not just…
Goshen College grad creates sculpture for Mennonite Church USA offices
By Jolene VonGunten Mennonite Education Agency ELKHART, Ind. – At first look, Emma Zuercher’s sculpture invokes fire. That is precisely the theme she envisioned for “Forged Spirit,” an 11-foot sculpture she designed and created of recycled aluminum materials. The towering, colorful structure was a striking image in the late afternoon sunshine as it was installed at the Mennonite Church USA (MC USA)…
Leadership Team appoints interim pastoral staff
The Ohio Conference Leadership Team is pleased to announce the appointment of an interim conference minister and a half-time interim regional pastor for the eastern portion of the Conference. The Leadership Team has appointed Dan Miller to serve as full-time interim conference minister for 12 months, beginning Dec. 1, 2023. Dan has enjoyed various roles over the years, at congregational…
2024 ACA theme and speaker announced
Sharon Mennonite Church in Plain City will host the 2024 Annual Conference Assembly (ACA) March 1-2, 2024. The theme of the 2024 ACA will be “Following Jesus Together with a Common Mission,” based on Philippians 2:5-11. The gathering will include input from Meghan Larissa Good, who will be presenting on her soon-to-be published book Divine Gravity: Sparking a Movement to…
Pastors meet for discussion and discernment
On Aug. 16 Ohio Conference hosted its annual all pastors gathering at the Upper Sandusky Community Library. There were 32 credentialed ministers in attendance, representing 24 of our congregations. The day was facilitated by our process consultant, Jeanne Zimmerly Jantzi of Design Group International. Jeanne’s focus was on helping the pastors discern God’s future vision for Ohio Conference and…
God’s kingdom is bigger
By Kevin Himes In Acts 10, Peter had a dream — a weird dream. Foods that any God-fearing Jew knew to be unclean were no longer off limits. It’s like a vegetarian dreaming of bacon high fiving a cheeseburger while God says, “It’s okay to eat meat now!” Although it seemed ridiculous at the time, Peter’s dream ultimately paved the…
Ohio Mennonite Relief Sale gives globally while staying close to home
All over the world people are hurting. From war-torn Ukraine to providing clean water in the Congo, and even closer to home where families in Appalachian areas struggle to thrive, people are hurting. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) understands the plight many families face every day. MCC is making an impact and helping those in need with a focus on biblical…
New resources are available for leadership training and faith formation
By Ann Leaman Ohio Conference Resource Advocate In this column I would like to highlight two new sets of resources, one for leadership training and one for faith formation. Practical Leadership Training In August Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) is beginning a new program called Practical Leadership Training. This program is designed to equip not only pastors, but also lay…
Fund your local mission with a Ministry Grant
Do you have an idea for a ministry that could impact your community? Why not apply for a Ministry Grant? The Ohio Conference Ministry Development Team (MDT) is accepting proposals from Conference congregations and related organizations for projects and mission initiatives. The MDT has $7,395 available for grants in 2023. The deadline to submit a grant proposal is Friday, Aug. 4. The MDT…
MC USA Executive Board peace and justice ministries to include Mennonite Creation Care Network
ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Church USA) — Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) Executive Board is strengthening its ongoing commitment to creation care and climate justice by expanding its Peace & Justice ministries to include Mennonite Creation Care Network (MCCN). The transition is the result of a mutual agreement with Everence®, an agency of MC USA that has previously provided administrative services…
MCC sets goal for School Kit Challenge
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is holding a School Kit Challenge this August. The challenge: Help 10,000 kids attend school by donating 10,000 school kits during the month of August. To assist in this challenge, MCC is offering a free school kit activity resource for Sunday school and vacation Bible school students. To learn more about the challenge or to order the school…
Mennonite Men to offer one-day retreat
Mennonite Men will hold a Men’s Retreat Saturday, Aug. 19, at Pathways Retreat in Goshen, Indiana. The theme of this half-day retreat will be “Living that Matters for Men.” Steve Thomas, US coordinator for Mennonite Men, will be the retreat leader. For more information, please see the flier included with this issue of Perspective. To register, go to bit.ly/pathways_Living_That_Matters.
MMN announces new service locations
Interested in short-term service? Mennonite Mission Network’s Service Opportunities with Our Partners (SOOP) offers flexible service terms for individuals ages 25+ and families of all ages. Mennonite Mission Network has added three locations to the existing 45 locations across the United States. New service locations include Amigo Centre, Sturgis, Michigan; Open Door Mennonite Church, Jackson, Mississippi; and Menno Haven Camp…
Run 4 Relief set for July 8
The Ohio Mennonite Relief Sale 5K/1K Run will take place Saturday, July 8. Both races will start at the Mt. Hope Event Center. The 1K Fun Run will begin at 7:30 a.m., and the 5K Run will begin at 8 a.m. Every participant will receive a T-shirt, and the top six overall runners will receive an award. Age awards will…
Ministry Grants can help fund local projects
Ministry Grants are back! Aug. 4 is the deadline to submit a grant proposal to the Ohio Conference Ministry Development Team (MDT). The MDT is accepting proposals from Ohio Conference congregations and related ministries for mission projects and initiatives. This year the MDT has $7,395 available for grants. Since 2012 the MDT has awarded grants each summer, providing funds for a…
‘Aha’ moments: Reflections on a lifetime
By Gregory Battle “Now I understand why people choose to have biographers. This is painful to revisit.” — All-Too-Black Greg Many of the things that have formed my life experiences are the same things that have formed the lives of other men of my age. Then there’s a whole other thing: I am visibly Black. I have 67+ years of learning…
A Vision Beyond Ourselves
By Dick Barrett Conference Minister As a conference of Anabaptist Mennonite churches across Ohio and the surrounding states we find ourselves at the beginning of our second year of discerning together God’s vision for us as we look to the future. Over the past year our process consultant, Jeanne Zimmerly Jantzi, met with our credentialed leaders and congregational delegates to…
Creation care resources abound
By Ann Leaman Ohio Conference Resource Advocate This month I would like to highlight a number of resources related to the environment. MCC Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has gathered a set of resources related to the environment and climate change, all available at https://mcc.org/mcc-climate-change. The introduction to this collection says, “Our partners say changing weather affects almost every aspect of…
Group effort benefits MCC
Many people volunteered their time at the second Ohio MCC Comforter Bash, which was held in Kidron April 21 and 22. Volunteers knotted 220 comforters during the two-day event, a substantial increase from the 129 comforters which were completed during the 2022 Ohio MCC Comforter Bash. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) has a goal of donating 45,000 blankets by the end…
Conference ends 2022-23 fiscal year with a deficit
Ohio Conference finished the 2022-23 fiscal year with a deficit of $20,112. The fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. The Conference ended February with a year-to-date operating balance of -$18,211. Receipts for the month of March totaled $19,678, including $18,545 in giving from congregations. Expenses for the month totaled $21,579, resulting in a deficit of $1,901 for the month. Over…
Celebrate Social Justice Sunday on June 18
Grace & Groundings, Ohio Conference’s racial reconciliation resource team, is inviting all Ohio Conference churches to set aside Sunday, June 18, as Social Justice Sunday, in recognition of Juneteenth the following day. (If June 18 does not work well for your congregation, please consider setting aside a different Sunday as Social Justice Sunday.) The theme for this year’s Sunday is…
Summit Mennonite Church is meeting in new location
Summit Mennonite Church, formerly located in Barberton, is now meeting nearby in Norton. The congregation is renting space at the Grace United Church of Christ of Loyal Oak, 3285 S. Cleveland Massillon Road, Norton. Summit Mennonite’s email address is summit2mennonite@gmail.com. The congregation’s mailing address is as follows: Summit Mennonite Church, PO Box 296, Wadsworth OH 44282. To contact Summit Mennonite…
ACA report: Affiliation resolution not adopted
At the 2023 Annual Conference Assembly (ACA), a resolution for Ohio Conference to withdraw from Mennonite Church USA and become temporarily independent did not receive enough votes from delegates to be adopted. The Ohio Conference Leadership Team proposed the resolution to delegates on March 4 at ACA after several sessions of group spiritual discernment. Eighty-one delegates (54.7 %) voted to…
Study groups sought for Anabaptist Community Bible
HARRISONBURG, Virginia — The Anabaptism at 500 project is looking for 500 study groups from a broad spectrum of Anabaptist communities to participate in creating the first-ever Anabaptist Community Bible. People from all Anabaptist traditions are invited to form study groups and submit their insights for this once-in-a-generation project. Participating is easy. Volunteers can form their study group and register…
Check out these new Lenten resources
By Ann Leaman Ohio Conference Resource Advocate The Soil and The Seed Project has released a new collection of free resources for Lent, Easter and Pentecost. Included are a new album of music, “Little Liturgies,” art, and lyrics/chord/lead sheets. To download these resources, go to https://www.thesoilandtheseedproject.org/vol-6. For more information about the Soil and The Seed Project, see https://www.thesoilandtheseedproject.org/about. Another resource for Lent comes from…
Gilead Mennonite Church holds final service
On Jan. 29th Conference Minister Dick Barrett worshiped with Gilead Mennonite Church as the congregation worshiped together as a church for the last time. Located in the rural area of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, the church began in 1952 when several Mennonite families moved to the community with a desire to plant a church that was committed both to the Anabaptist/Mennonite…