Mission
Work for restorative justice with MVS
Interested in partnering with others who care about restorative justice? Join an MVS unit in places like Chicago; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; and Alamosa. Age: 20+; term: 1-2 years. Learn more at www.MennoniteMission.net/Serve.
Immigrant detainee care kits are touching lives
From Mennonite Central Committee Great Lakes: Thank you for your generous, heart-warming response to the desperate needs of migrants in crisis at the southern U.S. border! Since June 2019, churches and individuals across the Great Lakes region donated more than 350 kits and more than $65,000. MCC has provided a fact sheet which shows how your gifts are being utilized through…
Maple Syrup Festival to support missions
Please note: This event has been postponed until further notice. Sonnenberg Mennonite Church in Kidron will hold its 23rd annual Maple Syrup Festival including a pancake and sausage breakfast on Saturday, March 28, from 7 to 10:30 a.m. This annual event features locally-made maple syrup, and proceeds support missions, both local and international. For more details, please see the event…
Engaging Mission 2020 to feature VMM workers
Please note: Due to the uncertainty about when restrictions will be lifted for public gatherings, the Ohio Conference Leadership Team has decided to cancel this event. Online registration is open for Engaging Mission 2020, an Ohio Conference missional festival planned for June 26-28 at Bluffton University. To register, go to http://bit.ly/EngagingMission2020. This event will be for people of all…
Register now for Engaging Mission 2020
Please note: Due to the uncertainty about when restrictions will be lifted for public gatherings, the Ohio Conference Leadership Team has decided to cancel this event. Online registration is now open for Engaging Mission 2020, an Ohio Conference missional festival planned for June 26-28 at Bluffton University. This event will be for people of all ages, including family…
Engaging Mission 2020 is for all ages
Please note: Due to the uncertainty about when restrictions will be lifted for public gatherings, the Ohio Conference Leadership Team has decided to cancel this event. Over the past four years, Ohio Conference has held a missional conference immediately prior to Annual Conference Assembly. This year there will not be a missional conference in March. Instead, the Conference…
Join MCC’s Great Winter Warm-up
Make plans to join MCC’s Great Winter Warm-up at Toledo Mennonite! Mennonite Central Committee will kick off its centennial celebration year with comforter knotting events across the U.S., Canada and Europe. On Saturday, Jan. 11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. people of all ages are invited to Toledo Mennonite Church, 5501 Nebraska Avenue, Toledo, for the Great Winter Warm-up comforter…
Engaging Mission 2020 is for all ages
Please note: Due to the uncertainty about when restrictions will be lifted for public gatherings, the Ohio Conference Leadership Team has decided to cancel this event. Save the date: Ohio Conference will hold a missional festival, Engaging Mission 2020, at Bluffton University June 26-28, 2020. Featured presenters will be Seth and Theresa Crissman of Virginia Mennonite Missions. (See http://bit.ly/VMMCrissmans…
You are invited to make disciples
In Matthew 28, Jesus called for his disciples to make disciples of others. But the call to make disciples continues today. You are invited to join others in the Ohio Conference who are participating in the Missional Discipleship Initiative (https://www.mennonitemission.net/MDI). What is the Missional Discipleship Initiative (MDI)? MDI is an initiative launched by Marvin Lorenzana and Mennonite Mission Network to…
Immigration event to include care kit assembly
You’re invited to share God’s love and give your support to immigrant detainees on our southern border. Open Arms Hispanic Ministries invites you to come Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. for an immigration information update and MCC Immigration Detainee Care Kit assembly at Orrville Mennonite Church, 1305 W. Market St., Orrville. A representative from Mennonite Central Committee will provide…
The changing church landscape
By Dick Barrett Conference Minister The church landscape in 21st century America has radically changed over the past 20 years. We can no longer expect that the church model that existed for most of the 20th century is going to be effective for carrying out God’s call upon our lives as disciples of Jesus: to go out and make more…
Summit Mennonite members volunteer with Habitat for Humanity
During the last week of April and the first week of May, members and friends of Summit Mennonite Church in Barberton, Ohio worked with Habitat for Humanity of Summit County at three different home building sites. They did landscaping, hung drywall (on the ceiling!) and installed siding, along with cutting lumber for heating and cooling duct installation. Hank Rossiter said,…
Sonnenberg Mennonite plans mission event
Sonnenberg Mennonite Church in Kidron will welcome Howard and Cathy Wagler from Journey Mennonite Church in Hutchinson, Kansas, on the weekend of April 6-7. Over the past 25 years Howard and Cathy have helped shape Journey Mennonite into a thriving community of mission-minded believers worshiping at three campuses in central Kansas. They have a passion for leadership development and seeing…
Conference focuses on building relationships
Just prior to Annual Conference Assembly, the Ohio Conference held the 2019 Missional Conference at Salem Mennonite Church in Kidron March 7-8. Eighty-eight people participated in this event. The theme of the conference was “From Jerusalem to Antioch: Legacy Churches Anchoring Missional Communities.” Featured speakers were Sally Schreiner Youngquist of Evanston, Illinois, one of the founders of Living Water Community…
Missional conference coming to Ohio May 9-11
Sentralized, a missional conference featuring several of the speakers that Ohio Conference has hosted recently, such as Alan and Deb Hirsch, along with many others, is coming this spring to Middletown, Ohio (between Dayton and Cincinnati). This event will take place Thursday, May 9, though Saturday, May 11. Most of the teaching and discussion time will occur Thursday and Friday.…
MMN to hold Sent 2019 in Colorado
Mennonite Mission Network will hold its Sent Conference 2019 on April 26-28 in Denver, Colorado. The theme for this year is “Beautiful Feet: Hearing Christ’s call to proclaim the good news.” This event will be hosted by Beloved Community Mennonite Church and Mountain States Mennonite Conference. The Sent conference is an event that Mennonite Mission Network organizes every year to…
Missional conference to explore the role of established congregations
Ohio Conference will hold a missional conference March 7-8 at Salem Mennonite Church in Kidron, immediately prior to the 2019 Annual Conference Assembly. The theme of the missional conference will be “From Jerusalem to Antioch: Legacy Churches Anchoring Missional Communities,” based on Acts 11:19-30. Presenters will be Sally Schreiner Youngquist, one of the founding pastors of Living Water Community Church in Chicago,…
Summer service program has openings
Calling everyone ages 15-22: Are you looking for a fun and meaningful way to serve this summer? There are spots left to join a 2019 Youth Venture team! See and join in the work God is doing in Indonesia, Peru, Japan, or Benin. Visit www.MennoniteMission.net/SERVE to learn more, or contact Lauren Eash Hershberger at LaurenEH@MennoniteMission.net.
Service Adventure seeks unit leader
Looking to serve in a mentoring role to young adults? Service Adventure is seeking leaders for its unit location in beautiful Anchorage, Alaska. This is a unique opportunity to serve as a mentor and to foster community with a household of young adults through faith formation, daily living, and house activities. For more information, contact Susan Nisly at Mennonite Mission…
Jessica says farewell
In this episode of the Ohio Conference Cast, hosts Bill Seymour and Thomas Dunn talk with Ohio Conference Missional Consultant Jessica Schrock-Ringenberg, who is moving to Excelsior Springs, Missouri. In addition to reflecting on her 14 years in the Ohio Conference, Jessica affirms the missional work that is taking place in the Conference. She also challenges some assumptions about leadership…
The Wheelhouse to hold Blessing Event
The Wheelhouse — A Christian Bicycle Cooperative will hold a Blessing Event for its new building on Sunday, Sept. 2, at 1:30 p.m. The event will take place at Elm Street Church of the Brethren, 619 E. Elm St., Lima, Ohio. There will be a time of blessing and thanksgiving for the new building. Afterward participants are invited to enjoy a…
Lockport Mennonite to host MDS fundraiser
Ted & Co. is bringing its newest event, “Boots, Buckets & Barrows,” to Lockport Mennonite Church in Stryker on Sunday, July 29, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. This event is part theater/part auction, to raise awareness, funds, and volunteers for Mennonite Disaster Service. The event will feature the show The Jesus Stories: Faith, Forks & Fettuccine, written by and starring Ted Swartz,…
Church planting and patience
What role does patience play in the church planting process? In this episode of the Ohio Conference Cast, host Bill Seymour and his guest co-host, Paula Snyder Belousek, talk with Sally Youngquist of Living Water Community Church in Chicago, Illinois, about the process of planting that congregation. Listen to find out how many years it took for Living Water to…
Learn about the Missional Discipleship Initiative
Are you interested in nurturing discipleship in your congregation? Marvin Lorenzana, director of the Missional Discipleship Initiative (MDI) of Mennonite Mission Network, is offering three information sessions for Ohio Conference people about MDI. Each session is 30 minutes long and will take place online. The MDI is one of the main initiatives of the Missional Planning Team. The online sessions…
Church Planting — From Jerusalem to Antioch
What happens when non-church planters — aka pastors from long-established churches — attend a church planting conference? And why would they even want to attend? In this episode of the Ohio Conference Cast podcast, host Bill Seymour talks with Ohio Conference pastors Paula Snyder Belousek, Corben Weaver Boshart and Jessica Schrock-Ringenberg about their experience attending SENT 2018, a church planting…
Where does mission begin? Podcast explores MC USA, MMN and mission
Where does mission begin? With denominational leaders, at a mission agency, or in the local congregation? The guests on the latest episode of the Ohio Conference Cast encourage local congregations to be actively involved in mission. “We sense our call to walk alongside and empower churches to accomplish the vision that they have,” says Stanley Green, executive director of Mennonite…
Apply for Youth Venture by April 1
Calling everyone ages 15-22: Are you looking for a fun and meaningful way to serve this summer? There are a few spots left to join a 2018 Youth Venture team! See and join in the work God is doing in Ecuador, Peru, Spain, or Benin. Apply by April 1. Visit www.MennoniteMission.net/Serve to learn more, or contact John Murray at JohnM@MennoniteMission.net.
The Wheelhouse – A bicycle ministry in the city
“We don’t feel like we were particularly gifted to do this. Every time, though, we were worried about something — like where would we store the bikes, how would we learn how to fix bikes — every time we were worried about that, something came forward. An answer came from God.” — Ginny Cress, speaking about the Wheelhouse, a bicycle ministry…
Church planting and seeing the church differently
This episode of the Ohio Conference Cast features a conversation with Jason Rissler, a church planter from the Ohio Conference based in Strasburg, Ohio. Hosts Bill Seymour and Thomas Dunn discuss church planting with Jason, and they consider Jason’s question, “Can we give ourselves permission to see the church differently?” What if new churches don’t look like traditional congregations? https://ohiomennoniteconference.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/18_02_14_JasonRisler_Submitted.mp3Podcast: Play…
21st Century Discipleship and the Parable of the Sower: A Contemporary Rendition
By Jessica Schrock-Ringenberg A farmer knew that he was supposed to go out and sow some seeds. The seed was to bear much fruit and nourish and give life to the nations, abundant life. But the farmer didn’t want to get his shoes dirty. So he gathered little packets of seed samples with a set of instructions and hung them…