Resource Advocate
MMN resource is designed for youth groups
Mennonite Mission Network has released a new resource for youth groups, “Making faith sense amidst the pandemic.” This resource is designed to guide conversation with youth as part of an online group meeting. You can learn more and download the resource at https://bit.ly/MMNYouthResources.
MDS, Everence and MCC launch COVID-19 Congregational Relief Fund
GOSHEN, Indiana — Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), Everence® and Mennonite Central Committee U.S. (MCC U.S.) have joined together to launch a COVID-19 Congregational Relief Fund to aid churches facing financial crisis due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The new fund was seeded with a combined $550,000 commitment from MDS, Everence and MCC U.S. The fund will be administered by Everence…
Hope Series offers online prayer, more
Mennonite Mission Network is offering a new digital ministry called the Hope Series. The series includes prayer gatherings which are live streamed on Facebook Monday-Saturday at 1 p.m., as well as devotional times and opportunities for group interactions. To learn more about the Hope Series, see https://www.mennonitemission.net/resources/the-hope-series/.
MennoMedia provides free resources
While gatherings are limited because of COVID-19, MennoMedia is providing free online resources. MennoMedia is offering a special issue of its daily devotional magazine, Rejoice!, as a free download from the MennoMedia website. The special publication, titled Rejoice! A Time Such as This: Reflections on COVID-19, was written, edited, and designed by individuals volunteering their time to contribute their gifts…
Anabaptist Worship Network offers connections
Are you interested in sharing ideas with others who are planning worship? Anabaptist Worship Network, a new Facebook group conversation, is hosted by Katie Graber and Anneli Loepp Thiessen. This Facebook group is a meetup for pastors, worship leaders, song leaders, and those interested in Anabaptist worship. Participants can ask questions, share ideas and resources, and make connections. To participate,…
Everence offers support during COVID-19 outbreak
Everence has expanded its services to members during the outbreak of COVID-19. Some of these expanded services include waiving ATM fees, allowing borrowers to skip a pay on certain loans, and a sharing fund increase for churches with an advocate. For more details, see the Everence website: https://www.everence.com/resources/supporting-you-during-the-covid-19-outbreak.
Explore resources for moving faith formation online
Many churches have cancelled gathered faith formation programs (and even Sunday worship) to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus in their communities. But that doesn’t mean faith formation needs to stop. One way we can respond is to move faith formation online and into people’s homes and personal lives. John Roberto has compiled a list of resources for congregations seeking…
Everence offers assistance and relief options during COVID-19 outbreak
As part of its mission to help people, churches, businesses and organizations integrate their faith and values into their financial decisions, Everence is offering assistance and relief options to help members and customers impacted by the evolving COVID-19 outbreak. To learn more, see https://bit.ly/EverenceCOVID-19Response.
Planning for Sunday school amid church closures
While gatherings are limited because of COVID-19, MennoMedia is offering free online resources for Christian education. These materials are from MennoMedia’s Shine curriculum, and they are free for use by churches for online learning or to send to parents for use at home. You can find them at https://shinecurriculum.com/shineathome/free-resources.
MennoMedia offers free resources for calming fears
In light of the alarming coronavirus headlines, MennoMedia is providing free resources to help calm the fears of congregations. Beyond Our Fears: Following Jesus in Times of Crisis was originally created after the SARS outbreak of 2009, but the content is just as relevant today. To download this material, go to http://bit.ly/BeyondOurFears. For children, MennoMedia is offering Don’t Be Afraid:…
2019 Advent guide for families is now available
Anabaptist Faith Formation and Mennonite Church USA are offering a free, downloadable guide for family worship during Advent written by Elsie Rempel. This resource, titled Waiting and Wondering, is designed for parents to use at home with their children. With this free worship guide, families can create a space to notice important questions and bring them to God. For six weeks from…
MMN offers prayer resources
By Ann Leaman Ohio Conference Resource Advocate Did you know that the Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) website offers prayer-related resources? Many people may already be acquainted with Prayer Vine, MMN’s monthly prayer newsletter which lists daily prayer requests for MMN workers and programs. Each issue of Prayer Vine is available both as a PDF and as a PowerPoint file. The…
New Mennonite Mission Network booklet focuses on making disciples
By Ann Leaman Marvin Lorenzana is the author of the newest booklet in Mennonite Mission Network’s Missio Dei series titled Not just disciples but disciple makers. The director for discipleship initiatives at Mennonite Mission Network, Marvin Lorenzana was one of the speakers at Ohio Conference’s 2018 Annual Conference Assembly and 2018 Gathered and Sent Missional Conference. “Biblical discipleship,” he says,…
New resource advocate named
Ohio Conference Editor Ann Leaman has agreed to serve as the Ohio Conference resource advocate. The role of the resource advocate is to be aware of the latest resources from the various Mennonite Church USA groups and to find creative ways to make these resources useful to pastors and lay leaders in congregations. If you have questions about what resources…
CommonWord offers Lenten worship resources
CommonWord, a collaboration of Mennonite Church Canada and Canadian Mennonite University, offers many resources for planning worship during the Lenten season. If you’re looking for resources to help you with planning worship or leading a devotional, you can visit www.commonword.ca/go/1765. Many of these resources are available as free downloads. If you’re looking for resources for a specific day you can…
MC USA offers Lent At Home guide
(Mennonite Church USA) — Get ready for a holy feast. The Lent At Home resource based on the theme “Blessed Hunger…Holy Feast” is available now with materials for exploring God’s abundance and the season’s themes. The materials begin with Shrove Tuesday on March 5 and continue through Easter Sunday on April 21. The theme and Scriptures in the Lent At Home materials…
MC USA video series looks at leadership, structure
Mennonite Church USA has recently posted three presentations on YouTube addressing the denomination’s leadership, structure and polity. These presentations are from the Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) meeting which took place on Oct. 11-13, 2018, in Chicago. The three presenters are Michael Danner, associate executive director for church vitality and engagement; David Boshart, moderator; and Joy Sutter, moderator-elect. Use the links below…
MMN offers free Scripture graphics
Are you looking for Scripture-related art that you can use in your office, youth room or classroom? Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) offers a wide selection of Scripture graphics on its website which you can download for free: http://bit.ly/MMNScriptureGraphics. You can browse the entire collection or narrow your search by focusing on a specific book of the Bible. A sample graphic…
Advent worship guide is for families
Anabaptist Faith Formation Network and Mennonite Church USA are offering a free, downloadable guide for family worship during Advent written by Elsie Rempel and illustrated by Megan Kamei. This resource, titled God’s Goodness, is designed for parents to use at home with their children. For use between Dec. 2 and Jan. 6, the worship guide includes Bible readings, short litanies, songs, hands-on…
Dove’s Nest offers sample protection policy
Does your church need a protection policy? If so, check out Dove’s Nest’s updated three-page model policy available as a PDF: http://bit.ly/ProtectionPolicyModel. You can also find more resources on the Dove’s Nest website: https://dovesnest.net/policies. You can use this model policy as a guide to create or update your own that works for your church’s context, settings, and values. The 2018…
Videos have tips for leading adult Bible studies
Central Plains Mennonite Conference has produced a series of short videos with tips for leading adult Bible study groups. The series, titled “Open the Book,” features presenter Keith Slater, who has worked for SIL International and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He is a member of West Union Mennonite Church in Parnell, Iowa. The title of each video in the series refers…
CommonWord offers lectionary resources
Does your congregation follow the common lectionary in your worship services? Are you looking for worship resources related to lectionary scriptures? CommonWord, a worship resource website offered by Mennonite Church Canada and Canadian Mennonite University, has an online lectionary worship calendar at https://www.commonword.ca/Content/revised-common-lectionary. The calendar has links to resources related to lectionary texts. Some resources may be downloaded for free,…
Lenten resource is for families
Anabaptist Faith Formation Network is offering a free at home Lenten worship resource for families titled Between Me & You. Written by Elsie Remple and illustrated by Megan Kamei, this resource includes daily Bible readings, songs, hands-on activities and questions to ponder together. To download this resource, go to http://bit.ly/2018LentenResource. To see more resources available from Anabaptist Faith Formation, go…
Advent At Home guide is for families
Central Plains Mennonite Conference and www.AnabaptistFaithFormation.org are offering a free, downloadable guide for family worship during Advent written by Elsie Rempel. This resource, titled Yes! Let it Be!, is designed for parents to use at home with their children. For use between Dec. 3 and Jan. 6, the worship guide includes a daily Bible reading, short litany, songs, hands-on activities and…
Central Plains Conference offers free faith formation resources
Calling all Anabaptists: Central Plains Mennonite Conference has a gift for you. Central Plains Mennonite Conference has gathered a wide variety of resources for people interested in faith formation and teaching people of all ages on its Anabaptist Faith Formation website: http://www.anabaptistfaithformation.org/. All resources on the website are free to use. The site has downloadable resources for working with children…
Everence resource focuses on generous living
By Lois Bontrager Ohio Conference Resource Advocate Here’s a great resource from Everence: Generous Living in a Self-Centered World: Biblical Models of Generosity. This resource is a six-week course in which you will be introduced to a variety of generosity models found in scripture. Our challenge as 21st-century followers of Jesus is to take the lessons described in scripture, understand their context…
MMN has new mission bank teaching tools
By Lois Bontrager Ohio Conference Resource Advocate Has your congregation used the mission banks available from Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) with the children in your congregation? Introducing MMN’s newest mission bank teaching tools — Joining God’s team in Congo. These materials will help you teach your children and congregation about mission in Congo, and can be used a number of ways…
Everence has resources for youth
Everence continues to be a valuable resource to help us as we navigate our stewardship journey. A great resource for youth is a three-session study called Real life talk about money: navigating the money maze. The goal of this series is to introduce young people to real-life application of biblical principles about money so that young people will prepared to…
Overplayed focuses on youth sports
By Lois Bontrager Ohio Conference Resource Advocate Now available from MennoMedia: Overplayed: A Parent’s Guide to Sanity in the World of Youth Sports by David King And Margot Starbuck. This book equips parents with concrete tips such as the following: Encouraging kids to play a different sport for a season Grabbing coffee with a friend during soccer practice (instead of…
Gathering Place is for youth leaders
The Gathering Place is an interactive website for Anabaptist youth leaders to find connection, resourcing, networking, mentoring, and spiritual formation. Check out the website at www.thegatheringplace.us. You can subscribe to receive the latest information from the Gathering Place.