Resources
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.…
AMBS to launch Practical Leadership Training
In August, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) is launching a new Practical Leadership Training program to help pastors, lay leaders, community leaders and leaders of nonprofit organizations increase their capacity to provide effective Anabaptist leadership in a variety of settings. This program grew out of a listening process in which church leaders shared that they needed practical leadership skills to meet challenges resulting from the pandemic, polarization, shifting church…
ADN creates accessible baptism curriculum
Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADN) has published Believing and Belonging: An Accessible Anabaptist Membership Curriculum for youth and adults with intellectual disabilities. Written by ADN Executive Director Jeanne Davies, this curriculum fills the increasing need for curriculum written specifically for youth and adults with intellectual disabilities. This curriculum has 36 lessons covering God’s first people, the story of Jesus, the story…
MWC invites congregations to celebrate Peace Sunday 2023
Mennonite World Conference (MWC) invites your congregation to observe Peace Sunday on Sept. 17, 2023. The MWC Peace Commission has prepared Peace Sunday worship resources for congregations. These resources can be used on Sept. 17 or another Sunday which fits your congregation’s schedule. MWC Peace Sunday Worship Resources for 2023
CommonWord offers resources for outdoor worship
Want to take your worship outside this summer? CommonWord has a curated collection of outdoor worship resources that you can use. Whether you’re in a forest, a field, or your backyard, these resources will help you find God in the world around you. Visit commonword.ca/go/3535 to see the collection.
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…
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…
Webinar showcases new Bible storybook
The Shine Sunday school curriculum will soon have a new Bible storybook, The Peace Table. The Peace Table is the source of the Bible story for Shine’s elementary curriculum for 2023-26. Recently MennoMedia offered a webinar to overview the features of The Peace Table and its use in the curriculum. The webinar also explored how this book can help teachers…
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…
New Hispanic Ministries course coming this fall
ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Education Agency) – The Schowalter Foundation recently awarded a $9,000 grant to the Hispanic Ministries seminary program of the Mennonite Education Agency (MEA). This grant will enable the Seminario Bíblico Anabautista Hispano (SeBAH) to offer an online continuing education course this September titled “The Journey of the Bible in the Spanish Language.” The course is designed for…
Mental health resources available from CommonWord
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. CommonWord, a collaboration of Mennonite Church Canada and Canadian Mennonite University, has curated a collection of mental health-related resources. To view the collection, see https://www.commonword.ca/Browse/3117.
Free study guide now available
Believe and Be Baptized, a free study guide about baptism, is now available for Ohio Conference congregations. The study guide was produced by the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism (ISGA). Written by John D. Roth in collaboration with Tom Yoder Neufeld, the study guide reflects on topics discussed during the Lutheran-Mennonite-Roman Catholic Trilateral Conversation on Baptism. Believe and…
New journal issue explores topic of ‘uncertainty’
The Spring 2023 issue of Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology, edited by Karl Koop, PhD, of Canadian Mennonite University, looks at uncertainty from personal, ecological, biblical and societal angles. Writers explore how to move away from self-centered conceptions of certainty and control and move toward notions of trust and mystery. You can download this free publication online at…
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…
Check out these new Lenten resources
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.
2023 Lent at Home guide now available
ELKHART, Indinana (Mennonite Education Agency) — “Created in the Image of God, Shaped By Jesus” is the theme of the Lent at Home 2023 worship guide, now available for free at the Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) website: https://bit.ly/2023LentatHome. Using the theme developed for Leader magazine, the guide weaves weekly and daily Scriptures with worship rituals, prayers, activities, and background information…
List of resources for racial reconciliation work now available
Grace & Groundings, Ohio Conference’s racial reconciliation resource team, has compiled a list of resources for working at racial reconciliation: Racial Reconciliation Resource List.
‘Finer Points’ offers peacemaking tools
Interested in learning more about peacemaking on an interpersonal level? Check out “Finer Points,” a blog on the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center website: https://lmpeacecenter.org/finerpoints.
CommonWord offers Lenten resources
By Ann Leaman Ohio Conference Resource Advocate This year Lent begins on Feb. 22, which means now is a great time to look for worship and devotional resources related to Lent. If you are looking for new Lenten resources, check out the website for CommonWord, a collaboration of Mennonite Church Canada and Canadian Mennonite University. In preparation for Lent, CommonWord…
Check out these Advent resources
By Ann Leaman Ohio Conference Resource Advocate As we move into the season of Advent, Mennonite Church USA and CommonWord have Advent resources for individuals, families and congregations. “Restoration is Near!” is the theme of the Advent at Home 2022 worship guide, now available at the Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) website: https://mennoniteusa.org/adventathome. Using the theme developed for Leader magazine, the…
Advent at Home guide now available
ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Education Agency) — “Restoration is Near!” is the theme of the Advent at Home 2022 worship guide, now available at the Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) website: https://mennoniteusa.org/adventathome. Using the theme developed for Leader magazine, the guide offers weekly and daily Scriptures from the lectionary texts, worship rituals, prayers, activities, and background information to help individuals and households…
Video project focuses on visual art in worship
Together in Worship, an online collection of free worship resources from Anabaptist sources, is pleased to announce the launch of a new resource about the use of visual art in worship. A Creative God: The Visual Arts in Worship is a video project that explores how seven Mennonite congregations in southern Pennsylvania and eastern Virginia use visual art and other visual…
MMN has Mission Sunday materials for your congregation
Is your church planning a mission Sunday in November? Do you want to explore God’s call to create sacred spaces for people to encounter Jesus? Mennonite Mission Network has Mission Sunday materials for your congregation to use. Go to https://bit.ly/2022MissionSundayResources to explore and download these resources.
Youth ministry webinar recordings available
This spring Ohio Conference hosted a series of webinars for youth workers. If you missed them, don’t worry: Video recordings of four of these webinars are now posted on the “Youth Ministry” page of the Ohio Conference website. To view them, go to https://bit.ly/OCYouthMinistry.
Check out these curated resource collections
By Ann Leaman Ohio Conference Resource Advocate I know I have previously recommended CommonWord, which is a collaboration of Mennonite Church Canada and Canadian Mennonite University. This month, I’d like to highlight CommonWord’s collections of resources for a variety of topics. CommonWord has a collection of World Communion Sunday resources available for download. Traditionally, many congregations celebrate World Communion Sunday…
Peace Sunday is Sept. 18
Mennonite World Conference invites you and your congregation to observe Peace Sunday together with brothers and sisters in the global Anabaptist church family on Sept. 18, 2022. The theme for this year’s Peace Sunday is “Being a new creation in the midst of external turmoil.” Worship planning resources for Peace Sunday 2022 are available now: 2022 Peace Sunday Worship Materials
Study guide focuses on accessibility
After the Mennonite Church USA Accessibility Resolution passed at a special delegate session in May 2022, Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADN) created a Study Guide for the MC USA Accessibility Resolution. This study guide was written for ADN by Joanne Gallardo, a conference minister of Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference of MC USA in Goshen, Indiana. The study guide is a resource for congregations to…
CommonWord offers tutorial video with tips for using its website
CommonWord now has a brief video tutorial designed to help you browse its collection of resources more easily. You can watch the video on YouTube at https://bit.ly/CommonWordWebsiteTutorial.
Explore these webinar offerings
By Ann Leaman Ohio Conference Resource Advocate This month I would like to highlight a variety of webinars being offered by various church-related agencies. The first is an upcoming webinar, and the other three are recordings of previously offered webinars. Housing Mennonite Central Committee will host “Creative Housing Solutions for Refugees and Asylum Seekers” on Tuesday, July 26, at 2…
Visio divina combines images with scripture
CommonWord, a collaboration of Mennonite Church Canada and Canadian Mennonite University, is offering a new free resource called the Visio Divina Project. This online resource includes a collection of visual images combined with scripture. The Visio Divina Project is inspired by Ruth Boehm, a pastor and photographer. Boehm invites us to “see with our own heart” using the practice of…