News & Articles - Page 4 of 62 - Ohio Mennonite Conference

Register now for Women in Leadership Retreat

The biennial Ohio Conference Women in Leadership Retreat is quickly approaching on Feb. 2-3, 2024. This year’s retreat will be held at the Lial Renewal Center in Whitehouse, Ohio, and will feature Jewel Gingerich Longenecker, dean of Lifelong Learning at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. She will lead participants in exploring what it means to claim the fullness of their identity…

Spiritual renewal program offered for clergy

The Center for Clergy Renewal (https://bit.ly/CCRProgram) offers spiritual renewal to Christian pastors through ecumenical immersion experiences into the life of Holy Wisdom Monastery, near Madison, Wisconsin, and an ongoing community of monastic resources and support that extends beyond the walls of Holy Wisdom. The program offers early and mid-career clergy the opportunity to nourish their spiritual center by developing life-long, covenantal relationships…

AMBS offers Practical Leadership Training

Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, is offering training modules for pastors and lay leaders through its Practical Leadership Training program. Please see the 2024 Practical Leadership Training flyer to learn more about upcoming training modules.

Oak Grove in Smithville seeks lead pastor

Oak Grove Mennonite Church in Smithville, Ohio, is looking for a full-time lead pastor. Oak Grove was founded in 1818 and is steeped in Anabaptist belief, practice, and history. We seek a lead pastor to teach, encourage, and shepherd the people of Oak Grove Mennonite Church that they might grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and might further His…

ACA speaker discusses scripture

Everyone is invited to attend the 2024 Annual Conference Assembly (ACA) March 1-2 at Sharon Mennonite Church in Plain City. The featured speaker at ACA will be Meghan Larissa Good, the author of The Bible Unwrapped: Making Sense of Scripture Today and Divine Gravity: Sparking a Movement to Rediscover a Better Christian Story. Want to learn more about Meghan Larissa…

Arsenic mitigation efforts continue in Bangladesh

At the 2023 Annual Conference Assembly, Bill and Carole Schumacher of Sharon Mennonite Church shared a presentation about the Arsenic Mitigation Project, which focuses on removing arsenic from the water supply in Bangladesh. The Schumachers have continued to work with this project. To learn more, see the project’s most recent newsletter: https://bit.ly/11-23ArsenicMitigation.

Winter Cluster meetings start Jan. 9

Five winter cluster meetings have been scheduled for Ohio Conference delegates to Annual Conference Assembly. Each meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. and last about two hours. Locations are as follows: Jan. 9 — Tedrow Mennonite Church, Wauseon Jan. 11 — Beech Mennonite Church, Louisville Jan. 16 — Crown Hill Mennonite Church, Rittman Jan. 18 — Oak Grove Mennonite Church, West Liberty Jan.…

Ohio MCC Comforter Bash set for March 8-9

Fairlawn Mennonite Church in Apple Creek will host the fourth annual Ohio MCC Comforter Bash on March 8 and 9. The church is located at 8520 Emerson Road, Apple Creek. All are invited to knot comforters for Mennonite Central Committee. Women, men, youth groups, friends and family are invited! Come and go as you are able. Hours are as follows:…

Grant awarded to MEA Hispanic Ministries

Mennonite Education Agency Hispanic Ministries has received a $15,500 grant from The Schowalter Foundation to adapt the Instituto Bíblico Anabautista (IBA – Anabaptist Bible Institute) digital resources to better serve participants in virtual settings. Learn more at https://bit.ly/MEAHispanicMinistries-Grant.

MMN to offer new Anti-racism Grant

Mennonite Mission Network is offering an Anti-Racism Grant specifically for individuals and organizations managed by Asian, Black, Hispanic, Indigenous or other People of Color groups who are engaged in peacebuilding, social justice and anti-racism efforts. Learn more at https://bit.ly/MMNAnti-RacismGrants.

Mennonites talk about ways to respond to war in Gaza

More than 800 people from 250 congregations across Canada and the U.S. met online Nov. 28 to talk about ways to respond together to the war in Gaza and Palestine. See the Anabaptist World report for details: https://bit.ly/Nov28Meeting.

The Soil and The Seed Project offers Advent and Christmas resources

If you are seeking ways to nurture faith at home during Advent, take a look at the new free resources available online at The Soil and The Seed Project: https://bit.ly/SoilandSeedVol8. Volume 8 of these faith formation resources, now available, is intended for use during Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. The Soil and The Seed Project has created “little liturgies” with downloadable…

Retreat will equip women to use leadership gifts

Online registration is open for the Ohio Conference Women in Leadership Retreat planned for Feb. 2-3, 2024, at the Lial Renewal Center in Whitehouse, Ohio. The retreat will feature Jewel Gingerich Longenecker of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, who will focus on the theme “Finding Your Voice.” This retreat will explore what it means for women to lead as their authentic…

EMU to host Shalom Academy

Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, will host Shalom Academy (formerly School for Leadership Training) Jan. 8-10, 2024. Cultivating unity within faith communities can be difficult when cultural pressures are divisive. Shalom Academy 2024 will offer a place to learn and reflect on the practices that move congregations past divisiveness and toward peace, both within their walls and in their…

AMBS gathering to focus on peacemaking

“Strategies for Peacemaking” will be the theme of the 2024 Pastors & Leaders Conference at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, Feb. 19-22, 2024. Betty Pries, PhD, will be the featured speaker. This conference will focus on tools for peacemaking — building our capacity to tend to our inner work; address conflicts within our churches; and lead people…

New training modules offered at AMBS

In August Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, launched 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. A new set of training modules is available beginning in January. Topics include Intergenerational Faith Formation, Riding the Wave…

CommonWord offers variety of Christmas resources

CommonWord, a collaboration of Mennonite Church Canada and Canadian Mennonite University has a variety of Christmas resources available for download. View them at https://www.commonword.ca/go/2191.

Retreat offers couples time for rest, reconnection

Fourteen couples attended the Ohio Conference Pastor-Spouse Retreat, which was held Nov. 10-12 at Deer Creek State Park Lodge in Mt. Sterling, Ohio. The theme of the weekend gathering was “Fill my Cup,” and participants were encouraged to rest, be refreshed and reconnect with their spouse. Our thanks go to the sponsors who helped to underwrite this event: Hummel Group,…

You’re invited to join the Ohio Conference Winter Read

Coming in January: The Ohio Conference Winter Read. This winter Ohio Conference will once again hold a Conference-wide book study using the Zoom videoconferencing platform. This year we will be studying Not Quite Fine: Mental Health, Faith and Showing Up for One Another, a book by Carlene Hill Byron. Discussion leaders will be Emiley Shenk and Darin Nissley. Winter Read discussion sessions will…

Winter cluster meetings scheduled

Deficit increases during October

Ohio Conference’s expenses outpaced giving during October. Receipts for the month totaled $18,589, including $18,462 in giving from congregations. Expenses for October totaled $26,130, resulting in a deficit of $7,541 for the month. As of Oct. 31, the Conference’s year-to-date operating balance was -$41,747. The Conference fiscal year ends March 31, 2024.

Mennonite World Conference to hold Online Prayer Hour Nov. 17

Mennonite World Conference invites you to join the Anabaptist-Mennonite family at Online Prayer Hour, a Zoom prayer call, on Friday, Nov. 17, at 9 a.m. EST. There will be breakout rooms with a prayer leader in several languages. Please register in advance at https://bit.ly/MWCOnlinePrayerNov23.

The Corinthian Plan has open enrollment through Dec. 31

The Corinthian Plan is open for enrollment from Nov.1 through Dec. 31, 2023, for a Jan. 1, 2024, start date. The Corinthian Plan is a self-funded health care plan for pastors and church workers, sponsored and owned by Mennonite Church USA (MC USA). Please see the MC USA news release for more details: https://bit.ly/2024CorinthianPlan.

MC USA to relaunch Equipping e-newsletter

ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Church USA) — After a two-year hiatus, the Mennonite Church USA (MC USA) Executive Board communications department is relaunching Equipping, a resource e-newsletter for leaders across MC USA. MC USA will reintroduce Equipping as a quarterly email newsletter featuring resources on leadership, peacebuilding, worship, faith formation and more from MC USA and its conferences, congregations, agencies, ministry…

Advent at Home guide coming soon

Update: The 2024 Advent at Home worship guide is now available. Go to https://bit.ly/AdventatHome to download it. ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Education Agency) — Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) announces the upcoming publication of Advent at Home 2023. Taken from Leader magazine’s Advent theme, “How will we know?” this worship guide accompanies individuals and families through the days and weeks of Advent…

CLC brainstorms strategies to strengthen youth engagement

Mennonite Church USA’s Constituency Leaders Council brainstormed strategies for strengthening youth engagement at its first meeting of the 2023-2025 biennium via Zoom on Oct. 27, 2023. To read a full report of this meeting, including comments from Ohio Conference Moderator Ken Sims, see the MC USA news release: https://bit.ly/CLC-YouthEngagement.

Community gun safety event brings Ohio churches together

In September, several Mennonite churches from Northwest Ohio worked together to host a community event about gun safety. Several organizations, such as RAWtools and Mennonite Central Committee, also helped make this event successful. By Nancy Roynon Beck Have you ever wanted to make something happen but did not know how? That was me last January. I was teaching the Mennonite…

Advent at Home guide available soon

Update: The 2024 Advent at Home worship guide is now available. Go to https://bit.ly/AdventatHome to download it. By Ann Leaman Ohio Conference Resource Advocate Coming soon: Once again this year, Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) will be publishing an Advent at Home worship guide. It will follow the same Advent theme as Leader magazine, “How will we know?” The Advent at…

Winter Read to focus on mental health

Coming in January: The Ohio Conference Winter Read. This winter Ohio Conference will once again hold a Conference-wide book study using the Zoom videoconferencing platform. We will be studying the book Not Quite Fine: Mental Health, Faith and Showing Up for One Another by Carlene Hill Byron. A schedule of Zoom meetings will be published in December, as well as registration…

MC USA Executive Board meets in Cleveland

Ohio Conference Leadership Team welcomes MC USA Executive Board to Ohio By Camille Dager CLEVELAND, Ohio (Mennonite Church USA) — The Mennonite Church USA Executive Board strengthened key relationships and discussed creative strategies for convention and revitalization at the first Executive Board meeting of the biennium Oct. 18-20, 2023, in Cleveland, Ohio. Ohio Mennonite Conference welcomed the Executive Board and…