News & Stories
Bethel Mennonite welcomes Flat Menno to West Liberty
Flat Menno found lots of activity at Bethel Mennonite Church when he visited West Liberty. Flat Menno enjoyed hearing about the experience in Joplin, Mo., shared by some of our Bethel MDS team members: Dean, Paul, and Ed. Flat Menno applauded Kristyn and Kim’s mission meals that fed Bethelites on Sundays in November and Homework Help families on Tuesday!…
Words from Tom 12-2-12
While at the annual gathering of conference ministers from Mennonite Church USA and area ministers from Mennonite Church Canada, I have been reflecting on the future of our respective churches. Nancy Kauffmann and Karen Martens Zimmerly (respective denominational ministers for MC USA and MC Canada) are pictured here leading one of our discussion times. It is clear that our…
Flat Menno meets other travelers
Flat Menno is on the move again! On Monday, Nov. 26, he traveled to the Ohio Conference office in Kidron along with Conference Minister Tom Kauffman and four special guests from Dodoma, Tanzania. Toledo Mennonite is developing a sister church relationship with Dodoma Mennonite Church, and as part of that relationship, four church representatives from Dodoma have been visiting Toledo.…
Flat Menno visits Lima Mennonite
Flat Menno traveled to Lima Mennonite to visit on the weekend of Nov. 17-18. Flat Menno visits a children’s Sunday school class. Flat Menno considers placing a bid at the Mennonite Women Silent Auction. Flat Menno visits an adult Sunday school class. Flat Menno picked the perfect day to visit Lima Mennonite: our annual Thanksgiving Carry-In! …
Berlin Mennonite welcomes Flat Menno
Flat Menno traveled to Holmes County to spend time with members of Berlin Mennonite Church. Flat Menno is introduced as an honorary church member for the next two weeks. He poses with the congregation during worship on Sunday, Nov. 11, which was Missions Sunday with guest speaker Laura Schlabach, a missionary in Mongolia. Flat Menno is an instant hit during…
Flat Menno celebrates with Owl Creek Mennonite
From left to right are current Owl Creek Pastor Rodney Bapst (holding Flat Menno, Bob Lemon, John Hostetler and Paul Kaufman. Owl Creek Mennonite Church in Lucasville celebrated the completion of the congregation’s new worship facility on Sunday, Nov. 11. Previous pastors and members were invited to participate in the occasion. Also visiting was Flat Menno, who traveled to Owl…
Flat Menno visits Stark County cluster meeting
Flat Menno is traveling with Conference Minister Tom Kauffman. At the Stark County cluster meeting at Beech Mennonite Church on Nov. 13, Tom Kauffman introduced Flat Menno to the delegates. Conference Minister Tom Kauffman and Flat Menno met delegates from Stark County congregations at the Nov. 13 cluster meeting.
Flat Menno begins his journey
Flat Menno has begun his travels across Ohio Conference in his quest to learn what Ohio Conference congregations are doing. The first stop on his trip was in Berlin, Ohio, where he sat in on the Nov. 7 meeting of the Ohio Conference Ministry Development Team, which was held at Berlin Mennonite Church. MDT member Mary Newcomer introduces…
Introducing Flat Menno
Ohio Conference Congregations— Within Ohio Conference we are working towards strengthening the missional investment of our constituents and member congregations. We know that our congregations are reaching out to the communities which they are in and participating in God’s mission. We want others to know what your congregation is up to! Over the next two weeks, the Ministry Development Team is inviting your congregation to…
Words from Tom 10-30-12
During Oct. 22-24, 2012, the fall meeting of the Constituency Leaders Council (CLC) took place in Wichita Kan. We met at a Catholic retreat center during wonderfully mild Kansas fall days and nights. CLC is the twice-annual meeting of representatives from all 21 of the area conferences of Mennonite Church USA, as well as representatives from the four constituency groups…
Words from Tom 10-5-12
As I plan another meeting with my counterparts in the Church of the Brethren district organization in Ohio, I have been reminded of the variety of ways that church planting can happen. This current conversation was precipitated because the Church of the Brethren as a higher concentration of existing congregations along the southern portion of the I-75 corridor in western…
Words from Tom 9-7-12
Gerald May writes in Addiction and Grace these words: “God refuses to be an object for attachment because God desires full love, not addiction. Love born of true freedom, love free from attachment, requires that we search for a deepening awareness of God, just as God freely reaches out to us. In addition, full love for God means we must…
Words from Tom 7-28-12
In my first pastorate I happened across a book about the Franciscan experience that attempted to Christianize Japan. This fictionalized history is written from the perspective of a Japanese Catholic. The book, titled Silence, is by Shusaku Endo. In the book an idealistic priest sets off to Japan to find his mentor, who is supposed to have abandoned his…
Words from Tom 7-13-12
“Working for a spirit of unity while maintaining the unity of the Spirit.” This is a phrase that my peer in Illinois Conference, Chuck Neufeld, uses as he ministers as the conference minister in that setting. All of us recognize that we have different beginning points for many of our decision-making efforts. We also have differing experiences that influence our…
Words from Tom 6-9-12
One of the myths that those of us who have been labeled “baby boomers” must acknowledge and release is the myth that we will never grow old. Sure, the Rolling Stones continue to perform rock and roll music 50 years later, but both the sights and the sounds of that band are showing their age. And so are those of…
Words from Tom 5-9-12
It must be a function of my age and who I know, but it seems as if I always have someone that I am following on a CaringBridge site. At one point I had three persons whose healing process I was following simultaneously. (For those of you who are not aware, CaringBridge is an electronic site on which someone who…
Words from Tom 4-3-12
Recently I’ve had occasion to think again about what I believe to be one of the primary pastoral tasks. As I’ve thought about it more deeply, I believe it may be something that all Christians who are eager to share their faith might consider. I believe this pastoral task is that it is more important to bless others than it…
Words from Tom 3-4-12
Recently I was talking with the manager of a retail store. He was noting that he attempted to convey the importance of the seasonal nature of his business and the need to “get ready for harvest time.” But none of the new workers had any farm background. They had no understanding of the need to put forth extra energy and…
Words from Tom 2-3-12
This January’s Pastors Week at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary focused on the book of Revelation. Professor Loren Johns reminded us that a primary emphasis of this book is worship. A central text for our study was Rev 8:1: “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” It seems that an…
Words from Tom 1-6-12
What do the Republican presidential candidates, the heavenly body Pluto, and you and I have in common? If you are reading this, you probably are a Mennonite and also living in the USA, where the presidential campaign has officially been inaugurated with the first caucus in Iowa. That begins the official process of selecting the person who will run…
Words from Tom 12-5-11
In The Unsettling Season by Donald Shelby, he writes from the perspective of having experienced Advent before. As such, he suggests that in our goings this year we meet Christ in his coming so that “we would see what we have never seen before, accept what we have refused to think, and hear what we need to understand.” Even…
Words from Tom 11-16-11
Oct. 23-26, 2011, were the dates of the most recent Constituency Leaders Council meeting. Once again, representatives from the 21 area conferences of Mennonite Church USA and representatives from the constituency groups and the program agencies of MC USA were present. While much of our time together is taken up with table discussions around particular issues important to the church,…