ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR JUNE
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| June 2023 Bulletin Announcements You’re invited to use the announcements below by sharing them throughout the month in your congregational bulletins, conference/congregational emails, newsletters or social media, or by sharing the link to these announcements. Thank you! Sunday, June 4 Join us for “Delegate Assembly 2023: Know Before You Go, Part II,” an informational Zoom webinar on Thursday, June 15 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. Leaders from MC USA, Everence and MHS Association will discuss the proposed organizational resolutions for the upcoming Delegate Assembly in Kansas City. Delegates and nondelegates are welcome to attend. Register and submit your questions here: mennoniteusa.org/da23-webinar Mennonite Church USA strives to live into its Accessibility Resolution at MennoCon23 by removing barriers to make people of all abilities and needs feel welcome. MennoCon23, the denomination’s leading faith formation event, will take place in Kansas City, Missouri, July 3-6. Read more here: mennoniteusa.org/news/mennocon23-accessible #BeTransformed “Pastoral transitions are a natural part of congregational life. At some point, your pastor will leave. They will leave for all sorts of reasons, and the majority of reasons have nothing to do with the congregation,” writes Rachel Ringenberg Miller, denominational minister for ministerial leadership for Mennonite Church USA, in her helpful blog about next steps: mennoniteusa.org/pastoral-transition-beauty #MennoCon23 Hugo Saucedo, a longtime MennoCon volunteer, attended his first convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1993. “I was 16 years old, when my youth group drove from Brownsville, Texas, to Philadelphia. In spite of the long drive, the memories I made have stayed with me to this day.” Read more about Hugo’s experience here: mennoniteusa.org/mennocon23-mennonite-reunion There is still time to register online for MennoCon23, Mennonite Church USA’s leading faith formation event, in Kansas City (Missouri) Convention Center, July 3-6, 2023. Registration is also still open for the Youth & Young Adult Climate Summit, July 7, and the Delegate Assembly, July 7-8. Register here: mennoniteusa.org/registration Sunday, June 11 #MennoCon23 MennoCon23, Mennonite Church USA’s leading faith formation event, in Kansas City (Missouri) Convention Center, July 3-6, 2023, will host a variety of engaging exhibitors throughout the week-long convention. The 26 exhibitors will include Anabaptist organizations, colleges and missions. Read more here: mennoniteusa.org/news/mennocon23-exhibitors-opportunity Mennonite Church USA is hosting a collaborative Youth & Young Adult Climate Summit, July 7, 2023, at the Kansas City (Missouri) Convention Center. The event will bring together experts in climate change, spiritual activism and social justice to explore the ways that young people ages 14 to 25 can put their faith to work to address the spiritual and human crisis caused by climate change. Register here: mennoniteusa.org/news/climate-summit Menno Snapshots “Imagine a great symphony without spaces between the notes. Imagine conversation with a beloved friend without pauses between the words.” Eric Massanari, executive conference minister for the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference of Mennonite Church USA, reflects on silence as a spiritual practice in his Menno Snapshots blog. Read more here: mennoniteusa.org/on-silence #MennoCon23 Jon Carlson, moderator-elect for Mennonite Church USA and worship speaker at MennoCon23, writes, “This is part of what I love about the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. We believe that the work of interpretation — of figuring out what is right — happens best in communities guided by the Holy Spirit,” in his blog, “Communities of Transformation.” Read more here: mennoniteusa.org/communities-transformation “During election seasons in America, we get flooded by advertisements. The main purpose of these advertisements is to shape our perspectives about the candidates whom we may choose to vote for in the elections.” Nelson Okanya, future MennoCon23 speaker, discusses the power of storytelling here: mennoniteusa.org/church-in-mission Sunday, June 18 #BeTransformed When Seattle Mennonite Church (SMC) purchased a house in what a member of the church property team described as “a pretty undesirable part of town” about 45 years ago, the Mennonite Church USA congregation never dreamed it would accrue a worth of $2 million. But that’s what happened – and they gave the house away, no strings attached. Read the story here: mennoniteusa.org/news/seattle-redistribution Menno Snapshots Melanie Springer Mock, author of “Finding Our Way Forward: When the Children We Love Become Adults,” reflects on her experience releasing her sons into adulthood in her recent Menno Snapshots blog. Her book is the CommonRead selection for April-June. CommonRead is an initiative of MennoMedia and Mennonite Church USA Executive Board. Read Springer Mock’s blog here: mennoniteusa.org/finding-way-forward As part of Mennonite Church USA’s “I choose to be Mennonite because …” blog series, Nathan Perrin, an emerging writer and pastor of Christian formation, Lombard (Illinois) Mennonite Church, shares about his experience reconciling his Quaker background and his Anabaptist theology here: mennoniteusa.org/friendly-mennonite “Whether you call them actions, traditions or rituals, congregations, much like nuclear families, have ways of celebrating, mourning or remembering together that act as treasured ways of being family,” reflects Leslie James of Hope Mennonite Church. Read more about how Hope Mennonite Church honored their late pastor in her blog: mennoniteusa.org/beyond-words Sunday, June 25 #BeTransformed When Marc Smithers, one of three delegates selected from Sojourner’s Mennonite Fellowship to participate in “A Day of Fellowship and Discernment” for the New York Mennonite Conference, he felt apprehensive. But as the event unfolded, the intentionality of the event’s planning committee was evident. Read more of his experience here: mennoniteusa.org/called-to-community #MennoCon23 “We live in a fragmented society. Most of us have grown accustomed to spending the vast majority of our time alone and apart, even if we are in the vicinity of other people,” writes Dianne Garcia, future MennoCon23 speaker. Read her reflections here: mennoniteusa.org/creating-kingdom-community Follow along with the day-to-day excitement of MennoCon23, the Youth & Young Adult Climate Summit and the Delegate Assembly by subscribing to MC USA’s daily email convention newsletter, the KC Sauce, here: mennoniteusa.org/kcsauce Menno Snapshots “From the time I was very young, I wanted to write a children’s book. I spent many hours coming up with characters and interesting plotlines.” Chrissie Muecke, curriculum writer and editor for MennoMedia, a Mennonite Church USA agency, reflects on her experience editing “The Peace Table: A Storybook Bible” for children. Read more here: mennoniteusa.org/preparing-peace-table |