WESTERN CONFERENCE

Join us for the WDC Annual Assembly!  It’s not just for church leaders!  It’s for everybody!  August 11-13, 2023 at Tabor Mennonite Church, Newton, KS, we’ll worship, work, eat great, local food, enjoy local music, connect with new and old friends, experience faith formation for all ages, and have many choices of great workshops. We hope you’ll agree Annual Assembly is a great place to learn about and grow in faith in Christ, care for the broader church, and worship our God of love and justice with God’s people in Western District Conference!

Assembly Theme: We will explore listening to God and to each other through our theme, “Holy (Wholly) Listening.” We will stretch ourselves to listen carefully to one another as siblings in Christ who understand scripture differently and can widen our cultural, racial, and identity perspectives as we focus on faith in Christ together.  As we hear the concerns and joys of all of us in Western District Conference, we will explore what it means to respond to one another with God’s mercy and justice. Our scripture texts that will guide us are Isaiah 51:1-8 and Numbers 27:1-11.

Two Tracks:  This year we’ll have two different “tracks” going on at the same time.  The Delegate Track is for those who are sent to Assembly as church representatives to help make decisions on behalf of our conference.  The Faith Formation Track is for everybody else (except kids 3 and under).  MennoMedia representatives will lead adults, youth, and school aged kids in a fun, creative multigenerational faith formation experience.  Yes, there will be games, art, drama, music, bible stories, conversation and more for all ages together!  Don’t want to join an active game?  Are you wiggly and want more action?  There will be fun options and choices available as we learn about following Jesus together.  We hope that this experience will encourage you to bring “multigenerational faith formation” home to your congregation as a model to explore.

Church Delegates – This year’s Delegate Session on Saturday, Aug 12, will be hybrid (both in-person & Virtual). Each virtual delegate will need to have the ability to join via Zoom on their own (not shared) device. On-site delegate work will be shared with virtual delegates via special conferencing technology. Congregations are eligible for one vote for every thirty members or fraction thereof (ex: a congregation with 32 members has two votes, Congregation with 28 members has one vote). 

Church offices – please submit your church membership number (as of January 1, 2023) and the names of your delegates by filling out the survey HERE or by emailing: wdc@mennowdc.org. Even if your church will not send any delegates, your 2023 membership number is still required for WDC records. Thank you for your attention to this detail! A reminder that delegates must also register themselves for Assembly in addition to being included on the form above.

In-Person Registration is all-inclusive (except for housing)!  Your adult registration of $95 includes Saturday continental breakfast, lunch, BBQ supper and snacks, as well as access to workshops, worship and the delegate session or multigenerational faith formation. (If you are a credentialed minister or minister’s immediate family, it includes Friday Appreciation Banquet, too.)  Children’s registration (ages 4 to 12) is $45 each.  There are scholarships available for those with limited resources. Email wdc@mennowdc.org to request a scholarship.

Assembly Housing Options:  Hotel Option:  Use the link: https://www.choicehotels.com/groups and type in Group Code: GS27W7 to reserve a room in our reserved block at Comfort Inn and Suites, 1205 E 1st St, Newton, KS 67114, to get the Assembly discount. In-home option:  If you would like to be paired with a local family for an in-home stay, please mark that on your registration.  If you are willing to host people in your home, please mark that on your registration form.  You are also welcome to make your own housing arrangements.  If so, please mark that on your registration form.

Virtual Registration of $40 each gives you access to all worship services, virtual or hybrid workshops, and the delegate sessions with Spanish and English interpretation.  If your congregation plans to host a “watch party” with everyone joining on one device, please consider sending a group donation (suggestion:  $300/group). (virtual delegates must each have their own device).  Thank you.

For more assembly information visit: https://mennowdc.org/2023-wdc-annual-assembly/