For The Record

Submit birth, marriage and obituary records online.

Personal Ads

Meet new friends today!

Advertising

Put your message in front of 19,000 readers.

PDF documents on this site require the free Adobe Reader:

Get Adobe Reader

2008-12-16 issue:

Top 10 stories for Mennonite Church USA in 2008 include rescue, student deaths

2008 meant changes for Mennonite Church USA: one-board model proposed and then deferred, executive directors leave, health-care access plan accepted

by Anna Groff`

Print Article

1. Businessman freed in Afghanistan

Al Geiser, a Mennonite businessman, was freed after being captured by armed men and held for 56 days in Afghanistan. Hidden among the rocks in the mountains, the guards forced him to lie all day and all night on a plot of earth the size of his torso, his feet extended over a pile of rocks. He was taken down the mountain and indoors after 52 days. The Associated Press reported Oct. 22 that “U.S. Special Forces soldiers freed a kidnapped American … during a nighttime mission [the previous] week—a rare hostage rescue in a country where ransom abductions have become increasingly common.” The Mennonite learned from several sources that Al Geiser was the unnamed subject of the Associated Press report. Geiser, Kidron, Ohio, had worked in Afghanistan developing grass-roots hydroelectric projects since 2000, along with Gladys, his wife, who taught in a Kabul school. (See Nov. 4 and photo at left.)

2. EB proposes, then defers one-board model
In a meeting March 16-17, the Executive Board shared its vision for a reformed and integrated churchwide organization. The EB called for a unified churchwide communication and identity system, a cohesive funding system and the development of one integrated board of directors for the denomination that would replace individual boards for each agency. On June 22, the EB adopted a statement, “We are ready to defer the model of one leadership board, provided that we can find an alternative route for integrating our churchwide priorities.”

3. Lancaster Conference ordains women
On May 16, the Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite Conference Board of Bishops approved a credentialing policy that will allow for the ordination of women. The new policy lodges all LMC credentialing decisions with the board of bishops and a recently formed Conference Credentialing Commission. Previously, LMC did not allow ordination for women, and a bishop board proposal to do so did not pass in a January 2007 vote by conference leaders holding ministerial credentials.

Linford King, bishop for the Lancaster city district, ordained two women in the churches he oversees in 2007 and 2008, even though conference policy did not allow for the ordination of women at that time. Consequently, the conference’s bishop board felt compelled to deal with King because he “broke covenant” with the bishop board. To address this dilemma, the board hired mediators Marcus Smucker and David Brubaker to lead several conversations with King.

4. MCC cosponsors meeting with Ahmadinejad
About 300 international religious and political figures, including Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, attended a dialogue at a Manhattan, N.Y., hotel Sept. 25 to discuss the role of religion in responding to global challenges and building peace and understanding among societies.

The dialogue was sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee, American Friends Service Committee, Quaker United Nations Office, Religions for Peace and World Council of Churches in consultation with the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations.

5. Health-care access plan for proceeds
During a meeting Sept. 18-20, the Executive Board gave its OK to a plan to provide health insurance coverage for all Mennonite Church USA pastors. The plan, called the Corinthian Plan, is to be communicated to Mennonite Church USA members in the coming months and must be approved by the Delegate Assembly at the Columbus 2009 convention next summer. If that happens, the plan should begin on Jan. 1, 2010, said Keith Harder, director of the Health Care Access Project.

The costs for the plan have three components: the insurance itself, mutual aid (guaranteed insurability) and access (the mission or justice component).

6. Few MC USA members attend summit
The Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada binational convention, “At the Crossroads: Promise and Peril,” was held in Winnipeg, Man., July 8-10. Five-hundred and seventy people attended the summit—56 from the United States. Jim Schrag, executive director for Mennonite Church USA, acknowledged the low number of U.S. Mennonites in attendance.


The band Secondhand Pants performed at the “People’s Summit” on July 9. Band members are Curtis Wiebe (left) and Marlon Wiebe. Photo by Anna Groff.

“Usually the ratios are different than they are today,” Schrag said. “There are far more Canadians here today than there are Americans. That presents a good deal more promise than peril.”

7. Goshen, EMU students die in accidents

Deanne Binde, a junior at Goshen (Ind.) College, died in a tragic automobile accident when she was traveling home to Lake Park, Minn., at the end of the school year on May 22. Deanne, a communication and theater major, was the daughter of Dale and Debbie (Saunders) Binde. She volunteered with Goshen’s Meals on Wheels and La Casa and regularly attended St. John’s Catholic Church, Goshen.

Matthew R. Garber, a 2008 graduate of Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va., died by drowning in Costa Rica on July 1. Garber, 22, of Elizabethtown, Pa., was swimming with a group of young people in a cove that was not known to be dangerous. A riptide caught several of the swimmers; all but Garber managed to return safely to shore. He was spending the summer in Costa Rica assisting a missionary family and learning Spanish.

8. Changes at Mennonite Mutual Aid
In June, 18 months after becoming president of Mennonite Mutual Aid in Goshen, Ind., Larry Miller unveiled a new administrative structure for the stewardship agency of Mennonite Church USA. The new team will lead streamlined operations via four departments instead of the six current departments—each with its own senior vice president. The four new departments are: corporate services, finances, sales and distribution, products and services. The new team took the remainder of 2008 to develop each department. One current senior vice president was named to a new role: Rod D. Diller, senior vice president for trust and foundation services, will lead the sales and distribution department.

9. Schrag, Byler to leave Executive Leadership
On Oct. 19, Jim Schrag, Mennonite Church USA’s executive director, made official his plans to retire on Nov. 30, 2009. Schrag’s plan to retire will coincide with his 65th birthday and will conclude 35 years of ministry.

In July 2007, associate executive director Ron Byler made known to the Executive Board his decision to complete his employment with Mennonite Church USA between July and December 2009. He has not yet determined the exact date his resignation will become official.

10. Vietnamese church made official
After the Vietnam Mennonite Church fulfilled all requirements for full legal status, the Vietnam National Religious Affairs Committee approved its request to organize its first official general assembly (the second general assembly according to the church’s historical records). The assembly was held Nov. 15-17 at a guest house and conference complex in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City.