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2009-05-05 issue:

Richard Thomas announced as nominee for moderator-elect

With Delegate Assembly affirmation, Thomas' term would begin after Mennonite Church USA Convention 2009.

by Marathana Prothro

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The Mennonite Church USA leadership discernment committee announces Richard Thomas of Lancaster, Pa., as its nominee for moderator-elect of Mennonite Church USA. The Mennonite Church USA Delegate Assembly will be presented with the nomination when it gathers this summer as part of Convention 2009 June 30 to July 5 in Columbus, Ohio.

With the delegates' affirmation, Thomas will be elected to a four-year term, beginning after the 2009 Delegate Assembly.

He will then spend the first two years as moderator-elect and chair of the Constituency Leaders Council and then succeed current moderator-elect Ed Diller of Cincinnati, Ohio, as moderator for Mennonite Church USA after the 2011 Delegate Assembly in Pittsburgh. Sharon Waltner of Parker, S.D., will continue as moderator for Mennonite Church USA through the 2009 Delegate Assembly in Columbus. The moderator chairs the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board.

"It excites me to think about being one small part of helping all the parts of our denomination work together with a common purpose of healing and hope, to make the difference that God is calling us to make in the world," Thomas said on May 4. "I see this as an opportunity to work with many gifted, talented people—staff, the Executive Board, and leaders of conferences, agencies, schools and other institutions."

Thomas currently is employed by Lancaster Mennonite School as its superintendent where he has worked in a variety of roles for the last 36 years. He also has been active within his area conference, Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA, with leadership roles as moderator and moderator-elect as well as serving as a member of its Peace and Justice Committee. Thomas says that, for him, participation in local ministry is informed by being part of Mennonite Church USA and the denomination’s shared missional priorities.

"As a result of my participation in Constituency Leaders Council meetings as moderator of Atlantic Coast Conference," Thomas said, "my life has grown richer as I've gotten to know conference moderators and ministers and gained a sense of the denomination striving to be missional by working against racism, looking for ways to join God's work and calling the gifts of women and men in ministry."

Thomas is dedicated to a vision of healing and hope as well as Mennonite Church USA's missional priorities of holistic witness, antiracism, leadership development and global connections. He says that these priorities will empower all parts of the church to address the challenges the denomination faces and to share good news in a way that connects with the yearnings of many people in U.S. culture.

"As we nurture Christ-centered congregations around these priorities, I believe we will see significant growth in our churches as well as the emergence of new congregations.

"The challenge is to have all parts of Mennonite Church USA—congregations, agencies, boards, conferences—move forward in that missional vision," Thomas said. "I think that as we do that connecting with each other rather than as individuals in our own separate spheres, I think we're going to develop a synergy where each part encourages the other, and we're going to get farther ahead than if we were doing it alone."

Working as part of a team is important to Thomas, and his involvement in churchwide teams during the last five years has included chairing the Mennonite Schools Council and being a member of the Eastern Mennonite University board of trustees and the search committee for the associate executive director of Mennonite Education Agency. He currently is a member of the Executive Board’s executive director search committee.

Thomas earned both his bachelor’s and master of education degrees at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa. He also has completed graduate work in school administration at Temple University in Philadelphia and several biblical studies classes through Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind.

Along with his wife, Joyce Hostetter Thomas, Thomas is a member of Ridgeview Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pa., where he has served as a Sunday school teacher and lay minister of administration and ministry team.

"Mennonite Church USA is my spiritual home, nurtured through participation in congregations of Allegheny, Atlantic Coast and Lancaster conferences. These congregations, along with Lancaster Mennonite School, have called me to a Christ-centered faith," Thomas said. "Together they have provided a variety of leadership experiences that I hope will be helpful to the Executive Board and the denomination as we move forward in our missional calling, guided by the Holy Spirit."

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