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2010-02-01 issue:

News update: Franconia Conference dismisses staff

by Everett Thomas

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Franconia Mennonite Conference (FMC) leaders have decided to lay off nearly all their staff.

"It is an attempt to retool," said R. Blaine Detwiler on March 2. "[It is] not because of job performance. The staff have been doing their work almost too well."

Detwiler, conference moderator and pastor at Lakeview Mennonite Church in Susquehanna, Pa., said the instincts of the churches is to support the conference and conference initiatives. But FMC has been working to decentralize its ministries and put them back in the hands of congregations.

"The conference still functions as if it were doing things for congregations," Detwiler said.

Detwiler said Noel Santiago, FMC's executive minister, would remain on staff. He was uncertain whether one other support staff member would also remain.

"Noel was engaged with people in core churches and sees this as probably the best way to retool and try to pull this off," Detwiler said.

Neither Santiago or Steve Kriss, FMC's director of communication and leadership cultivation, were available for comment. The FMC Web site lists 17 staff members, but some are part time.

On March 3, the following statement was posted on the Franconia Mennonite Conference Web site:

The Conference Board is deeply saddened with the confusion that has been created in parts of the Franconia Conference Community and beyond. We take responsibility for not communicating quickly enough and with clarity.

-The news has gone out that Franconia Conference Board has made a decision to dismiss all the staff.
-The reality is that the staff has been informed that in the coming year the direction the Board is calling for requires a mid-course correction, to come into a greater alignment of fulfilling our mission to Equip Leaders to Empower Others to Embrace God's Mission.
 -A smaller Conference staff to include LEADership Ministers, will continue, but will be narrowly focused on equipping congregations to becoming missional.
-We lament the deep pain and suffering that this decision has caused staff and others by not including the staff directly in the decision-making process.
-We will work towards a healthy ending process and seek to build upon the hard work and creativity by which the staff has carried out their work to date.

The Conference Board will be facilitating public meetings to engage in further dialogue regarding all that has transpired. The following times and dates have been set as follows:
-March 8, 2010 from 7-9 pm at Towamencin Mennonite Church for all credentialed leaders of Franconia Mennonite Conference;
-A second meeting will happen on March 9, 2010 from 9-11 am at the Mennonite Conference Center.

Reader Comments

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  • Posted by joninvirginia at Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 11:28 AM

    I have been aware that FMC has been going through an extended period of change for at least a year. I am interested in knowing where the impetus for decentralizing the FMC ministries comes from. Who are the "core churches" and how do they function as a decision maker for the conference? Does this conference have a clear "road map" or a set of goals providing direction, or is this one more set of (drastic) changes on top of many others they have made recently?

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