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2010-04-06 issue:

News Briefs - April

by Anna Groff (compiler)

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Conference plan delayed
GOSHEN, Ind.—Franconia Mennonite Conference (FMC) leaders had decided to lay off some of their staff. "It is an attempt to retool," R. Blaine Detwiler said 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. FMC has been working to decentralize its ministries and put them back in the hands of congregations, Detwiler said. But a statement posted on the FMC Web site on March 16 said the plan is now delayed. "The plan to lay off staff is on hold while an in-depth review of our conference is undertaken," says the statement. "This review will include our conference, its board, executive minister, staff and congregations. The conference has retained LaVern Yutzy, a consulting associate with Mennonite Health Services Alliance" to help with the review, says the statement. According to the Web site, FMC has 17 staff members, but not all are full-time.—Everett J. Thomas


King new dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary
HARRISONBURG, Va.—Michael A. King, a longtime writer, editor, publisher and pastor from Telford, Pa., has been named the new vice president and dean of Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS), Harrisonburg, Va. King will begin his new role July 1. He succeeds Ervin R. Stutzman, who held the position for nine years. Stutzman has begun serving as the new executive director of Mennonite Church USA. Sara Wenger Shenk is interim dean.—EMS


MMA to change name
GOSHEN, Ind.—Mennonite Mutual Aid, which prefers to be called MMA, told the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board on Feb. 18 that it has hired a consultant to develop a new corporate identity and name "that brings together all parts of MMA into a unified brand." Among the reasons: MMA members are confused by the variety of names currently being used; Mennonites no longer seek out other Mennonites to do business with as they did two generations ago; as an organization that works with multiple denominations, the word “Mennonite” is both a positive and a negative; in Internet search engines, the acronym “MMA” has been taken over by Mixed Martial Arts. MMA planned to release the name to the public on March 31.—Everett J. Thomas


MC USA moderator questions MCC
GOSHEN, Ind.—In a letter dated Dec. 28, 2009, Mennonite Church USA moderator Ed Diller listed 13 concerns about the restructuring process now underway at Mennonite Central Committee. Diller expressed his concern that MCC will become a nongovernment identity, as has happened to Heifer International, and insisted that it “remain close to the church and not go the way of other nonprofit organizations.” As to its accountability to sponsoring denominations, Diller said, "Global Anabaptists should participate in a [new] governance board, but non-Anabaptists should not." Diller also said, "Denominational representatives at all levels must be ... appointed by and accountable to the denominations" that support MCC.  Anticipating that the process, called "New Wine/New Wineskins" by MCC, will require changes to MCC bylaws, Diller said, “Late approval of the bylaws is a recipe for problems. MCC is too important for Mennonite Church USA to have an up-or-down voice at the end."
On March 2, MCC executive director Arli Klassen said the letter was requested by MCC in their first round of feedback. Klassen said there will be two more rounds of feedback during 2010. In 2011, details of the organizational change will be shared with all sponsoring denominations, with final approval of the changes in late 2011—Everett J. Thomas


GAMEO bolstered by new content
WINNIPEG, Manitoba—Researcher, author and historian Helmut T. Huebert has donated his Russian Mennonite research to the growing Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Huebert is the author of nine books and co-author of the bestselling book Mennonite Historical Atlas with William Schroeder. Huebert’s books documenting settlements, individuals and estates contain biographical information on influential Mennonites.—Conrad Stoesz


Painting presented to Harvard Divinity School
LAWRENCE, Kan.—Abner Hershberger, a professor at Goshen (Ind.) College for 34 years, donated a painting to the Harvard Divinity School at a tea honoring Gordon D. Kaufman, 84, in late January. Hershberger credits Kaufman for inspiring his work. The painting, "Heritage Field as Color II," reflects Hershberger’s interest in Kaufman’s concept of God as creativity itself. "By chance, I read something by Kaufman on creativity in my early years as an artist," Hershberger says. "I never forgot it, since it reinforced what engaging in the act of painting taught me. Being able to connect creativity with faith provided the connection I needed over these many years."—Barbara Yoder


Marlene Kropf to retire
ELKHART, Ind.—Marlene Kropf will retire Sept. 6 from her position as denominational minister of worship with Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership. The date marks the 27th anniversary of her employment with the Mennonite church. She will continue as an associate professor at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind. Completion of Kropf’s work in denominational ministry has marked a job change for her administrative assistant. Evon Castro transitioned last Nov. 30 from the Elkhart office to the Mennonite Education Agency in Goshen, Ind.—Mennonite Church USA


Bluffton, Mennonite Home receive $1 million
BLUFFTON, Ohio—James and Frieda Basinger of Bisbee, Ariz., left their estate, estimated to be valued at $1 million, to Bluffton (Ohio) University, their alma mater, and Mennonite Home Communities. On Feb. 9, at Mennonite Memorial Home, a property of Mennonite Home Communities, Bluffton University president James M. Harder announced the gift.—Bluffton University


CPT founder Stoltzfus dies
CHICAGO—Gene Stolzfus, founding director of Christian Peacemaker Teams, died March 10 after a heart attack. He served as CPT director from its founding in 1988 until 2004, when he retired and moved to Fort Frances, Ontario. He was born in 1940. In the early 1970s, Stoltzfus directed the General Conference Mennonite Church voluntary service program. In the late 1970s, he and Dorothy Friesen, his wife, codirected the Mennonite Central Committee program in the Philippines and later helped establish Synapses, a grassroots international peace and justice organization in Chicago to connect the United States and people in the developing world. Stoltzfus graduated from Goshen (Ind.) College and held a master's degree in South and Southeast Asian Studies from American University, Washington, and a Master of Divinity from Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind.—CPT


Mission Network hears from partners in Chile
ELKHART, Ind.—An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile on Feb. 27 and continued in the days following. Mennonite Mission Network relates with several groups of Anabaptists and Mennonites in Chile and is in partnership with Mennonite Church Canada. Mónica Parada and her husband, Carlos Gallardo, who together pastor in Concepción, survived the earthquake. Samuel Tripainao, from the Mennonite church in Santiago, also survived. The family of Raquel Contreras, president of the Union of Baptist Churches in Chile, survived.
Mennonite Central Committee has allocated $150,000 to relief efforts in Chile.—Mennonite Mission Network

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