Conference Endorsed Ministries
Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale announces preliminary results
The 2020 Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale was unlike any other. While a lot of favorites were missing from the fairgrounds this year, what I missed the most was seeing everyone gather and enjoy being together. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is celebrating 100 years of helping others around the world in the name of Christ in…
Read MoreBowman’s workmanship a sight to behold
Daniel L. (Dan) Bowman, 79, of Harrisonburg may be blind, but is very much in touch with the world around him. Having completely lost his sight at age 12, Bowman has not let that physical disability hamper an aggressive pursuit of personal and career endeavors over the years – vocational rehabilitation counselor, piano tuning technician…
Read MoreFour responses to the SOS “Hundreds for Hundreds” campaign
In celebration of Mennonite Central Committee’s 100th anniversary, the Virginia Relief Sale’s SOS Committee (Sharing Our Surplus) is launching a “Hundreds for Hundreds” campaign to raise much needed donations for MCC worldwide refugee relief. Most of our efforts this year will be focused on promoting generous online giving. We are also planning a two-mile “Hundreds…
Read MoreVirginia Relief Sale: How will it happen this year?
The global pandemic has dealt nearly everyone the ole one-two punch in our corporate (masked) faces. We may feel at times like we’re down for the count, but not out. This feeling extends to long-scheduled public events that have needed to be canceled, postponed, or re-invented in different shapes or forms. The annual Virginia Mennonite…
Read MoreGemeinschaft Home celebrates 35 years, launches campaign
Gemeinschaft Home is a community non-profit offering therapeutic services to nonviolent offenders who have been released or diverted from incarceration in support of a transition to healthy community living. This year we our celebrating our 35th anniversary providing residential and non-residential programming for men and women in the local area and throughout Virginia. Recent calls…
Read MoreWalk, don’t run, to your nearest Relief Sale
“I’m walkin’, yes, indeed, I’m talkin’, ‘bout you and me . . .” -Fats Domino Harvey Yoder of Harrisonburg probably doesn’t have this 1957 Fats Domino song ricocheting down the cobwebbed corridors of his mind while out on his daily constitutional, but there’s a determined look on his face to keep time with his pace.…
Read MoreA Dimmer Switch Approach to Reopening the Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia Governor Northam has indicated that churches may reopen as of May 15, 2020, but with a restriction of 50% capacity of the meetinghouse’s certificate of occupancy. COVID-19 is spread from person to person mainly through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. This reality raises health concerns related to choirs, congregational…
Read MoreUpdates: Conference Assembly, Conference Ministries, and more
Greetings from Virginia Mennonite Conference! We have been an experiencing a crisis of community through physical and social distancing. As a people of faith we value relationships, public worship, and engaging in ministry in the community. But in order to reduce the potential impact of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable in our congregations, community, and…
Read MoreGrieving alone: a new challenge for families, congregations, and our faith community
Pastors and Leaders Update On April 5, I had the privilege of providing a meditation for Asheville Mennonite Church via Zoom. Followers of Jesus were commemorating the hope they held as the processional headed for Jerusalem. It was a time of hopeful acknowledgement that the future will be different. As it turned out in biblical…
Read MoreLeading through difficult choices
Jesus instructed the blind man to go to the pool of Siloam to receive his sight (John 9). Not knowing what to expect, he stumbled and made his way to the pool, and received his sight. Blindness is a relevant metaphor for the circumstances many leaders have experienced. They are moving forward into the unknown,…
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