Editorial
Responding to Our National Trauma
Dear Credentialed Leaders of Virginia Mennonite Conference, I confess that I am dismayed by the events in Washington, DC reported by national and international news agencies. This is a disturbing and sad time in the midst of what has historically been a peaceful leadership transition of our government, and it may be easy to place…
Read MoreChristmas Greetings from the Executive Conference Minister
Members and friends of Virginia Mennonite Conference, As we close out this calendar year, a year that was like no other in my lifetime, I am continually reminded “God is Love.” All of our pastors, congregational leaders, leaders of conference ministries, and leaders of conference endorsed ministries have demonstrated a high level of resilience during…
Read MoreCaring Leaders
I have a collection of coffee mugs. I have one from Michelin Tire, from the time when I changed truck tires for Moyer Packing Company, the largest beef packer on the East Coast. I have a series of coffee mugs of major league baseball teams that I purchased at games. I have Eastern Mennonite College…
Read MoreVirginia Conference Welcomes June Miller
Virginia Mennonite Conference is delighted to announce our new Office Manager and Marketing staff person, June Miller. While June’s academic portfolio demonstrates a penchant for an acting career in a theatre, she has utilized her gifts and skills in various roles in a congregation, mission agency, and a conference. June worked for Mennonite Church Canada…
Read MoreRacial justice and equality
The Conference Council of Virginia Mennonite Conference is forging ahead with a leadership initiative on racial justice and equality. This leadership initiative emerged following the death of George Floyd and the subsequent and ongoing cultural awakening to the realities of systemic racism in American society and the church. Alicia Manning, a member of C3 (formerly…
Read MoreAn important and timely Assembly theme in these uncertain days
Our summer Conference Assembly was held on July 18, 2020, with a focus theme of “Living As Those Made Alive In Christ.” Our theme was of utmost importance in the time we are living. Over the last number of months, we have lived into the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. This medical crisis places us…
Read MoreThree Simultaneous Crises in Our Local and Global Communities
Greetings to pastors and leaders of Virginia Mennonite Conference. As a community, we are navigating a pandemic which began as a medical crisis, which then impacted our local and global economic realities, and which has moved into a moral crisis. Any one of these crises creates a significant leadership challenge, but we are navigating these…
Read MoreRaising Our Voices Against Racism in the Culture and in the Church
The tragic death of George Floyd and the subsequent events over the last week have caused me to engage in my own soul-searching about racism. I grieve the way it has not only permeated our history, our culture, and our faith community, but the way it has also been ignored, justified, or whitewashed, leaving people…
Read MoreThe Importance of Our Collective Well-Being
Pastors and Leaders Update Philippians 2:1-13 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition…
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…
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