News

Conference responds to DSA report (UPDATES)

NEWS RELEASE (February 10, 2017) The officers of Faith and Life Commission (FLC) of Virginia Mennonite Conference (VMC) are immediately suspending the credentials of Duane Yoder pending the completion of a formal Ministerial Credentials review process. FLC acted on Executive Conference Minister Clyde Kratz’s recommendation. The action to suspend Duane Yoder’s credentials was based on…

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Credentialed Leaders Consultation on Racism announced

Save the date for the Spring 2017 Credentialed Leaders Consultation addressing racism. More details about the topic and presenters will be coming soon. DATE & TIME: Friday, May 5, 2017, most likely 8 or 8:30 to 3:30 p.m. LOCATION: Shady Oak at Weavers’ Mennonite Church, Rawley Pike (Rt 33) in Harrisonburg. Shady Oak is the…

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Moriah Hurst

Register for Mennonite Women’s Annual Missions Event

Join women from around the Conference on Saturday, May 6, 10:00 AM at First Mennonite Church, 601 E. Parham Rd., Richmond, VA. Speaker Moriah Hurst will provide input. Spend the day together: Mennonite Women of Virginia has reserved a coach bus to travel from Harrisonburg-Waynesboro-Richmond and back again. Plan to get lunch and spend some…

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“Life is a Pilgrimage” is theme of 2017 Ministry Retreat

  As we live in times of busyness, times of mounting tensions and conflict within the church and world, and exhaustion from schedules, pastors are invited to come away for rest, meditation upon biblical pilgrimages and stories, laughter, and sharing. How do you sense God in your own life’s pilgrimage? There will be four sessions…

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Credentialed leaders gather for “Healing Ministries” Consultation

Rediscover an authentic New Testament ministry of healing including personal formation through the laying on of hands and prayer, with keynote speaker Willard Swartley.

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Dr. Scot McKnight leads “Kingdom vision as a way of life”

Dr. Scot McKnight, author of The Kingdom Conspiracy, will speak in a series of events in Harrisonburg, September 28-29, 2016. Hosted by a partnership of agencies (Eastern Mennonite University, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Park View Mennonite Church, Virginia Mennonite Conference and Virginia Mennonite Missions) and co-sponsored by Eastern Mennonite University’s Augsburger Lectureship, Dr. McKnight will lead…

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Youth Workers’ Summit explore “Yearning to Know and Be Known”

Those working with upper middle school students to younger adults (ages 13-19) are invited to participate in a Youth Workers’ Summit: “Yearning to Know and Be Known: Naked Conversations about Sexuality and Spirituality,” October 7-8, 2016, with speaker Debra Hirsch. She is the author of Redeeming Sex: Naked Conversations about Sexuality and Spirituality. This event…

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Asheville Mennonite Church volunteers serve veterans

I have been helping to serve dinner at the Veterans Restoration Quarters in Asheville, N.C., with other volunteers from Asheville Mennonite Church. As veterans come through the serving line, interacting with them is enjoyable but usually very hurried and brief. I find that refilling their drinks afterwards allows me to meet them on a more…

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Jennifer-Ulrich

Patchwork Pantry: a ministry of multiple congregations serving the food insecure

Every Wednesday evening, people from many walks of life come together to help provide food to persons who are food insecure in the Harrisonburg/Rockingham County area of Virginia. Patchwork Panty’s mission is to provide a three-day supply of food for its clients. Virginia Mennonite Conference congregations in the local area have been strong supporters of…

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David Mishler

Building frameworks of Christian formation at Huntington

For over six months, the new Christian Formation Team (CFT) at Huntington Mennonite Church has been wrestling with what an Anabaptist Christian formation “framework” might look like. The task assigned to our group comes from newly-formulated congregational guidelines with the following purpose statement: “Building on the foundation of the life and teachings of Jesus, [CFT]…

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Ryan Ahlgrim

Serious Sunday School

A proposal to bring seminary level content to adult classes I have a proposal for strengthening spiritual formation for adults: let’s make adult Sunday school more like seminary, and let’s get seminary into adult Sunday school! What are the essential classes every Christian should take in order to become a mature and effective disciple of…

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Elroy Miller

Faith formation in the congregational life

At 19, I left the farm and my family near Goshen, Indiana, and traveled to Costa Rica, Central America, to engage in voluntary service during the Vietnam War. I was five months into my 26-month stay, crazy homesick, and in a real spiritual crisis. My childhood and youth of attending three church services a week,…

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