We are looking forward to another opportunity to gather together as a community of congregations at the 2025 Spring Summits. We will have two options to engage, each with nearly identical content, to choose from depending on your availability and preferences. 

We will gather in-person on March 15 at 9:30am at Belmont Mennonite Church (Elkhart, IN) and online on March 22 at 9:00am on Zoom. Each will feature story-telling from the Civil Rights Pilgrimage, conversations on growing our intercultural witness, discernment around the Spending Plan, and fellowship. Congregational delegates are highly encouraged to participate so that we can get your input on the work we’re doing as a conference, but anyone is welcome to register and join us for this event.

You can register for the Spring Summits using the button below. Registration is free, but we will be collecting donations for lunch for those attending in-person on March 15. Please register by March 6 for the in-person Spring Summit. You can also find more information using the button below.

Learn more and register

• February is Black History Month, with invitation to celebrate the voices of black Americans who have shaped our church and our nation. We invite you to join in the celebration by engaging and learning from black authors!
• We celebrate the life and ministry of Ron Kennel, who served as a congregational pastor for about 40 years. In our conference, his service included pastoral ministry at North Goshen Mennonite and Clinton Brick Mennonite Churches. He also served as a congregational coach for Benton Mennonite for many years. Ron passed away February 3; we hold his family in our prayers.   
• Quinn Brenneke’s call and affirmation of his ministry will be celebrated through ordination at Prairie Street Mennonite Church on March 2, with Sharon Yoder officiating. Quinn began pastoral ministry at Prairie Street in March 2020.

• Joanne will join 12 people on a Civil Rights Tour February 18-25, co-hosted by IN-MI Conference and Mennonite Mission Network. As the group visits locations in Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama, they’ll hear about the struggle for dignity and humanity during the civil rights movement. They’ll also learn about the ongoing struggle of our black siblings for justice and equality.
• Joanne participated in the Journey Weekend Learning Event January 24-26. Journey is a program offered by AMBS and sponsored by IN-MI Conference, Central District Conference, and Ohio conference aimed at helping leaders develop theological skills for ministry.
• Sharon will have the opportunity for many connections at Pastors and Leaders at AMBS February 17-20.  
• Sharon will be with the Wildwood congregation via zoom on February 23, to lead their worship service and preach.

• Volunteer search guides meet regularly with pastoral search committees; they are a face for conference and serve as consultants in the search process. Suella Gerber, Becky Horst, and Richard Kauffman are walking with search committees at East Goshen, Kalamazoo, and First Mennonite, respectively.  
• Pastor Jeremiah Chuiha (Emmanuel Living Christian Church, Indianapolis) will be married to Ms. Dawt Hlei Sung on February 15, 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. He invites your prayers for God’s blessings, wisdom and guidance in their life together.

The National Immigrant Justice Center has a variety of helpful resources that you can access (and share) for those who may be impacted by or supporting those who are being targeted and/or detained by ICE.

Learn more here: Know Your Rights

Join Nancy Kauffmann, the interim denominational minister of Church Safety for MC USA, and Laurel Neufeld Weaver, MSW field director and assistant professor of Social Work at Bluffton University, as they discuss how survivors interpret their faith community when trauma occurs within the church. They will also hear from Courageous Women, a support group for survivors based in Illinois. Intérprete al español disponible. 

Register Here

Learn more about Safe Church

In the face of our divisive political environment, this excellent resource from John Paul Lederach. The Pocket Guide for Facing Down a Civil War: Surprising ideas from everyday people who shifted the cycles of violence looks at the divisive polarization that has been developing in the United States and offers approaches that lead toward social healing.

“The Pocket Guide does not offer quick fixes. Rather, it explores the way ordinary people resisted and countered patterns of violence in their communities. Their curiosity, persistence, and creative innovation suggest that to face down a civil war and heal long-standing wounds that stoke cycles of violence, people must resist the pull of toxic polarization that legitimates violence as the only option. The challenge is to innovate pockets of vitality that embody the basic idea that politics without violence where we live is possible.”

Learn more and download the free eBook here.