Congregational Profile: Oxford Circle Mennonite Church Oxford Circle Mennonite Church (OCMC) is an urban congregation in Philadelphia, dedicated to sharing in word and action Christ’s message of love that reconciles us to God and neighbor. Since COVID, we have asked, “How do we bridge the gap between our congregation and our neighborhood?” Through our annual month of fasting and prayer each January, we seek to hear what God is speaking to… Read More
District Profile: Shalom Council of Churches Supervisors: Samuel López, Adalberto Santiago, Hugo Garcia The Shalom Council of Churches, formerly known as the Spanish Mennonite Council of Churches, is a district of LMC with twenty-five churches in the US and thirty-five international churches located in eight Latin American Countries. The Spanish Mennonite Churches are the fruit of the evangelism of LMC and Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) that began in 1953. Shalom… Read More
Reflexionando sobre el Programa STEP “¿Cómo ha impactado STEP tu fe y tu práctica de tus conocimientos?” Esa es la pregunta que les hicimos a nuestros estudiantes de segundo año de STEP mientras se preparan para comenzar su tercer y último año del programa. Pronto, estos estudiantes crearán e implementarán un experimento misional donde pondrán en práctica lo aprendido. El cohorte de segundo año (próximamente de tercer año) está formada… Read More
Reflecting on the STEP Program “How has STEP impacted your faith and praxis?” That’s the question we asked our STEP year two students as they get ready to enter into their third and final year of the program. Soon, these students will be creating and implementing a missional experiment, where they will put what they’ve learned into practice. The year two cohort (soon to be year three) consists of eight… Read More
Make Room by Mercedes Thomas These were the words shared with me a week and a half ago during a visit with Aled Griffith, Nick Scott, and Shane Good. Aled is the Team Leader for Synergy, a family of churches across the UK, Spain, and the US Midwest. Visiting from the UK, Aled brought along his friends Nick (from New Zealand) and Shane (from Indiana) to Lancaster,… Read More
The Impact of STEP A Conversation with Graduates from Slate Hill By Mercedes Thomas “The STEP Program is best begun without an end in mind.” That’s what Joy Fasick, Associate Pastor of Slate Hill Mennonite Church, shared when asked about the STEP Program. Joy was a graduate of STEP in 2012—Slate Hill’s first graduate—and now serves as an instructor in the program. I had the opportunity to conduct a… Read More
Life as an Urban Missionary by Michael Clancy As I enter my eighth year as an urban missionary, I wholeheartedly dedicate myself to helping men transition from prison and programs back into society. In 2016, I met Shawn Connatser, a man with long hair and a warm smile. He first attended my Bible studies at the Lebanon County Correctional Facility, and soon after, he became part of our congregation through… Read More
What would happen if LMC was no longer here? By Mercedes ThomasCommunications Director That is one of the questions members of LMC’s Financial Stewardship team have been asking ourselves this year. Despite our substantial growth—from 176 congregations in 2018 to 309 at the end of 2024—our congregational giving is slowly decreasing. As a team, we need to ask why. And consider how we can better share the ways our leadership and staff support our… Read More
Movement Update: June 2025 by Rodney Martin Glenn Kauffman and I recently completed a survey asking how many leaders LMC has trained in the past year. After we thought about it for a moment we realized, to our surprise, that the number is higher than we imagined. In our movement development work, Glenn and I are leading—or learning to lead—two different labs by the Movement Leaders Collective. They are… Read More
IMA in Europe: An Answer to Prayer By TOM ESHLEMAN, LMC’S GLOBAL DELEGATE International Missions Association (IMA) members from all over the world gathered in Medan, Indonesia in October 2023 for eight days of prayer, intercession, fasting, worship, and mission collaboration. The 2023 meetings began with the traditional role call of members from Africa, Asia, Central America, and the United States. When they called for Europe, the room fell silent. To the… Read More