Revisiting The Triquis of Mexico Lester A. Blank traveled to Mexico, October 15-21, 2018 with a small group including his sons, Nelson and Paul. They visited the site of the Blank family ministry in the 1960s. The Triquis are an indigenous group with villages located in the high ranges of the Sierra Madre Mountains in southern Mexico. The ministry, including others besides the Blanks, involved medical aid, teaching the Bible,… Read More
World Fellowship Sunday As a participating group with Mennonite World Conference, LMC congregations have the opportunity to celebrate with congregations around the world. The date for MWC Sunday was set to commemorate the first known Anabaptist re-baptisms in Zurich, Switzerland, January 21, 1525. Commemoration typically takes place on January 20 or 27, the two Sundays closest to January 21 this year. However, LMC staff suggests churches commemorate the… Read More
Village Chapel District: Groffdale Location: Voganville, PA Date of founding: Original building 1848 – this fellowship began 1971 Average Sunday worship attendance: 35-40 Time of Sunday worship service: 9:30 am Leadership:Tom Philpot (associate pastor), Jeff Horst (lead pastor), and Ellwood Martin (Elder) In the past year, Village Chapel, along with the Groffdale district, has supported the construction of a new church building in Catel, Guinea Bissau. One… Read More
A Tale of Two Churches Two rural/suburban congregations experiment with ways they can work together By Robert Brody How does leadership respond when an aging congregation experiences long-term numeric decline? What are the options? Close, merge, and restart are common strategies. Two congregations in close proximity to one another, although in two different districts, tackled this problem last year. One congregation reversed a downward spiral. The other has… Read More
Una historia de dos iglesias By: Robert Brody ¿Cómo responde la dirección cuando una congregación que envejece experimenta un declive cuantitativo a largo plazo? ¿Cuáles son las opciones? Cerrar, fusionar y reiniciar son estrategias comunes. Dos congregaciones muy próximas entre sí, aunque en dos distritos diferentes, abordaron este problema el año pasado. Una congregación invirtió una espiral descendente. La otra no ha podido hacerlo. Esta es su historia en desarrollo e… Read More
True Vine Tabernacle DISTRICT: Eastern Ohio LOCATION: 54365 Independence Street, Elkhart, IN PASTORS: Nancy Rodriguez Lora and Juan Carlos Lora True Vine Tabernacle is a body of believers from many walks of life and different cultures growing and healing as one in Christ. We are passionate and loving. As a congregation, we embrace opportunities to do the work of the Lord in ministry to… Read More
Church on the Other Side Church on the Other Side, LMCs multiplication ministry, collaborated with Bethlehem Community Fellowship to offer a workshop on church multiplication. The October 27 conference, “Spreading the Flame,” explored making disciples from the perspective of a number of “twenty-something” speakers who are active in the life of the congregation, including starting new faith communities. The stories and testimonies offered testified over and over again to the… Read More
Anniversaries During the month of September, West End Mennonite Fellowship celebrated 20 years of ministry during four consecutive Sunday. Josef Berthold is the lead pastor. The final Sunday included a baptism related to the Muslim ministry in the congregation. Both of these congregations are church multiplication hubs that have begun numerous new faith communities. On November 3, the Garifuna Mennonite Church of Manhattan celebrated its… Read More
River Corner Mennonite Church District: New Danville Location: 524 River Corner Road, Conestoga PA 17516 Date of Founding: circa 1760 Average Sunday worship attendance: 50 Worship Service: Sunday School – 9:00 am, Worship Service – 10:00 am Pastor: Dave Gochnauer The River Corner Mennonite Church building is a stone structure nestled in the hills of southern Lancaster County. It was built in 1882 to serve as the meetinghouse for the… Read More
Abriendo Nuevos Caminos El cambio es a veces emocionante, a veces desorientador, a menudo ambos. by Joy Fasick Sin mi teléfono me sentiría perdida .Lo dije. He admitido una verdad bastante inquietante: me sentiría perdida sin mi teléfono inteligente. Con el tengo acceso a mi calendario, contactos, fotos, correos electrónicos, muchos de mis archivos de trabajo, amigos y mucho más. Mi teléfono tiene varias traducciones de la Biblia… Read More