orientation session for new

delegates will be held from

12:30 to 1 p.m. ACA will

conclude at 4 p.m. Saturday

after the final business ses-

sion.

In addition to business ses-

sions and worship services,

ACA will include special

Central Mennonite

Church in Archbold will

host the 2016 Ohio Con-

ference Annual Confer-

ence Assembly (ACA),

which will take place

March 11-12. “Holy

Ground: Founded on

Christ, Flourishing in

Faith,” based on I Corin-

thians 3:6-11, will be the

theme of this year’s As-

sembly.

This year ACA will be pre-

ceded by a special training

session led by Brad Brisco

and Lance Ford of Forge Net-

work titled “Becoming Mis-

sional: Re-Learning How

to Be Sent.” (See page 3

for more information.)

Both of the worship ser-

vices at ACA will include

sermons given by Ohio

Conference pastoral

staff members. Transi-

tional Conference Lead-

er George O’Reilly will speak

at the Friday afternoon wor-

ship service, and Regional

Pastor Ralph Reinford will

speak at the Saturday after-

noon worship service, which

will also include communion.

Registration for ACA will

begin Friday at noon, and the

first worship service will

begin at 1 p.m. A special

Central Mennonite to host ACA

Twenty-five pastoral couples

participated in the Ohio Con-

ference Pastor-Spouse Re-

treat Nov. 13-15 at Mohican

State Park. Input speakers

were Michael and Sue Con-

rad Howes. The weekend

was a time for reflection and

rejuvenation. See the Ohio

Conference website (http://

bit.ly/2015Pastor-

SpouseRetreat) for pictures

of the weekend.

Joy and reflection at Pastor-Spouse Retreat

JAN/FEB 2016

2 Leadership Team

commits to prayer

Bible school

update

3 Training event to focus on local

mission

4 Transitional

thoughts

5 About people

7 Day of Inspiration

8 Back page

briefings

INSIDE

THIS

ISSUE:

George O’Reilly Ralph Reinford

Assembly theme to be ‘Holy Ground: Founded on Christ, Flourishing in Faith’

Continued on page 7

VOL. LXX, NO. 1

JAN/FEB 2016

Editor: Ann H. Leaman

Ohio Mennonite Evangel

(USPS 404-500) is pub-

lished six times per year

by the Ohio Confer-

ence of Mennonite

Church USA, Box 210,

Kidron OH 44636,

telephone (330) 857-

5421.

All material for publica-

tion should be submit-

ted to the editor at 5854

Sunland St. NE, Louisville OH

44641, or via telephone:

(330) 453-0150, or e-mail:

ohioevangel@earthlink.net,

one month prior to desired

publication date.

Ohio Mennonite Evangel is

distributed to all households

of Ohio Conference congre-

gations, other interested

individuals and church agen-

cies.

Ohio Mennonite Evangel is

printed at Carlisle Printing,

2673 TR 421 Sugarcreek OH

44681.

Send subscription information

and address changes to the

editor at 5854 Sunland St.

NE, Louisville OH 44641.

Periodical postage paid at

Millersburg OH 44654.

Vacation Bible School story update

Leadership Team commits to prayer The Ohio Conference

Leadership Team met on

Tuesday, Nov. 17. As a

conference we are about

three quarters of the way

through our calendar year,

and Annual Conference

Assembly (ACA) begins to

appear closer on the hori-

zon. In the months since

the last ACA, the Leader-

ship Team has attempted to

work faithfully to lead and

to listen to Ohio Confer-

ence. At the Nov. 17 meet-

ing it seemed clear that our

efforts, however faithful,

however time-consuming

or however biblical, are

falling short, and Ohio Con-

ference continues to frac-

ture. We are continually

confronted with the reali-

ties of lack of trust, lack of

covenantal relationships

and a willingness to point

the finger at the other. We

are all complicit in this.

We as Leadership Team

and all of us as Ohio Con-

ference can become dis-

couraged and angry at what

we see happening, or we

can simply come to the

realization that all of this is

out of our control and we

cannot see it from God’s

perspective. It has never

been in our control, and we

can be thankful for

that. However, this doesn’t

mean that we sit back and

do nothing. With this in

mind Leadership Team will

continue to lead towards

covenantal relationships as

described in 1 Corinthians

13. (Remember, that pas-

sage was written to a

church, not a couple on

their wedding day.) We will

continue to lead towards

biblical wholeness. The

tangible way we hope to do

this is to pray more. Lead-

ership Team is going to

continue to focus on pray-

ing together as a team and

as a conference. We are

also planning another pas-

tors’ meeting on Jan.13 in

Bellville.

We all feel the pain of loss,

the anger of disagreements

and the grieving of separa-

tion. We know we have an

adversary that seeks to

separate us from God and

from each other. Let’s all

choose to take advantage

of this crisis to draw closer

to God and to each other.

Dean Beck, Moderator

Thomas Dunn, Assistant

Moderator

Naomi Engle, Credentialing

Ministry Chair

Keith Hostetler, Steward-

ship Ministry Chair

Mel Hathaway, Gifts Dis-

cernment Ministry Chair

Personnel of the Ohio Conference of Mennonite Church USA

Moderator: Dean Beck — deanjean5656@gmail.com Assistant Moderator: Thomas Dunn — thomas@crownhillmennonite.com Transitional Conference Leader: George O’Reilly — pastorgeorgeoreilly@gmail.com Credentialing Ministry Chair: Naomi Engle — englenaomi@gmail.com Gifts Discernment Ministry Chair: Mel Hathaway — smcpastor@embarqmail.com

Stewardship Minstry Chair: Keith Hostetler — keithh@hostetlermgt.com Regional Pastor: Ralph Reinford — ralphreinford@gmail.com

Administrative Secretary: Judy King — ohmc@zoominternet.net Finance Coordinator: Stan Helmuth — cboh1@zoominternet.net Conference Editor: Ann Leaman — ohioevangel@earthlink.net

Coordinator of Volunteers: Alysa Short — alysashort@gmail.com

churches as participants:

Crown Hill Mennonite,

Chestnut Ridge Mennonite,

Salem Mennonite of

Wooster, Orrville Mennon-

ite and Martins Mennonite.

Oak Grove Mennonite

Church in Smithville also

participated in the Vacation

Bible School but was not

mentioned in the article.

Correction: In the Novem-

ber-December issue of Ohio

Mennonite Evangel, an arti-

cle about a joint Vacation

Bible School program in

Wayne County listed five

Jan/Feb 2016 | Page 2

The most transferrable

church structure of the

“missionary community”

What is Church, and how

does God build it?

How to apprentice mission-

ary leaders instead of pan-

dering to consumers

The cost to attend this training

event is $20 per person for

those also attending Annual

Conference Assembly. The cost

is $40 per person for all others.

The registration deadline is Feb.

18, 2016.

Please see http://bit.ly/

BecomingMissionalTraining

for more information or to

register.

Coming in March: This year

before Annual Conference As-

sembly (ACA) you have the

opportunity to grow in your

knowledge and passion for

God’s mission right in your own

neighborhood.

On Thursday and Friday, March

10-11, immediately prior to the

start of ACA, Brad Brisco and

Lance Ford of Forge Network

will lead a training workshop

focusing on how we can grow

in God’s love and mission for

those who are closest to us.

The workshop will take place at

Central Mennonite Church in

Archbold, which is also the site

of ACA.

This workshop, titled

“Becoming Missional: Re-

Learning How to Be Sent,” will

be the kickoff event for the

Ohio Conference Year of Mis-

sion in 2016-17.

“Becoming Missional” is format-

ted around teaching, interactive

discussion, and strategic step-

taking to get your church on

the journey of faithfulness to

the mission of God.

In the face of rapid cultural

change, the church needs

“missionary” people committed

to live and lead in the incarna-

tional way of Jesus. During the

“Becoming Missional” training,

participants will focus on a vari-

ety of ideas:

The Kingdom of God instead

the kingdom of church

The Gospel DNA that any-

one can live

‘Becoming Missional’ training session to precede Annual Conference Assembly

Jan/Feb 2016 | Page 3

sometimes old women — spent

much of their time following a

slow-moving flock through fairly

large areas as they sought out

the infrequent patches of grass

among the brush and large

weeds. They also had to know

to what area they should herd

the flock before beginning the

somewhat leisurely — if not

boring — task of waiting until

the sheep had found most of

the grass in an area and then

herding them on to the next

selected area of feeding.

One interpretation I might

draw from these varied experi-

ences is that the best shepherds

order their task to aid the flock

to flourish “organically” where

the flock actually lives. To

adopt the shepherding practice

of each other’s regions would

be foolish indeed! To move

sheep repeatedly around in

Northern Ireland would simply

not work in the first place since

there is no “open range,” but

only separately owned and

managed pastures. To pen the

flock on a limited area in Arizo-

na would be a disaster, since

with the lack of sufficient forage

the sheep would waste away

and be famished.

If we consider this notion with

the images of the sheep and

shepherds of various biblical

passages, we may begin to per-

ceive that the orientation of the

shepherd must always be the

patterns of everyday living of

the sheep in the actual context

of where they live. While this is

not often directly addressed in

the biblical narratives, it is al-

ways implied. The good shep-

herd causes the flock to flourish

by wisely acting with both the

need of the sheep and the re-

sources and challenges of their

pasture lands in mind. When

Peter in 1 Peter 5:1-2 refers to

the leaders of the church as

under-shepherds, and admon-

ishes them to “shepherd the

flock of God,” certainly the use

of such a metaphor implies

leadership oriented to the

needs of the flock, not the pref-

erences of the shepherd.

Obviously the shepherd does

not abandon the knowledge

which they have of land and

dangers. But the shepherd also

does not act on personal agita-

tion and push the flock from

one pasture to another when

adequate grass remains where

the flock is pasturing. The good

shepherd works to retain the

natural calmness of a flock well

fed and well protected and

does not stir up the flock un-

necessarily. For no matter the

context of pasture and environ-

ment, the good shepherd con-

siders first the flourishing of the

“The good

shepherd

works to

retain the

natural

calmness of a

flock well fed

and well

protected and

does not stir

up the flock

unnecessarily.”

Jan/Feb 2016 | Page 4

Shepherding sheep

T R A N S I T I O N A L T H O U G H T S

By George O’Reilly Transitional Conference Leader

Having never been to present-

day Israel or Palestine, the his-

torical setting of much of the

biblical stories and events of

our Christian heritage, I have

never observed “shepherding”

in that regional and cultural

context. I have seen sheep

freely pasturing on the Mourne

Mountains of Northern Ireland

and in the lush green fields of

Ireland’s central farm land. I

have observed “shepherding” in

Northern Arizona as a young

person living on the Navajo

Reservation. In that climate,

rain is quite sparse indeed in a

region designated as “semi-arid

wasteland” by the US Bureau of

Land Management. Coarse

brush and tough weeds prevail,

with only sparse scatterings of

grass and other plants useful for

pasturing sheep or raising cat-

tle. Quite a dramatic difference

indeed!

I have imagined the hills of Pal-

estine to be much more similar

to the sparse grasses of North-

ern Arizona than to the lush

fields of Ireland and Northern

Ireland. Such different environ-

ments require dramatically dif-

ferent practices in shepherding

or pasturing sheep. In the

more lush portions of Ireland,

for example, sheep may be pas-

tured in large fenced areas

where dark green grass is abun-

dant and water always close at

hand. In Northern Arizona,

shepherds —more often than

not young boys or girls or Continued on page 5

Jan/Feb 2016 | Page 5

familiar stories of grazing sheep

and startled shepherds we

might do well to consider what

makes a good shepherd, and

what the Good Shepherd most

flock and fulfills his task to bring

that purpose to the most

peaceable end for the flock.

Perhaps amid this season of

wants of those who shepherd

the flock of God. Blessings to

each and all in this season of

tales old and familiar, but always

new and mysterious!

Transitional thoughts Continued from page 4

Continued on page 6

KIDRON, Ohio — Eric and An

Raber are the recipients of the

Regional Journey Award from

the Everence offices in North-

east Ohio. This award recogniz-

es the Rabers, who live in Mil-

lersburg, as models of Christian

stewardship through their use

of time, talents and lifestyle

choices.

Created in 2001, the Journey

Award highlights what people of

faith are doing as stewards of

their God-given gifts.

The Rabers, who are members

of Millersburg Mennonite

Church, are former directors of

ministries for Camp Buckeye,

Beach City, and Eric has man-

aged the Save & Serve Thrift

Shop in Millersburg for more

than 10 years. An volunteers in

the thrift store’s book depart-

ment. Their passion for service

to others and humble lifestyle

have inspired hundreds of vol-

unteers — benefiting the local

community and the world at

large.

As part of the Regional Journey

Award, Everence is giving a

$500 donation to a charity cho-

sen by the Rabers.

Everence A B O U T P E O P L E

An and Eric Raber received the Regional Journey Award from the Ever-ence offices in Northeast Ohio.

Mennonite Mission Network Sarah Geiser of Apple Creek

began a one-year term of Men-

nonite Vol-

untary Ser-

vice in Sep-

tember

2015 in

Madison,

Wis., as

community

builder with Options Madison.

A 2015 graduate of Bluffton

University, Geiser is the daugh-

ter of Karen and Roland Geiser,

and is a member of Kidron

Mennonite Church.

Emilie Raber of Dalton began a

one-year term of Mennonite

Voluntary Service in August

2015 in New York City as in-

take/outreach coordinator with

Urban Justice

Center.

A 2015 grad-

uate of East-

ern Mennon-

ite Universi-

ty, Raber is

the daughter

of Myriam and Philip Raber, and

is a member of Sonnenberg

Mennonite Church.

Rooted in the Spirit of Jesus,

MVS invites adults, ages 20 and

older, to join together in Chris-

tian ministry for one- to three-

year terms living in intentional

community and working in a

wide range of fields. See

www.mennonitemission.net/

Serve/MVS for more infor-

mation about MVS.

Three members of Ohio Con-

ference congregations are serv-

ing for a year with Mennonite

Voluntary Service.

Kolton Nay of Dover began a

one-year term of Mennonite

Voluntary

Service in

August 2015

in New

York City as

program

assistant

with MCC

United Nations Office.

A 2015 graduate of Goshen

College, Nay is the son of C

Kim May and Kevin Nay, and is

a member of LifeBridge Com-

munity Church in Dover.

Jan/Feb 2016 | Page 6

Continued from page 5 A B O U T P E O P L E

A B O U T P E O P L E

Shawn Hilliard was licensed and

installed as pastor at Martins

Mennonite Church in Orrville

on Nov. 22. Regional Pastor

Ralph Reinford officiated the

installation ceremony and

preached the sermon, titled

“Building the Church Togeth-

er,” which was based on Ephe-

sians 4:1-16.

The congregation welcomed

Shawn and his family with the

song “Welcome to the Family.”

A carry-in meal followed the

morning worship service.

Shawn graduated from Malone

University with a B.A. in Bible

and theology. He is currently

studying at Fuller Theological

Seminary. He served as pastor

of Chippewa Church of the

Brethren for four years and was

student minister at Rivertree

Christian Church for six years,

ministering to middle and high

school students.

Pastoral notes On Nov. 22, Shawn Hilliard was installed as pastor of Martins Mennonite Church in Orrville. Also pictured are Regional Pastor Ralph Reinford (at left) and Shawn’s wife, Sarah, and their daughters, Elizabeth (standing) and Samantha.

2015. Cullar is serving with a

team in Indonesia.

A 2015 graduate of South

Range High School (North Li-

ma), he is the son of Dawn and

Ken Cullar, and is a member of

Midway Mennonite Church in

Columbiana.

Journey International is a Men-

nonite Mission Network pro-

Andrew Cullar of North Lima,

Ohio, began

a one-year

service term

with Men-

nonite Mis-

sion Net-

work in the

Journey In-

ternational program in August

gram for young adults that em-

phasizes faith formation, ser-

vice, and cross-cultural learning.

The first week is spent in a

North American urban context,

and is designed to set the back-

ground and expectations for

living, learning and serving in

the cross-cultural community.

The next 10 months are spent

in an international service loca-

tion.

ate of Archbold High School, he

is the son of Deb and Mike

Zimmerman, and a member of

Zion Mennonite Church in

Archbold.

Lauren Baer of North Lima

began a

one-year

service

term in

August

2015. Baer

is living in

community

with other young adults in a

Two members of Ohio Confer-

ence congregations are serving

for a year with Mennonite Mis-

sion Network in the Service

Adventure program.

Aaron Zimmerman of Archbold

began a one-

year service

term in Au-

gust 2015.

Zimmerman

is living in

community

with other

young adults in a unit house in

Johnstown, Pa. A 2015 gradu-

unit house in Albany, Ore. A

2014 graduate of South Range

High School, Baer is the daugh-

ter of Karla and Gareth Baer,

and a member of North Lima

Mennonite Church.

In this program of Mennonite

Mission Network, young adults,

ages 17-20, live in a household

community, with a leader, for

10 months. More information

about Service Adventure is

available online at http://

www.mennonitemission.net/

Serve/SA.

Continued on page 7

Jan/Feb 2016 | Page 7

Continued from page 6 A B O U T P E O P L E

Darwin Hartman was installed

as pastor of Pike Mennonite

Church in Elida on Sunday,

Nov. 29, at 2 p.m. Transitional

Conference Leader George

O’Reilly preached and led the

installation ceremony. The

scripture reading was from I

Corinthians 12.

Darwin attended Fort Wayne

Bible College in Fort Wayne,

Ind., and Reformed Theological

Seminary in Charlotte, N.C. He

served as interim pastor at

Bethel Mennonite Church in

Delphos, Ohio. Then he served

seven years at the Perryton

Mennonite Church, Perryton,

Texas, and 11 years at the

Pleasant View Mennonite

Church, Hydro, Okla. He is an

executive board member of

Children to Love International,

Bakersfield, Calif.

Darwin and his wife, Cindy

(Troyer), have been married 37

years. They have two children,

one in Oklahoma and one in

Kansas, as well as three grand-

children.

Transitional Confer-ence Leader George O’Reilly (at left) con-gratulates Darwin Hartman at his instal-lation as pastor of Pike Mennonite Church.

ACA times for prayer, workshops

and displays.

On Saturday morning, a Men-

nonite Men’s breakfast and an

Ohio Mennonite Women’s

breakfast are planned. Lyle

Troyer will be the speaker for

the men’s breakfast, which will

be held at Zion Mennonite

Church. His topic will be “The

Carpenter Builds: Celebrating

What God is Doing.” Erin Dye,

chaplain at Adriel, will be the

speaker for the women’s break-

fast, which also will be held at

Zion Mennonite Church. Her

topic will be “Truly Seeing ‘the

Least of These’ — The Church

as an Accepting Community.”

Registration forms and more

information about ACA are

available on the Ohio Confer-

ence website:

www.ohiomennoniteconference

.org. The website also has a link

to online registration.

Registration fees for ACA are

$30 per person if received by

Feb. 18 and $45 per person

after that date.

Continued from page 1

Ohio Mennonite Women’s

Spring Day of Inspiration will

take place Saturday, April 9, at

Crown Hill Mennonite Church

in Rittman. Featured speaker

Janice Hershberger will focus

on the theme “Invitation to

Rest,” based on Matthew 11:28-

30. Several workshops will be

offered.

Janice Hershberger has an M.A.

in pastoral counseling from

Ashland Theological Seminary.

She has been a clinical counse-

lor for more than 20 years,

currently working at Spring-

Haven Counseling in Mt. Eaton,

Ohio. She has also received

training in spiritual direction

through Ana-

baptist Men-

nonite Bibli-

cal Seminary

in Elkhart,

Ind., and en-

joys working

with people

in that capacity as well.

‘Invitation to Rest’ is Day of Inspiration theme

Back page briefings... For more Ohio Conference

news, visit the Ohio

Conference website:

ohiomennoniteconference.org

be filled include vice-chair/

chair-elect, secretary, and

Day of Inspiration coordi-

nator. If you know anyone

who would be willing to

serve, contact Roxanne

Kauffman at

roxykauff@gmail.com or

Willie Stoltfus at

stoltzfus.willie@gmail.com.

Goshen College will

hold the Mennonite Youth

Choir Festival Mar. 5-6,

2016. This choir experience

is open to boys and girls in

grades 3-9 from Indiana,

Illinois, Ohio and beyond.

Jodi Miller, member of the

Ohio Conference Ministry

Development Team re-

ports, “Our kids participat-

ed last year, and it was a

fantastic experience!” For

more information, see

http://

mennoniteyouthchoir.com.

Camp Luz has changed

the date of the annual

Men’s Retreat. The retreat

will now be held April 8-10.

Doug Zehr, pastor of Oak

Grove Mennonite Church

in Smithville, will be the

retreat speaker. See

www.campluz.com for de-

tails.

Members of Everence

Financial in Northeast

Ohio recently purchased

and donated children’s gifts

to support the Affordable

Christmas Project at Light-

house Ministries in Canton.

See http://bit.ly/

AffordableChristmas for

details.

A note from Ohio Men-

nonite Women (OMW):

We are in great need of

women to serve on the

OMW Board! Positions to

Conference Calendar J A N

13 All-Ohio Conference Pastors’ Meeting, Quality Inn & Suites, Bellville, Ohio

15-17 Junior High Retreat, Camp Luz, Kidron

22-23 Mother-Daughter Retreat, Camp Luz, Kidron

F E B

12-13 LEAD3D (Youth Leadership Project) Retreat, Camp Luz, Kidron

19-20 Pastor-Elder Retreat, Camp Buckeye, Beach City, Ohio

M A R

10-11 Missional Training Event (Becoming Missional: Re-Learning How to Be Sent),

Central Mennonite, Archbold

11-12 Annual Conference Assembly, Central Mennonite, Archbold

A P R

8-10 Men’s Retreat, Camp Luz, Kidron

9 Spring Day of Inspiration, Ohio Mennonite Women, Crown Hill Mennonite,

Rittman

29-30 Father-Son Retreat, Camp Luz, Kidron

M A Y

2 Couples in Ministry Retreat Day, Camp Luz, Kidron

A U G

12-14 Girls’ Jamboree, Camp Luz, Kidron

S E P T

16-18 Women’s Retreat, Camp Luz, Kidron