12 Ways to Align Your Faith With Finances That Matter
Chad Horning
Money matters. But how you earn it, how you manage it and what you do with it matters even more.
Discover 12 ways (maybe even more!) you can use to align your faith and finances—often without spending a dime. Discover how these strategies and tools can help you make a difference in your own community and around the world. Churchwide Priority Connection: Stewardship
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Thursday, 4:15 - 5:15, 121B
Always On: Living With Media in Families
Matt Hickman and Rachel Gerber; moderated by Melodie Davis
Panelists will discuss real-life experiences with media issues in families, how to critique rather than just consume, helping kids deal with the “always on” media environment we live with today, and how to use media for teachable moments. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 121A
Anabaptist Congregations at Secular University Settings
Jim Rosenberger (panel moderator), Dick Thomas (moderator of Mennonite Church USA), Debra Sutter
(First Mennonite Church of Champaign–Urbana, Ill.), Bruce Martin (campus ministry, University of
Michigan), David B. Miller (Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary)
Panel members who are affiliated with Anabaptist Congregations in Secular Education Settings (ACSES) will share how their congregations are impacting the lives of students attending nearby state colleges and universities.
Churchwide Priority Connection: Holistic Witness
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Friday, 1:30 - 2:30, 121A
Anabaptist–Mennonite Approaches to the Bible
Loren Johns
Do Mennonites approach the Bible differently than other Christians? Should we? What is influencing our approaches to the Bible, corporately and personally? In this seminar, we will look at distinctives and commonalities that characterized approaches to the Bible in 16 th century Anabaptism. Churchwide
Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Tuesday, 4:15 - 5:15, 122B
Archival Survival: Managing Your Congregation’s Historic Records
Colleen McFarland
Many congregations have basements, closets or old filing cabinets full of papers—bulletins, ledgers, newsletters, photographs, employment records and other valuable (or not so valuable) records from the past. How much of that old stuff should be kept? Is it time to scan everything onto a hard drive and recycle the paper? Staff from the Mennonite Church USA Archives will teach you how to establish a small congregational archive, provide guidelines for determining what material has enduring historic value and address electronic record keeping in congregations. Churchwide Priority Connection:
Leadership Development
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Tuesday, 3:00 - 4:00, 121A
The Best Is Yet to Come: Making the Transition From Work to Retirement
Steve Bowers
Aimed at adults ages 50–66, the seminar will help people understand stewardship challenges they will face as they transition from full-time work to retirement. Churchwide Priority Connection: Stewardship

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Tuesday, 1:30 - 2:30, 121A
Best Practices of SMART Meetings
Lee Schmucker and Marvin Schmucker
Do meetings ever frustrate you? Meetings have the potential for releasing creativity, discovering strategies and deepening relationships. Unfortunately, many meetings do the opposite. Whether you are the leader or a participant, quiet or outgoing, you share in the responsibility for effective meetings.
Explore best practices for maximizing the impact of meetings. Come ready to participate in a fun, energizing and enlightening meeting! Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 126A
Beyond Competence to Character
Rachel Miller Jacobs and Rick Stiffney
Much of today’s leadership development focuses on skills and tools. While these are important, beyond or beneath the matter of competence is that of character. This seminar will explore ways spiritual direction (increased self-awareness, God consciousness, spiritual grounding) can contribute to personal spiritual formation and enrich leadership. Rachel Miller Jacobs (former pastor of Christian formation, current seminary professor) and Rick Stiffney (president/CEO, Mennonite Health Services) will lead this seminar. Rachel draws on her experience with conference and congregational leadership and training as a spiritual director. Rick draws on his experience with executives in small and large nonprofit organizations. Each will share insights, including how women and men may experience direction and its implication for leadership in similar and different ways. The seminar will also invite participants to reflect on their own experiences and to consider possibilities for pursuing spiritual direction. Churchwide
Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Thursday, 3:00 - 4:00, 126B
Bringing Global Mission Back to the Pews
Steve Wiebe-Johnson
This seminar will introduce a partnership model for direct engagement and ownership of mission, clarify how the modern mission organization/agency serves the intentions of the congregation, and redefine the roles of congregation and mission agency for the 21st century. Churchwide Priority Connection:
Holistic Witness
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Friday, 3:00 - 4:00, 128A
Career Change to Ministry
Tim Lichti
A panel of church leaders will provide input and lead discussion on ministry to the church for nontraditional age students. The seminar will explore the steps to consider for full- or part-time ministry options. Churchwide Priority Connection: Leadership Development
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 128B
Caring for Youth
Bob Yoder
Christian adults often engage youth as they navigate their adolescent development and in times of spiritual, emotional, mental and physical crises. This seminar will help youth workers better understand the adolescent’s world as well as offer ways to lead young people to the hope that Jesus offers during their search for identity, meaning and belonging and in times of intense struggle. Churchwide Priority
Connection: Christian Community

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Thursday, 4:15 - 5:15, 122A
Catch the Vision: Finding Your Congregation’s Purposeful Plan
Terry Shue
Participants will reflect upon and sharpen the vision of their own congregations. Together we will discern how this vision fits into the larger vision of the conference and denomination as we become the
Church God calls us to be. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Thursday, 1:30 - 2:30, 128B
Choosing Sunday School Materials That Shape Lives
Rose Stutzman, Mary Ann Weber
Publishers promote from all sides. How will you choose the best curriculum for your children’s faith formation? This seminar will give you tools for sifting through the possibilities in order to find what best fits the goals of your congregation. What do you want children to learn about God? What do you want children to know about the Bible? How will you help children grow their faith? What format will be best for your children’s needs? Discover how choosing the right materials can shape young lives. Churchwide
Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Thursday, 4:15 - 5:15, 122B
Choosing To Be Childfree
Leanne Farmwald, moderator
How does the church interact with people who have chosen to not have children? A panel of women and men who are not parents talk about the joys and challenges of being childfree in the church.
Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Tuesday, 4:15 - 5:15, 128A
Churches Hearing, Holding and Hoping Amid Mental Health Challenges
Michael A. King and Joan K. King
In this follow-up to Eastern Mennonite Seminary’s 2013 School for Leadership Training, attendees will participate in breaking down the stigmas surrounding mental illnesses and addiction and experience the healing power of naming that depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, anorexia, suicidal thought or cutting.
Join a conversation about how we support others and/or ourselves while living with and recovering from mental health and addictions challenges. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 127C
Circle of Grace Child/Youth Protection Curriculum
Carol Knieriem and Jon Stanton
Circle of Grace is a Christian, safe-environment curriculum that helps to form and educate children/youth about the value of positive relationships with God and others. The curriculum is available free of charge for every Mennonite Church USA congregation. This seminar will present information about how the curriculum can help your church keep its children/youth safe from abuse, neglect and other hazards. Learn about the curriculum/services available from Dove’s Nest to assist your congregation with its implementation and use. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 121A
A Community of Believers Beyond the Walls of USA
Kevin Goertzen, Linda Shelly, Steve Wiebe-Johnson

International partnership groups will talk about their story and how their church has been reshaped by the mutual relationship. Churchwide Priority Connection: Church-to-Church Relationships
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 126B
Connecting Faith and Work in the Marketplace
Howard Good, Phil Ebersole
How can we make business decisions that yield positive second and third bottom lines? Business provides opportunities to partner with God in making our communities better places. Businesses, while creating vital jobs and providing important services, can also make purposeful decisions with double and triple bottom-line impact: hiring people often barred from employment, using environmentally friendly sources of products, and making human resource decisions that build families and communities.
Churchwide Priority Connection: Stewardship
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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 126B
Connecting in our Racially Diverse Conferences
Sandy Miller and conference leaders
This seminar will include a conversation on engaging diversity within Mennonite Church USA conferences. Churchwide Priority Connection: Leadership Development
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 122A
The Corinthian Plan: Where We Are and Where We Are Going
Keith Harder
Hear an overview and update of The Corinthian Plan, which provides health coverage and other benefits for congregational, conference and agency employees in Mennonite Church USA. What have we learned in the past three years? Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 125B
Creating Local Intentional Christian Communities
Nathan Penner and a panel of service leaders
Housing a team of young adults from your own community to live, serve and worship locally can bring energy and a renewed sense of mission to a local community. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian
Community
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Tuesday, 1:30 - 2:30, 122A
Developing Anabaptist Teaching Centers
Terry Shue
What special gifts has God given your church that you might be asked to share with others? Participants will learn about the growing network of Anabaptist Teaching Centers and hear firsthand experiences.
Discover how a local congregation or hub of congregations can become part of this movement.
Churchwide Priority Connection: Leadership Development
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 122B
Dreaming Beyond the Budget
Beryl Jantzi, Terry Shue, Vyron Schmidt
It’s time for a change! Long-term financial planning within the congregation has too often been limited to meeting the annual budget. This is a shortsighted, counter visionary and inadequate way of planning for a missional church. This seminar will provide stories from congregations and an overview of practical

tools for leaders. We will generate ideas to help leaders pursue God’s dreams for God’s people both now and into the future. Churchwide Priority Connection: Stewardship
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Tuesday, 3:00 - 4:00, 125A
Dressing for the Kingdom of God: Women’s Modesty in Islam and Christianity
Jacqueline Hoover
This session will explore women’s self-presentation and the setting of boundaries through dress in Islam and Christianity, and it will extend Christian reflection on modesty set out in the presenter’s recent article for “Timbrel.” Churchwide Priority Connection: Holistic Witness
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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 121C
The Face of Disability Is Changing: Is the Church Ready?
Christine Guth
The seminar will include practical ideas for those wanting to make their congregation a more welcoming place for people with diverse disabilities. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Friday, 1:30 - 2:30, 125B
Faith and Filmmaking: “Journeys of the Apostle Paul”
Seth Conley, Kyle Hufford, Kate Yoder
The Apostle Paul’s amazing story is surpassed only by the legacy of Christian faith he left behind. In
“Breaking Down Barriers: Journeys of the Apostle Paul,” the video produced in 2012 by the Goshen
(Ind.) College Communication Department, you’ll follow the path of biblical history through Greece and
Italy and explore how Paul overcame religious, cultural and physical obstacles as a leader of the first generation of Christians. Join us through film in visiting the ancient cities of Philippi, Corinth,
Thessaloniki, Delphi, Athens and Rome to see how Paul dedicated his life to advancing the gospel of
Christ to a world in need of his message. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Friday, 3:00 - 4:00, 123
Finding God in Laundry Dishes and Carpools
Rachel S. Gerber
Where is God amid the piles of laundry and dirty diapers? How do you quiet yourself to hear the Holy
Spirit when your toddler has given up napping? Join a conversation from the trenches about the spirituality of parenting and allowing God to accompany you. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian
Formation
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Thursday, 1:30 - 2:30, 126B
The Force That Can Blow This Hocus–Pocus Sky High: Bonhoeffer, the Sermon on the Mount and Being
Citizens of God’s Kingdom
Mark Thiessen Nation
There is probably no 20 th -century theologian whose life and writings speak more powerfully today than those of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He lived in extraordinary times—painfully remembering World War I and being executed by the Nazis in 1945. Shortly before Hitler assumed power in 1933, Bonhoeffer underwent a transformation of his life and convictions, through several friendships—and through being thoroughly involved for a number of months in the life of a black Baptist church in Harlem. Perhaps
Bonhoeffer can help us to discern today what it means to be “citizens of God’s kingdom.” Churchwide
Priority Connection: Convention Theme
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 125A

For the Beauty of the Lord: Transforming the Worship Space
Michelle L. Hofer
Explore possibilities for incorporating visual elements into worship settings. Through practical advice and examples, participants will be introduced to simple guidelines and suggestions for how to better create a visually engaging surround for worship. Key questions include: What do you know about your audience and their visual preferences? How does one go about trying something new in the worship setting? How can you get your church family or community involved in the creative process? What can be accomplished on a limited budget? Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Tuesday, 1:30 - 2:30, 121B
From Purposeful Plan to Congregational Action Plan in Six Months
Harry Jarrett and Rolando Santiago
In February 2012, Neffsville Mennonite Church began a conversation using Mennonite Church USA’s
Purposeful Plan. This conversation continued over the next several months until the church met together for its annual vision meeting in May. The seminar will explain the movement from Mennonite
Church USA’s Purposeful Plan to a congregational action plan in only six months. Churchwide Priority
Connection: Christian Community
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 126B
Healing and Hope for Spouses of Pastors
Ruth Lapp Guengerich
Spouses of pastors are invited to come and learn together how they take care of themselves amidst the heavy demands of a pastor’s household. Churchwide Priority Connection: Leadership Development
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Tuesday, 3:00 - 4:00, 126A
How To Do a Year of the Bible: Engaging God’s Word Intentionally in Home and Congregation
Marlene Harder Bogard
Wonder what a focus on a Year of the Bible might mean for you or your congregation? Explore a variety of resources, websites and ideas to help shape your plan. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian
Formation
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Thursday, 3:00 - 4:00, 121B
How We Got the Bible
Loren Johns
How did the Bible come to us? Who wrote it? When? How do we know which stories and which words are original to the Bible and which may have been added later? Which English translations are the most accurate? Should some be avoided? In this seminar, we will learn about the story of the Bible as we appreciate God’s unique gift to humanity. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 123
It Starts With You! Racial Healing in Conferences and Congregations
Members of the Mennonite Church USA Racial Healing Task Group
Join the Racial Healing Task Group (RHTG) in asking the question, “How do we create diverse, antiracist events and gatherings in our context?” The RHTG will guide participants through principles for undoing racism with questions and conversation. Since 2010 the RHTG has been working with area conferences to broaden and deepen the work of racial healing in the church. Come and join this journey of healing.
Churchwide Priority Connection: Undoing Racism and Advancing Intercultural Transformation

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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 128A
Laughing at (and With) the Preacher
Allan Rudy-Froese
It is not only contemporary cartoonists, comedians and scriptwriters who point out the preacher’s foibles. Laughing at the preacher has been a pastime for many centuries, going back at least to early mediaeval carnivals in Europe. Come, see and hear some “send-ups” of the preacher, from ancient to modern times. Is it the preacher we are really laughing at, or is there a connection between faith and humor that we need to be aware of? Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Thursday, 3:00 - 4:00, 122B
Leadership Development: Paths, Stations and Guides
Terry Shue and panel from Eastern Mennonite University, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary,
Hesston College, and other Mennonite Education Agency organizations
Mennonite Church USA cares about growing leaders at various levels in our local congregations.
Through our schools, camps and agencies we have a variety of ways this is happening. Learn about the opportunities available to you, wherever you live. Churchwide Priority Connection: Leadership
Development
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Tuesday, 1:30 - 2:30, 125B
Leadership Matters!
Terry Shue, Carlos Romero, Rick Stiffney
This workshop will serve as a primer for material recently developed for congregational boards by
Mennonite Education Agency and Mennonite Health Service Alliance. Learn how to organize congregational oversight boards around leadership principles which serve the missional church.
Participants will deal with questions: “From an Anabaptist perspective, what does it mean today to be a leader?” or “What is the best way to organize your leadership board to do the work of oversight?” We will also present very practical congregational tools for leaders at all levels of the church. Churchwide
Priority Connection: Leadership Development
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Thursday, 4:15 - 5:15, 126A
Managing Health Care Costs with Medicare and Medicare Health Plans
Barbara Reinford
Many seniors are concerned that they will outlive their financial resources, particularly when it comes to health care spending. This seminar will enlighten participants about Medicare and Medicare health plans to help them consider how to balance insurance protection with costs. Churchwide Priority
Connection: Stewardship
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Friday, 3:00 - 4:00, 121A
Middle School Students: Who Are They?
Sandy Brownscombe
The session will provide information on the cognitive, physical, moral, psychological and socialemotional developmental stages of middle school students and offer instructional implications for middle school parents and youth leaders. Participants will brainstorm ways adults can respond to the developmental needs of young adolescents. The major question that we will address is: How does one plan an activity that will allow middle school students to build on their strengths? Churchwide Priority
Connection: Christian Formation

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Thursday, 1:30 - 2:30, 121B
Ministering to the Terminally Ill and Their Families
Jacqueline Y. Rozier
Those who attend this seminar will understand the impact of terminal illness on the patient and their family members/extended family, children and friends and help them process through anticipatory grief.
Attendees will learn family dynamics and stressors associated with caregiving and how to effectively celebrate legacy (find their voice) as well as empower both patient/caregivers to express and address needs. Other topics will include learning how to interface with hospice professionals and also understanding spiritual pain and suffering and the death vigil experience. Churchwide Priority
Connection: Christian Community
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Tuesday, 3:00 - 4:00, 127C
Mission, Vision and Fundraising Campaigns
Rich Gerig and William Hartman
Your growing fellowship feels called to relocate. An exciting missional opportunity requires new facilities. Years of deferred maintenance on your aging building demand immediate attention. Such challenges suggest a congregational fundraising campaign but also raise questions: What is a fundraising campaign? How do we know if we are ready for one? How do we choose a realistic goal? How is a campaign carried out? Will a campaign harm giving for annual operations? What resources are available to help us with our project? Seminar leaders will address these topics and introduce useful campaign tools and techniques in this workshop. Participants will receive a kit of information to serve as a helpful guide to next steps as their congregations consider the opportunities of a fundraising campaign.
Churchwide Priority Connection: Stewardship
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Friday, 3:00 - 4:00, 121B
Missional Discipleship and Leadership Mentoring
Marvin Lorenzana
This seminar will explore principles for disciple making/mentoring in the context of microcommunities of believers (two or three people). Leaders from Racial/Ethnic churches will also share real life discipleship/mentoring stories. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 122A
Mistakes in Mennonite Mission
Ruth Keidel Clemens, Tim Foley, John F. Lapp, Steve Shenk, Janet Stutzman
Mission often draws critical comments about its impact on other cultures, patriarchal attitudes toward the local church or money-related issues. When damaging mistakes are made in mission, Mennonite agencies seek to confess and learn from them. What can the Spirit teach mission-minded people at all levels of the church? Several agencies will share. Churchwide Priority Connection: Holistic Witness
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Tuesday, 4:15 - 5:15, 125B
Multicultural Urban Churches
Janie and Neal Blough
Using stories, picture and interviews, long-term international workers Neal and Janie Blough will present their experience of urban, multi-cultural witness with the presence of immigrants. Churchwide Priority
Connection: Holistic Witness
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Thursday, 4:15 - 5:15, 121C

Navigating the New: Health Care Reform and You
David Gautsche
Health care reform has dominated our attention and the political landscape in recent years. Everence will provide an updated view from the perspective of the church in a rapidly changing environment.
Churchwide Priority Connection: Stewardship
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Thursday, 1:30 - 2:30, 126C
No Longer the “No Casserole Disease”
Christine Guth
Mental illness has been called the “no-casserole disease” because those who suffer with it have often missed out on the generous support church members offered those with other health problems. Hear stories from congregations that are finding ways to break the taboo of silence and support persons who live with mental illness. Learn about ministry resources for caring, including those of Pathways to
Promise, an interfaith cooperative engaged in training congregations and providing resources for mental illness ministries. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Thursday, 3:00 - 4:00, 122C
Nurturing Children and Their Understanding of Peace
Louise Matthews
“Through all appropriate means but especially through literature and the arts,” 1 this session will address themes of peace for children of all ages: nonviolence, peace and justice, kindness and respect, global community, appreciating diversity, accepting differences, cultural understanding and more.
Handouts and a complimentary gift for each participant will provide additional resources.
1 Excerpt from mission statement of The Lion and Lamb Peace Arts Center, Bluffton University.
Churchwide Priority Connection: Holistic Witness
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Thursday, 1:30 - 2:30, 126A
Parenting After Divorce
Steve Carpenter, Kirsten Klassen, Gerald Mast; Melodie Davis, moderator
How can parents who have gone through divorce set aside their differences for the sake of their children? Parents who’ve been there will share insights. A new study piece will help small groups and classes address tough issues facing families. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Tuesday, 1:30 - 2:30, 121C
Pastor as Community Organizer: Joining Your Neighborhood in Reflection and Action
David Miller
The changing shape and place of the church in North America is challenging pastors to see themselves as neighborhood advocates and community organizers. Such a task is part of a missional vision that seeks to discern and join God’s mission beyond the walls of the congregation. Leadership classes at Anabaptist
Mennonite Biblical Seminar are seeking to prepare pastoral leaders to engage in this dimension of witness to God’s shalom. Churchwide Priority Connection: Holistic Witness
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Thursday, 4:15 - 5:15, 121A
Pastors Helping Pastors: Resourcing in a Network Age
Dean Heisey with Chuck Neufeld and Illinois pastors panel
Discovering gifts in the body of Christ helps enable congregational strength. Illinois Mennonite
Conference has nine liaisons who reach beyond their own congregations and serve other churches in

areas of particular expertise. Consider both foundations and practices for this resourcing approach. Hear from people involved. Churchwide Priority Connection: Leadership Development
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 122A
Perspectives on Young Adult Faith
Bob Yoder
Bob will lead a conversation about youth and young adult faith perspectives, drawing from his own research, national studies and youth ministry course content. He will present information and lead a discussion of how perspectives change as youth move into the young adult stage of life. Churchwide
Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Tuesday, 4:15 - 5:15, 122C
Preach the Gospel (and tell them to give money too!)
Allan Rudy-Froese
Most of us have apprehension when it comes to speaking freely about our money and our faith— especially in worship. While we see much of our faith as public, we consider our finances private. In this session we look to the reasons why the important (and biblical) topic of money is often missing from public worship. We will also consider strategies for approaching this issue in preaching and worship.
Bring your wallet—if you dare! Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 123
Protecting Children—Policies and Practices
Jeanette Harder and Jon Stanton
Churches have great potential to help children and youth during their formative years. Unfortunately, churches aren’t always the safe place we would like them to be, and children and youth may be hurt.
Church practices and policies must protect children and youth and strengthen families. This seminar discusses practical ways churches, big and small, can keep children and youth safe. Your church, regardless of size or number of children and youth, will learn how to implement child/youth protection policies to make your congregation safe and welcoming to your members and community. Churchwide
Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Tuesday, 4:15 - 5:15, 126A
The Push and Pull of Movements and Institutions Within the Church
Joanna Shenk and Mark Van Steenwyk
In the last half-century, a growing number of North Americans have been smitten with an Anabaptist-
Mennonite vision of church and mission. Often coming from outside the Mennonite mainstream, they’ve formed communities and sought to live out their radical faith. But in the process, they often bump up against the institutional church that has housed the radical vision for generations. What does it look like for established Mennonite churches to see these newer expressions as part of them? What do movements and institutions give up and gain in relationship? Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian
Community
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Thursday, 3:00 - 4:00, 126A
Reading the Bible Like Our Lives Depend on It—Leading Formational Bible Studies
Rachel Miller Jacobs
Much of our Bible study in congregational settings focuses on information. This seminar will both demonstrate a formational approach to Bible study and discuss a variety of strategies for leading this kind of Bible study. Especially geared to pastors, Sunday school teachers, spiritual directors and

committee members who work with Christian formation in congregational settings. Churchwide Priority
Connection: Christian Formation
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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 128B
The Sandwich Generation: Resourcing Those Caring for Both Aging Parents and Children
Larry Guengerich (moderator), Andrea Schrock Wenger, Stan Shantz, Dirk Giseburt, Stephanie Blough
Resto
With 10,000 Baby Boomers reaching age 65 daily, numbers of persons in this generation will only increase. How can the church be a source of strength and advice to those sandwiched between generations? Churchwide Priority Connection: Stewardship
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 121B
Service Is Not Just for Kids
Del Hershberger, Sharon Norton
This seminar will look at ways for adults of all ages to participate in service and mission opportunities.
There are many opportunities for younger people to serve during gaps in education and life transitions, but there are also many ways that persons with significant training, skills and life experience can benefit important ministries. Explore opportunities for Baby Boomers and others to use their gifts to benefit
God’s kingdom. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Friday, 1:30 - 2:30, 126B
Sex Offenders in My Church?
Jeanette Harder, Nancy Kauffmann
Individuals with a history of sex offense may already be attending your church. Or, they may request to attend your church in the future. How should your church respond? What are you going to do to keep your children and youth safe? What about victims/survivors of sexual abuse who are in your church?
How can you show God’s love to individuals with a history of sex offense and still ensure church is a safe place for all? Come to this workshop to join the dialogue and get ideas. Churchwide Priority Connection:
Leadership Development
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Tuesday, 1:30 - 2:30, 126A
Shine! Engaging Children in Faith Formation
Rose Stutzman
You are the light of the world! This inspiring workshop will introduce you to Shine, our new Sunday school curriculum and its unique focus. Published by MennoMedia and Brethren Press, this curriculum will be ready to use in fall of 2014. The user-friendly Shine resources emphasize creative biblical storytelling, peacemaking, community building, and living our faith in today’s world. Participants will get a sneak peak at the curriculum and learn ways to engage children and families as they form faith and follow Jesus’ way. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation

Friday, 1:30 - 2:30, 126A
SI SE PUEDE... Asistir a una Universidad Menonita Privada y Lograr su Sueño de una Carrera
Profesional (YES, YOU CAN... Afford a Private Mennonite College and Achieve Your Dream of a
Professional Career)
Rosa Barrera
Rosa Barrera became the first in her family to graduate from college. Now she wants to help other
Hispanic parents feel they can also encourage their children to pursue higher education. One way is by helping them navigate the complex world of financial aid. The seminar will be given in Spanish and is

particularly geared to Hispanic parents of prospective college students. Churchwide Priority Connection:
Leadership Development

Tuesday, 3:00 - 4:00, 121B
Sister Church: Building Bridges, Supporting Each Other
Bryce Miller, Emma Stahl-Wert, Erik Yoder
Church-to-church relationships are important within denominations and beyond them. Sister church relationships help churches hold each other in prayer and support each other in ministry. Over 12 years,
Shalom Mennonite Fellowship, and other congregations like it, have been linked to sister congregations in Colombia. We offer each other spiritual support, mutual hope and prophetic witness. Our relationship has shaped both congregations, bridging the cultures. Churchwide Priority Connection: Church-to-Church
Relationships
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Tuesday, 3:00 - 4:00, 123
Social Media and the Church: How Social Media Changes Us and Why This Matters for How We Do
Church
Angela Williams
How is social media impacting relationship building, identity formation and information gathering?
People are relating to one another in new ways, perceiving reality differently. Their memory, attention spans and brain processes are all being affected. This seminar will break down these changes and discuss how social media is shifting the social landscape. Given these changes, what are the implications for preaching, teaching and programming in the church? Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian
Community
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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 126C

Wednesday, 11:00 – 12:00, 126C
Spiritual but Not Religious: An Oxymoron
Gerald Mast
In a time when many are questioning the relevance of the church to their spiritual journeys, this seminar will explore how “going to church” is intrinsic to Christian faith. Drawing on Anabaptist life and conviction, the presenter will outline Christ’s call to be the church, whether gathered for worship or scattered for service. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Thursday, 3:00 - 4:00, 126C
Sports and the Family
David King, Russ Eanes, Larry Guengerich and Phil Yoder; moderated by Melodie Davis
How do families cope with the demands of travel sports teams and all-day Sunday tournaments? Are such concessions necessary if kids want to succeed in sports and receive college scholarships? Is it good for developing bodies to play one sport all year? Athletic directors, coaches and parents tackle this topic.
Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation

Friday, 1:30 - 2:30, 121B
Strengthen Your Leadership Through Networking
Lee Schmucker and panel
Leadership can be lonely whether it’s in a business, congregation or nonprofit organization. Explore benefits, pitfalls and strategies for intentional networking opportunities—including ongoing formalized executive groups and less formalized ways of connecting with other leaders. Hear from leaders who

found support, growth and empowerment through different forms of connecting and networking with peers. Churchwide Priority Connection: Leadership Development
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 126A
Stumbling Over the Cross: Teaching and Preaching About the Cross and Resurrection Today
Joni Sancken
While it has never been easy to preach or teach about the cross and resurrection of Jesus, the difficulties today are particularly challenging. Today, hearers ask tough questions of the church and the Christian faith, and they are not satisfied by formulaic answers. People suspicious of doctrine may struggle with some classical claims of Christianity. In this climate, preachers and church leaders often see preaching or teaching on the crucifixion and resurrection, as more of a burden than a joy. They wonder not only how to preach the “old, old story” of cross and resurrection, but also whether they should preach these themes at all. This seminar addresses those concerns by showing preachers and church leaders how to address the topic in fresh and culturally relevant ways that deepen Christian discipleship as well as interdenominational and interfaith engagement. Churchwide Priority Connection: Holistic Witness
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 121B
Successful Urban Churches: Church to Church Partnerships
Heidi Aspinwall
Can’t we all just get along? Successful urban churches create strong partnerships—and not just with
Mennonites. In the urban context, we can’t always wait on the system to help us. Urban leaders must connect with like-minded local congregations and agencies. We form strong community partnerships that will provide the resources and support needed for success. Churchwide Priority Connection: Church-
to-Church Relationships
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Tuesday, 4:15 - 5:15, 125A
Successful Urban Churches: Leadership Development
Sunoko Lin
The successful urban church develops current leaders and mentors future leaders. Theological education, life skills education, entrepreneurship, and ministry administration are skills that are important to the development of leaders and sustaining congregations. Churchwide Priority Connection:
Leadership Development
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Thursday, 1:30 - 2:30, 121A
Successful Urban Churches: Missional Spirituality
L.W. Francisco III
Is that you, Lord? What do you do in the midst of limited resources and an abundance of need?
Successful urban churches believe in wise planning, but we also understand we must rely on the Holy
Spirit and the promises of God. Churchwide Priority Connection: Holistic Witness
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 125A
Successful Urban Churches: Relate to a Diverse Christian Community
Lorie Hershey
Who is your neighbor? The urban context is a great place to facilitate intercultural community and demonstrate a diverse Christian community within Mennonite Church USA, at both the national and local levels. Successful urban churches embrace cultural diversity. There is an openness to learn about our neighbors, as well as face our own realities. This becomes the ground for authentic relationships

that foster true Christian community. Come be a part of the dialogue and conversation as we hear from urban leaders who are committed to embracing cultural diversity despite the challenges.
Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 122C
Successful Urban Churches: Stewardship and Church Management
Nicole Francisco
Great sermon, now what? Good preaching on Sunday is not enough to sustain a congregation. The business of ministry can be the greatest challenge. The successful urban church has leaders who are skilled in church management and who develop strong financial practices to sustain the work of the congregation. Churchwide Priority Connection: Stewardship
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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 121A
Successful Urban Churches: Understanding Your Identity
L.W. Francisco III
Where is God calling my congregation? The successful urban church knows its identity and its primary mission. While we share a common Anabaptist identity, it is important that we understand our unique mission as a community of faith. Churchwide Priority Connection: Leadership Development
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Friday, 1:30 - 2:30, 125A
Sunday School or Starbucks
Mary Ann Weber and resource advocates
Many adults forgo Sunday school and instead participate in informal gathering times at a local coffee shop. Yet, Sunday school is an important time for discipling and developing relationships—a time with others to study the Bible or other topics important to faith. Come and share ideas about how to get adults excited again about Sunday school. This workshop will feature panelists sharing their ideas for rejuvenating your adult Sunday school program and time for brainstorming together. Churchwide
Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 122B
Taste IBA and SeBAH
Rafael Barahona
The Instituto Bíblico Anabautista (IBA) and Seminario Bíblico Anabautista Hispano (SeBAH) programs provide an alternative, accessible and affordable biblical education in Spanish. Originally only available in Spanish, they will be available in English soon. This seminar in English will provide a hands-on experience of the congregational IBA program and the undergrad level SeBAH program. Churchwide
Priority Connection: Leadership Development
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Thursday, 3:00 - 4:00, 121A
Thinking Formationally About Congregational Life
Rachel Miller Jacobs
What does it mean to think about the congregation as a center for Christian formation? What difference does a formational approach make to how we gather in committees, what programs we offer, how we approach pastoral care needs or how we plan worship? This seminar will outline a number of basic assumptions about a formational approach to congregational life and suggest some specific strategies for carrying out that approach in a congregational setting. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian
Formation

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Friday, 3:00 - 4:00, 125A
Trends in Retirement Living
Larry Zook, Daryl Peifer, Ed Bontrager, Mim Shirk
Today’s baby boomers have strong opinions about where and how they want to spend their postworking years. Some believe that campus-based living with on-site health care services is a great way to go. Retirement communities are constantly updating and expanding what they offer. Others are attracted to community-based options that focus on building a network of resources. New models of cohousing and simulated villages are gaining popularity. Learn about the options and how to research and choose the best option for your resources, needs and interests. Churchwide Priority Connection:
Christian Community
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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 126A
The Tribe of the Tribeless: Imagining the Postmodern Church
Caleb Lazaro
The shift from modernism to postmodernism may be a watershed moment in the history of Christianity.
This seminar will articulate the difference between modernism and postmodernism and suggest reasons why Anabaptist Mennonites need to consider embracing this shift. Churchwide Priority Connection:
Holistic Witness
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Tuesday, 3:00 - 4:00, 122C
Ways to Spot, Stop and Avoid Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Path to Healing
Angela and Christopher Michael (pseudonyms)
This seminar will offer words from a voice of experience on how to spot, stop and avoid childhood sexual abuse and a discussion of how abuse can strike any young person in any community. The presenters will share their story in order to dispel the myth “it doesn’t happen here.” Support and response materials will be available. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community

Friday, 3:00 - 4:00, 125B
What You Need to Know About Changes in Church Retirement Plans
Bill Hartman
Pastors, church workers and congregational leaders will learn about the latest in retirement benefits, how pastors can save for retirement, and the newly enhanced Mennonite Retirement Trust, the church’s retirement plan for congregations. Churchwide Priority Connection: Stewardship
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 121C
Will Our Children Have Faith?
Nelson Okanya
Researchers have concluded that there is an “alternative faith” among American teenagers. In this faith,
God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other (as taught in the Bible and by most world religions), that the central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about ourselves, and that God is not involved in our lives except when we need God to solve a problem. So how do we recover God’s true story and the practices that spur our missional imagination? Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian
Formation
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Wednesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 122C
Wrap God’s Youngest Citizens in Hope

Kathryn Aschliman and Tami Keim
The presentation will cover topics relating to on-screen time and the effect technology has on the social, emotional, physical and cognitive development of young children. It will explore ways families, educators and congregations can use media wisely so that it becomes a hope-building tool for our children. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 122C
The Year of Living Dangerously: Luke 4 and the Ministry of Welcome
Dorothy Jean Weaver
This workshop will be an interactive Bible study that will (1) examine the Lukan portrait of Jesus’ (clearly dangerous!) calling to announce and enact “the welcome year of the Lord” (Luke 4:19), and (2) reflect on the character of the 21 st century church’s mission to follow Jesus in this same ministry of welcome.
Please bring your Bible. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Formation
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Friday, 11:00 - 12:00, 121C
You and Social Media
Ben Wideman
How can your church or youth group benefit from Facebook or social media? The seminar will explore when and where to use Facebook and its many tools and will include info about blogging, Twitter,
Foursquare and other social media. Churchwide Priority Connection: Christian Community
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Tuesday, 4:15 - 5:15, 124AB
Your Money, Your Health, Your Wishes: Issues to Talk About with Your Teen and Adult Children
Kirsten Klassen
This workshop identifies specific issues parents should discuss with their children and gives suggestions on how to have these difficult discussions. Each participant will receive a personal financial affairs directory, providing them with a detailed self-reporting checklist to record important contacts and the location of important papers. Churchwide Priority Connection: Stewardship
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Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00, 121B