AMC NAMC NAMC NAMC NEWSEWSEWSEWS JJJJANUARYANUARYANUARYANUARY----FFFFEBRUARYEBRUARYEBRUARYEBRUARY----MMMMARCHARCHARCHARCH 2016 2016 2016 2016

Delegates and guests of Allegheny Mennonite Conference churches met for the Spring Faith and Life Gathering at Pittsburgh Mennonite Church on March 5, 2016. Worship, led by the host church and pastor Dave Swanson, emphasized God’s life and beauty in the midst of death and sadness and asked the question, “Will we allow God to show us the way for a new beginning?” Roll call was taken with each congregation represented choosing a flower from a multiple of varieties and colors to add to the vase. A significant portion of the day was spent in small groups envisioning the future and discussing six “broad priorities” presented by the leadership council. This provided the council with good input for their discernment of the future of AMC. Many participants found this encouraging and “life-giving”. As Karen Howard put it, “We’re like..all up for a new day!” Business for the day included elections to fill vacancies on the Nominating Committee and Leadership Council. Enos Tice was chosen as Moderator-Elect, Erin Leatherman as Conference Treasurer, and Jane Rittenhouse as the Western Regional Representative to the council. Keith Swartzendruber will join the Nominating Committee as the Casselman Regional Representative. The budget for 2016-2017 was presented by Treasurer Tim Mock. The Leadership Council spent a great deal of time deliberating over and preparing this budget. It is a balanced reality “zero-based” budget and due to the changes in conference membership has significant changes from previous years. The budget was accepted by delegates with no changes. The search committee for an Interim Conference Minister reported on what they feel is encouraging progress in that search. Phoebe Sharp also gave a brief glimpse into the discussion items for the upcoming CLC meeting of Mennonite Church USA. As part of the afternoon session, those present heard about several on-going ministries in Pittsburgh and at Pittsburgh Mennonite Church. These include: • PULSE (Pittsburgh Urban Leadership Experience) which currently

has 32 Fellows in the one-year program who are becoming young servant leaders which impact the city.

Faith and Life Gathering Focus is on New Life

• The “Grow Group” from PMC which is working with edible landscape and other gardening initiatives.

• SLED- a group that works at jointly sharing the financial and emotional burdens of education debt.

• WOCA-Women of a Certain Age who gather for support and fellowship.

In other ministry reporting, the International Guest House offered information on the Hospitality Grant available to churches and encouraged the recruiting of volunteers for IGH. The Tri-State MCC Relief Sale was also highlighted with information regarding upcoming pre-sale events as well as new members of the planning board. Nancy Kaufman, Denominational Minister and guest for the day, said that she sensed a different spirit at this meeting; one of energizing possibilities. She encouraged the conference to live into those possibilities as it moves forward.

Krista and Leah Rittenhouse Serving as Service Adventure Leaders

ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Mission Network) – Krista Rittenhouse and Leah Rittenhouse, of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, began a two-year service term as a unit leaders with the Service Adventure program in July 2015. The sisters will live in community with young adults in a unit house in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. This is the first time Service Adventure has had a sister team, usually the leaders are a married couple. Leah is a 2011 graduate of Hesston (Kansas) College, and Krista is a 2014 graduate of Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va. Both are members of Scottdale (Pennsylvania) Mennonite Church, part of Allegheny Mennonite Conference. Service Adventure is a program of Mennonite Mission Network. Young adults, ages 17-20, live in a household community, with a leader, for 10 months in cities and towns across the United States. Unit leaders serve as the persons who shepherd the young adult participants along the journey and help to guide the household as, together, they learn and grow through this experience. Unit leaders also help to be connectors to the program director, the local congregation, and the agencies where participants serve. More information about Service Adventure is available online at

http://www.mennonitemission.net/Serve/SA.

Leah Rittenhouse Krista Rittenhouse

Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders

May 9-13, 2016 Grace Lutheran Church

4441 Monroe Street, Toledo, Ohio.

It’s a new year, with new possibilities and new challenges (with, perhaps, some left over from last year). Here’s a continuing education opportunity to seize the best of possibilities and challenges this year offered by Lombard Mennonite Peace Center. Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders (MSTI) provides 32 hours of training, which is useful for judicatory leaders, clergy, pastors in transitional/interim ministry and lay leaders – anyone who works with people! This event serves as a continuing education opportunity, as well as for honing mediation and conflict transformation skills. Register before April 15, 2016, and save $100. Contact: Lombard Mennonite Peace Center 101 West 22nd Street Suite 206, Lombard, IL 60148 Phone: 630-627-0507 Email admin@lmpeacecenter.org Website http://www.lmpeacecenter.org

2016 Pastor’s Spring Study, April 25 thru 28

Our annual Pastor’s Spring Study is fast approaching and registration is now open for Allegheny Mennonite Conference participants. Our topic for this year’s Spring Study is Christ-in-his-Body: Costly, Precious, and Precarious Unity-in-the-Making (Learning from the Letter to the Ephesians). Tom Yoder Neufeld will be our teacher for the week at Laurelville Mennonite Retreat Center. Tom says about this class: Ephesians not only contains a peerless celebration of Christ as “our peace,” and an unmatched grasp of the church’s identity and calling, but it is itself a remarkable act of peacemaking for first century churches struggling with conflict, change, and division. We will see, as well, that Ephesians carries profound wisdom and encouragement to bring the gospel of peace to bear on relationships closest to home. We will let this grand letter disturb, instruct, and encourage us as pastors and leaders, all the while keeping our own experiences, challenges, and contexts before our eyes. This conversation will be all the richer the more familiarity with Ephesians participants bring to the table. This will be the first year this event will actively seek participation from other Conferences. If you know another minister who would enjoy this event, please feel free to pass this along – however, because of this, there is potential for this event to fill up, so please do not put off registration confident there will be a spot for you. Contact the conference office today!

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Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship to Meet

Come join doctors, nurses, dieticians, therapists, chaplains, mental health workers, students, educators, and other healthcare workers and families for a weekend of worship, inspiration, learning, networking, and fellowship in the beautiful Colorado Rockies. The Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship Annual Gathering 2016 will be held June 17-19 in Estes Park, Colorado. Register online by April 15, 2016, at www.mennohealth.org/gathering

Conference Office to Move March 15

After many years in the same location in Somerset, PA, the Allegheny Mennonite Conference offices are moving to Johnstown. The new office space remains centrally located to current staff and results in a substantial cost savings to the conference.

NEW CONTACT INFORMATION

Street Address Penn Traffic Bldg., 319 Washington St., Suite 234,

Johnstown, PA 15901 Mailing Address

PO Box 742, Davidsville, PA 15928.

Current plans are that the phone number will remain the same (814-443-2007).

Hymn Sing at Thomas Mennonite Raises Funds for TriState Sale

A beautiful and unusually warm winter afternoon on Sunday, February 21 at the Thomas Mennonite Church was the setting for a multitude of voices singing and praising God. Various quartets and singing groups gathered to share their talents to raise funds for the annual TriState Relief Sale. Many comments were made at the delicious meal provided afterwards about the uplifting and beautiful singing that blessed all who attended. Over $2,000 was raised and it is true that we may have received much more than we gave. The TriState Relief Sale, which raises funds for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) for relief efforts around the world, is to be held at the Garrett County fairgrounds, McHenry, Maryland on July 15 & 16. The weekend includes activities and auction for children, delicious food, a huge silent auction, a market place, the day long main auction, carriage rides, Ten Thousand Villages, Booksavers and much more. Brian Devers, TriState sale publicity chair Watch for announcements of other pre-sale activities coming soon and save the dates on your calendars!

• April 23, 2016 9:00 am-3:00 pm

MCC Spring Workday, Springs Mennonite Church, Springs, PA

• June 4, 2016 10:00 am -

3:00 pm Great Allegheny Passage Bike & Hike, 1765 Deal Road, Meyersdale, PA

The Gathering Place Connects Youth Leaders

The Gathering Place is an interactive website created by youth workers for youth workers. It is a place for learning, formation, and connection. Unlike other webpages that simply have information to absorb, The Gathering Place is a site where we connect people with people to learn together, support one another, and to network. . . . . . . . Joy Cotchen contributes in a blog post Joy Cotchen, has served as Allegheny Mennonite Conference Minister of Children and Youth for the past 15 years. She has contributed an article entitiled, “Being Present--a Spriritual Disipline of Crisis Care” to The Gathering Place. Visit this site at http://thegatheringplace.us/ for further information or to read her article. Page 3

INTERNATIONAL GUEST HOUSE OFFERS HOSPITALITY GRANT/VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

Having served more than 50,000 guests from over 180 countries since it opened its doors in 1967, the International Guest House continues to emphasize the ministry of Christian hospitality to all those who enter its doors. In an effort to encourage our brother and sister congregations across Allegheny Mennonite Conference to initiate new ventures in Christian hospitality and fellowship, or to strengthen existing programs within the Conference, the Administrative Board of the IGH will make an annual award of up to $500 to groups of congregations, individual congregations, or groups within congregations to support or extend such initiatives or programs. The grant award may be used as seed monies to help cover start-up costs or to expand an ongoing program. Within the context of its general decision to support long-term initiatives in Christian hospitality, the IGH Board will consider any and all reasonable applications for funding by any church group affiliated with a Mennonite fellowship. The Board may choose to award several smaller grants in any year. Grant recipients in previous years have included: Scottdale Mennonite Church (2009); Cornerstone Fellowship (2010); Springs Mennonite Church and Philippi Mennonite Church (2011); University Mennonite Church, Cornerstone Fellowship, and Gortner Union Church (2012); and Grace Fellowship and Pinto Mennonite Church (2014). Guidelines forApplications Applications should include the following: 1) The name of the congregation(s) or congregational group(s) sponsoring the project, including the name, address, telephone number and email of the primary contact. 2) Several paragraphs describing the initiative to be funded, including origins, purposes, and long-term goals. 3) A clear statement of how the grant monies will be used, including a timeline for implementation. Reporting Requirement: Because IGH wishes to document these initiatives in Christian hospitality, each group receiving a grant shall prepare a report detailing the implementation of the funded project. This report is to be submitted to IGH within twelve months of receipt of the grant. All applications should be submitted in writing to: International Guest House 1441 Kennedy Street NW Washington DC 20011 Attn: IGH Grant Program. Deadline for submission of applications for the Hospitality Grant is January 10, 2017. Announcement of awards will be made in the first quarter of the calendar year. If you have questions about the grant or the application process, please contact: Ilene Weinbrenner, member of the IGH Administrative Board, at (301) 801-8526 or via email at Ilene.Weinbrenner@gmail.com Volunteer staff are needed at The International Guest House in Washington, D.C. (3 months or full year) for the ministry of Christian hospitality. Volunteers are provided full room and board in the Guest House. Monthly stipend of $140. Health insurance paid for full year volunteers if needed. Hospitality duties include welcoming guests, hosting breakfast and tea, cleaning, laundry, maintenance, baking. IGH is in a great location for sightseeing and exploring the many facets of the National City! For information and an application contact: Judy Nord judymarknord@verizon.net (301-9856-858) or International Guest House igh.dc.us@gmail.com (202-726-5808).

Allegheny Mennonite Conference Contact Information: PO Box 742, Davidsville, PA 15928 Phone: 814-443-2007 Office Email: office@alleghenymennoniteconference.org Youth Minister—Joy Cotchen—Email:joyc@alleghenymennoniteconference.org News and Information Editor--Evie Christner--Email:eviec@alleghenymennoniteconference.org All Allegheny Mennonite Conference news releases are now being posted online at www.alleghenymennoniteconference.org. Since many in our congregations do not have access to the internet. these articles will periodically be compiled in a printable format. If you have questions or concerns please contact the conference office or news editor.