WDC-Stories Archives - Page 3 of 44 - Western District Conference

Inner Peace is Key to Peacemaking

I just got back from AMBS Pastors and Leaders Week 2024. Our keynote speaker was conflict transformation specialist Betty Pries. The theme for the week was “Strategies for Peacemaking.” Betty reminded […]

Preparing and Caring

Photo caption: Mennonite Disaster Service learning tour participants meet with MDS volunteers and local partners in Jennings, Louisiana – January 2024 (Photo by Paul Hunt, Mennonite Disaster Service) Most Western District […]

Miss Goody Two-Shoes

I have always been a rule follower. This hasn’t gained me a lot of love over the years. In fact, it really irritated my older sister during our school years […]

Black History Month

It’s Black History Month and the Resource Library has a wide variety of resources for all ages to honor the lives and contributions of African Americans to the United States. […]

Exploring Conflict Transformation

Conflict is an inevitable aspect of human interaction, but how we approach and engage with conflict can profoundly impact its outcome. I would like to take this opportunity to share […]

New Year, New Resources, New Resolution?

Does your congregation have a New Year’s resolution? If you don’t, may I make a suggestion? If you have not read through your Child, Youth, and Vulnerable Adult Church Safety […]

Reflections on Mennonite Action

*Photo: From the Mennonite Action movement on January 16 in Washington, D.C. at the House of Representatives’ Cannon House Office Building rotunda on Capitol Hill. On December 19, 2023, I […]

Hope

Hanna Schock, blogger at Picture Book Theology: Connecting Scripture to Story with Picture Books, writes that “Picture books are one of our greatest treasures for living, for loving, and for learning. […]

God Sightings!

As our calendars show the beginning of a new year, we pause to reflect on how we have seen God at work in our churches and in our lives. Some […]

Telling the Story

It’s almost Christmas–our Advent wreath is brighter each Sunday, the pile of packages under the tree is growing and our pile of Advent books is dwindling. Excitement builds as we plan […]

Hope, peace, joy, and love are not just seasonal aspirations.

As the world ushers in the Advent season, a reflection on the experiences of asylum seekers and displaced individuals reveals a narrative of resilience, faith, and the pursuit of hope […]

No Christmas in Bethlehem This Year

Christmas 2005 was like no other for my husband and I. His brother had been diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease in early December. I was so grateful for online […]

Generosity: Year-end and year-round!

It’s that time of year again! My post-office mailbox, email in-box and at-home desk are filled with end-of-the-year giving appeals. This includes WDC’s annual fund-raising letter, and my own congregation’s […]

Gearing up for the Holidays

*Photo credit: creativeexiles.com Thanksgiving. Christmas. The New Year. All should be a time of blessings, joy, appreciation and hopeful anticipation. Unfortunately, there are often many barriers to it actually being […]

Advent Traditions

I know it’s only mid-November, but already we’re making plans at my house for Advent. Anyone who has young children in their lives knows that the anticipation of Christmas is huge. Several Christmas […]

Cultivating Gratitude in a Culturally Diverse Church: Building Bridges of Thankfulness

*Pictured: Iglesia Menonita Monte Horeb, Dallas, TX celebrating multicultural day. In today’s world, places of worship often serve as melting pots of diverse cultures, bringing together individuals from various backgrounds, […]

Risk Loving Others while we follow Jesus

How does the good news of God’s love shape our lives? How does following Jesus in showing love shape our churches? How does our faith influence us to act differently […]

People of peace in a world of war

At a meeting in March 2022,United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated, “We are facing the highest number of violent conflicts since 1945…As we meet today, one quarter of humanity lives […]

God’s Holy Darkness

Fall has finally come to central Kansas. It’s the time of year when I have to carefully consider the forecasted high for the day and make sure my first grader […]

Seeking Peace in Israel-Palestine

As people committed to nonviolence, MennoPIN and the Israel Palestine Task Force of Western District Conference (Mennonite Church USA) strongly condemn the current violence carried out both by Hamas and […]