WDC-Stories Archives - Page 5 of 45 - Western District Conference

Introducing Shari Scheffler, WDC’s new Business Manager

Hello! I am so excited to be joining the team of staff at Western District Conference! My only disappointment is that Beth Yoder is moving on to new things in […]

Coming Home: Featuring the Hope Mennonite Church Library

Last week we stopped by my home church while in Wichita–Hope Mennonite. I’ve always felt a special connection to the church building where I worshiped for the first two decades […]

The Gift of Listening

In our polarized society, sometimes the greatest gift we can give to someone is to really listen to that person. Some of us call this active listening or active-assertive listening. […]

Listening

When have you felt most alive and vibrant as a congregation, or as a participant of your congregation? What is foundational and reassuring about your congregation that has helped in […]

Worshipping Visually

*Pictured: Artwork by Jason Miller of Shalom Mennonite Church, Newton, KS created for Shalom’s Lenten series 2023. I had the opportunity to grow up at Hope Mennonite Church in Wichita. […]

Multigenerational Faith Formation…

Multigenerational Faith Formation where everyone teaches and everyone learns Before you go to your committee that is responsible for faith formation and suggest that your congregation focus on multigenerational faith […]

Being the Church Together

Pictured: Participants at the WDC Church Planting Summit experience connections between different parts of the church Two recent experiences have prompted my reflection on what it means to be the […]

Moving Forward

Transition and change seem to be a constant in life. We all deal with change regularly in our personal lives. Right now, we have many WDC congregations in pastoral transition. […]

Spring Cleaning

Spring is a time of new beginnings, a time to clear out what weighs us down and start fresh. It’s a time of new beginnings and making room in the library […]

Los llamados Afuera

Vamos a la iglesia me decía mi abuela Angelica, para mi no era vamos a un edificio o a una reunión acostumbrada, lo que yo oía era vamos a la […]

Lessons Learned – Lesson Three: Listening to the Quiet Ones

The pandemic taught us lessons. Some of them we may have already been pondering, but we hadn’t implemented them yet in our congregations. Other lessons took us by surprise. For my next […]

Bearing Grief, Building Hope

Last month I attended the annual Pastors and Leaders event at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. It focused on the theme of Reimagining Ministry, in these times of collective trauma stemming […]

Growing in Community

According to thirdwaycafe.com, “In the 1500’s the early Anabaptists believed that each person should be able to read the Bible for him or herself (a radical idea for the time) and that the […]

Lessons Learned – Lesson Two – Let’s Reimagine Faith Formation!

The pandemic taught us some lessons. Some we may have been pondering, but hadn’t put into practice yet. Others may have caught us by surprise! For my next couple blogs I […]

Church Libraries–We are Here! Spotlight on Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church Library

Several weekends ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to check out the Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church Library. I left the church building feeling energized and excited about the ways the library […]

Lessons Learned – Lesson One: Let’s Re-Imagine Who Is Part of Us!

The pandemic taught us some lessons. Some of these, we may have already been pondering, but we hadn’t planned for or implemented them yet in our congregations. Other lessons took us […]

One, Two, Three…Lift!

Last week WDC staff members gathered at Camp Mennoscah for our annual staff retreat. This was a time to reflect on WDC’s mission, share updates about current initiatives, and vision for […]

Relaxing into God

New year, fresh start hasn’t felt very true at our house. New year, more of the same chaos and uncertainty from day to day feels more accurate. This is not […]

Starting Something New

I didn’t make any New Year’s Resolutions this year. In the past I’ve set goals for myself–more exercise, reading through the Bible before the end of the year, finishing that […]

Windows into our Ministry – Ministerial Leadership Commission

Wondering how Western District Conference equips congregations and leaders for ministry and mission? This is the fourth and final article in a series of monthly articles from the four WDC […]