Committees & Task Forces

COMMITTEES

Executive Committee

This committee shall consist of the three elected officers plus the conference minister ex officio.  It shall meet as needed to transact such business and offer counsel as may be required for the orderly and timely conduct of WDC agenda.  The Executive Committee shall make decisions concerning projects and assignments authorized by the Executive Board, but in all cases these will be reported to the full Executive Board at its next meeting.

Members: 

  • (2022) Lois Barrett, Moderator, Mennonite Church of the Servant, Wichita, KS
  • (2022) Delon Martens, Moderator-Elect, First Mennonite Church, Hutchinson, KS
  • (2022) June Krehbiel, Secretary, Eden Mennonite Church, Moundridge, KS

Gifts Discernment Committee

Six members shall be elected by the Delegate Assembly.  The Executive Board shall nominate persons for election to the committee.  Two committee members shall be elected each year at the annual Delegate Assembly.  The Gifts Discernment Committee shall nominate no fewer than one or more than two persons for each elective office to be filled.  Nominations, elections and appointments should be made with sensitivity and balance with regard to the makeup of the conference.  The Gifts Discernment Committee shall present the slate of nominees at the Delegate Assembly.

Members:

  • (2021) Alberto Parchmont, Iglesia Menonita Casa del Alfarero, Pasadena, TX
  • (2021) Rachel Voth Schrag, Peace Mennonite Church, Dallas TX
  • (2022) Eric J. Jantzen, Rainbow Mennonite Church, Kansas City, KS
  • (2022) Dwight Mueller, First Mennonite Church, Halstead, KS
  • (2023) Eldon Epp, First Mennonite Church, Ransom, KS
  • (2023) Ardie Goering, Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, KS

Historical Committee

Develops policies about items of historical and cultural interest including the collection, preservation, and availability of official records and materials pertaining to the Western District Conference and its congregations via a relationship with Mennonite Library and Archives at Bethel College as the official depository of this material.

Members:

  • Raylene Hinz Penner, Southern Hills Mennonite Church, Topeka, KS
  • Roger Juhnke, Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, KS
  • Brett Klingenberg, First Mennonite Church, Beatrice, NE
  • Dale Schrag, Facilitator, Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, KS
  • John Thiesen, Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, KS

Staff Relations Committee

Oversees personnel matters and policies in consultation with the conference minister.

Members:

  • (2021) Kent Dick, First Mennonite Church, Halstead, KS
  • (2021) Pauline Buller, (Stewardship Commission liaison) First Mennonite Church, Hutchinson, KS
  • (2022)  Ken Regier, First Mennonite Church, Newton, KS
  • (2023) Jay Goering, Eden Mennonite Church, Moundridge, KS

Youth Ministry Committee

Envisions and implements area conference youth ministries which engage congregations in reaching, resourcing, and reviving youth for an everlasting relationship with Christ.

Members:

  • Isaac Landis, Whitestone Mennonite Church, Hesston, KS
  • Clayton Gladdish, Hesston Mennonite Church, Hesston, KS
  • Derek King, Eden Mennonite Church, Moundridge, KS
  • Marshall Anderson, Faith Mennonite Church, Newton, KS

TASK FORCES

In response to special needs or interests, task forces may be created through an application process (Task Force Application) for the purpose of performing special duties and assignments.  Applications for the creation of a task force shall be processed initially by a commission before being forwarded to the Executive Board for action.  Funding for a task force is the responsibility of the commission to which the task force is accountable.  The Executive Board may also create task forces by the application process.  Task force assignments expire after three years unless renewed by the Executive Board.

Hope Fund Task Force

Purpose:  To process and approve applications for grants from the Hope Fund, according to guidelines approved by the Executive Board.

Members:

  • Wayne Albrecht
  • Lesther Caceros
  • Peter Goerzen
  • Matt Lehman Wiens

Immigration Task Force

Purpose:  To coordinate a network of WDC congregations involved or interested in ministries related to immigrants and refugees.  In order to accomplish this mission, the task force will 1) maintain a database of congregations, including contact information and the nature of the congregations’ interests and involvement related to immigrants/refugees; 2) connect congregations with similar levels and types of interest and involvement for mutual support and resourcing; 3) networking, encouraging, and posting information from and to congregations about legislative developments, conferences, direct actions, speakers etc; and 4) facilitate periodic face-to-face gatherings of immigration/refugee congregations (for example, at Reference Council meetings, WDC Assemblies), and other like-minded organizations in the broader church and in our communities.

Members:

  • Kendra Davila
  • Pat Cameron
  • Ryan Goertzen-Regier
  • Raylene Hinz-Penner
  • Karin Kaufman Wall
  • Anali Looper

MCC Immigration Policy Update

“Strangers in Town” video

Immigration Task Force encourages WDC congregations and individuals to take action on behalf of our refugee neighbors.  Here are a few possibilities to consider:

Pray!    Loving God, in your infinite compassion, we seek your Divine protection for refugee children who are often alone and afraid.  Provide comfort and healing to those who have witnessed violence and destruction, who have lost parents, family, friends, home, and all they cherish due to war or persecution.  Comfort them in their sorrow, and bring help in their time of need.  Show mercy to migrant children who travel without parents or others who care about them.  Reunite them with their loved ones.  Guide these children who are strangers in a foreign land to places of peace and safety.  Bring them comfort, healing, and hope, too.  Show us how we might reach out as your hands of help and hope to them.Open our hearts to migrant and refugee children, so we might see in them your own migrant Son, Jesus.  Give us courage to stand with them against those who would do them harm. May we truly love our neighbors as ourselves.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Call your representatives in Congress.

–Stop funding immigrant detention today

–Tell Congress to support no fewer than 75,000 refugees to rebuild their lives in the US

–Why should the US take in more refugees?  Learn more about the refugee cap.

Support WDC congregations who are assisting refugees and immigrants in a variety of ways.  Contact Kathy Neufeld Dunn, the WDC Staff Liason for the Immigration Task Force for more information.  316-283-6300 or kathynd@mennowdc.org

Refugee Resettlement Numbers

Immigration Task Force Survey Report 2018

San Antonio Mennonite Church:  Hope for refugees, escaping assassins, opening a new shelter, May 21, 2019

Resource about what immigrants and pastors and lawyers can do in case of ICE raids:  https://mailchi.mp/96953edc49ad/taqxy4idhx?e=a48e859582

MCC Detainee Kits:  https://mcc.org/sites/mcc.org/files/media/common/documents/immigrationdetaineekitsfinal_1.pdf

Mennonite Church USA July 2019 Immigration Resolution

Websites for Immigration Resources:

Information about immigration:

Resources from Citizens of God’s Kingdom workshop, March 1-2, 2013

TIME: A byproduct of the administration’s immigration enforcement threats: Immigrants are learning about their rights
“For the first time, many undocumented immigrants are finding out that when Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes to their door, they have rights.”PBS News: Faith leaders are mobilizing for immigration justice
Faith leaders — including rabbis, pastors, priests — have been mobilizing to aid and offer refuge to immigrant communities across the nation. Pastor Joanne Engquist said:  “What keeps us going is hope for justice.”CNN: Number of refugees admitted into the U.S. likely to decrease, again
The administration has been pondering various options for the 2020 refugee admission quota, including a zero-admissions option that drew pushback from top officials. The number of refugees admitted into the United States has drastically decreased since fiscal year 2017 — from 110,000 to 30,000 in 2019.Chicago Tribune: Three U.S. citizen children held 10+ hours by immigration authorities at Chicago airport
U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained the minors — ages 9 to 13 — past 12 hours on July 18, after their accompanying adult was “deemed inadmissible” by authorities. The incident mobilized a member of Congress, the mayor of Chicago and officials with the state’s Mexican Consulate, who intervened on behalf on the family. Immigrant advocates called the move “kidnapping of children by our government.”U.S. News: The administration is working on revisions to the U.S. citizenship test
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been working on changes to the civics exam required for naturalization.CBS 2 / Fox 28: New asylum policy may worsen conditions at detention centers 
“A new policy to deny asylum to anyone who shows up on the Mexican border after traveling through another country threatens to exacerbate overcrowding at severely strained U.S. immigration detention centers and makeshift holding areas.”

Israel-Palestine Relations Task Force

Background and Purpose:  The task force originated in March of 2017 in response to the MC USA 2015 resolution, Supporting Palestinian and Israeli Partners in Peacemaking and to encourage WDC delegates support of the 2017 Seeking Peace in Israel and Palestine resolution which passed overwhelming in Orlando.  The task force encourages WDC congregation’s faithful response to the 2017 resolution by:

■   Understand the realities of the Occupation – study Kairos Palestine & MennoPIN Resources.

■   Engage Christian Zionism – encourage conversation & relationship with Zionists for a just peace.

■   Avoid economic support for the occupation – learn Boycotts, Divestments & Sanctions (BDS).

■   Strengthen relationships & understanding of Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian communities.

■   Partner with Palestinian, Israeli and Christian Peacemakers – in action, prayer & advocacy.

5/14/2020:  MennoPIN Appeal to help Gaza during Covid-19 crisis

MennoPIN Appeal Letter to help Gaza

Resources:

Cover Letter – WDC Israel Palestine Task Force Newsletter, March 2019   Espanol

WDC Israel Palestine Task Force Newsletter, March 2019   Espanol

Mennonite Church USA Resources

  • Resolution:  “Seeking Peace in Israel-Palestine”
  • Summary of the process of how this resolution came to be
  • Endorsements by Church Leaders
  • Listing of further resources for study

MennoPIN – “The Mennonite Palestine-Israel Network” – This volunteer group of Mennonites has extensive resources for study and reflection.

Facebook:  WDC Israel Palestine Task Force – Keep up-to-date on events in our conference that will help resource our delegates and others before the Orlando convention.

Mennonite Central Committee Palestine and Israel – MCC has been working with Israeli and Palestinian partners for so many years, they have deep understandings of the situation theologically, spiritually, politically and economically.

Jewish Voice for Peace

Make Your Own Hummus – A fun justice initiative

(February 2, 2019) “What Would They Say Now?  Encounters with People of the Bible – Six Reflections for Lent” by Friends of Sabeel North America is available for your Lenten study and prayer group now.  WDC Israel-Palestine Task Force encourages you to go to:  https://www.fosna.org/sites/default/files/Lent2018.pdf  to use this powerful resource.  “Let us journey through the Scriptures by immersing ourselves in the experiences of particular Biblical characters—in this booklet, Abraham, King Hezekiah, the exiled community in Babylon, Mary of Nazareth, the Magi journeying to Bethlehem, and Jesus on the Mount of Olives—and by subsequently pondering the similarities and differences between the “then” and the “now” in each sacred location. Our own personal experiences of life will help us to connect with the events of that far-away land, regardless of whether we have ever visited or will ever have any plans to travel there. By looking for some small role that each of us can actively fulfill in cultivating holiness in the Holy Land, that is, by promoting the growth of justice and compassion there, we can maintain a close relationship with the environment in which the Lord God chose to reveal the divine will to humanity.”  —Carole Monica Burnett & Diane Dublin, FOSNA Theology Committee

Members:

  • Bob Atchison
  • Katie Mitchell-Koch
  • Esther Koontz

Farm Worker Health Task Force

Purpose:  A resolution was presented, seconded and carried during the Western District Conference (WDC) sessions in 2003 at the Eden Mennonite Church, Moundridge, KS, to appoint a committee for the task of identifying the concerns and needs of the Low German Mennonites (LGM) from Mexico in the area of the WDC, especially in Kansas.

This Task Force is guided by the Mennonite Central Committee of Canada statement and/or mandate as we seek to be the appropriate resource in working with the Low German Mennonites in the WDC region.

Mennonite Central Committee seeks to share God’s love with LGM by working in a mutually beneficial relationship with local leaders, communities, and organizations to enhance their capacity to address such issues as poverty, conflict, literacy, health and natural disasters.

Mandate: MCC’s mandate is to partner with LGM in order to address locally identified needs which are congruent with MCC’s overall mission.  MCC at the international, national, provincial and regional levels are expected to follow a hemispheric approach with respect to goals, assumptions and program implementation strategies.

Goal 1:  To improve the literacy level of people in the LGM communities.

Goal 2:  To provide resources to LGM colonies for community building      projects.

Goal 3:  To coordinate a hemispheric approach in programs with LGM’s.

This led to the formation of the “Low German Mennonites from Mexico Support Committee Task Force” which coordinated with Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to help meet the health needs of the Low German migrant farm workers. This was especially beneficial because the Task Force could find Low German speakers to hire as Health Promoters or translators who would communicate with the Low German Mennonites to help them find resources they needed.  KDHE provides the funds through grants to pay the wages of the Health Promoters who work with Low German, Spanish, and English speaking farm workers.  The Health Promoters help their clients get appointments, help them get vouchers to pay for the medical appointments, and provide educational materials and information.

The program has expanded to include Spanish speaking farm workers.

At the February 3, 2021 Task Force meeting, the consensus was to change the name to “Farm Worker Health Task Force’ to reflect the actual population served by the Task Force.

Members:

  • Lotti Boschmann
  • Mary Duerksen
  • Margaret Goering
  • Carola Ratzlaff
  • Lici Roth (Health Care Promoter)

Trustee Task Force

Purpose:  To review loan applications for the Revolving Loan Fund.  To make recommendations as to the acceptance of property or disposal of property.  To evaluate and enter into legal contracts (real property).  To supervise and manage Conference property.

Members:

  • Eric Bruce
  • Rick Krehbiel
  • Gary Rediger