Juneteenth
Using our biennial theme of Listen – Wisdom is Calling, our pre-session seminar will focus on listening for Wisdom in Juneteenth themes.
Presenters: Elizabeth Kelly and Matt Pritchard
Elizabeth Kelly is the chair of the Missional Church Committee. She lives in Bluffton, Ohio.
Matt is the Associate Conference Minister of Emerging Communities of Faith and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.
Schumacher Homestead Tour
Facilitator: Doug Luginbill
The Schumacher Homestead offers a glimpse into the lives of Swiss immigrants in the area of Allen and Putnam Counties known as the Settlement during the mid 19th century. Those immigrants were the ancestors of many current residents here. Visitors may tour the house, summer kitchen, workshop and barn, which are filled with original and period items, as well as the garden. Also onsite is the new Heritage Center, nearing completion. That building is a reconstruction of another local barn built in the 1850s.
Wild Church Experience
Leaders: Janeen Bertsche Johnson, James Rissler, Brian Sauder, and Sarah Werner
You are welcome to join us for Wild Church at the Bluffton University Nature Preserve (off of Augsberger Road adjacent to the college campus). Wild Church is a unique way to experience the presence of God in creation and in community with one another. During this time we will hear scripture, spend time reflecting in nature, and share our experiences with one another. All ages and abilities are welcome. There is accessible parking and a paved path to our meeting place. If you’d like you can bring a chair or blanket, but seating will be provided.
Janeen Bertsche Johnson is campus pastor, admissions counselor, alumni director, and core adjunct faculty at AMBS, and a third-year student in AMBS’ Doctor of Ministry program. She is a member of Eighth Street Mennonite and on the leadership team of Outdoor Sanctuary–Goshen Wild Church, which started in January 2022 and meets two Sunday afternoons a month.
Sarah Werner is the communications coordinator for Central District Conference and the leader of Olentangy Wild Church in Columbus, Ohio. She is the author of Rooted Faith: Practices for Living Well on a Fragile Planet (Herald Press, 2023). She is a member of Columbus Mennonite Church.
James Rissler pastors Atlanta Mennonite Church, which has begun Wild Church services once a month at their regular 10am worship time. His D.Min. dissertation will reflect on how those who identify as spiritual but not religious experience their spirituality through Wild Church.
Brian Sauder is a member of First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana and leads the nonprofit Faith in Place (IL, IN, WI). He regularly co-leads a Wild Church gathering in Chicago.
Anabaptist Singing Through the Years (Hymnsing)
Presenters: Katie Graber and Adam Tice
Join Adam and Katie as they lead us in singing used and written by Anabaptists around the world through their 500 years of existence.
Katie Graber is an ethnomusicologist who studies race and ethnicity in a variety of contexts including Mennonite music, American music and European opera. Katie is the Intercultural Worship editor for the Voices Together project and the U.S. director of the Anabaptist Worship Network.
Adam Tice is GIA’s Editor for Congregational Song. He graduated from Goshen College, where he majored in music with an emphasis on composition and completed a minor in Bible and religion. Adam began working as a church musician and choir director while still in college.
Adam took his first course at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in the fall of 2003, which led to the writing of his initial hymn text. In 2004, Adam was named a Lovelace Scholar by the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada. Many of Adam’s hymn texts are proudly published by GIA.
Adam now lives with his family in Goshen, Indiana. He is the text editor for the 2020 Mennonite hymnal, Voices Together.
