***One Town’s Response to ICE – Stories from Harrisonburg
Brian Bolton will facilitate a panel discussion of what Harrisonburg has done in response to ICE.
Brian is a pastor at Shalom Mennonite Congregation
***Called to Solidarity with our Palestinian Siblings
In February of this year, Barry Johnson joined a 25-member delegation of North Americans (organized by Mennonite Men) to meet, learn from, and plant olive trees with Palestinians in the West Bank. Barry has slides and will share a story with you of his recent trip to Palestine.
Lydia Brenneman is a Palestinian who was there in November of 2025 for the Kairos Palestine conference. She returned to the United States determined to stand by her Palestinian Siblings. She will share her experiences and what we Mennonites are called to do.
Barry Johnson lives in Goshen, Indiana. He is a retired high school math teacher and basketball coach. Along with his wife Janeen, he is heavily involved at Eighth Street Mennonite Church and enjoys their two young grandsons.
Lydia Kuttab Brenneman lives in Saint Marys, Ohio, near Bluffton. I was born in Bethlehem and lived in Jerusalem. I am a Christian Palestinian. I am a retired chaplain at St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, Ohio.
Along with Brice, my husband, we have three grown children and are presently heavily involved in Lima Mennonite Church. I am a board member at large with the Central District Conference and recently volunteered as an interim leader of Mennonite Palestinian/Israeli Network, known as Menno PIN. I was in Bethlehem in November of 2025, with the Christian Conference on the Palestine Kairos II Document.
***An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
Led by Kristin Sancken
Building a vibrant faith community requires more than just good intentions. It requires a proactive commitment to safety, transparency, and mutual care. This seminar explores the essential “exercise” and “healthy eating” habits necessary to prevent disease within the Body of Christ. Guided by the principles of MC USA’s new “Prevention and Accountability Resource,” we will delve into three critical pillars of institutional wellness: policy, pastoral supervision, and congregational health. Join us as we move beyond reactive measures toward a culture of holistic health and enduring accountability.
Kristin Thomas Sancken was born in Panama, raised in Mexico, and came of age in Minnesota before settling in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she lives with her husband, two children, and a small menagerie of animals. She is Central District Conference’s new Coordinator for Church Safety. She holds a Master’s in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Doctorate in Ministry from Western Theological Seminary. Her award-winning writing has appeared in The Guardian, HuffPost, and Columbia Journal, and she publishes regularly on her Substack, Sanctuary of the Holy Others.
***Confessional Bible Study
Led by Alaina Dobkowski (Grand Rapids Fellowship), together with others who are practicing Confessional
Bible Study from Hively Mennonite Church, Milwaukee Mennonite Fellowship, Paoli Mennonite Fellowship, and Mennonite Church of Normal.
The Bible study practice, called Confessional Bible Study (CBS), originated from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) through the work of Dr. Mary Schertz in her Biblical Spirituality courses. Subsequently, it has been taken up by a grant-funded program at AMBS, Orienting With the Word. Several CDC congregations are currently involved in practicing CBS or have groups engaged in the Orienting With the Word program. The practice of Confessional Bible Study is designed for groups of any size to be interactive and engaging. Practitioners of CBS read a text together, ask questions of the text using the knowledge of the group and consulting study helps, engage in artful response, and worship together.
Alaina Dobkowski
Courage to Confront Shame
Building on her dissertation research, Janeen Bertsche Johnson will invite us to reflect on ways shame can hurt individuals and communities. We’ll then explore ways to make our congregations and conference places of healing from shame.
Janeen Bertsche Johnson
Congregational Sex Ed and You: Using “Our Whole Lives” With Youth
Led by Moriah Hurst and Phil Yoder
In this seminar, congregational leaders from several CDC churches will share about how they are using the curriculum “Our Whole Lives” to build positive, affirming, accurate, and faithful sexual health programs for youth. We will learn about the scope of the curriculum and the Anabaptist companion currently being compiled to supplement, explore several different ways to use it, and brainstorm what education about human sexuality can look like in our own congregations.
Moriah Hurst
Phil Yoder
