A Christian Leader Editorial Committee has been formed to fulfill one of six recommendations proposed by the CL Review Team and approved by the USMB Leadership Board at its October 2021 meeting.
The Editorial Committee has met twice in 2022 via Zoom to orient itself to its responsibilities and the work of the magazine. The group will meet again March 10 to begin selecting themes and writers. The first issue that will reflect the Editorial Committee’s work will be the Sept/Oct 2022 Christian Leader.
According to the recommendation, the Editorial Committee will “collaborate with the editor and associate editor in selecting themes and topics and isolating timely issues.” The Editorial Committee will also help to “discern ‘right voices’ to write specific articles.”
Members of the Editorial Committee are: Matt Ehresman, media director at Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kan., and host of USMB LEAD Pods; Rick Eshbaugh, Central District minister; Michele Fiester, church planter at Renewal MB Church in Rapid City, S.D.; Aaron Garza, associate pastor at Mountain View Church Sunnyside in Fresno, Calif.; Ryan Loewen, assistant professor of theology at Tabor College and pastor of worship and adult ministries at Hillsboro (Kan.) MB Church; Lynn Patterson, university program specialist in communications outreach at Appalachian State University who attends Boone (N.C.) MB Church; and Shelly Spencer, office manager at Butler Church, Fresno, Calif.
CL editor Connie Faber and Janae Rempel, CL associate editor, as well as Don Morris, USMB national director and editor-in-chief, also serve on the committee.
A CL Review Committee is still to be named. The Review Committee will review feature essays, the editorial and other content that contains theological perspectives prior to publication.
This article has been posted by Christian Leader staff. The Christian Leader is the magazine of U.S. Mennonite Brethren.
Curious as to what precipitated this decision. It didn’t arise from nothing. Were objections raised to the editorial calls for social justice? I have recently heard such objections in churches. That is unfortunate, as both our denomination and broader Anabaptist family have a history nonviolently protest in the interest of the oppressed. We fundraise for the international equivalents of such causes every year at our quilt sales. I fear the politics of our own backyard are subverting our call to meet our literal neighbors’ real needs, and we may not even speak of them anymore.