The business agenda at the 35th U.S. Conference of MB Churches National Convention involved elections, voting on three recommendations and hearing a financial update as well as brief reports from the Board of Faith and Life and USMB NextGen. Delegates affirmed two of the recommendations and rejected a third.
Board nominees affirmed
Friday morning, delegates affirmed new board members and passed two recommendations.
The four Leadership Board nominees were affirmed: Dave Thiessen, an incumbent from Clovis, California; Samuel Hailemariam, Indianapolis, Indiana; Amy Jackson-Kincaid, Morganton, North Carolina; and Jason Quiring, Saratoga Springs, Utah.
Delegates also affirmed the nominees for the Leadership Board executive committee: Dave Thiessen, chair; Jared Pulliam, Portland, Oregon, vice chair; Joan Warkentin, Wichita, Kansas, secretary; and Gaven Banik, Hartford, South Dakota, treasurer.
Pastors Tom Byford, Hillsboro, Kansas, and Rod Suess, Lodi, California, were elected to the Board of Faith and Life (BFL).
At every convention, delegates elect members to the Leadership Board and Board of Faith and Life. Board members can serve two four-year terms, and terms are staggered, assuring that there is regular turnover.
Following 2024 elections, both the Leadership Board and BFL are comprised of relative newcomers. Four years of experience is the most that any returning member brings to either the Leadership Board or BFL. Of the elected Leadership Board members, one has four years of experience, five have two years or less and three are new. Of the elected BFL members, two have two years of experience and two are new to the role.
The Leadership Board and BFL also include the USMB national director and district ministers, hired by their respective districts, as ex officio members. In addition to serving as lead staff members of their districts, district ministers and the national director also serve on the National Strategy Team, as does a representative of Multiply and MB Foundation.
As was noted during the district ministers panel that was part of the Pastors’ Conference, 2024 also marks a significant transition among district ministers. James Moore and Darrin Foddrell, Eastern District co-district ministers, and Brian Harris, Southern District, were hired in 2024. Daniel Rodriguez (Central District) was hired in 2022 and Jordan Ringhofer (Pacific District) in 2020. Aaron Rodriguez (LAMB) is the most experienced district minister, taking on the role in 2017.
In other elections, delegates affirmed Talitha Sannes-Venhuizen, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and Vivian Wheeler, incumbent from Blaine, Washington, to four-year terms on the Multiply board of directors.
Jesse Hohm, incumbent from Huron, South Dakota; Aaron Abbott, Enid, Oklahoma; Todd Oster, Gettysburg, South Dakota; and Joshua Skarphol, Portland, Oregon, were affirmed to serve on the MB Foundation Board of Directors.
Don Isaac, incumbent from Hillsboro, Kansas, and Maricela B. Chavez, incumbent from Orange Cove, California, were elected to four-year terms on the Historical Commission.
During the Friday evening general session, outgoing Leadership Board chair Luke Haidle asked newly elected board members to come to the front of the room for a commissioning prayer. Telling the audience that by voting them into office, they had given the boards authority to act on their behalf, Haidle asked the delegates to extend their arms toward the board members and to simultaneous pray out loud “Thai style” for the newly elected board members.
Recommendations affirmed
The recommendation to update bylaws for Multiply, the North American Mennonite Brethren mission agency, passed with no discussion. The revisions, said Leadership Board chair Haidle, were housekeeping in nature and did not change “the flow of authority or governance.”
Delegates also passed the recommendation to affirm ICOMB USA as an affiliate of USCMBC. ICOMB stands for International Community of Mennonite Brethren, a global fellowship that helps to connect and strengthen 23 national Mennonite Brethren conferences.
When asked for details about ICOMB USA, Bob Davis, ICOMB USA advocate, tells the Christian Leader that ICOMB USA traces its history to a task force formed in 2021. The task force was charged with developing a proposal for increasing awareness among U.S. Mennonite Brethren of ICOMB’s ongoing work. The Leadership Board approved those goals in November 2021.
Included in the proposal was inviting Davis, a regional team leader with Multiply, to work part-time as an ICOMB advocate. The ICOMB USA Council was formed and includes Davis, Hermann Mputu, Hamilton, Ohio; Jana Hildebrandt, Wichita, Kansas; Samuel Hailemariam, Indianapolis, Indiana; Fred Leonard, Clovis, California; and Ruth Schale, Bakersfield, California.
In November 2022, ICOMB USA was incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Kansas as an affiliate of USMB. In an email, Davis says, “It was the lawyer’s suggestion that this relationship should be affirmed by the USMB constituency at a convention in order to have it recorded in the minutes. Doing so strengthens the relationship between USMB and ICOMB USA and allows ICOMB to receive donations through USMB.”
Reversion clause revision fails
Friday morning, Haidle also introduced the third recommendation, a revision to Article IV (Conference Relationships), Section 1 (Relation to Member Churches) of USMB bylaws. The proposed change gives district conferences flexibility in addressing a church’s capital assets if the church dissolves or leaves the conference and indicates that no legal action may be taken if a church denies a reversion request.
Delegates had several options, Haidle said, regarding the recommendation. They could approve the bylaw revision, reject it or pass it and request “even more tweaks.” Because of time constraints, Haidle moved discussion of the revision to Saturday.
During the Saturday morning discussion, delegates asked for more information about the history of the reversion clause. In their responses about past occasions when the reversion clause was and wasn’t applied, Leadership Board members and district leaders spoke about financial and spiritual investments. They cited situations in which districts had “poured” money into churches only to have the church leave the district and spoke about “protecting” the intent of original church members when a “legacy” church leaves a district.
Two delegates said the word “may” in the revision was ambiguous. “Bylaws ought to be clear and crisp,” said one delegate.
Several delegates spoke to the complexity of the issue.
“In the Pacific District we do not have a consensus on how to treat reversions,” said Josh Wilson, a delegate from Shafter (Calif.) MB Church. “We’re split—as trustees and as delegates. I would like to see a comprehensive national discussion. This is vague. I don’t think we’re ready to act on this.”
Delegate Anthony Balakien, Reedley (Calif.) MB Church, agreed. “There is a bigger discussion we should have together—not when just 30 minutes are left in the convention.”
For the recommended bylaw revision to pass, two-thirds of the delegates needed to vote yes. With a vote of 57 for and 54 against, the vote did not have the required two-thirds majority.
Delegates hear reports
Board of Faith and Life chair Dave Loewen reported that after two years of work, the board has released a document on what it means to love neighbors, friends and family members who experience same sex attraction. Districts have received the document to distribute as a tool to pastors and church leaders. BFL is also working on a document about transgender identity issues. Loewen said the board is asking all USMB pastors to sign a pastoral credentialing covenant on sexual ethics.
Loewen ended his report with words of advice for new USMB leaders. “With our whole hearts we need to see things the way our Lord Jesus of the Bible sees things,” Loewen said, “discussing what we see with other believers who also seek the Jesus of the Bible, discerning together what these things mean.”
In his financial report, Leadership Board treasurer Gaven Banik said the board struggled to develop a 2024 budget that allowed for double salaries while staff members were in transition. Thanks to the MB Foundation distribution of $309,101, significantly more than the $90,000 budgeted amount, “we’re doing okay, considering all the transitions,” Banik said.
Kyle Goings, USMB NextGen chair, reported on the national summer camp, youth leaders’ network and Leadership Pipeline, a program intended to identify, equip and invest in emerging vocational ministry leaders. This summer 25 churches and 27 youth were involved in the internship program, compared to six churches the previous year.
“Everyone is a result of someone who invested in them,” Goings said.
Additional updates and reports were included in general sessions. Delegates heard from Fresno Pacific University, International Community of Mennonite Brethren, MB Foundation, Multiply and Tabor College as well as an update on church planting, LEAD Coaching and CORD, an initiative to support immigrant churches. Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite Disaster Service and Mennonite World Conference provided videos about their work.
Delegates were encouraged to print the business material and reports prior to the convention since a limited number of printed copies would be available in Omaha. USMB and agency reports as well as the recommendations and supporting documents and the list of nominees, biographies and the ballot were distributed electronically prior to the convention and digital copies were accessible on the Whova event app. Delegates made good use of the Whova app to connect with one another and follow announcements during the week.
Connie Faber joined the magazine staff in 1994 and assumed the duties of editor in 2004. She has won awards from the Evangelical Press Association for her writing and editing. Faber is the co-author of Family Matters: Discovering the Mennonite Brethren. She and her husband, David, have two daughters, one son, one daughter-in-law, one son-in-law and three grandchildren. They are members of Ebenfeld MB Church in Hillsboro, Kansas.
