More than 130 people from 39 churches gathered at Bethany Church in Fresno, California, for the Pacific District Conference convention Nov. 6-7, 2025.
Themed “Together we are the PDC,” highlights included the presentation of a “Reimagining the PDC” document by District Minister Jordan Ringhofer, which outlines a three-year process to align leadership structures, financial models and collaborative ministries to strengthen the district’s shared mission.
In addition, three Together sessions expanded on the convention theme and focused on rebuilding trust, strengthening relationships and embracing the future within the PDC.
Delegates also approved the 2026 budget, affirmed board nominations, heard presentations from agency partners and representatives and attended listening sessions with PDC boards.
Ringhofer and Moderator Randy Reiswig facilitated business sessions Thursday and Friday, with Ringhofer calling attendees to “see one another as brothers and sisters in Christ,” as they reflected on the convention theme verses (Eph. 4:1-4).
Acknowledging the past, looking to a new way in future
Brent Deffenbacher, pastor at Bethany Church, provided a welcome message Thursday morning, asking attendees if they ever felt like they didn’t fit in. Deffenbacher shared his own experience of feeling like he didn’t belong–especially within the Mennonite Brethren community.
“I wasn’t MB,” Deffenbacher says. “I didn’t have the right last name. I didn’t fit in.”
The opening message set the stage for the Together sessions, which Reiswig notes in the PDC convention session guide were “designed to help us take one step forward on this journey” toward unity.
Together session 1
Ed Boschman, former USMB national director and LEAD coach, and Juan Wall, pastor of Iglesia Fuente de Vida in Parlier, California, presented the first of the Together sessions: Step 1—Acknowledging the reality and renewing our why.
Boschman talked about “the reality of distrust,” and shared personal experiences about bruises he had received as a pastor, as a leader and as the former USMB national director. He explained the personal and missional costs of allowing lack of trust to stay unaddressed.
“Without the baseline of trust, you don’t go anywhere,” Boschman says.
Boschman called attendees to a shared commitment to a new and better future while also acknowledging and confessing shortcomings of the past.
Wall shared his experiences of hurt due to mistrust and how the forming of the Hispanic Council felt like the only way to have a voice within the Mennonite Brethren conference at times.
“We had to be our own silo,” Wall says.
Wall acknowledged that at times, “It feels like we are a parallel conference.” The relationship of the Hispanic Council and PDC is one Wall says must be addressed.
Together session 2
Luke LeViere, chair of the Board of Faith and Life, and Kelsey Ensz, office support at Kingwood Bible Church in Salem, Oregon, presented Together: Step 2—Strengthening relationships: Walking in unity.
Ensz talked about the importance of building trust, which requires honest, clear, sincere, transparent communication without hidden agendas. LeViere provided practical ideas on how to build trust within the district like connecting with MB churches in an area.
“You can’t microwave trust,” LeViere says. “You have to slow cook it.”
Together session 3
Ringhofer and Aaron Box, USMB national director, presented the final Together session Step 3—Moving forward in unity and purpose.
While welcoming Box to the stage, Ringhofer posed the question, “How are we going to come together to discern what the Spirit is going to do in and through us?”
Additionally, Box shared that he has talked extensively with Ringhofer about a renewed commitment to community and missions within the PDC, which stems from a shared confession and mission. Box says the Great Commission is what we as MBs are about.
“This is our mandate for the church,” he says. “This is not a great suggestion.”
In talking about renewed vision, Box presented an updated mission from USMB, focusing on three “Ds”—disciple, develop and deploy.
“We’re more effective at this when we work together, when we are united,” Box says. “It’s that leaning in that strengthens that glue.”
2026 budget and board reports
Delegates also heard reports from PDC boards and ministry partners while meeting Thursday and Friday.
Joe Ringhofer, PDC accountant, presented the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026. Delegates approved the budget of $525,707, nearly $21,000 less than the 2025 budget. The decrease reflects the conclusion of the temporary increase in corpus distributions (the disbursement of the assets to beneficiaries) that applied to fiscal years 2023-25. The largest expense category is salaries and benefits at $233,432, which covers one full-time position, three part-time positions and three Hispanic regional pastors.
In their report to delegates, the Board of NextGen Leadership celebrated distributing over $25,000 this year in grants to nine churches and 28 young leaders.
The Board of Faith and Life announced the licensure of 31 pastors over the last two years as well as the ordination of Tony Petersen, pastor of Mountain View Church-Clovis Campus, the first ordination the PDC had seen in several years.
The Board of Home Missions shared a snapshot of church-planting efforts and projects they had supported and funded, including two new church relaunches as well as a collaborative launch of Iglesia Los Hechos, Lincoln Glen in San Jose, California.
The Hispanic Council reported on the relaunch of ministries across churches as well as the role of regional pastors who act as regional connectors for other pastors. While presenting the report, Xavier Piña, Hispanic Council chair, emphasized the importance of the convention theme, recognizing that each separate church comes together as one body in Christ.
“Every piece (is) distinct,” Piña says, later adding: “Some pieces are smooth, some cracked, but when placed in the hands of Christ, they are something beautiful and whole.”
Delegates also convened Friday morning as owners of Fresno Pacific University. Josh Wilson, FPU Board of Trustees chair, welcomed André Stephens, FPU president, to provide the university’s report.
Stephens shared that a lot has happened at FPU in the two years since the PDC last convened, including staff cuts, a clean up of finances, upgrades across the campus, increased enrollment, celebrating 80 years and fundraising growth. In the last two years, Stephens reported FPU has raised almost $20 million.
Board of Home Missions banquet
Over 140 people attended the Board of Home Missions banquet on Thursday night at Bethany Church, which highlighted creative church multiplication efforts across the district.
Gavin Linderman, pastor of Axiom Church, Lance Linderman and Micah Bentley, Axiom worship and arts pastor, talked about creating kingdom ecosystems, something they have piloted in Peoria, Arizona.
Tyler Cole, pastor of Lincoln Glen Church in San Jose, California, and Alex Maravilla, pastor of Iglesia Los Hechos, Lincoln Glen, related the story of sharing space within Lincoln Glen’s existing building.
Fred Leonard, pastor of Mountain View Church in Fresno, Calif., shared about The Network, a collaborative effort among a number of MB churches eager to plant new churches.
More conversations to come
Attendees participated in listening sessions with the Hispanic Council and boards of NextGen Leadership, Home Missions, Trustees and Faith and Life on Friday afternoon. Chairs and board members from each board welcomed delegates and attendees to ask questions about reports, share concerns or provide input.
At the conclusion of the listening sessions, Ringhofer and Reiswig took questions from delegates and attendees on the “Reimaging the PDC” document.
Both Ringhofer and Reiswig clarified that nothing is currently changing, but the district would be going into a two-year process of discernment to determine how to address organizational structure, engage churches and propose an updated giving model to support the PDC.
“We need to have a lot more conversations,” Ringhofer says. “In two years, we’re really walking through what this means, and we’re saying yes to something more clearly.
“(We’re) inviting you to work with us over the next two years for the sake of our conference and the sake of our mission.”
Lacey joined the Christian Leader staff as editor in July 2025. She has more than two decades of experience in editorial writing and strategic communications, creating and editing content for newspaper, magazines, websites and email campaigns. Lacey, her husband and their two girls live in Wichita, Kansas, and attend Ridgepoint Church.
