Miriam Martin, conference minister for Atlantic Coast Conference and Anita Amstutz, pastor of Albuquerque (N.M.) Mennonite Church share a laugh during the Mission Leaders Meeting, organized by the U.S. Ministries department of Mennonite Mission Network, May 19-21 in Colorado Springs.
Nearly 40 congregational, conference and denominational leaders examined how to empower conferences and congregations to be agents of missional change. Amstutz, one of the presenters, said reconciliation and transformation are possible and the church must be the primary messenger of God’s love, but the mission and glory belong to God. Amstutz and fellow presenter Don Rheinheimer, who co-pastors Mountain Community Mennonite Church in Palmer Lake, Colo., with Jan, his wife, encouraged leaders to regain their prophetic voices by nurturing their own spirituality, worshiping God, allowing passion to drive their ministry and making prayer the center of church life – listening closely for where God is active in the world and seeking to join that ministry.
