p a nor a m a Celebrating with the people and congregations of Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference
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Delegates at PSMC’s abbreviated summer assembly in Phoenix join hands in prayer after taking a financial leap of faith.
Investing our ‘talents’ A big ‘yes’ from delegates means PSMC will dig into savings to sow the seeds of church growth
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t Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference’s abbreviated assembly in July, delegates voted 95% in favor of the conference’s new Mission Policy –– and to use an injection of reserve funds to invest in growth over the next three years. The spending plan marks a bold step forward that conference leaders hope and trust will lead to more and bigger congregations, stronger giving and more stable funding in future years, to be used for expanding our witness and serving the purposes to which God is calling Mennonites in the Southwest. At the February assembly, the board asked delegates to approve new positions at a cost of approximately $225,000 to help create a “fully functioning staff”: a half-time minister of missions, a quarter-time youth minister and a quarter-time secretary, to supplement the current positions of conference minister, office administrator and bookkeeper, as well as the net-
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work of elders that offer their time to work with smaller clusters of congregations. After receiving positive feedback at that meeting, the board hired the conference’s first paid youth minister. John Murray, of Trinity Mennonite Church in Glendale, Ariz., took up those duties this spring. The board also proposed setting aside $100,000 to invest in church planting and $65,000 to develop an Anabaptist Center, while maintaining a reserve of $160,000. Delegates, saying the plan shows common sense, faith and strategic thinking, encouraged taking a “step of faith” to translate the $500,000 total investment into people, programs and congregations, while accepting the possibility that some programs may need to close at some point. One invoked the “parable of the talents,” suggesting that the conference has been sitting on many “talents” for some time and should be investing them. There was a note of caution, though: Delegates noted that new churches typically aren’t able to start giving in any substantial way to the conference for many years, and it was suggested that leaders take a careful look at progress over each of the next three years.
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Immigrant moderator marks a turning point for PSMC
A Southwest launch for Anabaptist church planters in Korea
‘Circles’ reach out to society’s biggest outcasts
Advocating for our undocumented brothers & sisters
A Fresno artist’s ‘Menno Pop Surrealismº’