CONVENTION NEWSLETTER MARCH 2014 The Road Not Take ad other covetio oddities A ote from Gle Guyto, director of covetio plaig Two roads diverged i a yellow wood, Ad sorry I could ot travel both Ad be oe traveler, log I stood Ad looked dow oe as far as I could To where it bet i the udergrowth; from The Road Not Take by Robert Frost Life s joureys take us to may uexpected places. If you had told me 30 years ago that I would be leadig covetios for Meoite Church USA, I ever would have ever believed you. Of course 30 years ago there was o Meoite Church USA, ad the oly Meos I kew of were foud swimmig i pods (miows). But ow here we are, together o this jourey to Godoly-kows-where. That is the fuy thig about joureys: whether it is a quick trip to the coveiece store, a drive to work, or a cross-coutry road trip, uexpected thigs ca happe. Remid me to tell you about a bus, a gazelle, ad my travels to Meoite World Coferece i Zimbabwe sometime. As we prepare for KC2015, I hope you are excited about all the uexpected thigs that ca happe whe we are o a jourey with God. I hope you are expectig the uexpected. This covetio KC2015 is all about the gospel or the good ews. As always, there will be discussios about various thigs happeig i ad aroud our church ad i ad aroud our world, but as covetio plaig staff, we ecourage you to focus o the gospel. Luke 24 will be our theme text, ad we ivite you to joi us i begiig to egage it ow ot just durig the five days we sped together i July 2015. What does it mea to jourey with God? What does it mea to walk with the Savior but fail to recogize him i our life? How amazig is it whe we coect with God ad feel our hearts burig with love ad uderstadig? O the way E el camio These are a few of the questios we would like to explore o this jourey to KC2015. We hope you ll travel with us o the way. IN THIS ISSUE Theme text ad scripture chose Meoite Church USA covetio ad Meoite World Coferece Assembly Gathered. What s the skiy? Show us your Stella pride Registratio ad pricig Meet the covetio plaig Staff
Theme text ad Scripture chose for KC2015 The the two [travelers o the Road to Emmaus] told what had happeed o the way, ad how Jesus was recogized by them whe he broke the bread. Luke 24:35 O the Way / E el Camio has bee chose as the theme for Meoite Church USA s ext bieial covetio, to be held Jue 30 July 5, 2015, i Kasas City, Mo. Developig a firm faith foudatio does t happe overight. That s the message that covetio plaers wat to drive home for participats who atted. Christ is our focus, ad our lifelog jourey is to follow him, said Gle Guyto, director of Covetio Plaig. We wat to sped some time focusig o what it meas to be o a jourey with Jesus ad how that chages our daily ecouters with people. The theme scripture for the covetio week is Luke 24, a passage that icludes stories of the wome fidig Jesus tomb empty, the disciples ecouter with Jesus o the Road to Emmaus, ad Jesus ascesio ad commissioig of the disciples. Luke 24:35 reads, The the two [travelers o the Road to Emmaus] told what had happeed o the way, ad how Jesus was recogized by them whe he broke the bread. Luke 24 is a really rich passage, said Haah Heizekehr, director of commuicatio ad covetio plaig coordiator. There is so much food for thought here about what it meas to ecouter ad be chaged by Jesus over ad over agai, i our daily lives. It s ot a oe-time thig, but rather a relatioship that evolves over time. The theme was chose by the Cabiet of Meoite Church USA s Executive Board staff, led by Ervi Stutzma, executive director. The group spet several days of retreat together i the fall, spedig time with Scripture ad i prayer to discer the theme ad text for the Kasas City covetio. They were ispired by the words of Luke 24, as well as the 1995 Cofessio of Faith i A Meoite Perspective, both of which emphasize Jesus call to follow his teachigs ad his path through sufferig to ew life. The theme has bee tested ad affirmed by members of the deomiatio s Executive Board. Covetio is a five-day evet, but the impact of the worship ad fellowship ca last a lifetime, said Guyto. We are all o a jourey together, ad God is callig us to a yet ureached destiatio. But hopefully our hearts are burig, ad there is a fire withi us as we are seekig to follow Jesus every day. Press release from Meoite Church USA Meoite Church USA covetio ad Meoite World Coferece Assembly Gathered: What s the skiy? If you re like may folks out there, you might be scratchig your head ad woderig how the ext Meoite Church USA covetio (Jue 30 July 5, 2015) is related to the ext Meoite World Coferece (MWC) Assembly Gathered (July 21 26, 2015, i Harrisburg, Pa.). Fear ot! You are ot aloe, ad we re here to clear up the cofusio with aswers to the questios we receive most ofte. Why are these two gatherigs beig held so close together? There is a lot of history behid these decisios. I 2010, whe Meoite World Coferece made the decisio to hold their assembly i the Uited States, Meoite Church USA had already siged cotracts to meet i Kasas City i 2015. To withdraw from these cotracts would have resulted i sigificat fiacial pealties. At that time, leaders from Meoite Church USA ad MWC had several coversatios about how to best work at facilitatig two major cofereces so close together. Meoite Church USA ivited MWC to thik about a joit gatherig. MWC leaders felt that doig so would feel exclusive to other MWC members, sice Meoite Church USA is oly oe of the members represeted i MWC. Meoite Church USA leaders suggested havig the youth joi the MWC Assembly, but it became clear that MWC would ot
be able to accommodate the large umbers of youth who usually atted the Meoite Church USA covetio, i additio to other assembly attedees. Although we are hostig two separate gatherigs, Gle Guyto, director of covetio plaig for Meoite Church USA, ad Liesa Uger, special evets coordiator for MWC, have bee workig together to fid ways to collaborate i order to assure that both evets are meaigful ad well atteded. Will the Meoite Church USA covetio be differet or smaller? You ca expect to experiece eergetic worship, meaigful ad egagig semiars, delegate sessios to discuss resolutios ad issues impactig the church, special evets, ad more. We always strive to improve covetio, so there may be some ew elemets as well. We are hopig that the Meoite Church USA covetio will also have a bit more of a global flavor as we host guests from aroud the world who are comig to the U.S. to atted both gatherigs. Which gatherig should I atted? Both! Covetio Plaig ad Meoite World Coferece are workig together to idetify icetives ad we hope discouts for idividuals who are able to atted both of these summer evets. Meoite World Coferece has stated clearly that they do ot have the capacity to host a full-fledged evet for youth. The Global Youth Summit, which will occur prior to the MWC Assembly, is for youg adults ages 18 ad older. High-school-age youth will have morig activities at the MWC Assembly but will otherwise be expected to joi the overall adult programmig. The Meoite Church USA covetio will still cotiue to offer full-fledged programmig for people of all ages. Why should I atted a Meoite Church USA covetio? There are may reasos to atted a gatherig like covetio. They iclude: Faith formatio. Covetios are ot oly a fu place to hag out with frieds, but also a place where lives are trasformed. Each year after covetio, our iboxes are full of stories from youth ad adults who felt called to commit themselves to walkig alogside Christ, either for the first time or agai. Or from people who are rejuveated ad reeergized to live out their call. Learig more about Meoites across the coutry. The People i the Pew study, which surveyed leaders ad people across Meoite Church USA, showed a clear correlatio betwee attedig a covetio ad makig a commitmet to beig a active participat i the church. Covetio is also a place where people ca catch a glimpse of the diversity that exists amog Meoites i the Uited States. Networkig ad fellowship. Covetio is a time to meet ew frieds, metors ad co-workers, as well as to visit with old frieds. Opportuities for learig. At each covetio, we dig deep ito a theme ad ito Scripture, ad we offer workshops that provide educatio ad ope up space for coversatio aroud pressig issues i the church. Opportuity to be a part of churchwide decisio makig. Delegates play a importat role, represetig their cogregatios ad participatig i discussig resolutios ad discerig the way forward for Meoite Church USA. Iteract with Meoite Church USA agecies ad colleges. The exhibit hall at covetio provides a chace to get a sapshot of the good work that agecies ad educatioal istitutios across Meoite Church USA are doig, ad to lear how to get ivolved. If you ve got a questio that we did t aswer here, e-mail us aytime: covetio@meoiteusa.org.
Registratio ad pricig Covetio is a ivestmet of your time, eergy ad fiacial resources. We try to keep our programs as affordable as possible, but it also takes a lot of resources to pla a evet for 6,000+ people. We ever wat moey to be what keeps you from comig. We offer scholarships based o eed ad work with cogregatios ad area cofereces to help them parter to sed people to covetio. Registratio for Kasas City 2015 will begi o Ja. 15, 2015. Here s the cost breakdow for covetio evets: Registratio Adults...$229 Youth...$229 Sposors...$219 Jr. Youth/Sposors*...$399 Childre: K-5...$150 Childre: Preschool...$130 Ifats/Toddlers...$10/sessio Eveig childcare...$13/sessio *The registratio fee for Juior Youth icludes program costs as well as a full meal pla for the week. Meals Full meals...$220 Luch/dier...$170 Luch oly...$80 Dier oly...$95 Show us your Stella pride You may remember Stella from Phoeix that sazzy little dove flyig aroud with a cactus blossom i her mouth. You took Stella o some pretty fu trips: she joied youth groups across the coutry, flew o plaes, rode o trais ad was see all over the covetio ceter i Phoeix. Ad the good ews is that Stella s joureys did t ed i Phoeix. She s back with a ew look for Kasas City, stadig up ad tweetig her Meoite pride with a saxophoe. We ivite you to prit Stella out ad carry her with you as you prepare for covetio. You ca joi us o Facebook (Meoite Church USA Covetio), Twitter (@MeCo) or Istagram (@MeoCo) ad share your Stella sapshots with us. Every Wedesday, share a sapshot ad tag it with #MeoGram or #MeoCo15. We ll select the top five Stella shots ad feature them o the homepage of our website. Ad, if you re really lucky, you ad your Stella photo might be featured i a coutdow video show durig opeig worship i Kasas City. So do t waste ay time: prit Stella out today ad let us see your Meoite pride!
Meet the covetio plaig staff Scott Hartma, Gle Alexader Guyto, Haah Heizekehr, Carol Epp, Sarah A Bixler, Abbey Roth, Rachel Spriger Gerber Gle Alexader Guyto of Sa Atoio, Texas, is director of fiace ad covetio plaig. He is the husbad of oe, the father of two, ad a lifelog shepherd to may. His passios are family, food ad youth miistry. He gives oversight to all of covetio ad focuses especially o workig alogside the youth. Haah Heizekehr is covetio plaig coordiator ad director of commuicatios. She joied the Meoite Church USA Executive Board staff two years ago ad jumped right ito plaig for the Phoeix covetio. Haah works with special evets, semiars ad all thigs commuicatio website, social media, ewsletters, etc. She lives i Newto, Ka., with her husbad, Justi, ad oe-year-old daughter. Carol Epp is the covetio plaig assistat. She has worked with covetio plaig sice 1991. If you ve got a covetio questio, Carol s the oe to go to for aswers. She works at coordiatig registratio ad hudreds of logistics for each covetio. She ad her husbad, Arle, live i orther Idiaa. Scott Hartma is the covetio plaig coordiator. Scott has bee helpig pla the churchwide covetios for over 15 years. He s costatly amazed by the voluteers who are willig to give so much of their time before ad at covetio. He works closely with registratio, exhibits, recreatio ad the may logistics that make covetio a success. He loves seeig all the parts fall ito place as the covetio week ufolds. Rachel Spriger Gerber is deomiatioal miister for youth ad youg adults. Rachel has a Master of Diviity degree from Easter Meoite Semiary, Harrisoburg, Va. Recetly she fiished her first book, Ordiary Miracles, a memoir o the miistry of parethood to be published by Herald Press i 2014. Rachel will serve o the youth worship plaig committee ad will coordiate youg adult programmig for KC2015. She lives i Bloomigto, Id., with her husbad, Shaw, ad three sos. Sarah Bixler is director of childre s ad juior youth programmig for KC2015. Sarah has a deep passio for faith formatio ad youg people i Meoite Church USA. She has worked as a middle school teacher, cogregatioal ad coferece youth miister ad admiistrator, ad Gather Roud curriculum writer. Sarah is pursuig a Master of Diviity at Priceto Theological Semiary i New Jersey. She is married to Bejami, ad they have three livig childre. Abbey Roth is the covetio plaig iter. Abbey is a seior at the Uiversity of Norther Iowa i Cedar Falls, studyig maagemet ad Huma Resources. She coordiates social media feeds (Facebook, Twitter ad Istagram) for covetio ad also was the producer of the live delegate sessio video feeds at Phoeix 2013. For more covetio ews ad updates, follow us olie: Website: www.meoiteusa.org/covetio Facebook: www.facebook.com/mcusa.covetio Twitter: www.twitter.com/meco Istagram: www.istagram.com/meoco