Bethany Mennonite Church

Why we will no longer be a welcoming church

We’ve decided to quit being a welcoming church. No kidding. We’re giving it up. Like so many congregations, we’ve sunk an amazing amount of time and energy into becoming a welcoming church. We changed worship styles, trained greeters and ushers, wore name tags, brewed coffee, went to workshops on hospitality and put our friendliest people …

Why Homosexuality Is Not Like Other Sins

Homosexuality is not the only sin prohibited in the Bible, but it is different from all the rest, at least right now. And we have really good news for homosexuals.

Kids retrace the steps of their Mennonite ancestors

HENDERSON—Kids entered their own imaginations Wednesday afternoon as they traced the steps of their Mennonite ancestors as they journeyed from Russia to America. This youth camp is an annual event

How the Military Became Patty Bear’s Path Out of Trauma and the Mennonite Church

Bear’s story is the focus of her book “From Plain to Plane: My Mennonite Childhood, a National Scandal, and an Unconventional Soar to Freedom.”

When Road Scholars make homemade noodles: Mennonite cookbook heritage

Shirley Hershey Showalter wrote in her recently published memoir, Blush, “Almost every culture and religion uses food to support its most cherished values.” MennoMedia believes that strongly. Do yo…

Your Small Church Is Not Too Small for Global Missions

Scott Slayon on how small churches can be involved in global missions as they pray, get to know missionaries, meet international neighbors, and go on trips.

There once was a Mennonite blogger…

Ah, St. Patrick’s Day. Surely one of the least Mennonite holidays of the year. It’s not that there aren’t any Mennonites of Irish descent. There might not be a lot of Mennonite Ch…

All I Really Need to Know About Leadership I Learned at Home and Church

Guest blog post by Shirley Hershey Showalter, author of Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World (Herald Press, 2013) Train up a child in the way she should go, and when she is old, she wil…

How I escaped the Mennonites — and my ‘domestic terrorist’ father

In a case that made national headlines, Mennonite Robert L. Bear was excommunicated in 1972 for questioning church leaders and accusing them of hypocrisy — and treated sympathetically by the press …

When you’re the only one who shows up to church

At an Episcopal church in Portland, the show must go on – even when it's just the priest and you.

10 Reasons Why You Should Underprogram Your Church

The "simple church" is able to cast off that which entangles it, even the religious nets of its own devising for the fishing for men, and follow Christ wherever he may go.

How to Avoid Being Fired When Leading a Growing Church

For sure, there are no guarantees. But we have heard from many change leaders who have found these approaches to be highly effective. Leading change is difficult. Leading change wisely is best.

Teach Your Entire Church to Welcome Visitors

Is it time to remodel your church?

Church interiors can leave their mark not only on the liturgy but also on the life of the parish as a whole. Maybe it's time to give them more thought.