Minatrea with Mennonite Annual Convention

Summer is the time when families get together and visit. Laughter flies as stories are told at reunions across America. With many similarities, large families of faith gather in the summer as well in what are often called Annual Conventions.

Columbus, Ohio was the site where our Mennonite friends met June 30 to July 5, 2009 to “Breathe and Be Filled.” More than 6,500 Mennonites filled Nationwide Arena July 2 for a joint adult and youth worship focusing on “Centered in the Spirit.”

During sessions, Shane Claiborne, author and founding partner of The Simple Way, a faith community in inner-city Philadelphia called on listeners to “ask what it means to be radical nonconformists to the ways of the world.”

Sojourners editor-in-chief and co-founder Jim Wallis greeted Mennonites as “a friend of the family” who has been enriched by the Anabaptist movement and Mennonites. He told those gathered, “Your best stuff is the right stuff and you need to share it.”

The Missional Church Center logo appeared on the screen when it came time for Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary to report. Milfred Minatrea talked about his teaching experience at the seminary in January 2009. After seeing the video post we did subsequent to our teaching the class Missional Church in a Post-Modern Context, the Seminary contacted us asking permission to use segments of the video in their annual report. We were delighted to have a small part in assisting this significant institution in telling its story.

If you are looking for theological education in the San Joaquin Valley, we recommend you consider Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California. Its strong commitment of faithfulness to its Anabaptist roots and to contextual relevance in preparing students makes us glad to join the reunion with this of the Father’s family.