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Stories |
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Fellowship of Hope celebrates expansion of building
This last June, the Fellowship of Hope (FoH) congregation in Elkhart, Ind., held an open house to celebrate an addition to their building that they hope will help them further live out their vision of hospitality.
The expansion grew out of the congregation’s desire to make their building more handicap accessible, to have a more open and inviting entryway, and to update the building’s exterior. The project, which has taken about two years to complete, was funded in part by a capital grant from IN-MI Conference, recommended by the Stewardship and Finance Commission and approved by the former Executive Committee in December 2007.
 The addition involved putting the church office on the main floor, adding an elevator, moving the entryway steps inside, and installing a new roof and new siding. The congregation hired out the labor for the main structure and contributed their own construction gifts for miscellaneous carpentry work, interior trim work, painting and siding. They also had some workdays where they invited people from Church Without Walls and men from the neighborhood to help.
Read more in the September Gospel Evangel.
Above: Jonathan of FoH and neighbor David enjoy a break from their work.
At top: During a workday in November 2008, a crew of people from Church Without Walls and Fellowship of Hope and some of FoH’s neighbors install siding on the addition. (Photos provided by Verlin Miller)
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Jesus' commandments set focus for prison chaplain
“It’s time.”
Tom Tippett’s wife, Teresa, leaned over to give him this cryptic message one Sunday morning as they sat listening to the pastor’s sermon.
 “I looked at her and said, ‘Time for what? I mean, we’re in the middle of church here,’” remembers Tom. “And she said, ‘It’s time to give your notice at work.’”
Just four months shy of logging 30 years at his job in the business world, Tom said, “I knew two things. I knew, number one, that God was telling me it’s time to leave and get this ministry going, and number two, that He was telling me through my wife that she was okay with what we were doing.”
“That was 12 years ago,” added Tom, “and the Lord has absolutely blessed us since then.”
Read more about Tom Tippett of No Fence Too High Ministries, Inc., and Stutsmanville Chapel, Harbor Springs, Mich. in the September Gospel Evangel.
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What's New |
The conference office will be closed November 26-27 for Thanksgving.
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Annual Sessions 2010 location, date confirmed. We’re pleased to announce that the Middlebury-Bristol Area Council has agreed to host Annual Sessions 2010, to be held July 8–10 at Pleasant View Mennonite in Goshen!
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New staff position job narratives. At annual sessions, delegates were introduced to
new job narratives for
regional pastors and a conference minister for leadership transitions. Contact: Dan Miller, lead conference minister
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Shifting from seven clusters to five
regions. As part of transitioning to regionalized ministry staff, the Missional Leadership Team plans to shift from seven clusters to five regions. The plan is to pay attention to what emerges in the next two years as congregations engage a missional imagination and then make further adjustments. See the new regions.
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The Corinthia Plan will happen: enrollment deadline extended to Nov. 15. The Corinthian Plan will become a reality Jan. 1, 2010. The health care access plan of Mennonite Church USA reached its revised goal, and project director Keith Harder expects that nearly 70 percent of the denomination's eligible, credentialed pastors will be on the new plan. Read more.
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IN-MI Mennonite Conference
212 S Main St.
Goshen, IN 46526
Missional Seeds Giving Club. This giving club is another opportunity for individuals to participate financially in the mission of the conference.
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