By Andrea Dean, Administrative Coordinator

“I hate, I despise your festivals…Take away from me the noise of your songs!” With these jarring words from Amos 5, those gathered for this year’s Spring Summits in March were introduced to the challenge at the heart of our conference theme verse. We may be drawn to the beautiful imagery of an ever-flowing stream in Amos 5:24, but the immediately preceding verses show a different picture—of God’s anger with empty worship rituals. As Sean Swanson, pastor at Kern Road Mennonite Church and our preacher for the Summits, explained, this would be like Jesus interrupting a congregation singing “Old 606” on Easter by exclaiming “Will you stop it?! You sound so bad!”

These earlier verses, Amos 5:21-23, reflect God’s deep displeasure with worship rituals that are conducted without regard for the injustices the worshipers are part of and the suffering they contribute to. As Sean put it, “Worship without justice is just worship.” So if we don’t want our worship to be just worship—an empty ritual—we must reflect on how our worship can foster justice, how it can help us grow into more just people, and so become truly just worship—a justice-filled and justice-forming time of growth.

In addition to exploring our theme scripture passage, Spring Summits were a time for delegates from member churches to worship together, hear about what conference is up to, and make connections. On Saturday, March 14th, 50 delegates and other participants gathered at North Goshen Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana. On Saturday, March 21st, 33 gathered virtually by zoom.

Each gathering began with a worship service. At the in-person summit, musicians and worship leaders from North Goshen and Benton Mennonite Churches led the group in singing and prayer. Attendees at both summits listened to Sean speak on justice and worship. At the end of his sermon, Sean left those gathered with three questions, and delegates moved into table groups or breakout rooms to discuss: What do our worship spaces look like? Whose voices do we hear in worship? How do we make space for confession and lament?

After these conversations, delegates heard updates on various aspects of conference work, especially things that will come up at Summer Fest. Suella Gerber from Ministry Credentialing Team introduced a proposal to welcome International Bethel City Church as a new member congregation. On behalf of Gifts Development Team, Merle Hostetler at the in-person event and Brenda Srof at the virtual event invited everyone to think of who they know that could be part of IMMC’s leadership teams. And for Stewardship Team, Jim Alvarez presented the proposed spending plan for the coming fiscal year, 2026-27.

Each gathering format had something to offer participants. At the in-person event, attendees were blessed by delicious food prepared by North Goshen Mennonite Church members, including Bolivian empanadas served with morning coffee, and for lunch, Mexican pozole soup with all the toppings and desserts including Brazilian flan. Attendees at the virtual event shared that they appreciated a format that allowed them to fit it in with other parts of their life. Several asked for contact information to follow up on conversations started during the breakout rooms.

P.S. You can watch Sean’s sermon on IMMC’s YouTube channel, and you can review the Spring Summits docket at the Spring Summits page on our website.