Mennonite Church USA’s annual Hope for the Future gathering focused on discernment and strategic visioning Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at Iglesia Cristiana Roca de Refugio (Rock of Refuge Christian Church) in San Antonio, Texas.

The event offers Black, Indigenous and people of color leaders affiliated with MC USA a place to gather for worship, networking and mutual support.

Unlike larger churchwide conferences in the past, this year’s gathering brought together selected BIPOC leaders to reflect on the vision of the event’s founders, celebrate new resources for younger leaders and envision how to build sustainable and adaptive support for people serving in diverse contexts.

Roca de Refugio Pastor Dianne Garcia called participants to embrace interdependence in ministry and community life in her study, “Building Connections in Times of Division,” based on 1 Corinthians 12.

“There is no hierarchy of love; our love for God, people in the margins, community, family and ourselves are all interconnected and abundant,” she said.

The message resonated with attendees, including Jonny Rashid, pastor of West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship, who reflected on the need for solidarity across communities.

“To be united, we need to work toward collective liberation,” he said. “We need to ally with all minorities, because our liberation is linked.”

For Stanley Green, executive conference minister of Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference and one of the founders of the Hope for the Future conference, the weekend renewed a spirit of perseverance and faith.

“I am filled with hope,” he said. “It may yet be rocky ahead, but the body of Christ will live and light the way in the dark valleys . . . until we arrive at the mountaintop from which we will behold the dawning light of a new day.”