At the end of the year, it’s not uncommon to hear journalists talk about how full the past year in news was, and here at The Mennonite, we’re no different. Over the course of this year, we’ve posted more than 600 news stories covering events across Mennonite Church USA.

As our editorial staff (Hannah Heinzekehr, Gordon Houser and Rebecca Helmuth) sat down to reflect on the past year, these 10 stories (or series of stories) stuck out. These are not ranked by importance but listed in roughly chronological order.

1. Mennonites engaging wider concerns: From participating in the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., in January to responses after white supremacist groups marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, to making a faith-based case for gun control after mass shootings and neighborhood gun violence, and leading prayer vigils for peace in situations like the United States’ escalating rhetoric with North Korea, Mennonites thought about and intersected with events that were trending beyond the church this year. The question of how Anabaptist followers of Christ are called to engage in political structures and speak out in situations of injustice was at the forefront of many writers’ minds this year.

2. Addressing sexual violence in Mennonite Church USA: In a year that saw #MeToo, a movement calling on women to speak out about their experiences of sexual violence and harassment, sweep across the United States, leading to public naming and firing of many powerful men, Mennonite Church USA continued to respond to reports of sexual violence within the church. On Jan. 14, Mennonite Church USA released recommendations for Virginia Mennonite Conference and Lindale Mennonite Church leaders regarding the conference and church’s handling of allegations of abuse. Later, in October, Lindale pastor, Duane Yoder’s, credentials were terminated after a conference review. In April, former Goshen (Indiana) College student Erin Bergen went public with a Title IX complaint filed against the college, reporting discrimination during the handling of a sexual assault complaint. And in November, Mennonite missionary James Arbaugh was arrested in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and charged with molesting children while working in Haiti. In October, Mennonite college leaders responded to an open letter from leaders of Into Account, an organization working to support survivors of abuse, agreeing to maintain the “preponderance of evidence” standard for complaints of sexual violence, despite federal changes to Title IX requirements.

3. Untimely deaths: Death that happens suddenly is always unsettling and brings with it great grief. This year, the church mourned the sudden deaths of four young leaders: Hannah Hochstetler, the co-leader of the Jackson, Mississippi, Service Adventure service unit was killed in a car crash on Jan. 19; Michael J. Sharp, a peacebuilder working with the United Nations, and his co-worker, Zaida Catalan, were kidnapped and murdered in March while investigating human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo; Kumar Anuraj Jha, a peacebuilder and Eastern Mennonite University graduate working with UNICEF in Sudan, was killed in a Nov. 30 car accident; and Teresa Cardenas, a sophomore at Iowa Mennonite School in Kalona, Iowa, was killed after falling from a ladder during a Dec. 1 school social. In addition, in May, the church mourned the loss of long-time mission worker and educator Alan Kreider, and, in October, Hispanic church planter and pastor Teofilio Ponce.

4. Conference and congregational realignment: In 2017, Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Mennonite Conference reached the end of its two-year withdrawal period from Mennonite Church USA. At the end of a discernment process, eight congregations chose to transfer their membership to nearby Atlantic Coast Conference. In addition, LMC welcomed 12 former MC USA congregations into membership in March and, in September, Franklin Mennonite Conference, another former MC USA conference, voted to become part of LMC. In November, Eastern District Conference and Franconia Mennonite Conference took another step toward reconciling into one conference after 170 years apart, and Allegheny Mennonite Conference and Central District Conference began conversations about potential merger in the future. Central District also welcomed congregations from North Carolina, Georgia and Florida into membership, while Franconia voted to welcome congregations from California and New York as new members. In April, Southeast Mennonite Conference announced that it would explore leaving MC USA if the forbearance resolution passed by delegates in 2015 became a permanent denominational policy.

5. Transitions: This year saw widespread leadership transitions across MC USA. Five out of the six Mennonite college presidencies were in transition this year, with only President Sara Wenger Shenk of Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana, remaining. Four new presidents were appointed: Jon Gering at Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas, replacing Perry White; Susan Schultz Huxman at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, replacing Loren Swartzendruber; Joseph Manickam at Hesston (Kansas) College, replacing Howard Keim; and Rebecca Stoltzfus at Goshen (Indiana) College, replacing James Brenneman. James Harder of Bluffton (Ohio) University has announced his resignation at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. In addition, four Mennonite Church USA agency and organization CEOs announced their resignation. Amy Gingerich was appointed as the new CEO of MennoMedia, replacing Russ Eanes, and Karen Lehman was named CEO of Mennonite Health Services, replacing Rick Stiffney. Ervin Stutzman, MC USA Executive Director, and Hannah Heinzekehr, The Mennonite executive director, are also in transition, and the search for their successors is underway.

6. Congo crisis: The death of MJ Sharp helped bring awareness to the ongoing violent conflict and humanitarian crisis in the DRC. It’s estimated that armed conflict has displaced an estimated 1.4 million people, including thousands of Mennonites. The region is the birthplace of the Mennonite Church in Congo, a church that is more than 200,000 strong. In August, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) reported 36 confirmed deaths of Mennonites in Congo, 12 church schools destroyed or attacked, 16 churches destroyed or attacked, 342 homes destroyed and thousands displaced.

7. Future Church Summit and the Journey Forward: The 2017 biennial MC USA convention drew 3,200 Mennonites to Orlando, Florida, in July. Eschewing many delegate sessions, delegates (plus an additional 100 attendees representing diverse constituency groups), participated in the Future Church Summit, a large-group visioning process about God’s calling for MC USA in the future. Growing out of this work, MC USA staff announced in September the Journey Forward, a churchwide process to strengthen the church’s identity around shared beliefs and goals. A five-member writing team is working on a one-page statement of beliefs and a longer study guide for congregations to use.

8. Seeking Peace in Israel-Palestine: During one of only two sessions, MC USA delegates voted to affirm the “Seeking Peace in Israel-Palestine” resolution. Originally considered and tabled by delegates in 2015, the resolution was revamped and considered again after two years of denomination-wide study. In October, Kansas Mennonite Esther Koontz found herself at the center of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit after she was denied employment because she chose to boycott products produced in Israel. Koontz cited the resolution as an inspiration for her boycott.

9. Disasters: Mennonite Disaster Service and Mennonite Central Committee were busy responding to large-scale disasters around the world, especially at the end of the year. Mennonites were among those impacted by and responding to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, which struck the United States in August and September. MCC also found itself stretched to respond to natural disasters and crises around the world, including earthquakes, famine and flooding, addressing 26 disasters in just the first six months of its fiscal year.

10. Welcome your neighbor: A yard sign developed by Immanuel Mennonite Fellowship in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as a way to welcome their local interfaith neighbors made national news, and its use spread across the country. The simple three-color sign states, “No matter where you’re from, we’re glad you’re our neighbor” in English, Spanish and Arabic. In addition, congregations found other ways to support their neighbors, with Columbus Mennonite Church providing sanctuary to an undocumented mother and worker, Edith Espinal, and Faith Mennonite Church in Minneapolis digging in for advocacy alongside local Hispanic leaders.

What stories did we miss that you would add? Tell us about your top stories from 2017 in the comments below!