From the editor

Actions taken by delegates at our biennial conventions have a direct effect on individual workers, their families and their communities. For example, former General Conference Mennonite Church members experienced this first hand over the last decade as staff and programs in the Newton, Kan., office have diminished since the merger of their conference with the former Mennonite Church.

Another example: In the former Mennonite Church, a 1971 action to create a General Board and Mennonite Board of Congregational Ministries had a long-term but direct effect on Mennonite Publishing House (MPH) in Scottdale, Pa. (see cover photo). Forty years later, nearly to the month, that venerable publishing ministry will close its shop in Scottdale. A remnant of the staff will move to a new organization in Harrisonburg, Va., and the building is up for sale.

To mark the end of the publishing ministry in Scottdale, we asked historian John Sharp, former pastor at Scottdale Mennonite Church, to write a short history of that community’s contribution to congregational and denominational life (see page 12). This piece touches briefly on some of the behind-the-scenes decision-making in the early 1970s that contributed to the demise of Mennonite Publishing House.

Rachel Fisher, now retired and living in Goshen, Ind., was present as a minute-taker for most of the meetings preceding the delegate action in 1971. According to Fisher, an “umbrella” organization was needed to provide accountability for the two big agencies at that time (Mennonite Board of Missions in Elkhart, Ind., and Mennonite Publishing House) as well as the smaller Mennonite Board of Education, the fledgling Mennonite Mutual Aid organization and the newly formed Mennonite Board of Congregational Ministries (MBCM). The “program boards” needed this accountability because they were too autonomous, she says.

“It was a real blow [to Scottdale],” says Paul Lederach, who worked for years with Sunday curriculum at MPH, “when they took the General Board to Chicago and MBCM to Goshen.”

Prior to this time, Scottdale was seen as the “capital” of the Mennonite Church. Top staff members for the denomination were there, the Gospel Herald was there, Sunday school curriculum was there, and the national Mennonite Youth Fellowship (MYF) office was there. Within six months after the delegate action in 1971, several of these leadership offices were taken away.

Publishing in Scottdale continued for 40 years but slowly, on a downward trend. There were additional reasons for its trajectory: Print publishing declined as fewer congregations used curriculum created by our denomination. Financial misadventures cost the publishing house both money and credibility. During merger discussions in the 1990s, MPH’s initial resistance to merging with the Commission on Education’s Faith & Life Press left the church wondering about things like dueling youth curricula from the two publishing entities.

Others have pointed out that the seeds for an organization’s demise are planted when things are going well. Similarly, seeds for success are planted when an organization is in trouble. Some of the most important seeds are the actions taken by delegates to change our denominational structure. If delegates to Pittsburgh 2011 take an action that alters the current structure, we know such an action will have a direct effect on individuals, families and communities. The effect, however, may take 40 years to become obvious.