There’s no word for “reimagine” in Cheyenne, but Susan Hart knows what her people and her denomination need: to keep moving forward.

That’s the only way to discover what’s ahead for Mennonite Church USA, which is reimagining its future. It’s true as well for the congregation she leads, Koinonia Indian Mennonite Church of Clinton, Okla., which has persevered through trauma and hardship since 1894.

“At a crossroads, we go forward,” Hart said at a meeting of the MC USA Executive Board Oct. 9 in Philadelphia. “Our tribal churches are also at a crossroads. I ask you all to continue to pray for these Indigenous churches. . . .

“We cannot lose sight of the smaller churches, especially the Hispanic, Latino, Asian churches, and I ask you to pray for those.”

Hart joined her fellow Executive Board members in reflecting on the latest step in MC USA’s reimagining process. Casting their vision forward to 2040, they met the previous day with the boards of the denomination’s two agencies, Mennonite Mission Network and Menno­Media.

Moderator-elect Todd Lehman of Hesston, Kan., offered a bicycling analogy that acknowledged the challenges: “There will be headwinds, but I’m confident that, with the leaders who gathered yesterday recognizing the work ahead, we can form a peloton and pedal into the wind together.”

About 50 participants in the all-boards meeting spent the day Oct. 8 pushing forward the reimagining process begun last year by a Structure Review Committee.

Making headlines, defining success

Asked to picture success in 2040, a table group at the Mennonite Church USA all-boards meeting Oct. 8 summed up its vision in a headline that borrows a phrase often used by Catholic author Richard Rohr: “Mennonites build communities that transcend and include.”

The group described it as a hope, characterized by congregations serving their own communities, learning from one another and finding common ground by looking beyond themselves.

This vision received the most affirmation from the other participants. A headline about MC USA’s peace witness and conscientious objection also received strong support.

Participants agreed that faithfulness to the gospel and Anabaptist values and intercultural integrity should serve as the primary criteria for evaluating future priorities.

Table conversations throughout the day were full of practical hope, marking significant growth in the connection between denominational entities. Several groups imagined a shared online hub where congregations could find resources and learn from one another.

“I’m really encouraged with today’s process,” said Edith Yoder, MennoMedia board member and chief executive officer of Bridge of Hope National. “It was really invigorating to be with the other boards and dream about the future, think about the future and to ask hard questions.”

Participants were candid about the hard questions, such as what does “streamlining” mean, and can it happen without erasing differences between agency functions?

They also mentioned concerns about donor competition and communication overload.

One group asked whether church structures can help people understand and accept one another even without full agreement.

“We’re sitting at the tables, asking the tough questions and really wrestling with the different challenges,” said Horace McMillon, Mennonite Mission Network board member and former pastor of Open Door Mennonite Church in Jackson, Miss. “There’s a lot of things that we can do, but given our size and our resources, we really have to focus on . . . the ways that we can best serve today.” — Camille Dager/MC USA

Executive director Glen Guyton opened the discussion by saying the denomination’s structure still has a similar size and complexity as 25 years ago, when MC USA began with approximately three times its current membership of 42,000.

Along with the need to adjust to a smaller membership, the denomination needs to adapt to generational change, said Marisa Smucker, MMN executive director. Younger generations “aren’t necessarily wanting to use the institutions that are in place,” she said.

The group identified three priorities to guide the next two years of the reimagining process:

— Equip congregations: Build a system for local congregations and area conferences that allows them to better navigate a changing world, from economic pressures to new technology.

— Sustain a united peace witness: Support a meaningful peace and justice witness by building on the work congregations are already doing locally and connecting those efforts into a clearer, united voice for MC USA.

— Find new ways to connect: Create a digital system and resources to strengthen internal connections and provide more ways for others to discover MC USA and learn about its good work.

Evaluating the boards’ work the next day, Michael Danner, associate executive director of church vitality, affirmed the priority of external communication.

“As Anabaptist Mennonites, we believe there is something about our faith that is really important to us and to the world, but somehow it’s constrained in the way we go about sharing it,” he said. “We need to find a way to proclaim the good news of Jesus in a way that is expansive and welcoming and invitational.”

Danner also noted the need make hard choices about use of limited resources.

“The key question was left unanswered, and that is what do we mean by streamlining?” he said. “That is the biggest pinch point to the things we discussed.”

Although no major changes to the denomination’s structure were proposed, further conversations are likely as the process moves forward.

In the coming weeks, the conversation will widen. The Constituency Leaders Council, whose members serve as “elders” of the denomination, will meet to review, discuss and provide insights on the emerging strategies. MC USA staff will engage area conference ministers at their Dec. 2-4 retreat in Savannah, Ga.

Over the next nine months, the Executive Board will prepare for the Delegate Assembly on July 9 in Cincinnati. Any decision with denominational impact will come before delegates for a vote. At this point, no actions have been identified for delegate discernment.

Reflecting on the reimagining process, Guyton said, “The phrase that comes to my mind is ‘but God.’ No matter what we are thinking about, no matter what we do, ultimately, it’s all in God’s hands, and I think God has been faithful to us as we faithfully follow God in this church.”

Camille Dager of Mennonite Church USA contributed to this report.