Photo: Richard Thomas, Lancaster Mennonite School superintendent, announced his retirement today after 33 and a half years of service. Photo provided. 

Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite School Superintendent J. Richard Thomas has announced to the school community that he will retire in December 2016, after 33 and a half years of service, concluding his tenure as the school’s seventh superintendent. Thomas also served as the moderator for Mennonite Church USA from 2011-2013.

“I was privileged to build on our founders’ vision that Lancaster Mennonite would be a school of educational excellence centered in Jesus Christ,” Thomas said. “I am grateful for a board, staff and other stakeholders that trusted me, empowered me, forgave my mistakes and held me accountable to our vision to serve students.”

During Thomas’s tenure, Lancaster Mennonite High School on Lincoln Highway was transformed into Lancaster Mennonite School (LMS), embracing five campuses that serve 1,500 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. In collaboration with the school’s Quarterly and Executive Boards, Thomas and his colleagues demonstrated courage, vision and skill in orienting five campus cultures around a shared vision, while recognizing the unique strengths of each campus community. In the past 33 years, LMS has also reached a far broader community locally and globally.

Thomas reflected that, “LMS changed from being a school of, by and for Mennonites to being a school affiliated with the Mennonite Church for the sake of students in the community and the world that God loves.” Students from all church backgrounds now come to LMS from five states and more than 20 countries.

“His focus on both serving the church and expanding the church through our understanding of educational institutions as being ‘missional centers’ is a vision that has and will serve us well as we move into the future,” said Carlos Romero, executive director of Mennonite Education Agency. “His passion for social justice and for an inclusive church embodying the vision of Revelation 7:9 is something for which we are grateful.”

Rooted in his experience as a classroom teacher, Thomas supported innovative pedagogies and curriculum development. Recent examples of this include the elementary Spanish Immersion program, the Pre-college Music Division for Gifted and Talented Students in cooperation with Millersville University, and LMMS Connect!, an experiential learning model used at Lancaster Mennonite Middle School.

As both an educator and a church leader, Thomas was committed to setting LMS apart through excellent academics combined with faith and values. Along with demonstrating quality education as measured through accreditation, Thomas sought to demonstrate the school’s particular Anabaptist Christian values by seeking additional accrediting affirmation for the school’s faith practices.

Thomas’ church leadership also provided a forum for advocating for the role and value of Mennonite

schools. He served as moderator of Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA and as moderator of Mennonite Church USA from 2011-2013. He chaired the National Advisory Council for Mennonite World Conference Assembly at Harrisburg this past summer and also served as a member of the Mennonite World Conference General Council. A leader of MSEC (Mennonite Secondary Education Council) for many years through its transformation to MSC (Mennonite Schools Council), he continues to serve and support MSC initiatives.

In addition to his church involvement, he currently serves on the board of United Way of Lancaster County.

“Thomas’ years of service to Lancaster Mennonite School, Mennonite education and the broader Mennonite church have been a valuable gift,” said Ervin Stutzman, executive director of Mennonite Church USA. “He is an inspirational servant leader, and I’m confident that many across Mennonite Church USA will benefit from his significant contributions far into the future.”

Romero echoed Stutzman’s sentiments, adding, “Thomas has been a servant leader, strategic thinker and visionary whose gifts have been a blessing to Lancaster Mennonite School, the broader church and to me personally.”

Thomas was noted for stressing the concept of community and for cultivating a safe learning environment where students and teachers were treated with mutual respect. “It was a joy to know that the loving and accepting environment created by faculty and staff was the setting needed for the transformation of so many lives,” Thomas said.

A search committee for the school’s next superintendent is being finalized. LMS is seeking candidates who will continue Thomas’ commitment to providing education that aspires to be rigorous, supportive, Christ-centered, interactive, student-centered, relationship-based and global. Andrew Dula, a member of the LMS board of directors, will chair the search committee. Other members will include members of the Executive and Quarterly Boards, representatives of area church conferences and constituents who support the mission of Lancaster Mennonite School.