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Allegheny Mennonite Conference (AMC) delegates met March 7 at Springs (Pa.) Mennonite Church and voted 72-70 to reinstate Hyattsville (Md.) Mennonite Church as voting members of the conference. Later in the meeting, delegates released three congregations from membership in the conference. In 2005, AMC delegates voted to keep Hyattsville as nonvoting members and to not allow members of the conference to hold elected positions in AMC or in Mennonite Church USA. The reason for this, according to the 2005 resolution, was that Hyattsville had been found to be “inconsistent with the Membership Guidelines of Mennonite Church USA.” Delegates had expressed concerns about the congregation’s membership practices, including the appointment of a person in a same-sex relationship as a delegate. The new resolution stated that AMC “is willing to live together with theological disagreements, using the 1995 Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective as a guiding document, not a disciplinary document.” Both the 2005 decision to sanction Hyattsville and the decision to reinstate them as full members were passed by a majority. The decision to remove a congregation from membership requires a two-thirds majority vote, according to AMC leadership. According to Donna Mast, AMC conference minister, the March 7 meeting was “civil [and] people were respectful.” While there was laughter at various times throughout the day, she said in a March 8 phone interview, “the meeting was a sober one, made more so by the close vote.” Three Maryland congregations—Glade Mennonite Church in Accident, Gortner Union Church in Oakland and Red Run Mennonite Church in Grantsville—submitted letters asking to be released from membership in AMC. Two of these letters had been submitted before the conference; Red Run’s was submitted after the vote, while delegates attended to other business. Reasons for leaving had to do with differences about how to deal with same-sex relationships. The resolution that passed also stated that “any congregation choosing to leave [AMC] as a result of this decision can request and receive assistance from the current Leadership Council in finding appropriate affiliation.”

Conference Narrowly Votes to Reinstate Hyattsville

This leaves AMC with 27 member congregations, two of which are church plants. Mast said the conference “will have to look hard at our structure,” which current giving patterns cannot sustain. Cynthia Lapp, pastor of Hyattsville, said it is hard to know how to respond to the decision. “It is obvious there are no winners here,” Lapp said in a March 8 email. “We have worked at building relationships for the past 10 years while we were under discipline. We will continue to work at building relationships for the next ten years as full members. We remain committed to praying with and for the conference as we move together into an unknown future.” Written By: Gordon Houser (Reprinted with permission, The Mennonite 3/9/2015)

“MADE” THEME OF JR HIGH RETREAT

In March, Jr. High youth from around Allegheny Conference came together at Laurelville for their annual retreat. Rob and Theresa Wolf, the Service Adventure leaders from Johnstown, were our speakers. They talked to us around the theme “MADE” using II Corinthians 6:16. Together we looked at our emotional bodies, our physical bodies, and our spiritual bodies and how they all work together to be the person God created us to be. We were reminded over and over that God

chooses to live in our bodies, our temples, if we allow Him to do so. On Sunday morning, Theresa talked to us about how we are all together the body of Christ, that each one of is needed in our uniqueness and with our gifts to follow Jesus and share His good news. The weekend was full of music, laughter, games and fun activities, like friendly team competitions, spray paint t-shirts, ankle biters, and our annual afternoon game of Slaughter. Even with the rain and lots of mud, we had a great time together.

Joy Cotchen, Conference Minister of Children and Youth

MANY HANDS (AND FEET) HELP OTHERS

Over 45 volunteers met at the Springs Mennonite Church on Saturday, April 18, to create items to sell at the upcoming TriState Relief Sale to be held July 17 & 18 at the Garrett County Fairgrounds, McHenry, MD. Kit bags and comforters were knotted to be sent where needed most by MCC.

Lots of happy faces met on a beautiful spring morning at Belleville MC on May 2 to raise funds for Mennonite Central Committee through the TriState Relief Sale sponsored event. People walked, biked and motor-cycled through the beautiful countryside. Results are not final but $5,000 is anticipated to have been raised.

Photos by Rob Wolfe

SNO KAMP-IT MATTERS! On a snowy evening in February, 80 youth and sponsors from Allegheny Conference converged on the Solarhouse at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center. We were coming together for the annual senior high SnoKamp. The theme for the weekend was “IT MATTERS” and bible teacher Dan Hunsberger, part of the pastoral team at Kaufman Mennonite, led us in some challenging and encouraging times together. Friday night he talked about, People Matter, and that all people matter to God, so people should matter to us. Saturday morning, he talked about Peace Matters, and if we are choosing to be one of Jesus disciples we need to take seriously when Jesus says, love your enemy. Saturday evening we were challenged to remember that ‘it doesn’t matter’ what people think when we are trying to be faithful to Jesus. People might wonder why we act in different ways like showing kindness, or caring for the least of these, or enjoying being in community with other believers, and we need to keep showing the love of God in our everyday lives. Saturday evening we were treated to a concert by KNOWMERCY from the Belleville area. Dan wrapped up Sunday morning with Jesus Matters. When we choose to go on this journey with Jesus, we need to listen to his words and live them out. On this journey, Jesus is always with us and will be faithful to us. The weekend was also full of great worship, music, fun, fellowship, sledding, getting to connect with old friends and making new ones. Joy Cotchen, Conference Minister of Children and Youth

WHAT’S SO IMPORTANT ABOUT SUMMER CAMP? As summer camp preparations are underway at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center, I look back over the past 15 years of directing camp and continue to reflect how important summer camp can be in a child’s/youth’s faith journey. Too many times the voices of youth are not asked for around the church setting, but we do ourselves a disservice when we don’t listen to these voices. Many times young people are referred to as the church of tomorrow, and they will be the church of tomorrow but more importantly they are the church of today, with many wonderful insights for us to hear and with a lot to teach us. Summer Camp is one way of nurturing a young person’s faith journey and it becomes a wonderful setting to learn and a safe place to ask hard questions. They can talk and learn together with their peers and be mentored by great young adult counselors. It is a great experience to get away from the busyness of life and technology to spend time in God’s creation learning and playing together. Camp gives kids the opportunity to be in tune with Jesus without outside distractions and becomes a place for learning valuable lessons that will be with them on the rest of their journeys. This summer we will be “Walking in God’s Story”, looking at the Biblical story and how it connects to us today. You can register on-line at Laurelville.org. We are also looking for some college age students to be a part of our summer camp team. For more information, contact me at joyc@alleghenymennoniteconference.org Joy Cotchen

GOSHEN

STUDENTS IN THE NEWS Members of the Goshen College Class of 2015 received undergraduate and graduate during the college's 117th commencement on Sunday, April 26. Among the 244 graduates were the following students from Allegheny Conference: * Julianna Tennefoss, a Elementary Education/Special Education major from Greenwood, DE, who attends Grace Fellowship. * Brody Thomas, a Music major from Springs, PA, who attends Springs Mennonite Church. * Jacob Smucker, a Music major from Woodward, PA, who attends University Mennonite Church. * Emily Schrock, a Elementary Education/Special Education major from Bridgeville, DE, who attends Grace Fellowship. Emily is participating in the Study-Service Term (SST) in Nicaragua for 13 weeks during the summer semester. Web updates and photos from the Nicaragua group are available from Goshen College's SST website at www.goshen.edu/nicaragua. Two students from Allegheny Conference have been named to the spring 2015 Dean’s List at Goshen College. They are Grace Weaver, a senior English major from Harrisonburg, VA, who attends Scottdale Mennonite Church, and Cecilia Lapp Stoltzfus, a senior Environmental Science major from Mount Rainier, MD, who attends Hyattsville Mennonite Church.

Allegheny Mennonite Conference Contact Information: PO Box 12 Somerset, PA 15501 Phone: 814-443-2007 Fax: 814-445-3418 Office Email: office@alleghenymennoniteconference.org Conference Minister—Donna Mast--Email:donnam@alleghenymennoniteconference.org Youth Minister—Joy Cotchen—Email:joyc@alleghenymennoniteconference.org News and Information Editor--Evie Christner--Email:eviec@alleghenymennoniteconference.org All Allegheny Mennonite Conference news releases are now being posted online at www.alleghenymennoniteconference.org. Since many in our congregations do not have access to the internet. these articles will periodically be compiled in a printable format. If you have questions or concerns please contact the conference office or news editor.

JOIN THE CELEBRATION!

Part-time registration is now available for PA 2015, the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) Assembly slated for July 21-26 in Harrisburg, PA, at the Farm Show Complex. “We’ve determined that there will be enough space to accommodate those who can attend PA 2015 only for a day or two,” said Liesa Unger, Chief International Events Officer for MWC. “We strongly encourage everyone to attend the

whole wonderful event if at all possible,” Unger stated. “But we know that some older persons may not be physically able to participate for the entire time. And there are others who find it difficult to get three days off from work to attend.” (The Assembly, which opens on Tuesday evening and closes at noon on Sunday, involves three weekdays, in addition to Saturday.) “Some North Americans have wondered if they should not come so people from the U.S. and Canada don’t overwhelm the event,” commented Unger. “There are always more attendees from the host country at MWC Assemblies than from any other country. That was true in India, in Zimbabwe, and in Paraguay. But we already have strong registrations from 64 countries beyond North America: 18 African countries, 15 Asian countries, 20 Latin American countries and 11 European countries.” “Once you enter the Farm Show Complex, you will be in a global community,” commented Moreno, who deals daily with registrations coming from around the world. “Inside that setting, you will belong to a different place. Your registration is like a passport to the global church!” The music at “PA 2015″ promises to be heavenly, full of energy and spirit. Choirs are coming from Africa, and music groups and performers from all continents. And there will be lots of group singing, with an 18-member international worship team. Come prepared to be both comforted and stirred! And please spread the word to family and friends. For full-time or part-time registration for PA 2015, go to www.mwc-cmm.org/pa2015 Volunteers are still needed for the ‘tear-down crew’ after the Mennonite World Conference Pennsylvania 2015 Assembly Gathered in Harrisburg, PA, on Sunday afternoon (3:00 pm– 5:30 pm) July 26, 2015. About 25 more volunteers are needed to take down displays and chairs in the assembly hall. This volunteer opportunity is not part of volunteer registration on the MWC website. If interested in the ‘tear-down crew’, please contact Joyce Hall, jeh21@comcast.net, 814-231-1447. As a part of Assembly Scattered, MWC attenders are welcome to attend the Tri-State Relief Sale on July 17 & 18, 2015 before the Assembly Gathered! Overnight accommodations are available at Garrett College, McHenry, Maryland. The cost will be $30.50 per person per night. Rooms are available on July 16,17,&18. You must check in prior to 4:30 PM the day of your arrival and provide your own pillow, linens and towels. The college is one mile from the sale and the rooms are air-conditioned. Make your payment check out to Tri State Relief Sale and send to Doug Berg at PO Box 4087, Hidden Valley, PA 15502 prior to June 1, 2015. For more information, contact dougberg@zoominternet.net