wfn.org | Eby retires as Board chair

[Beth Hawn]

Microsoft Mail v3.0 (MAPI 1.0 Transport) IPM.Microsoft Mail.Note
To:  'Worldwide Faith News'
Date: 1998-06-17 12:50
Priority: 3
Message ID: EF3EB828D205D211AAB0006008075ABF
Conversation ID: Eby retires as Board chair

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June 17, 1998
Mennonite Board of Missions
Beth Hawn
219-294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>

John Eby's retirement as chair marks the end of an era

HARRISONBURG, Va. (MBM) - Mennonite Board of Missions said goodbye June
11-13 to a leader who brought historical perspective and compassionate
evaluation skills during an era of great change.

John W. Eby, a member of the MBM Board of Directors since 1985 and chair   
since
1995,  moved on to other endeavors starting June 14 after presiding over   
the
final board meeting separate from the Mennonite Church mission agency's
General Conference Mennonite Church mission counterparts.

Eby, now of Dillsburg, Pa., also served with MBM as secretary for relief   
and
service from 1974 to 1979, overseeing the MBM Voluntary Service program   
at
that time.

Eby, who addressed the board's opening plenary session June 11, has seen   
a
variety of changes and accomplishments within the organization during his   

tenure.  From the developments in the voluntary service program, to   
Vision
95 to Cana Venture to MBM's development of partnerships for missions to   
the
move toward integration, Eby has experienced MBM as an organization that
has "moved the church's perspective on missions from one of professional/
agency ministry to the work of the whole church."

Focusing on John 21, Eby, professor of sociology at Messiah College in
Grantham, Pa., described four images from which MBM can learn as it   
continues
to head forward in its initiatives in partnership and communication to   
the
broader church.

* Emptiness - Eby reminded the board that knowledge without wisdom or
 conscience is useless. True meaning for followers of Jesus Christ comes   
in a
 faith community. "Faith links to community," Eby said. "Sixty to 70   
percent
 of the United States population takes part in small groups of one sort   
or
 another.  Whether AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] or other organizational   
groups,
 these groups usually have a faith root, . . . and it is faith that links   
us with
 service and our world."
   

* Hospitality - "As in the Emmaus story, Christ's presence was recognized   
in
 the breaking of bread or as here in Jesus' offering breakfast to the   
disciples
 when they reached shore."  For MBM to live out this model of   
hospitality, Eby
 said it will need to continue its foundation of inclusivity. "I have   
always
 been amazed at how Mennonites can relate to a wide, diverse range of   
people.
 We know who we are. We are secure in our roots and faith," he said.   
 "Because of
 that security, I can say you have a lot to teach me, and we both can be   
right."  By
 being deeply spiritual and deeply "incarnational, "MBM will feel secure
 enough to maintain its history of inclusivity.
   

* Honest Love - Just as Peter and Jesus faced each other honestly but   
still
  loved each other, MBM needs to develop an authentic, realistic and   
never
 -ending love that will reach out through the work of MBM around the   
world. Eby
 highlighted MBM's success in starting partnerships across the church and   
   

 globe. "Genuine partnership is difficult to achieve," he said. "It's   
like
 elephant and rabbit stew. It still tastes a lot like elephant."  MBM   
must
 develop partnerships with the continued recognition that there are "many   

 things we cannot do, and we aren't the richest in many areas."
   

* Commissioning/Feeding -- With any declaration, Eby said there must be a   

  commissioning. Jesus commissions Peter to "feed my sheep" when he   
declares
  his love for Jesus. This feeding is one of "fundamental nurture to   
allow
  people to do their own thing." Eby called MBM to continue to develop
  leadership that is multifaceted.  "We lead and we follow," he said. "We   
are
  called to do with instead of to or for."

Sally Shreiner, outgoing vice chair for the board, described Eby as being   
a
passionate churchman and follower of Christ, able to "grab hold of the
complexity of issues, lead provocative discussions, articulate well," and   

be open to evaluation and critique to bring about change, while caring   
for
MBM.

 "I've experienced [John's] wisdom in very positive ways," said MBM
President Stanley W. Green, addressing Eby during a recognition dinner.
"You bring real enthusiasm for MBM.  . . . You have spoken eloquently of   
MBM's
vision, passion and commitment in other settings."

Leroy Kauffman of Clyd, N.C., incoming board chair, previously succeeded
Eby as director of the business department at Eastern Mennonite   
University.
Regarding his second succession, Kauffman said, "I think I have the   
harder
job. John, I have admired your leadership."

"I hope and pray that integration will lead to even more creativity in   
our
approach to missions and bring together our strengths to make us even
stronger as a whole," said Eby, whose work with MBM has spanned a   
generation.

In other business, the board created an executive committee , which will   
meet
in between expanded board meetings that will now take place in the fall   
and
spring of each year.  The change brings MBM in line with existing board
structures in the General Conference Mennonite Church for the Commission   
on
Overseas Mission and the Commission on Home Ministries.  The next joint
meeting is set for Sept. 24-26, 1998. The executive committee will   
consist of
Kauffman, board chair; Kay Nussbaum of White Bear Lake, Minn., vice   
chair;
and Herman Bontrager of Akron, Pa., finance committee chair; as well as   
board
members Tesfatsion Dalellew of Akron, Pa., and Sally Schreiner of   
Chicago.

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Minnette B. Hostetler       PHOTO AVAILABLE