Celebrating Anabaptism
Richard Gehring
We recently celebrated the 500th anniversary of the “official” beginning of the Anabaptist movement on January 21, 1525. Our purpose in marking the anniversary of the baptisms that took place in Zurich on that date (more on the baptisms here), is not merely to learn about our history. More importantly, it is an invitation to understand what it means to claim our Anabaptist heritage in today’s world.
We will continue to recognize 500 Years of Anabaptism in various services throughout this year. As we do so, I hope that we keep in mind the principles of “Right Remembering” expressed by John Roth, Project Director of Anabaptism at 500. Roth declares that, in addition to telling the story honestly, empathetically, and confessionally, we also need to tell it expectantly, “open to the possibility that it can inspire deeper faithfulness to Christ today.”
To that end, we invited those present in worship at LMC on January 19, 2025, to reflect and share their responses to the question, “What does Anabaptism mean to you?” Not surprisingly, the most common words expressed by respondents were peace and Jesus. Other terms that appeared multiple times included God, community, justice, and follow. All these words also appear in our congregation’s mission statement that we adopted two years ago.

May our celebration of Anabaptism inspire us to live out our commitments to Christ and to one another.
In This Issue

Strong Finish to 2024
Eric Nelessen
Hi friends. The church’s fiscal year ended on December 31. Once again we finished very strongly. Thanks be to God!
Thanks to your devoted support of LMC and our mission we closed the year with a net income of $22,836. Our total income for 2024 was $416,725, $27,507 more than we budgeted for. Our total expenses for 2024 were $393,889, $3,729 less than we budgeted for.
Thank you to everyone who contributed donations and prayers throughout 2024 and enabled us to finish with this surplus. As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Ending Cash Position on 12/31/2024
Cash & Savings | $284,595 |
Current Liabilities | $57,037 |
Subtotal | $227,558 |
Designated Funds | $140,405 |
Cash Surplus over Liabilities & Designated Funds | $87,153 |
2024 Income & Expenses Compared to Budget
Actual | Budget Difference | |
General Fund Giving | $412,205 | $385,818 $26,387 |
Other Income | $4,520 | $3,400 $1,120 |
Total Revenue | $416,725 | $389,218 $27,507 |
Total Expenses | $393,889 | $397,618 -$3,729 |
Net Income | $22,836 | -$8,400 $31,236 |

Generous Support for Peacebuilding
Jamie Huff
The 2024 Advent Giving Project invited LMCers to support the vital, timely work of building just peace in Palestine. The Mission Commission is profoundly grateful for the abundant generosity of LMCers to aid survivors of state violence in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon through the work of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in the region. We raised $2,460 to support MCC’s work! The Mission Commission also designated $1,935 from the Special Mission Projects budget to this cause, bringing LMC’s total gift up to $4,395.
Kindly consider visiting the MCC website here to learn more about how MCC is adapting its work as now many, many thousands of Palestinians return and begin the arduous work of restoring and rebuilding their lands, communities, and homes.

The 2024 Advent Giving project also offered us the opportunity to invest in the education, training, and networking of leaders who are engaged in the long-term work of building just peace in Palestine and elsewhere in the world. We raised $4,760 to support the participation of Christian leaders from Palestine, South Africa, and Indigenous communities of the Americas in a peacebuilding summit in London, England, in July 2025. This amount will cover the registration, travel, food, and lodging costs of at least two peacebuilding practitioners who will have the chance to enjoy needed rest, mutual encouragement, and practical training during the gathering.
We invite you to visit the Peacebuilding Summit webpage here in the coming months to learn more about the program and participants. The Mission Commission will be hosting one of the summit participants to join us for worship in fall 2025 to share about what they learned at the event.
From the 2024 budget and the 2023 budget surplus allocated to mission, our church also supported:
- The local and national work of Mennonite Action: $2,000
- Housing needs of a local asylum family: $1,000
- Mennonite Disaster Service’s Hurricane Helene response: $3,600
- Love Christian Clearinghouse’s work mobilizing relief responses for local neighbors in need: $2,900
- Emily Keefer’s Mennonite Voluntary Service assignment in Colorado: $2,000
- Matching grants for Radical Hospitality ($2,269), The Nazareth Project ($2,185), Menno Haven Camp ($2,154), Peace & Hope International ($1,777), and Ten Thousand Villages ($2,615)
Thank you for your regular and faithful giving to the LMC General Fund which makes these gifts possible!


Nazareth Hospital: A Beacon of Care
Vina Ariyaprakai
The LMC 2024 Matching Grant Program raised $4,585 for Nazareth Trust to support the longtime work of Nazareth Hospital. The hospital’s mission is “to provide quality healthcare in a spirit of love to all who need it, regardless of religious belief, ethnicity or national origin.” Established over 160 years ago, Nazareth Hospital is the oldest hospital in the area, as well as the main trauma and training center. Their leadership are mostly Palestinians and they serve 46% of Israel’s Palestinian population.
Some programs of note include: regularly providing advance training to Palestinian doctors from the West Bank; The Nazareth School of Nursing, the only Arabic speaking nursing school in the region; The Nancy Martin Memorial Scholarship Fund for low-income nursing students; and providing spiritual care alongside medical.
As many of us advocate and pray for our Palestinian brothers and sisters, the matching grant is a beautiful opportunity for us to support the work Nazareth Hospital is doing on the ground now and in the future. If anyone is interested in learning more or to continue supporting their mission, you can do so at nazarethproject.org.

Rewarding Year for Camp Menno Haven
Lyle Bohnert
The 2024 ministry of Menno Haven Camp and Retreat Center was a rewarding undertaking in many respects. Participation in the summer camping program (which includes third graders to grandparents), has continued to increase since the sharp drop in camp attendance in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Overall, 2024 was a strong year for serving church groups and other related organizations.
Customarily, Menno Haven depends on donations for about 20% of its yearly operating budget. With donations from many sources, including Lombard Mennonite Church as a line item in our budget and also as a recipient of a mission matching grant, Menno Haven was able to meet its budget for 2024. Managing camp operations in a responsible manner and still meeting budget goals can be an uphill challenge sometimes.
Several young adults from LMC served on the Menno Haven 2024 summer staff and at other points throughout the year. The fulltime Menno Haven staff commends the way LMC teaches and models the importance of serving others as a lifestyle priority.
One person who modeled decades-long service to Camp Menno Haven was Bob Erck, who passed away in October. In many ways, Menno Haven was Bob’s second home. It felt appropriate to me to conclude this article with an excerpt of the tribute that camp director Doc Johnson shared at Bob’s memorial service.

“It was a deep joy and honor to know Bob. My life first intersected with Bob’s over 25 years ago through his volunteer work at Menno Haven, but Bob’s journey at Menno Haven started years before that as a summer camper.
“Bob literally brightened our lives here at Menno Haven. He installed many new lights by the hotels, at the pool, at the dining hall patio, and along camp paths. He fixed numerous outlets and electric issues over the years. Finding Bob with a chainsaw in hand was also the norm; felling trees and clearing camp paths became one of his specialties.
“Bob came and served multiple times a year with the LMC MYF when doing service projects. He taught the youth the proper use of a chainsaw, and how to install an electrical outlet, drive a maintenance truck while pulling a trailer loaded with honeysuckle, and have fun while working!
“Bob touched the campus and ministry of Menno Haven in so many ways. He was an example of living one’s life in such a way to serve those around you (both friend and stranger), to seize opportunities to teach and to learn, and to find joy.”